Computational Science & Engineering

meeting national needs

Steven F. Ashby

SIAG-CSE Chair

March 24, 2003

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Computational science challenges arise in a variety of applications

Computational science is emerging as its own discipline

Simulation is becoming a peer to theory and experiment in the process of scientific discovery

Integration is the key—domain science expert—applied mathematician —computer scientist

Turbulence Fusion

Environment

Biology

Lasers

Materials

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Applied Mathand CS

Science and

EngineeringApplications

Computational Applied Math Domain Science

Science Computer Science Engineering+=

BiologyPhysicsChemistryEngineeringEnvironmental

Mathsparse linear solversnonlinear equationsdifferential eqnsmultilevel methodsAMR techniquesoptimizationeigenproblems

CSdata managementdata miningvisualizationprogram’g modelslanguages, OScompilers, debuggersarchitectural issues

Computational scientists bring applied mathematics and computer science capabilities to bear on challenging problems in science and engineering

Computational Science & Engineering is a team effort!

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Our focus has been on solving PDEs on increasingly finer meshes

Traditional supercomputing applications involve the solution of a PDE on a computational grid—computational fluid dynamics—oil reservoir and groundwater management—stockpile stewardship— ICF and MFE applications

Bigger machines and smarter algorithms have allowed more realistic simulations—Moore’s Law and massively parallel computers

have provided unprecedented computing power—scalable algorithms enable large-scale

simulations

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Imagine the future of computational science by looking at today’s challenges

Consider the process of scientific simulation—software development —problem definition and simulation setup—data analysis and understanding

There has been no equivalent of Moore’s Law for how we develop our software

Increasingly complex simulations often require months to set up and months to analyze the results

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Investment needed in several areas (illustrative, not exhaustive)

Multi-level methods for multi-scale problems

Rapid problem setup tools (mesh generation and discretization methods for complex geometries)

Flexible software frameworks and interoperable s/w components for rapid application development

Computer architectures & performance optimization

Information exploitation (data management, image analysis, info/data visualization, data mining)

Systems engineering to integrate simulation, sensors, and info analysis into a decision support capability

Discrete simulation (scenario planning)

Validation and Verification (coupling to experiments)

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This workshop is about shaping CS&E programs for federal funding agencies

We should focus on how CSE can benefit the nation—enhancing national & homeland security—promoting economic vitality and energy security— improving human health

We need to emphasize the multi-disciplinary nature of CS&E and its track record in delivering!—distinguish ourselves from constituent disciplines—need to do a better job of getting the word out!

Think big: $250M, multi-agency initiative!

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We have long-time and natural partners in the federal government

DOE has been long-time leader in CS&E—ASCI re-invigorated supercomputing —Office of Science is championing the cause with

its successful SciDAC initiative

NSF has long invested in IT and CS, and is beginning to think more about CS&E

DHS has pressing needs for help in simulation and information fusion

NIH should be a bigger player than it is, but there are serious cultural obstacles

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SIAM Activity Group promotes Computational Science & Engineering

SIAG-CSE established in Dec 2000 and already is largest SIAG with 800 members

Foster collaborations among applied mathematicians, computer scientists, domain scientists and engineers

Promote and facilitate Computational Science and Engineering as an academic discipline

Promote simulation as a peer to theory and experiment in the process of scientific discovery

Has sponsored two successful conferences

http://www.siam.org/siags/siagcse.htm