SoftLab--A Laboratory for Computational Science
Principal Investigators:
Christoph M. Hoffmann,
Elias N. Houstis,
John R. Rice
Research Associates: J. Frankenberger, A. Catlin
Sponsor: NSF
Computational science and computational engineering require
addressing the
fundamental challenge of harnessing high-performance computing
equipment
and exploiting it through very high level systems that are
problem-oriented. Such systems require a wide range of expertise
plus a
flexible and diverse array of equipment. This laboratory provides
infrastructure facilities that serve the needs for basic research
broadly
focused on building problem-solving environments for applied,
experimental
work for computational science. The facilities include:
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High-performance graphics processors to support scientific
visualization, geometric modeling and design, and multimedia graphical
user.
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High-performance computers.
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Software and development support staff assisting application
researchers.
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This laboratory is the principal facility
of the interdisciplinary graduate degree program in
Computational Science and Engineering.
The focus of
SoftLab is to create a laboratory, with a software
layer above
the familiar "physical" wet and dry laboratories of science and
engineering. The project builds the needed software and algorithmic
infrastructure for some of the important activities in a lab and
produces
the electronic analog of a scientific laboratory environment for
important
applications.