HPC Programming

🗒️ **Details** Grafana 13 just dropped at GrafanaCON 2026 and we're not wasting any time. Join us at Clare & Don's Beach Shack in Falls Church, VA for a free meetup where we dig into what's actually new, what it means for your stack, and where observability is heading. If you work in DevOps, SRE, or platform engineering in the DMV, this is your people. Whether you've been running Grafana for years or you're just getting started, you'll leave with something useful. 📋 **Agenda** 🎉 **5:30 – 6:00 — Kick-Off & Check-In** Grab a plate of food, meet the people around you, and get settled in. We're at Clare & Don's so the vibes are already taken care of! 🎙️ **6:00 – 6:30 — Rob Santos: Grafana 13 & AI in Observability** Grafana Assistant is now baked into the platform and it changes a lot. Rob breaks down what's new in Grafana 13, how AI is reshaping the way teams monitor and troubleshoot, and what it actually looks like in practice. No sales pitch, just real talk. [Rob Santos, Senior Solutions Engineer @ Grafana Labs](https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-j-santos/) 🎙️ **6:30 – 7:00 — Christopher Field: Building ML-Powered Apps with Grafana** Christopher shares how Theia Scientific built a custom application platform that combines Grafana, machine learning, and Jupyter notebooks to power materials research and non-destructive testing workflows. A cool real-world example of Grafana being used way outside the typical use case. *[Christopher Field, Co-Founder, President & Principal Investigator @ Theia Scientific](https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisrfield/)* 💬 **7:00 – 7:45 — Networking & Open Q&A** Bring your questions, your war stories, and your opinions. This is where the good conversations happen. 🔚 **7:45 – 8:00 — Wrap Up** *** **Spots are free but limited — grab yours before they're gone.** We look forward to seeing you there! **Parking info** — your best bet is the free public parking garage located next to the Whole Foods Market nearby. It's easy to find and the most convenient option. *** 📌 **P.S.** Stick around until the end — we're raffling off two things: 🎁 A Grafana swag bundle 🔧 A $100 gift card to Craftsman Autoshop in Vienna, VA with a goodie basket

Join us for our May happy hour! For those that don't drink, the bar has mocktails and sodas. **Getting there:** * Punchbowl is on the end of the building, **across from South Block** We plan to be on the first floor bar, right when you walk in. * **Metro:** PB is a block and a half away from the Ballston Metro stop * **Parking:** there is street parking and the mall also offers really cheap parking. $1 an hour for the first three hours.

We connect you with up to 30 Men or Women tennis partners close to your PLAYING REGION and skill level. This program is less competitive, no champions crowned, no league standings just dedicated tennis partners who want to meet up with you on the courts. Players will meet up to play a tennis match or just to hit around. Just go through the [Join Page](https://www.tennisdc.com/partner-program) to enter this program. [https://www.tennisdc.com/partner-program](https://www.tennisdc.com/partner-program)

# 🤖 **Build With Me #2:** Build Your Personal AI Machine, Live 🗓 Wednesday \| 6–8 PM 📍 Venue: AWS Skills Center You’ve seen it in action… Now you want one for yourself! In this session, we’ll set up your own AI system capable of building and developing anything you can think up. *** ## ⚡ What You’ll See * Setting up your own AI system in real time to think, build, and operate any product or business * Connecting AWS, ChatGPT, OpenClaw, and Telegram into one working system * Using your phone or computer to develop ideas, research questions, discuss specs, and ship real products *** ## 🧠 What You’ll Learn * We’ll create your own personal AI assistant live together * How AI can help you keep building websites, app ideas, business tools, and other projects from anywhere *** ## 🧰 Tools We’ll Explore * OpenClaw * AWS * ChatGPT * Telegram *** ## 🎯 Who This Is For * Beginners to advanced who want a practical AI setup they can use right away for any idea * People with business ideas, app ideas, or side projects they want help moving forward * Anyone who attended Session 1 *** # What to Bring * Your laptop so we can set up the tools. \*You do not need to know AWS or the other tools before coming. \*Anyone can join even if you missed session 1. One setup. The most powerful digital machine ever known, in your pocket..

