Introduction to the Education Center on Computational Science & Engineering 
Presented to College of Arts & Letters Chairs
SH 135 SDSU - 3/26/98 9:30am

Enhancing Undergraduate Curricula with High Performance Computing Tools and Technologies for the California State University System and the National Education Community

National Science Foundation's Division of Advanced Scientific Computing made five year awards supporting two High Performance Computing (HPC) Centers in San Diego (www.npaci.edu) and Champaign-Urbana (alliance.ncsa.uiuc.edu), to build the national infrastructure in HPC through partnerships.
What is the mission of the EC/CSE?
Foster the incorporation of high performance research tools for scientific investigation into the undergraduate curriculum to better prepare learners for post-Baccalaureate activities where
are used in research and problem solving.
Overview of the National Partnership for Advanced Computing Infrastructure:
NPACI (www.npaci.edu/Partners/partner.html) is an association of 39 universities and research centers from 18 states, with SDSC as the leading edge site. The San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) conducts and supports activities in computational science, a third fundamental method for conducting scientific research (in addition to laboratory experimentation and theoretical investigation). Computational Science is defined as using computers (in this context, high performance computers) and related computing technologies (such as applications software, high speed networking, scientific visualization technologies, and large data storage systems) to visualize, analyze, and simulate natural and social phenomena.

Examples of projects underway at the EC/CSE Short descriptions

Topics of Interest to CAL

  • NPACI partnership with the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities ( IATH), Univ. Virginia
  • Upcoming Workshop on our Evaluation of Distance Learning Tools (April 23, '97)
  • Shoah Visual History Foundation : Survivors of the Holocaust Visual History [Spielberg]
  • FACSNet (a service for Journalists)
  • Research use of the Digital Libraries
  • Upcoming presentations at the SDSC

    Examples of collaborations already formed by EC/CSE

    • vBNS proposal coordinated by CSU Chancellor's office. Participatation by SDSU, CalPoly Pomona, and CSU/SB within the CSU (currently under negotiation)
    • NPACI partnership "contract" with the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities (IATH), NPACI partner in Virginia
    • Collaboratory use of GIS over the Internet in instruction (together with NPAC - Syracuse, Dr. Geoffrey Fox), and the experiment in distance teaching of GIS and spatial analysis over the Web (EC/CSE, SDSU  to Geography, WMU, on-going)
    • NSF proposal by Doug Deutschman (SDSU Biology), on chaparral ecosystem simulation modeling and visualization with the SORTIE-like model (with interfaces tuned to student exploration, in particular) - involves EC/CSE (January 1998)
    • Industrial partnership with Mathworks (MATLAB, which now has MapTools) (November 1997)
    • National Endowment for the Humanities proposal with Dr. Bob Hoffman (SDSU Ed Tech) on using VRML to simulate the California mission so that 4th grade students can become docents of the mission and conduct virtual tours. (submitted: October 1997)

    Computer time at SDSC
    • Computer time is available from the remaining SDSU Block Grant of time on the Cray T90 (vector supercomputer) and Cray T3E (parallel supercomputer). This can be obtained by submitting a short application (www.rohan.sdsu.edu/0520Cray.pdf) designed for start-up investigations (maximum 5 hours of Cray T90 time). October 1 signaled the start of NPACI and no new time will be allocated to the SDSU Block Grant. NPACI Resources are allocated quarterly. Education applications are looked upon favorably when on an appropriate platform; research applications are peer-reviewed. A first time, 50 hour allocation, can be obtained through the expedited review process, submitted anytime.

    The suggested mechanism of collaboration with CSU faculty
    • The Education Center staff (Dr. Kris Stewart, Dr. Ilya Zaslavsky and Ms. Dolores Candelario) have prepared descriptions of the opportunities that SDSC and the NPACI offer to the nation, with a focus on identifying opportunities to enhance undergraduate education (accessible from Ed. Center web pages)
    • The presentations and workshops can be followed by individual collaboration with faculty on selected projects related to undergraduate teaching. To date, we have presented at the CSU GIS Committee meeting (in addition to numerous presentations at SDSU), and to CSU Math and Computer Science Chairs meeting; we are scheduled to present to Social Science Research Instructional Council (SSRIC). We have also presented to SDSU Colleges of Sciences, of PSFA and of Engineering, as well as departments of Biology, Geology, and Math & Computer Sciences.
    • Graduate and undergraduate student assistants are available to help faculty and their instructional support staff with educational projects related to high-performance computing in the undergraduate curriculum.

    Information about us:

    What can the EC/CSE do for you?
    Let's set up a presentation to your Department.

    Dr. Kris Stewart (stewart@sdsu.edu), Director
    Dr. Ilya Zaslavsky (zaslavsk@rohan.sdsu.edu), GIS Staff Scientist
    Education Center on Computational Science & Engineering
    San Diego State University, Love Library Addition, Rm 73
    www.edcenter.sdsu.edu