Flagship Cluster Hiring InitiativeComputational Science:Advancing Research, Societyand the Economy
Gabrielle Allen (PI)Thomas Sterling (Presenter/co-PI)Department of Computer ScienceCenter for Computation & Technology
Computational Science: Advancing Research, Society and the Economy, External Review, March 29th 2007
The Computational Science Cluster
• Computational science: new “third pillar” of science andengineering; revolutionizing research, education andeconomic development
• LSU has built strong, close-knit program (collaboration ofCCT, CS, ECE, Math); can be world-class
• Recruit 8 top faculty in computational science to LSU; buildone of the strongest and most visible groups in the nation
• Support and promote computational research effortsacross LSU: coastal science, physical sciences,engineering, arts & humanities; all disciplines impacted
• Leverage CCT and State initiatives, enhance economicdevelopment, contribute to computational sciencecurriculum
Computational Science: Advancing Research, Society and the Economy, External Review, March 29th 2007
Principal Investigators• Gabrielle Allen, Associate Professor, Computer Science• Stephen D. Beck, Professor, Music• Susanne Brenner, Professor, Mathematics• Daniel S. Katz, Associate Research Professor, ECE• J. Ramanujam, Professor, ECE• Thomas Sterling, Professor, Computer Science• Key additional faculty: Acharya (Mechanical Engineering), Baumgartner
(Computer Science), Chen (Chemistry), Chen (Civil Engineering), Hirschheim(Information Systems and Decision Sciences), Karki (Computer Science),Koppelman (Electrical & Computer Engineering), Kosar (Computer Science),Lipton (Mathematics), Newcomer (Biological Sciences), Park (ComputerScience), Pullin (Physics & Astronomy), Tohline (Physics & Astronomy),Twilley (Oceanography and Coastal Science), Ullmer (Computer Science),White (Petroleum Engineering)
Computational Science: Advancing Research, Society and the Economy, External Review, March 29th 2007
True Campus-Wide Initiative
CompSci Cluster driven by22 Faculty; 12 Departments; 6 Colleges
Computational Science: Advancing Research, Society and the Economy, External Review, March 29th 2007
PITAC Report SummaryCompSci Cluster Responds
“Computational science -- the use ofadvanced computing capabilities tounderstand and solve complexproblems -- is critical to scientificleadership, economic competitiveness,and national security. It is one of themost important technical fields of the21st century because it is essential toadvances throughout society.”
“Universities must significantly changeorganizational structures:
multidisciplinary & collaborativeresearch are needed [for US] to remain
competitive in global science”
Computational Science: Advancing Research, Society and the Economy, External Review, March 29th 2007
Cluster Objectives
• Build the strongest and most viablecomputational science group in thecountry
• A catalyst for breakthroughcomputational research in many otherareas important for LSU:
• Coastal & Environmental Modeling• Material Science & Biological Computing• Astrophysics• Petroleum Engineering• Business and Financial Modeling• Arts and Humanities
• Contribute to statewide economicdevelopment and education
Computational Science: Advancing Research, Society and the Economy, External Review, March 29th 2007
Proposed Cluster Hires
• 5 International Leaders and 3 Junior hires• Areas strategically chosen for maximum strength• Departments chosen as appropriate; cross
appointments likely; all affiliated with CCT
Computational Science: Advancing Research, Society and the Economy, External Review, March 29th 2007
Core Computational Science: Gabrielle Allen
Building on CCT Advances inComputational Sciences
ScientificComputing(Katz, ECE)
DistributedSystems
(Allen, CS)
ComputationalMathematics
(Brenner, Math)
Visualization(Ullmer, CS)
Coast to Cosmos (C2C) Joel TohlineNumerical Relativity
& Astrophysics(Tohline, Physics)
EngineeringApplications
(White, PetEng)
Coast &Environment
(Twilley, SCE)
Human & Social World (HSW): Steve BeckEmerging
Applications(Beck, Music)