### Drop-In Improv Class — Beginner Friendly **Improv for good people.** Join us for a fun, beginner-friendly drop-in improv class focused on play, laughter, and connection — in a supportive, no-pressure environment. You don’t need performance experience, improv training, or a “funny personality.” You just need a willingness to try. *** ### What to expect Each session includes: * Friendly introductions * Easy warm-ups * Guided short-form improv games * Lots of laughter in a small, welcoming group The exercises are inspired by shows like *Whose Line Is It Anyway?*, but the focus is on participation, not performance. *** ### A few important reassurances ✔ You don’t need to be “funny” ✔ You don’t need improv experience ✔ You *do* need curiosity and a willingness to play Everything is explained clearly, and you’re never put on the spot. *** ### Who this class is for This class is a great fit if you: * Are curious about improv but a little nervous * Want to meet new people in a genuinely welcoming space * Enjoy playful learning and low-pressure activities * Want a break from overthinking and daily stress Many people arrive unsure and leave smiling. *** ### How Meetup fits in Many participants first discover Laughy Place Improv through Meetup, attend a class or two, and then decide whether they’d like to continue by booking future classes directly through the website. There’s no pressure — Meetup is meant to be an easy, friendly way to try things out. *** ### Location & logistics 📍 **Theatre on the Run** 3700 S Four Mile Run Dr, Arlington, VA Parking and entrance are on the opposite side of the building from Four Mile Run Drive. Use the door labeled **“Arlington Cultural Affairs – Main Entrance.”** Ring the doorbell to be buzzed in. Sunday classes are usually in room 174 and Wednesday classes are usually in room 147, but you can check the class list by the concierge desk to be certain. I’ll be in the room about 20 minutes early to set up and meet folks as they arrive. If you can, please come a few minutes before the scheduled start time so we can kick things off together. *** Looking forward to laughing with you!

\-\-\-\-\-\- [REGISTER FOR THE EVENT HERE (ON LUMA)!](https://luma.com/kfs3cotc) \-\-\-\-\-\- Join us for an evening of collaborative problem-solving as we work on a variety of civic tech projects together. Project needs vary but often include brainstorming, researching, writing, coding, or analyzing data. Check out [our website](https://www.civictechdc.org/projects) for a list of projects which may make an appearance! Meet other civic tech enthusiasts. Learn new skills. Contribute to a project to improve a local civic issue. **All are welcome and collaboration is encouraged.** Laptops are recommended but not required. **Where do I register?** To better serve our growing community, we’re transitioning our event registrations to Luma! **We still love Meetup** Meetup has been an incredible platform for us to build and connect with our community. We’ll continue sharing upcoming events there so that new people can find us, but Luma will be our primary registration platform moving forward. **Why we're making the switch** Meetup’s registration system has some limitations, and we need more flexibility to manage sign-ups and engagement. \-\-\-\-\-\- [REGISTER FOR THE EVENT HERE (ON LUMA)!](https://luma.com/kfs3cotc) \-\-\-\-\-\-

Hello everyone! Who doesn't love discussing AI over mini-golf! We'll be meeting at Starr Hill Tysons Biergarten at the top of the Capital One Building. There's mini-golf, corn-hole, and beer on tap. Come have some fun! Guaranteed fun time, or else your first putt is free :) **Location:** Starr Hill Tysons Biergarten, 1805 Capital One Dr S Suite 1100, Tysons, VA 22102 **\*\* We're on the Roof! \*\*** **Overview:** Join us at AI Innovators Network for our upcoming meetup in Tysons dedicated to exploring the latest trends in Artificial Intelligence. Whether you're an AI enthusiast, a professional, or someone curious about the intersection of technology and AI, this event is perfect for networking, learning, and sharing insights. Connect with like-minded individuals from DC, Northern Virginia, and Maryland as we dive deep into the opportunities and challenges of integrating AI. Don't miss this opportunity to be part of the conversation driving innovation and progress in Artificial Intelligence.

