Hacky Hour

Queensland currently has Hacky Hours at four universities.

Hacky Hour occurs weekly (monthly at USQ Springfield) and its aim is to help researchers (staff and students) with research-related IT problems.

Hacky Hour is free, informal and all researchers are welcome to drop in for advice, or offer their IT expertise to help others.

Researchers attend Hacky Hour to ask or answer research-related IT questions. Popular topics for discussion include high performance computing (HPC), cloud computing, general programming, R, Python, data processing, data storage, and data management.

Check the relevant Hacky Hour's Twitter feed for updates as occasionally a Hacky Hour is cancelled for a particular week when the regular IT experts are unavailable. Also check Twitter in case any details about the university's Hacky Hour change in the future, e.g. its day, time or venue. Hacky Hour organisers may revise these details if an alternative proves more convenient for researchers.

Want to set up a Hacky Hour at your institution? Amanda Miotto, QCIF's eResearch Analyst at Griffith University, has created a Hacky Hour Handbook. Amanda co-founded Griffith's Hacky Hour in August 2015.

Please note: Hacky Hours end for the year in early to mid-December, and resume in late January or early February the following year. Check the relevant Hacky Hour's Twitter feed for updates.

The University of Queensland

Day: Tuesdays
Time: 3pm–4pm
Location: Café Nano, St Lucia campus
Twitter: @HackyHourStLuc
Website: hackyhourstluc.wordpress.com
Contact: Dr Nick Hamilton (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Special sessions (in addition to the usual research IT questions):

Bioinformatics Hacky Hour: First Tuesday of the month — come and ask bioinformatics analysis, software and pipeline questions.
BioLab Hacky Hour: Last Tuesday of the month — experts will answer your experimental design and technical sample processing questions to get you started in the lab.

Queensland University of Technology

Day: Thursdays
Time: 2pm–3pm
Location: The Pantry cafe, Gardens Point campus
Twitter: @GPHackyHour
Website: QUT’s Hacky Hour currently does not have a website
Contact: David Warne (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or Jason D'Netto (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Griffith University

Day: Thursdays
Time: 2pm–3pm
Location: G’s Wine Bar, Nathan or G’s Café, Gold Coast. Griffith's Hacky Hour alternates weekly between the Nathan and Gold Coast campuses.
Twitter: @hackyhourGU
Website: griffith.edu.au/hackyhour
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

University of Southern Queensland — Toowoomba

Day: Wednesdays
Time: 2pm–3pm
Location: USQ Toowoomba Refectory, next to the blackboard.
Twitter: @USQ_eResearch
Website: https://www.usq.edu.au/research/events/2019/2/hacky-hour-tmba-feb-thirteen
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

University of Southern Queensland — Springfield

Day: Monthly on Tuesdays (check the QRIScloud training calendar for exact dates)
Time: 10am–3:30pm
Location: Room B319, Springfield campus
Twitter: @USQ_eResearch
Website: https://www.usq.edu.au/research/events/2018/03/eresearch-hacky-day-mar
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

USQ eResearch Services 2019 Hacky Hour Schedule

Month	Day	Event	Venue	Frequency
February	12/2/19	Hacky Day Springfield	Springfield B319	Monthly
	13/2/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	20/2/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	27/2/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
March	6/3/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	12/3/19	Hacky Day Springfield	Springfield B319	Monthly
	13/3/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	19/3/19	Hacky Day Ipswich	Ipswich B340	Quarterly
	20/3/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	27/3/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
April	3/4/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	9/4/19	Hacky Day Springfield	Springfield B319	Monthly
	10/4/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	17/4/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	24/4/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
May	1/5/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	8/5/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	14/5/19	Hacky Day Springfield	Springfield B319	Monthly
	15/5/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	22/5/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	29/5/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
June	5/6/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	11/6/19	Hacky Day Springfield	Springfield B319	Monthly
	12/6/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	18/6/19	Hacky Day Ipswich	Ipswich B340	Quarterly
	19/6/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	26/6/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
July	3/7/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	9/7/19	Hacky Day Springfield	Springfield B319	Monthly
	10/7/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	17/7/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	24/7/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	31/7/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
August	7/8/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	13/8/19	Hacky Day Springfield	Springfield B319	Monthly
	14/8/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	21/8/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	28/8/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
September	4/9/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	10/9/19	Hacky Day Springfield	Springfield B319	Monthly
	11/9/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	17/9/19	Hacky Day Ipswich	Ipswich B340	Quarterly
	18/9/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	25/9/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
October	2/10/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	8/10/19	Hacky Day Springfield	Springfield B319	Monthly
	9/10/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	16/10/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	23/10/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	30/10/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
November	6/11/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	12/11/19	Hacky Day Springfield	Springfield B319	Monthly
	13/11/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	20/11/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	27/11/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
December	4/12/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	10/12/19	Hacky Day Springfield	Springfield B319	Monthly
	11/12/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly
	17/12/19	Hacky Day Ipswich	Ipswich B340	Quarterly
	18/12/19	Hacky Hour Toowoomba	Toowoomba - Refectory next to the black board	Weekly

Events

SIGGRAPH Asia 2019

17–20 November 2019, Brisbane

Webinar: Overview of Containers in HPC

21 February 2019, online

Light Microscopy Australia Conference & IMB Microscopy Workshop

5–8 March 2019

Tech Talk: Earth Science Information Quality

1 March 2019, online & nationwide

News

QCIF to give ReDBox talk at eResearch NZ

QCIF will attend the eResearch New Zealand conference this month to present a talk about ReDBox, the QCIF-developed open source research data management platform.

Software Carpentry workshops in QLD

QCIF is kicking off 2018 with its first Software Carpentry workshop of the year: ‘Introduction to Python’ at Griffith’s Gold Coast campus, 7–9 February.

Amanda Miotto wins Women in Tech award

Amanda Miotto, QCIF's Griffith University-based eResearch Analyst, won the ICT Professional Award at the 2018 Women in Technology (WiT) Awards in Brisbane last month.

Team Yarning claims top prize at Health Hack Brisbane

A culturally sensitive app’ using storytelling to help end-of-life care for Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people claimed first prize at this year’s Brisbane Health Hack.

QCIF Projects

Live traffic congestion mapping

Providing travellers with real-time information on traffic conditions and congestion in the South East Queensland area.

Visualisation of methane gas on Little Nerang Dam

The interactive 3D visualisation shows how the greenhouse gas is generated in the dam's sedement zone. It allows non-technical stakeholders to make better informed decisions about methane management.

Improving the Automated force field Topology Builder (ATB) and repository

Helping the UQ Molecular Dynamics group to improve the capacity of their software to handle at least 100 molecules at a time, up from 20, QCIF has enabled the group to continue its disease research at the cutting edge.

Tropical Data Hub

The Tropical Data Hub (TDH) is a JCU developed centralised data store making it easier for researchers to manage data related to the tropics. An open portal, it facilitates a multi-disciplinary approach to issues around climate change and conservation.

Adapting to climate change: Terra Nova

There's an important distinction between climate change and climate change adaptation. Research into climate change looks at questions of how the climate is changing and how this change will affect the environment. Climate change adaptation looks at how we can respond to these changes – how we can reduce the impacts of stresses on human and natural systems including our cities and regions, our agriculture and aquaculture, and the biodiversity of our environment, and how we can harness any beneficial opportunities. In other words, what should we do to prepare and adapt?