Julita Inca Chiroque, Research Community Lead
Meet Julita Inca Chiroque, Research Community Lead in the ITS-Research team. In this profile Julita tells us about their work in High Performance Computing, tells us what Women’s History Month (taking place this month) means to her, and about Speaking Practice courses and Postgraduate training for writing skills available at Queen Mary.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how long you've worked at Queen Mary?
I am Julita Inca from Peru and have worked at Queen Mary for almost two years. I am a Linux enthusiast, and this led me to pursue a postgraduate education and gain professional experience in using High Performance Computing in the USA and UK. I recently earned international recognition in Women Igniting Innovation in HPC 2025. I have also received awards such as Women Outreach GNOME winner 2011, ACM CSCW Seattle Washington USA winner 2012, Fedora Ambassador since 2012, IBM Awarded for Innovation 2014, Linux Foundation winner 2015, STEM Internship and Fellowships ORISE 2018, and John Fisher High Performance Computing (HPC) Scholarship winner 2018.
Describe your average day/week
I mostly coordinate with other teams and schools at Queen Mary when I am designing High Performance Computing (HPC) events. HPC is a tool that helps speed up researchers' simulations. Queen Mary owns an HPC cluster called Apocrita.
I usually start my days checking emails, Redmine tickets, and messages on slack and Teams. When I work from home, I usually call new HPC users to assist them online and to familiarise them with Apocrita. On Friday all the ITS-Research team works from Dept W, and this is when I hold in-person meetings with our users if they require training on Apocrita.
Are there any key projects you are currently working on that you'd like to highlight?
This year, I am planning and organising two HPC workshops per month serving a variety of schools at Queen Mary. There is an upcoming HPC Storage event on Friday 16 May, with the support of two experts in that field, Peter Childs and Daniel Howard. In total plan to conduct 25 HPC events in 2025.
I have also been given an exclusive website dedicated to the HPC events I am leading, and the HPC community that I am currently forming. This website will not only be for the purpose of learning and improving HPC skills, but it will also encourage individuals to share knowledge and support other users with their research using HPC. This way we will all gain proficiency.
Additionally, I am helping Agnieszka Jankowska to organise the IT Students Festival, which is taking place on Friday 11 April, all are very welcome to join us!
This month Queen Mary is marking Women's History Month, can you tell us what this month means to you?
When I started university in Peru, I shared a classroom with only a few ladies. As I started working in IT, it was the same situation. At IBM Peru, I was the only woman who had the Red Hat Enterprise Certification. At that time, there were only a few women in all Latin America with that Linux diploma. When I worked abroad, I encountered the same scenario. I was the first woman in the HPC CADES team among all men in the USA, in the HPC team at UKAEA, and in ITS-Research at Queen Mary.
I feel that this month generates an air of confidence for women and strengthens the bonds among them. A few weeks ago, thanks to the support of my colleagues, Agi, Panny and Nic, we were able to hold an event for Women in IT at Queen Mary. We all were energised and empowered by this integration event. Our CIO Dr Rachel Bence was also supportive, and I was very glad to see us all unite to celebrate our successes.
What do you think is your role in helping the University achieve its strategy 2030?
The Queen Mary strategy is based on two main core areas of activity: education and the student experience, and research and innovation. In that regard, I am educating and providing researchers at Queen Mary with Linux and HPC skills through the training sessions I organise. There are techniques and tools that are crucial to improve their simulations and research. Most Postgraduate Researchers (PGRs) benefit from this, and they publish papers using this HPC technology. So, the more competent they are in using Apocrita, the more simulations and tests can be run to achieve better and more accurate results in their research. I am doing my best to deliver material with content according to their school's needs and preparing tailored instruction for each session.
However, I am also aware of the learning retention rate of many students, and that is why I will apply my "learning that lasts" plan by creating HPC videos. This will help to pass on my HPC knowledge for newcomers and for those who want to use our Apocrita cluster better.
What is your favourite place on any of our campuses?
I have delivered HPC training sessions at Queens Building, the Garrod Building, BLOC in Arts, and in many other different meeting rooms at Dept W. I shared some festive days like Christmas and other IT barbecue meetings next to the river inside the campus, and also shared lunch time with my colleagues on the roof at Dept W. At the end of the day, I realised that it is not about the place, it is about the people and how we interacted and bonded in that place.
One of my favourite routines when I get to my workplace is first saying hi to Sandra Radaviciene at the coffee shop, even if I am not buying any coffee, she is always cheerful and makes me start my day with a big smile.
Do you have any hobbies, pastimes outside of work?
I am a foodie person that loves dancing and singing. So, cooking from scratch is one of my passions. I like to watch films that are hard to predict or have ambiguous endings. Movies related to history, inspirational ones, and comedies are my favourites. I also belong to dancing groups in London. I try to go to the gym, where I also enjoy swimming. The swimming pool represents paradise for me because it reminds me of the beach which makes me quite happy. Last but not least, keeping an active relationship with my friends and family is also important, I am blessed to have them, at least online.
Are there any Queen Mary activities you'd recommend staff getting involved with/is there any training you have done with Queen Mary or externally that you'd recommend?
Queen Mary offers a wide range of courses to acquire or improve skills at a personal and professional level. As a non-native speaker of English, I have taken a course in Speaking Practice and Postgraduate training for writing style to improve my spoken English. I also liked a management course I took recently.
My colleague Nicola Redwin has the idea of starting a Book Club at Dept W, on the second Wednesday of each month. I am extremely excited about this because I would be motivated to read more, an activity I enjoy but sometimes neglect.