‘HSE University Can Give Me a Fabulous Opportunity to Make a Great Scientific Career’
Rufino Haroldo Locon, from Guatemala, graduated from the Master's in System Programming at the Faculty of Computer Science in 2024, and now he is a first-year PhD student at MIEM. In his interview with the HSE News Service, he spoke on high-performance computing, the role literature plays in his life, and his plans after graduation.
—Why did you decide to apply to HSE University?
—After visiting Russia in 2017 and 2019, I decided to apply for a master's programme and in November 2020 I took the advice to apply for a scholarship from Rossotrudnichestvo.
My first contact with HSE was through the International Study Tour, which was held online for the first time ever because of the pandemic
After taking the Economics track from the Study Tour, I chose HSE as my first option—I really hoped to enrol here. Then I completed the process through the Russian Embassy in Guatemala and finally I came to Moscow in November of 2021.
—Which subjects do you particularly enjoy and why?
—During my master’s studies, I really enjoyed practical courses because those represent a big challenge for me. For example, Operating Systems, Functional Programming, and especially Parallel Programming, which is now the most important aspect of my specialisation and PhD research.
As a PhD student, the main work is related to my dissertation topic, which includes reading papers and writing my own to be submitted to conferences and journals. Of course, all the information included in those papers come from my own theoretical and practical work under my supervisor's guidance.
—Which lecturers or professors inspire the most respect and interest in you, and why?
—First I can mention Alexander Petrenko, Head of the Master’s in System Programming. He also conducts research at the Ivannikov Institute of System Programming of the Russian Academy of Science (ISPRAS). And of course my PhD supervisor Vasily Pisarev, who also works as a researcher at the Joint Institute of High Temperatures of the Russian Academy of Science (JIHTRAS)
—Which subjects do you find challenging, and why?
—There were two subjects that challenged me a lot during my master's studies: Theoretical Cryptography and of course my thesis work. The first one was because it has a strong background in mathematics, and the second was because I needed to prepare some topics in molecular physics that I never knew about before. Now, as a PhD, the challenge is to conduct and manage my own research and prepare the results to be published in some high level journal or to be presented at a conference. That's the reason I love HSE so much: as students, we can immerse ourselves in multidisciplinary fields.
—What are your scientific interests?
—Right now I'm working on the implementation of algorithms related to molecular dynamics using the cHARISMa supercomputer owned by HSE, and those algorithms are based on parallel programming and GPU programming.
High-performance computing is my focus from this point and for future research work
Actually, right now I'm preparing a poster for the Russian Supercomputing Days Conference next September; it includes the first stage of my dissertation.
Snap questions:
- One subject at HSE you would strongly recommend never missing
- In the System Programming master's, Operating System: Design and Construction. A theoretical, practical, and challenging subject if you really like computers.
- The most challenging and most pleasant parts of life at HSE
- Most challenging: completing deadlines on time. Most pleasant: visiting the Pokrovsky building during a cold evening and sharing a coffee with myself.
- A book, film, or podcast that has influenced your professional thinking
- How to Solve It, a book by George Pólya. It opens your mind to find the way to solve any problem, not only mathematical ones.
- One skill that you believe future specialists should develop
- Versatility, adapting fast to any change and any situation.
- If you had to describe HSE in three words, what would they be?
- My beloved place.
—Are you involved in any extracurricular activities at the university?
—In my free time, I'm the co-host of a book club held in English as part of the Culture Lab project from the International Student Support Office. In recent years, I've also collaborated in organising some exhibitions about the cultures of Latin American countries. I'm glad that HSE promotes those kind of cultural events.
—What are your hobbies and interests outside of your studies?
—I really love literature, specially Latin American writers from the 20th century, the golden age of Latin American literature. I've also had many opportunities to collaborate with the Inostranka Library of Foreign Literature and the Cervantes Institute to show a little bit of the rich culture of my homeland.
—What are your plans after graduation?
—I'm really interested in becoming a teacher and a researcher at HSE. I believe that this university can give me a fabulous opportunity to make a great scientific career in an interdisciplinary atmosphere., and maybe in the future become the head of a scientific laboratory—why not?
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