**For Information Only, as I may or may not attend.** The Seventh Annual Old Town Festival of Speed & Style Exotic Cars, Motorcycles, Fashion, and Fun! Lower Blocks of King Street and Market Square in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia [https://festivalofspeedandstyle.com/home](https://festivalofspeedandstyle.com/home) Share only your very best, most interesting shots after the field trip, and keep it down to between 5 and 10 photos. By sending in an RSVP and joining this meetup event hosted by the Virginia Beltway Photography Meetup, I am also agreeing to the terms of the following release and waiver of liability, which shall be binding on my heirs, executors, administrators, successors, and assigns. In consideration of my (and my child’s) participation in the Virginia Beltway Photography Meetup, I do hereby release, discharge, and hold harmless the Organizer, its members, officers, directors, employees, and the leader(s) of this event from any and all liability by reason of any damage, loss, expenses, or injury arising from my (and my child’s) participation in this event, including that caused solely or in part by the fault of any and all of the above-named parties.

MoCo Code and Coffee is an inclusive, informal, co-working session. We're community-led and community-run by devs, for devs. People of all skill levels are invited. Especially new devs! Bring a laptop, ideas, and we'll provide the coffee and snacks. **Here's how it works** At 2:30pm, everyone introduces themselves and briefly mention what brought them to Code & Coffee today (project, homework, networking, etc.) Round 1: 1. Your name 2. What you're working on 3. What you can help others with Round 2: * Job opportunities you're hiring for OR announce that you are looking for one. If none, that's cool. Round 3: * Community events you wanna plug. If none, that's cool too. **After the introduction circle, everything is self-organized!** 1. For the rest of the day, folks work on their projects, providing one another with help, and/or socialize. It's fully up to you. **Location** We will be at the cafeteria of the County Executive Office Building in Rockville. 101 Monroe Street, Rockville, MD 20850 The event will be held in a spacious cafeteria with plenty of tables and chairs. Light refreshments (coffee and tea) and snacks will be provided. **Parking** * Visitor Parking is available at the First Level of the Council Office Building Parking Garage. Entrance only from East Jefferson and Monroe Street intersection. More information is here: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/mcg/direction-to-eob.html * PLEASE NOTE: The garage referenced above is ACROSS THE STREET from the Executive Office Building. This is NOT the garage at the base of the Executive Office Building structure - that one is for employee and permit parking only. * If that garage is not available, there may be street parking available. The Rockville Town Square garages have up to 90 minutes of free parking are not too far away. Parking at the Rockville Metro station would be free on weekends. **Public transit** * Located near near the **Rockville** metro station (Red Line).

Want to mess with some electronics? Or perhaps contribute to HacDC's main group project? HacDC's latest event brings hardware projects to the community. We will focus primarily on the main project (Space Blimp!) but please feel free to bring some of your own projects to show off and work on!

Discover the power of your breath to manage your mind and experience instant peace & calm. Join a 60-minute free Workshop and get a glimpse of the Sudarshan KriyaTM- The breathing technique that is revolutionizing the lives of millions. What you’ll discover at ‘Beyond Breath’ ✔ A taste of the Sudarshan KriyaTM, a breathing technique taught in the Happiness Program ✔ An instant energy booster that awakens & relaxes your mind - Take it home and practice daily! ✔ The peace & calm of a unique guided meditation ✔ Secret keys to manage your mind ✔ The power of surrounding yourself with positive, like-minded people. You can use your breath to master your thoughts and emotions - the key to managing the quality of your day. The Happiness Program At the end of this workshop you may enroll into the Happiness Program (3 days, 3 hours each day) to learn the Sudarshan KriyaTM, a science-backed, rhythmic breathing technique through which you can: Tap into a reservoir of energy and use it as you please! Relieve deep-rooted stresses and anxieties Uplevel your productivity Overcome emotional blocks, move on from past events and shed limiting beliefs Heal your body & gain power over your mind Experience the true state of meditation Learn more about the Happiness Program & the Sudarshan KriyaTM in our introductory workshop 'Secrets to Meditation'. register: http://aolf.live/introSKY