Technology Adoption(Hirshheim, ISDS)
Material World: Jorge PullinMaterials Biology
(Jha, CCT)
Pro
ject
s, P
rogr
ams,
Initi
ativ
es
Director: Ed Seidel
Computational Science: Advancing Research, Society and the Economy, External Review, March 29th 2007
Core Computational Science: Gabrielle Allen
Building on CCT Advances inComputational Sciences
ScientificComputing(Katz, ECE)
DistributedSystems
(Allen, CS)
ComputationalMathematics
(Brenner, Math)
Visualization(Ullmer, CS)
Coast to Cosmos (C2C) Joel TohlineNumerical Relativity
& Astrophysics(Tohline, Physics)
EngineeringApplications
(White, PetEng)
Coast &Environment
(Twilley, SCE)
Human & Social World (HSW): Steve BeckEmerging
Applications(Beck, Music)
Technology Adoption(Hirshheim, ISDS)
Material World: Jorge PullinMaterials Biology
(Jha, CCT)
Pro
ject
s, P
rogr
ams,
Initi
ativ
es
Director: Ed Seidel
Coastal Forecasting
Computational Science: Advancing Research, Society and the Economy, External Review, March 29th 2007
Core Computational Science: Gabrielle Allen
Building on CCT Advances inComputational Sciences
ScientificComputing(Katz, ECE)
DistributedSystems
(Allen, CS)
ComputationalMathematics
(Brenner, Math)
Visualization(Ullmer, CS)
Coast to Cosmos (C2C) Joel TohlineNumerical Relativity
& Astrophysics(Tohline, Physics)
EngineeringApplications
(White, PetEng)
Coast &Environment
(Twilley, SCE)
Human & Social World (HSW): Steve BeckEmerging
Applications(Beck, Music)
Technology Adoption(Hirshheim, ISDS)
Material World: Jorge PullinMaterials Biology
(Jha, CCT)
Pro
ject
s, P
rogr
ams,
Initi
ativ
es
Director: Ed Seidel
Gamma-ray burst
Computational Science: Advancing Research, Society and the Economy, External Review, March 29th 2007
Building on Success
• Rapid growth of CCT; just 3 years bring many newstrengths in CS, ECE, math, science, digital artsdisciplines– CS Dept dramatically strengthened
• New funding & proposals catalyzed through CCT– $50M LONI State project– $17M LBRN NIH– $12M NSF; $4M DOE EPSCOR projects– $70M NSF Track 2 proposals, $5M HPCOPS,
involvement in $500M Track 1 proposals– Many grants enabled by CCT collaborations, programs
Computational Science: Advancing Research, Society and the Economy, External Review, March 29th 2007
NSF Blue Ribbon PanelSimulation-based Engineering Science Report
“Researchers and educators [agree]:computational and simulationengineering sciences are fundamentalto the security and welfare of the UnitedStates...We must
• overcome difficulties inherent in multiscalemodeling, the development of next-generationalgorithms, and the design...of dynamic data-driven application system…
• determine better ways to integrate data-intensive computing, visualization, andsimulation.
• overhaul our educational system to fosterinterdisciplinary study...
The payoffs for meeting thesechallenges are profound.”
ref: www.nsf.gov/pubs/reports/sbes_final_report.pdf
Computational Science: Advancing Research, Society and the Economy, External Review, March 29th 2007
Contributing to LSU Flagship Agenda
Recruit interdisciplinary faculty toLSU who will have broad impactacross the campus
Increase LSU ability to securelarge federal funding
LSU will be a center of excellencefor IT and its applications
Promoting research excellence in areas important forLouisiana
New program will attract the best undergrads, graduatestudents, postdocs and faculty to LSU
Build new interdisciplinary educational programs incomputational science and associated fields
Computational Science: Advancing Research, Society and the Economy, External Review, March 29th 2007
Leveraging State Investments• Vision 20/20
– $25M annual IT investmentacross 5 campuses
– CCT: catalyzing changeacross LSU and State
• LONI– $50M optical network and
computing environment– $30M PKSFI LONI Institute
proposal supported by 6campuses; led by LSUfaculty through CCT
• Other Cluster proposals– CompSci Cluster impacts all
other proposals, makes themstronger
With this CompSci clusterLSU will maintain and
build on a strongleadership role in theState in informational
technology andcollaborative
computational sciences.
