Large
data-set visualization of combustion produced by volume-rendering
software at DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Representative FY 2002 agency activities
NSF: High-end applications promoting collaborative research
and information sharing in astronomy, engineering, environmental and
geosciences, and genomics; support the Partnerships for Advanced Computational
Infrastructure headquartered at the National Center for Supercomputing
Applications (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) and the
San Diego Supercomputer Center (University of California-San Diego)
NASA: Develop space-based data and analysis infrastructure, high-end
science collaboratories, and interactive environments for engineering
NIH: Demonstrate network infrastructure technologies for scientific
collaboration; develop tools for determining 3-D molecular structures
and methods for displaying and analyzing images from microscopy, magnetic
resonance, and positron emission tomography; develop high-end modeling
and simulation capabilities; expand biomedical supercomputing programs
DOE Office of Science: Partnerships, under DOE's Scientific Discovery
through Advanced Computing program, between computer scientists and
application scientists in global climate research, high-energy and
nuclear physics, chemistry, and fusion energy sciences to develop
the next generation of scientific simulation and collaboration tools
NOAA: Research in advanced scalable, highly parallel computing systems
and software to support data-intensive modeling and simulation of
large-scale weather and environmental phenomena
NIST: Computational tools for modeling the micro-magnetic properties
of materials; conformance tests for Virtual Reality Modeling Language
(VRML) and standards for making VRML accessible to the disabled; integrate
human ergonomic simulations with manufacturing simulations; virtual
reality environment for evaluating machine processes
EPA: Component-based, cross-media (e.g., air, water, soil), multiscale
modeling framework for environmental research and decision support
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The Federal investments described in this
report include development and demonstration of leading-edge computational
science and networked IT systems in engineering and the sciences.
These high-performance IT capabilities, like all important innovations,
drive new waves of exploration and discovery at the forefront of scientific
and engineering knowledge, where the U.S. must remain in the years
ahead.
High-end scientific computation and visualization technologies and
tools enable researchers to "see," interact with, and analyze
the structures and behaviors of organic and inorganic matter more
precisely than previously possible - from the tiniest building blocks
of the universe, to the tolerances of manufacturing designs, to the
properties and interactions of the biosphere's large-scale phenomena.
These exciting explorations leverage Federal NITRD investments to
attract talented researchers into engineering and the sciences and
strengthen the Nation's leadership in these fields.
In addition, these advanced capabilities both require and enable the
increasingly interdisciplinary scientific environments that new generations
of scientists need to master in order to solve the 21st century's
most complex science problems. The work of designing, building, tuning,
integrating, and using very complex high-end computing systems and
applications is itself rigorously interdisciplinary and requires a
high level of teamwork among specialists in many disciplines. These
advanced systems in turn make possible one of the most promising new
developments of our era in scientific research - electronic collaboratories
in which scientists in any field and any location can work together
in real time through distributed networked applications.
Integrating the science and engineering of advanced computing systems
into large-scale, multilayered technological systems of systems to
address significant societal needs expands the requirement for multidisciplinary
collaboration to an even greater scale. (Descriptions of some of the
integrated technological systems that fundamental NITRD research is
aiming toward can be found in the National Grand Challenge Applications
section on pages 27-31 of this report.)
Examples of the advanced science and engineering activities that Federal
research in high-performance IT systems seeks to enable include:
- Modeling and simulation in the biological, chemical, environmental,
material, and physical sciences, such as:
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- Dynamic integrated models of the Earth's atmosphere,
oceans, fresh water, soil, and biosphere at scales ranging
from kilometers to meters
- A model of the human body and its components at scales
ranging from atoms to molecules, cells, and organs, to
the whole body
- Complete engine simulation, including combustion, chemical
mixing, and multiphase flow
- Simulation for controlled fusion to optimize the design
of future nuclear reactors
- Design of new chemical compounds for biological and
manufacturing applications
- Models of chemical, manufacturing, and assembly plants
for optimization
- Simulations of automobile crash tests for different
spatial configurations that reliably substitute for real
tests
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- Data assimilation, fusion, visualization, and manipulation
for modeling and simulation
- Modeling and simulation in IT, including:
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- High-end computing systems
- Network dynamics
- Large-scale IT systems such as embedded systems and
distributed heterogeneous applications
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- Collaboration technologies in clinical medicine, scientific
research, and professional education and training
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- Increasingly capable and interoperable computing systems,
storage systems, networks, software development capabilities
(including languages and tools), and human/computer interaction
technologies to enable faster, higher-resolution, more realistic
3-D simulations of phenomena of interest to scientists,
engineers, and society
- Approaches for building, understanding, and evaluating
complex interdisciplinary modeling systems
- Languages and tools that allow scientists and engineers
to better access and utilize distributed and high-end computing
resources
- IT for supporting distributed interdisciplinary teams
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