[mesa-users] using MESA for education

Tue Jun 10 02:54:20 EDT 2014

So a contemporary thread on FB Astronomy page seems to have reached a similar conclusion: Stellar Evolution-on-a-stick is the way to go. 
Check it out (WTTS is Rob Izzard/Evert Glebbeek window to the stars):

…

...

Matteo Cantiello  |  http://matteocantiello.com/
Postdoctoral Fellow,  Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics
Scientific Advisor, Authorea  |  http://authorea.com/

On Jun 10, 2014, at 3:51 AM, Monique Windju <mwindju at ucsc.edu> wrote:

> MESA-on-a-stick:
> 
> I'm happy to help out, since I have one that works. I have MESA on a 16gb (misspoke earlier) and Linux on an 8gb. I setup the linux to run natively on the USB, and it recognizes MESA in the USB. It runs pretty slow (~1.5 hours running 1M_pre_ms_to_wd) but it works. 
> 
> I'm in the middle of finals, but when I'm finished would you be interested in me writing a little "how-to"? 
> 
> 
> Education side:
> 
> I have spoken with two of the students who participated in MESA this quarter. They said the benefit of the session was having the experience of running a real stellar evolution code, and that it engaged their understanding of the course content. One student commented that the test suite documentation was helpful for understanding the purpose of each model. I think for new users/undergrads keeping the documentation updated and referenced in instructional materials would be very helpful.  
> 
> I would be interested in working with the education materials posted on mesastar and discussing them at the summer school. 
> 
> Best,
> Monique
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, Jun 9, 2014 at 2:42 PM, Kevin Moore <klmoore at soe.ucsc.edu> wrote:
> I’d also be happy to help test this out, as I’ll be using MESA in the classroom again in the future.
> 
> I think a USB stick installation would be really useful for an astro class since it lets students focus on running the code and thinking about the physics, rather than debugging installation errors on an OS they’ve never used before. In past experience, asking students to install MESA themselves was successful in the end (as long as there’s a local expert), but ended up stressing people out in practice. Of course, installation would be expected if one was teaching something like a scientific computing class or a MESA bootcamp (or if computing skills were taught as part of the typical undergrad curriculum, but don’t get me started…)
> 
> -Kevin
> 
> On Jun 9, 2014, at 2:21 PM, Steve Kawaler <sdk at iastate.edu> wrote:
> 
>> Rich, et al-
>> 
>> I agree, the name along makes this a must do.  Especially if Rich is point person.  
>> 
>> I'm happy to help; I use MESA when I teach my grad stellar course, and find the 
>> coming-up-to-speed segment is very useful to the students in a more general sense.  I'm
>> very happy to say they've adapted quickly even if, for some, it is their first time working in
>> such an environment.
>> 
>> Of course, I do have ulterior motive in this project succeeding...
>> 
>> -Steve 
>> 
>> Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2014 13:27:03 -0500
>> From: Richard Townsend <townsend at astro.wisc.edu>
>> Subject: Re: [mesa-users] using MESA for education
>> To: Bill Paxton <paxton at kitp.ucsb.edu>
>> Cc: "mesa-users at lists.sourceforge.net \[mesa-users at lists.sourceforge"
>>         <mesa-users at lists.sourceforge.net>
>> Message-ID: <BE9E7DD5-EC5B-453B-B1D1-BFA132FE8539 at astro.wisc.edu>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
>> It goes on the stick!
>> I?m going to start working on this ? email me (anyone) if you would like to participate.
>> On Jun 9, 2014, at 12:04 PM, Bill Paxton <paxton at kitp.ucsb.edu> wrote:
>> > I love the name, "MESA-on-a-stick".  We have to do it just because the name is so great.  ;D
>> >
>> > With that scheme, how do you deal with file output from mesa?   Where does it go?
>> >
>> >
>> 
>> 
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> HPCC Systems Open Source Big Data Platform from LexisNexis Risk Solutions
>> Find What Matters Most in Your Big Data with HPCC Systems
>> Open Source. Fast. Scalable. Simple. Ideal for Dirty Data.
>> Leverages Graph Analysis for Fast Processing & Easy Data Exploration
>> http://p.sf.net/sfu/hpccsystems_______________________________________________
>> 
>> mesa-users mailing list
>> mesa-users at lists.sourceforge.net
>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/mesa-users
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> HPCC Systems Open Source Big Data Platform from LexisNexis Risk Solutions
> Find What Matters Most in Your Big Data with HPCC Systems
> Open Source. Fast. Scalable. Simple. Ideal for Dirty Data.
> Leverages Graph Analysis for Fast Processing & Easy Data Exploration
> http://p.sf.net/sfu/hpccsystems
> _______________________________________________
> mesa-users mailing list
> mesa-users at lists.sourceforge.net
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/mesa-users
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Monique Windju
> mwindju at ucsc.edu
> 
> University of California, Santa Cruz
> Undergraduate Research Fellow at
> Supercomputing Lab for UnderGrads (SLUG)
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> HPCC Systems Open Source Big Data Platform from LexisNexis Risk Solutions
> Find What Matters Most in Your Big Data with HPCC Systems
> Open Source. Fast. Scalable. Simple. Ideal for Dirty Data.
> Leverages Graph Analysis for Fast Processing & Easy Data Exploration
> http://p.sf.net/sfu/hpccsystems_______________________________________________
> mesa-users mailing list
> mesa-users at lists.sourceforge.net
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/mesa-users

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.mesastar.org/pipermail/mesa-users/attachments/20140610/880a2525/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 8.48.58 AM.png
Type: image/png
Size: 53415 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://lists.mesastar.org/pipermail/mesa-users/attachments/20140610/880a2525/attachment.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 8.52.27 AM.png
Type: image/png
Size: 25142 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://lists.mesastar.org/pipermail/mesa-users/attachments/20140610/880a2525/attachment-0001.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 8.49.14 AM.png
Type: image/png
Size: 23890 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://lists.mesastar.org/pipermail/mesa-users/attachments/20140610/880a2525/attachment-0002.png>