Computational Science: Advancing Research, Society and the Economy, External Review, March 29th 2007
Raising National Profile of LSU
Already have distinguished ComputationalScience faculty: e.g. 2006 IEEE SidneyFernbach; 3 Gordon Bell Prize winners;
dozens of keynote speakers, etc.
Build on internationally visibleprojects: e.g. Cactus, SAGA,Stork/Condor, GridSphere,HARC, EnLIGHTened,SCOOP, Phosphorous
Leverage our leadership in high impactinitiatives: e.g. SURA, LONI, NSF Track
I/II & connections to leading universities &labs to capitalize on opportunities, e.g.
LIGODelta Consortium
Computational Science: Advancing Research, Society and the Economy, External Review, March 29th 2007
Educating our Future Workforce
• We are committed to developing acoherent computational sciencescurriculum at LSU.– New interdisciplinary courses in IGERT– New HD course on HPC
• LSU will play a national role inComputing Education
“The number of graduates fromcomputational science programs is
inadequate to meet even current demand’’,“New structures, programs, and institutional
incentives are urgently required.”- PITAC Report 2005
Computational Science: Advancing Research, Society and the Economy, External Review, March 29th 2007
Economic ImpactCouncil on Competitiveness & PITAC Reports
“In the marketplace, computational science provides acompetitive edge by transforming business andengineering practices”
“The overwhelming majority [of businesses] saidcomputational science was not only beneficial but also
essential to company survival”
“A dearth of qualified computational scientists was asignificant impediment”
“Companies indicated that the most important aspects oftheir partnerships were access to HPC resources and
computational science expertise”
Computational Science: Advancing Research, Society and the Economy, External Review, March 29th 2007
Economic Development• CCT/LONI/LED will assist in partnering with local &
national companies for economic development– Industry internships for students, integrated into curriculum– Corporate partnerships for research– University-Industry Research Centers (URICs)
• Will seek partnerships with strong players inLouisiana– Schlumberger, Northrop-Grumman, etc– New start ups– Already in discussion with Schlumberger, Intel, IBM, …
• New state initiatives: e.g. “RedStick” supported by CCT/LSU and BR.
Computational Science: Advancing Research, Society and the Economy, External Review, March 29th 2007
Endorsements“it is clear that LSU has the potential to become a leading force in this
expanding and pervasive field in a short period of time. CCT hasquickly developed into a center with a national reputation, and itsvision for a comprehensive program should impact disciplines acrossthe spectrum of research.” Jack Dongarra, University of Tennessee
“If this proposal is funded I expect that you will develop one of the topgroups nationally, and you will become a center for collaborationsacross the country.” Mary Wheeler, University of Texas at Austin
“This is a unique program with the potential to lead not only theuniversity, but also programs across the country, in the developmentand use of 21st century cyberinfrastructure and computingenvironments.” Manish Parashar, Rutgers
“… CCT has the best opportunity among all the academic sites to developinto a center with a major research agenda. Other academic sites seem to
have either a facility orientation or a struggling research program. In the lastdecade, places like Princeton, Harvard, Chicago, ... have tried and not
succeeded. Remarkably, LSU has gotten farther than any of these places ina very short period.” Jim Pool, Former Exec Dir CACR
Computational Science: Advancing Research, Society and the Economy, External Review, March 29th 2007
LSU Cluster Hire Initiative
Advancing National Flagship Agenda through– Significantly promoting the scholarly productivity
of our faculty;• CompSci Cluster supports disciplines precisely where
major advances will be made and funding will be found– Enhancing grad and undergrad research;
• CompSci Cluster provides education seen as criticalfor nation’s future
– Improving LSU’s national reputation;• LSU is already on the map. CompSci Cluster will
make it among most visible/powerful in nation