Talk:Center for Computation and Technology

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This page had been heavily edited by an account called CCTPR, implying that they are affiliated with the CCT. The article was beginning to read like a press release, rather than an encyclopedia entry. Some of the information included in the previous versions of this page could be edited back in, but with care so as to avoid the appearance of "white-washing", or the like. kmccoy (talk) 23:15, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

Especially this following text. kmccoy (talk) 23:43, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

All CCT research activities are organized into broad, interdisciplinary “focus areas,” each led by a CCT faculty member. Staff within the focus areas develop research agendas that share expertise and technologies across LSU departments, which makes them eligible for federal grants.

The four CCT Focus Areas for research are:

Core Computational Science This focus area, led by Dr. Allen, is researching and developing methods, tools and techniques to enable a broad array of applications areas. The Focus Area integrates faculty from the LSU Departments of Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering and Mathematics in the development of software, algorithms and hardware. Research groups in this area include:

• Grid Computing
• Computational Mathematics
• Scientific Computing
• Networks and Sensors
• Computational Frameworks
• Lanet: An Advanced Networking Research Group

Coast to Cosmos The Coast To Cosmos focus area, led by Joel Tohline, Ph.D., is building research groups that are concerned with modeling the complex physical world in which we live. The research groups have common needs for advanced software to support large-scale simulations, collaborative tools to enable diverse sets of scientists to interact and visualization and analysis tools to understand results and compare to experiments. This area currently includes faculty from the LSU Departments of Physics and Mechanical Engineering, with research groups in:

• Numerical Relativity
• Computational Fluid Dynamics

Human and Social World The Human & Social World focus area, led by Stephen David Beck, Ph.D., concentrates on complex computational problems as they relate to applications in the humanities, arts, business and social sciences. This focus area explores the intersection of technology with all forms of human expression and creativity and how such technology can be effectively used and adopted with non-traditional application groups, such as animation and visualization. It investigates how new technologies can be used to complement research in social sciences and the humanities, as well as provide new tools, platforms and environments for artistic expression. The Laboratory for Creative Arts and Technologies is integral to this focus area.

Two research groups make up this focus area:

• Emerging Computational Applications
• Technology Adoption

Material World The Material World focus area, led by Jorge Pullin, Ph.D., works to develop research groups in the computational fields of material science, chemistry and biology. Current activity in this area involves faculty in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering working on problems in experimental material science.

Some research highlights of CCT include:

Numerical Relativity: CCT researchers work to prove the existence of gravitational waves by observing black hole collisions. Using the high-performance software that CCT researchers developed to model black hole collisions will enable researchers to make predictions on what gravitational waves would look like, and the supercomputing technology at CCT allows teams of researchers from different fields to work together at mapping the collisions.

Hurricane visualizations: Integrating data from multiple sources, a team of CCT researchers has built a three-dimensional scientific visualization of Hurricane Katrina’s path. Such visual tools are important for scientists to interpret and improve their complex models, as well for educating the public on the devastating effects of hurricanes. Since hurricanes will always be an aspect of life on the Gulf Coast, CCT researchers have used the technology of supercomputing to develop methods of more accurately predicting storm surge, sediment deposits and flooding. By expanding the window of opportunity to run these models, CCT will be better able to warn the public about the dangers of these storms.

Lake Pontchartrain Forecast System: Built in collaboration with coastal scientists at University of North Carolina, the Lake Pontchartrain Forecast System uses the networks and supercomputers of the Louisiana Optical Network Initiative to run numerous on-demand storm surge models. The automated system is used to predict surge levels in New Orleans, and in particular provides information to the Army Corps of Engineers, which uses this data to make decisions about when to close and then reopen the canal gates at 17th Street, London Avenue and Orleans Street. This system was developed and tested throughout the 2006 Hurricane Season and will be improved and used again in other hurricane seasons.

“High-Performance Computing: Concepts, Methods and Means” : This course, which premiered in the Spring 2007 semester at LSU, offers an interdisciplinary look at using high-performance computing is the first use of high-definition video over the Internet for distributed classroom instruction in the United States. It is offered for credit through LSU and broadcast to other universities nationally and internationally. This course was developed by CCT Professor Thomas Sterling to address the “graying of the scientific community” by ensuring that more students have the opportunity to learn about high-performance computing.

HARC co-allocator: The Highly-Available Robust co-allocator was designed and implemented by Louisiana State University. HARC provides a means for reliably coordinating both computer and network resources internationally. In 2006, HARC was used in the largest worldwide co-allocation demonstration to date. Researchers in the United States and Japan demonstrated "automated" interoperability between network and computing resources in two national Grid computing research test beds -- the first such demonstration of this scale between two countries of new, integrated computing and communication technology that can be used to exponentially enhance next-generation Internet performance.