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David Hofer: My internship at CSCS

CSCS offers internships at various levels and in most organizational units. We sat down with David Hofer, who joined the Scientific Software Engineering Unit for an internship at CSCS and asked him to tell us about his experience.

October 16, 2024 - by CSCS

Could you briefly introduce yourself?

My name is David Hofer, and I am a cyber security master’s student at ETH Zürich. This summer was the first since the beginning of my studies that was not packed with exams, so I decided to use the time for a summer internship.  

What fascinates you in the world of supercomputing?

I am fascinated by how algorithms and computing are used to solve important and challenging problems. And supercomputing at the largest possible scale, be it climate and weather modelling, machine learning, or other computational scientific research, is exactly that.

David Hofer during the presentation of his internship work. (Image: CSCS)
David Hofer during the presentation of his internship work. (Image: CSCS)

How did you first hear about CSCS?

I first heard about it during a course on parallel computing taught by Torsten Hoefler, who is also the Chief Architect for Machine Learning at CSCS. However, I also came across it in various posts and articles online.  

Why did you want to intern at CSCS?

It is a very interesting environment. CSCS is where computer science, natural sciences, and engineering converge. Its close association with ETH Zürich makes it a natural and convenient place for me to work.  

What projects have you worked on so far during your internship at CSCS?

During my internship, I built a tool called py2spack. It can be used for automatically converting Python code packages to Spack, which is a popular package manager designed for HPC (high-performance computing).  

How would you describe a regular day as an intern at CSCS?

I usually come to the office between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m., grab a coffee and maybe some fruit, and go to work at my desk until it’s time to get lunch, which I often take with coworkers. Once or twice a week, I would also chat with my supervisor to discuss how the project is going, address current challenges, and get feedback. The work environment is quite relaxed and very flexible regarding where and when you work. I enjoyed that freedom and the option to work from home, but it's also nice to come to the office and see some people.  

What will you take home from this experience?

I learned a lot during my time here. I improved my applied software engineering skills and learned how to collaborate on an open-source project. This is very different from the personal or code projects I had worked on before, and I am very happy I had that uniquely challenging and rewarding experience.