Events

We are proud of our involvement with events that bring the University of Vermont together with the community. If you are interested in working with us on an event please reach out here.

Upcoming

Past

Open Source Connector - Chapel and Open Productive Parallel Computing at Scale

In this talk, Michael Ferguson compares the performance of sorting implementations in different languages and explore Chapel, the programming language with the fastest standard library sort. By effectively using the parallel hardware, Chapel’s sort is 10 times faster than any other standard library sort measured on the benchmark system, and about 200 times faster than sorting with Python. Bring along a computer with a Linux or Mac environment to enable experimenting with Chapel.

Chapel is designed to make parallel computing easier and it enables programs to scale from laptops to supercomputers. Users of Chapel are reaping its benefits in practical, cutting-edge applications in many domains including data science, image analysis, and physical simulation. Additionally, Chapel has recently started to provide a vendor-neutral way to program GPUs. It’s open source and available at https://github.com/chapel-lang/chapel/ . More information is available on the https://chapel-lang.org/ website.
Location:
Center for Communication and Creative Media, Room 221 375 Maple St, Burlington, VT 05401 Or a Zoom Link will be put in the comments on the day off the event

Open Source Connector - Code to Community: Nurturing Unity in the Open Source Ecosystem

In today's fast-changing tech scene, open source communities are like bustling hubs where folks come together to create, learn, and work as a team. But making these communities work isn't just about tech know-how; it's about understanding people, too. In our discussion, we'll dive into how to grow and support these communities so they're welcoming, effective, and built to last with experience learned in the open source ecosystem in Africa.
Location
Innovation Hall, Room E100 University of Vermont, 82 University Pl, Burlington, VT 05405 (parking is free on campus after 6, we recommend parking at the Peirce-Spaulding House Parking Lot)
OR
you can attend virtually via Zoom

Interdisciplinary Open Practices Workshop (IOP)

Practices of openness shape a growing number of fields via open science, open source software, open education, open intelligence, open government, and others. These practices—defined by reproducibility, attribution, visibility, and decision rights—benefit society by promoting efficiency, transparency, and innovation. This interdisciplinary workshop will bridge gaps between disciplines that use openness, establish what we know about practices of openness, and build collaborations enabled by open organizing datasets to address research gaps.

October 27-28, 2023
Location: Old Mill John F. Dewey Lounge, UVM Campus, Burlington, Vermont
https://verso.w3.uvm.edu/interdisciplinary-open-practices-workshop/

UX/UI Design Jam - City of Burlington Open Data Portal

Welcome to Ux Speakeasy! We're thrilled to have you join us for a fun and interactive evening of design. This design Jam will follow the format of the previous event except this time we'll be assisting the City of Burlington. Allow us to introduce Nancy Stetson, Senior Policy and Data Analyst and Warren Rich, GIS Coordinator and Asset Manager for the City of Burlington. Recently the City rebuilt the Open Data Portal (https://data.burlingtonvt.gov/) and they are looking for our ideas on how the experience can be improved to drive engagement with City data. During this sprint, we will be discussing the user experience of the portal and brainstorming ideas to make it as user-friendly as possible for the general population. Our goal is to enhance the site’s functionality and features, ensuring it effectively supports the community in understanding information that impacts all of us. We're excited to collaborate on this project and bring meaningful improvements to the City of Burlington’s data portal. Wednesday, October 11, 2023 at 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM Location: Bluehouse Group, 193 S Winooski Ave #100 · Burlington, VT https://www.meetup.com/ux-speakeasy-vt/events/296124588/

Open Source Connector - Exploring Open Source Licenses

Open source software has revolutionized the tech world, offering a world of possibilities to developers and users alike. However, this digital frontier comes with its own set of rules and guidelines known as open source licenses. In an inaugural talk hosted by the Open Source Connector, David Kopec, an Associate Professor at Champlain College, will delve into the essential aspects of open source licenses. This event promises to be an enlightening journey, exploring the rights and responsibilities of incorporating open source libraries into your projects, the importance of these licenses, an overview of various open source license types, and the best practices for those engaged in open source development.

