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Course Description

    Study of computer science techniques and tools that support computational sciences and engineering.  Emphasis will be on visualization, performance evaluation, parallel computing, and distributed computing.  Prerequisites: CS-115, CS/EE-380, and engineering standing.

(Picture courtesy of CSEP)

Requirements and Goals

    Students need a knowledge of programming in a modern object oriented language and a basic knowledge of machine organization and architecture. 

    Students will learn about hardware and software support for high performance computing. They will learn to select algorithms and develop code for computing in a parallel (or distributed computing) environment. They will learn about benchmarking, optimization, and visualization.  The course will include a hands on component utilizing a parallel computing environment.

Textbook and Course Outline

    The course will follow, where still appropriate, the lecture notes of the Computational Science Educational Project (CSEP).  The lectures will cover the following topics:

  • An Overview Of Computational Science (Douglas)
            Powerpoint    Html
  • Scientific Visualization in High Performance Computing (Payne/Hsiao)
        Powerpoint    Html
  • Networks (Snyder/Petty)
        Powerpoint    Html
  • Computer Architecture (Petty/Snyder)
       Powerpoint    Html
  • Cache Designs and Tricks (Douglas)
       Powerpoint    Html
  • Tutorials for Network and Visualization Tools (Hsiao/Payne)
            Powerpoint    Html
  • Tutorials for MPI  (Satish/Douglas)
         Powerpoint    Html
    and OpenMP     (Satish/Douglas)
            Powerpoint    Html
  • Numerical Linear Algebra (Walters/Douglas)
            Powerpoint    Html
  • Mathematical Optimization (Hsiao/Walters)
         Powerpoint    Html
  • Ordinary Differential Equations (Carr/Douglas)
            Powerpoint    Html
  • Some High Performance Computing Issues in PDEs (Douglas/Walters)
            Powerpoint    Html
  • Random Number Generators (Snyder/Satish)
           Powerpoint    Html
  • Monte Carlo Methods (Payne/Petty)
           Powerpoint    Html
  • Case Studies
    • Ocean Models (Snyder)
                Powerpoint    Html
    • Chaos from Nonlinear Mappings (Carr)
                Powerpoint    Html
    • Mutational Meltdown of Endangered Species (Walters)
                Powerpoint    Html
    • Seismic Wave Propagation and Inversion (Petty)
                Powerpoint    Html
    • Direct and Inverse Bioelectric Fields Problems (Payne)
          Html
    • Monte Carlo Surface to Surface Particle Transport (Satish/Hsiao)  4/27

We will cover as many of these topics as time permits.  Which case studies we consider will depend on the class' interests.

Office Hours and Contact Information

    My office hours will be reached by class consensus during the first class and posted as part of the electronic syllabus.  Office hours will be on Tuesday through Thursday.

Day Time
Tuesday 11:00-12:00
Wednesday 11:00-11:45
Thursday 11:00-12:00

or by appointment.

    My office is 321A McVey Hall.  My office telephone number is 257-2326 and the FAX is 323-1029. Feel free to telephone my office as late as 11:00pm.  In a pinch, I can be reached at home on weekends at 203-625-9449.  Please do not call me at home before 8:00am or after 9:00pm.  I respond to e-mail (douglas@ccs.uky.edu) fairly quickly (always include a phone number where I can call you back).  If you are stuck on something, please do not hesitate to contact me.

    Warning:  The entrance to my office is inside another office (321 McVey).  I really do not hear knocking on the outer office's door.  Please just walk in and continue right into 321A and let me know that you are present.  Do not assume that I will know that you are in the outer office.  If I am not in my office, go straight to 325 McVey and ask where am I.  I may well be in there and have to be extracted from another inner office.  Please be utterly brazen.

Grading

    Your grade will be based on the homework.  Only letter grades will be given (no +/-'s).  Each homework assignment will have a presentation portion of the assignment.  You will be expected to use overhead transparencies and/or a computer to make the presentation.  Our lecture hall has projection and computer equipment to do both styles of presentations.

    From a legal viewpoint, I am allowed to change the grading system anytime in the course as long as I give adequate notice to the class.  The university ombud issues memorandums that cover this and many more topics. However, you should watch the class web page for any changes in the grading policy.

 

Cheers,
Craig C. Douglas

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