NHERI Computational Academy Data Report 2024

This report summarizes the 2024 evaluation of the NHERI Computational Academy (NCA) conducted by TACC’s STEM Evaluation Services team. The team examined the implementation, outcomes, and impacts of the NCA using the NHERI Computational Academy survey. The NCA survey gathered information on participants’ background, their satisfaction with the academy, their knowledge gained, whether and how they plan to use what they learned, and their suggestions for improvement.

The NCA survey findings indicated high overall satisfaction among participants. Respondents reported substantial gains in multiple areas, including SimCenter and DesignSafe tools, data analysis, programming, and specific projects or topics. In addition, participants valued the training sessions, assignments, hands-on experiences, and networking opportunities provided by the NCA. Many plan to apply what they learned in the NCA to their own research and established meaningful connections with other researchers. The NCA participants suggested extending the duration of the academy, going into more details on the learning content, mentoring and teaching more efficiently, accommodating various levels of prior knowledge, managing project groups better, offering more hands-on opportunities, and providing more information on the projects early on.