Join your HacDC Squad for a fun gaming session. Plan for 5/16/2026: Clone Hero (Guitar Hero clone) Deep Rock Galactic (on sale for $9 right now) L4D2 ($10) Last Train Outta' Wormtown (Free to join a lobby) Straftat (Free) Halo Infinite (Free) Suggested donation $10, NOTAFLOF Our Discord link is [https://discord.gg/YTeBg2fEgX](https://discord.gg/YTeBg2fEgX) Send a message to the #let-me-in channel upon arriving under the Gala theater marquee.

Healthcare organizations are increasingly using cloud-based real-world evidence (RWE) platforms to power clinical research, population health analytics, and AI-driven insights. However, building these systems on AWS introduces complex governance challenges around privacy, compliance, and multi-institution collaboration. This session explores how to architect data governance into healthcare analytics platforms on AWS, focusing on practical design patterns rather than policy theory. We examine how ethical data stewardship principles such as consent, accountability, and responsible data use, can be implemented using cloud-native controls and services. The presentation walks through key architectural considerations for secure RWE platforms on AWS, including role-based access control, auditability, data minimization, and encryption, and how these capabilities support compliance requirements such as HIPAA and GDPR. Attendees will learn how federated, multi-account AWS architectures enable collaboration across institutions while preserving local data ownership and control. We will also discuss privacy-preserving analytics patterns on AWS, including approaches that support federated learning, differential privacy, and secure computation to enable AI-driven insights without exposing raw patient data. Practical implementation trade-offs such as performance, scalability, and operational complexity will be highlighted using real-world platform scenarios. Attendees will leave with actionable AWS architecture patterns and governance strategies for building secure, compliant, and scalable real-world evidence platforms that unlock innovation while maintaining patient trust.

[Profs and Pints Northern Virginia](https://www.profsandpints.com/washingtondc) presents: **“How AI Alters Thinking,”** on dealing with artificial intelligence’s capacity to change and undermine our thought processes, with Eli Alshanetsky, assistant professor of philosophy at Temple University, principal investigator at its Cognitive Integrity Lab, and author of an upcoming book on AI and freedom of thought. [Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at [https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/nv-how-ai-alters](https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/nv-how-ai-alters) .] Doctors who give bad advice can be sued for malpractice. Teachers belong to a profession with set standards. When artificial intelligence guides you, however, that guidance comes with a disclaimer: Use at your own risk. Every day millions of people take that risk, and usually AI seems genuinely helpful. But even if AI gives us good answers, might its use over time do bad things to how we think? Explore the relationship between AI and our own minds with Eli Alshanetsky, whose Cognitive Integrity Lab studies how artificial intelligence changes how we think, learn, and build trust. Author of *Articulating a Thought* and the upcoming book F*reedom of Thought in the Age of AI*, he’s on the cutting edge of efforts to answer AI-related questions such as: How can we tell when work is truly our own? How can technology support rather than replace authorship and reflection? What does trust mean when AI mediates our relationships with others and with our own thoughts? To set up his discussion of potential consequences of AI, he’ll describe how social media’s impact on society serves as a preview. Social media didn’t just give people what they wanted to click on, it actually changed what they regarded as click-worthy. It broke attention spans and fueled radicalization across millions of very different people. It left us with people who doom-scroll for hours, who can’t focus, who don’t know what to trust anymore. If you’d shown people this version of themselves ten years ago, would they have chosen it? Artificial intelligence is making a similar deal with us, but the stakes are higher. It isn’t chasing clicks. It’s optimized for giving you the most satisfying response to whatever is on your mind right now. The risk over time isn’t just that you’ll get lazy. More profoundly, even when you think hard, your sense of what counts as good thinking—as well as what sounds like you—will shift to match what AI has been feeding you. We’ll consider what kind of person this produces and whether this is someone we want to be or want children to become. Professor Alshanetsky will lay out a practical framework, which he calls “the interaction layer,” for using AI without letting it replace the thinking it’s supposed to support. He’ll also talk about what AI-related concerns should be the focus of parents and educators. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later.) Image: Illustration by David S. Soriano / Creative Commons.