Wednesday, September 27, 2023 at 6:30 PM-8:00 PM
Location: Center for Communication and Creative Media, Room 221, 375 Maple St, Burlington, VT 05401

UX Speakeasy: Design Sprint

Welcome to Ux Speakeasy! We're thrilled to have you join us for a fun and interactive evening of design. This design sprint will be slightly different than previous sprints we've hosted, as, for the first time, we'll be assisting a real client. Allow us to introduce Dr. Justin DeAngelis, an obstetrician and gynecologist at the University of Vermont Medical Center, and an assistant professor at the Larner College of Medicine at UVM in Burlington, VT. He has developed a specialized app used in a 2-week boot camp that prepares medical students for their residency training in OBGYN. The course focuses on reinforcing core skills and practices for new physicians in training, and the app is designed to provide longevity to the course, allowing continuous review and practice of these essential skills. During this sprint, we will be discussing the user experience of the app and brainstorming ideas to make it as user-friendly as possible for medical students. Our goal is to enhance the app's functionality and features, ensuring it effectively supports the students throughout their training journey. We're excited to collaborate on this project and bring meaningful improvements to Dr. Justin DeAngelis' app.

Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Location: Bluehouse Group 193 S Winooski Ave #100 · Burlington, VT

Code for BTV: Vermont Flooding: Open Street Mapping

In crisis situations such as the unfolding flooding crisis in Vermont having up-to-date digital maps can make a huge difference. Anyone can join us (no previous mapping experience required) to help add buildings, roads, rivers, fields and other details to the Open Street Maps (https://www.openstreetmap.org/) to aid in the response to this disaster all from your home. All you need is a web browser and the ability to trace satellite imagery with a mouse!

The University of Vermont Open Source Program Office (VERSO), Code for BTV, and the Burlington Data Scientist Meetup are hosting a joint virtual Open Street Map Event. In about 5 minutes we'll walk new participants through everything you need to know, then spend the rest of the time mapping. Resources will be provided for those who end up joining late so they can get right to contributing as well. This event is virtual to encourage people to stay where they are for safety, and local expertise is highly desirable.
Details for the event and instructions can be found here: https://verso.w3.uvm.edu/vermont-flood-open-street-mapping/

Tuesday, July 11, 2023 at 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Location: Virtual
https://www.meetup.com/codeforbtv/events/294742981/

Burlington Data Scientist Meetup: How to Create, Find and Work with Open Data

There is a rising movement of openly published datasets that you public can access but should you? In this talk we explore where to find collections of open data, how to understand metadata and licensing, how to create your own datasets from publicly available sources and finally the steps to publish your work following best practices for others to use with a practical example of the data science made possible by openness.
Speakers Giving this talk is Jean-Gabriel Young, an Assistant Professor in Statistics at UVM, and Kendall Fortney, the Program Director for VERSO, the newly created UVM Open Source Program Office
Thursday, October 27, 2022 at 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM EDT
Location: Hula 50 Lakeside Ave · Burlington, VT
https://www.meetup.com/burlington-data-scientists/events/289024821

VERSO Organized Groups

Open Source Connector

Open Source Connector (https://opensourceconnector.com/) is a community event jointly run by University of Vermont and Champlain College and designed to build connections in Vermont between academia, government, and local businesses through open source practices. Open Source Connector events will include activities like workshops, collective problem-solving exercises, and presentations on topics related to open-source software development. They will be hosted alternatively between UVM’s campus, Champlain College’s campus, and local technological hubs like VCET and Hula.

Organizers

Jean-Gabriel Young (Research Assistant Professor – UVM) Mathematics and Statistics at The University of Vermont, VT. His research is at the intersection of statistical inference and complex systems. He is part of the Open-Source Ecosystems and Networks (OCEAN) research group funded by Google Open Source.

Kendall Fortney (Program Director – UVM) – Director of Open Source Program Office (VERSO) at UVM and organizer for the Burlington Data Scientists Meetup since 2016, Kendall has been active in community organizations and the local tech groups for over a decade.

David Kopec (Associate Professor – Champlain College) Computer Science & Innovation, Division of Information Technology & Sciences at Champlain College is a CS educator, author, and open source contributor. David designed the course CSI 280 Innovation II Open Source Software Development about the history, philosophy, and tools of the open source movement. David is the author of four books on programming and computer science. Open source projects he leads are incorporated in many production apps.

Jonathan Ferguson (Assistant Professor – Champlain College) Game Design and Game Production, Division of Communications and Creative Media at Champlain College is a software freedom advocate. Prof. Ferguson has been the Faculty Advisor for the project-based Free and Open Source Technology club at Champlain College since its founding in 2009. With over 27 years of technology experience, spanning careers in Cybersecurity, Software Development, Game Development, and Teaching, Prof. Ferguson maintains particular interests in free and open source software, game technology, game history and game preservation and access. Prof. Ferguson holds a Masters of Science in Managing Innovation in Information Technology from Champlain College.