Bring your work or your hobby, hang out, and code with us. Follow @buckeyecocoa for more information.

**Improving Office in Franklinton** Physical location: Improving Office 330 Rush Alley Suite #150 Columbus, OH 43215 Schedule: 6:00 p.m.: Socialize, eat, and drink. Improving will be providing pizza and beverages. 6:30 to 8:00 pm. Main meeting and presentation(s). Topic: This month John Lairson will share a notebook describing the Alpaca (Paper) Trading API and discuss different algorithms for evaluating stock trades. We meet on the last Monday of each Month. Presentations are given by members and friends of this group. If you would like to do a presentation (small or large) on a python topic, please contact Central OH Python at centralohpython@gmail.com

**Important time note:** Please plan on arriving between 5:30 and 6:00 as the elevators lock after 6 and you'll need to message us and we'll need to come get you. The building address is 4450 Bridge Park The entrance is 6620 Mooney St, Suite 400 You will need to scan your ID at the door to get a visitor badge. **Abstract** TBD **YouTube Link** TBD

We connect you with up to 30 Men or Women tennis partners close to your PLAYING REGION and skill level. This program is less competitive, no champions crowned, no league standings just dedicated tennis partners who want to meet up with you on the courts. Players will meet up to play a tennis match or just to hit around. Just go through the [Join Page](https://www.tenniscolumbus.com/partner-program) to enter this program. [https://www.tenniscolumbus.com/partner-program](https://www.tenniscolumbus.com/partner-program)

**Latest Dojo Location!** **Knotty Pine Brewing** 1765 W 3rd Ave, Columbus, OH 43212 We're going to try a new dojo location for a few weeks and see how it works Dojos are informal Python group study sessions where everyone interested in Python gathers to learn about Python, help others with Python, or just hang out. Everyone is welcome from Python beginners to experts. Bringing a laptop is encouraged (we'll have extension cords and power strips). If there's something you want to learn leave a comment on this invite so we can plan ahead. We're looking for speakers for our Monthly Meetups! Fill out the form if you are interested in presenting to the Python Community. https://forms.gle/ehSfUAC2WgR34Crq9

Whether you've never done improv before, or you've done it for so long you knew Del Close on a personal level, or anywhere in between, come join us! Swing by *Gresso's* for the **Columbus Improv Comedy Meetup** for some fun and games! The idea behind improv is to create entire scenes from scratch based on a suggestion from the audience. This can be done in game form, like *Whose Line Is It Anyway*, *ComedySportz*, or *Wild 'n Out*; it could also be done to tell stories, like *Middleditch and Schwartz*. Our meetup, which is central Ohio's longest running (and free!) weekly comedy event, brings the games (and occasionally different forms) for you to play in a safe, supportive, and compassionate environment. Not only is it a lot of fun, but you get to work on thinking faster on your feet, plus it's an excellent way to meet new people and make friendships that'll last a lifetime! Ask yourself if you want to join the **Columbus Improv Comedy Meetup**, and say "Yes, And" that you'll have fun!

FREE event [https://www.ccad.edu/chroma](https://www.ccad.edu/chroma) Friday, May 15, 3–7 p.m. CCAD campus, 60 Cleveland Ave, Columbus, OH Join Columbus College of Art & Design for *2025* *Chroma: Best of CCAD*, our annual campuswide exhibition showcasing outstanding student work from across the college’s academic programs. This faculty-juried show features select work from CCAD students of all class years, and is a can’t-miss end-of-year campus celebration recognizing their tremendous achievements. It’ll be a night of fun and entertainment, with interactive games, animation and film screenings, art symposiums, poetry and prose readings, and more (along with some of the best local food trucks). *Chroma* is free and open to all. Many exhibitions including... **Game Art & Design:** **DSB, first floor, Welcome Center lobby and Room 115**