Transcript NSF Track 2D XHPC Keeneland Overview

Perspectives on Growing a Graduate
Program in Computational Science
CASC Meeting, Oct. 4, 2012
Terry Moore
[email protected],
Innovative Computing Laboratory,
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Innovative Computing Laboratory
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A Computational Science Program @ UTK
Interdisciplinary Graduate
Minor in
Computational Science
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A simple conception of Computational Science
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Interdisciplinary Graduate Minor
• Interdisciplinary
• Digitalization and networking have encouraged
interdisciplinary activities —— breaking down silos
• Graduate
• Each of the areas in the triangle has a core curriculum
• But there is no core curriculum for Computational
Science
• Minor
• Complementary knowledge/skill/expertise to main area of
specialization
• Goes on student’s transcript; part of the official record
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Requirements for Students
• General Idea: Students have a “home”
area for their major degree; IGMCS minor
requires a combination of courses
“outside of home.”
• Masters Level: Requires 9 hours (3
courses) from IGMCS areaS.
• 9 hours (3 courses) from the different areas.
• Students must take at least 3 hours (1 course)
from each of the 2 non-home areas
• Doctoral level: Requires15 hours (5
Mathematics
and Statistics
Computer
And Information
Science
Domain Sciences
courses) from the pools.
• At least 15 hours (5 courses) must be taken
outside the student’s home area.
• Students must take at least 3 hours (1 course)
from each of the 2 non-home areas
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Internship
• Optional but strongly encouraged.
• Students in the program can fulfill 3 hrs. of their
requirement through an Internship with
researchers outside the student’s major.
• The internship may be taken offsite, e.g. ORNL, on
campus (with a faculty member in another
department), or in Industry. IGMCS students have
interned at ORNL, Google, Microsoft & Intel.
• Internships must have the approval of the IGMCS
Program Committee.
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Machinery of
our little slice of
the Bureaucracy
Student form
shows the
tailored
process works
• Plan is
agreed to
• Students
execute/Pl
ans can
change
• Results are
approved
Advisor and
Liaison coordinate
to tailor/adapt
plan for student
All relevant
parties sign off
when plan is
completed
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IGMCS Participating Departments
Department
IGMCS Liaison
Email
Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology
Dr. Cynthia Peterson/Dr.
Harry Richards *
[email protected]
Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
Dr. David Keffer *
[email protected]
Chemistry
Dr. Robert Hinde
[email protected]
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Dr. Joshua Fu
[email protected]
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Dr. Edmund Perfect
[email protected]
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Dr. Paul Armsworth
[email protected]
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Dr. Jack Dongarra *
Dr. Greg Peterson
[email protected]
[email protected]
Genome Science & Technology
Dr. Cynthia Peterson *
[email protected]
Geography
Dr. Bruce Ralston (Nicholas
Nagel)
[email protected]
Information Science
Dr. Devendra Potnis*
[email protected]
Materials Science and Engineering
Dr. James Morris
[email protected]
Mathematics
Dr. Vasilios Alexiades *
[email protected]
Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Eng.
Dr. Kivanc Ekici
[email protected]
Physics
Dr. Thomas Papenbrock
[email protected]
Statistics
Dr. Hamparsum Bozdogan
[email protected]
Program Administration
• IGMCS Program Committee (6 to 8 people)
•
•
•
•
Subset of the Program Faculty
1-2 representatives from each of the colleges involved
Renewable 2 year terms
Responsible for oversight: program requirements, approving courses
and department programs, student course selection, etc.
• IGMCS Faculty Liaisons
• Any faculty member, assistant professor or above in rank, nominated
by department head and approved by program committee
• Responsible for updating course lists, working with department faculty,
student advising student research, serving on student committees
• Administrative Support
• A fraction of a person from the Center for Information Technology
Research
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How it Started
Chancellor
says …
Jack,
I want a
Computational
Science
Program!
*Dec. 2004
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Problem 1: Computational Science
is not well defined intellectually
CISE disciplines are
new, evolving,
disruptive to traditional
academic structures
This side is well
understood:
“In every department of
physical science there
is only so much
science, properly socalled, as there is
mathematics.”
~Immanuel Kant
Established and familiar disciplines; sometimes
controversial where they are becoming computational
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Problem 2: Disciplines that are
well defined have academic turf
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How it grew
Step 1: Achieve
common
meeting
understanding
Step
2: Find a model
March
2006
• Subcommittee
formed to provide
people already
plan
understand
• Plan circulated and agreed on
• February 2005: Initial discussion
• February 2006: Second Group
•
•
•
•
•
•
with a few departments
May 2005: Solicited input from
departments on “Certificate in
Computational Science”
June 2005: Draft material sent to
all interested parties
October 2005: First campus
organizing meeting for a UTK
Computational Science program
November 2005: Graduate Dean
suggests modeling after Stat’s
minor: Intercollegiate Graduate
Minor in Statistics (IGMS)
December 2005: Group meets
and agrees on some initial
version of the plan
• Dean of Graduate School approves
plan
• April 2006: “Buy in” from many
parties
• May 2006: Curriculum
Committee of the Graduate
Council approval
• Fall 2006: Added to 2007
graduate catalogue; other
departments join.
• January 2007: IGMCS enrolls its
first students
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Some Current Stats
• 30 students currently in the program
• 2 new students: 1 PhD in CEE, 1 MS in INSC
• 4 students received an IGMCS minor in
summer 2012
• 3 PhD: Chemistry, Computer Science, Civil &
Environmental Engineering,
• 1 MS: Information Science
• 26 total graduates: 17 PhD, 9 MS
• Instrumental in 2 IGERT awards
Problem 3: Constant turnover
of the technological base
• Everybody knows that computing power is
increasing exponentially
• It’s now obvious that the observational basis
of science --- the data--- is revolutionizing as
well
• The collaborative infrastructure of science is
clearly being revolutionized
• What is the role of the University in the age of
Khan academy?
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IGMCS life prospects
• It currently lives on a minimum of resources
• Volunteer efforts from IGMCS faculty participants
• Fractional administrative support from CITR, i.e. Jack’s
center
• No core curriculum… but there could be, e.g.
• Essentials of programming
• “Software carpentry”
• Managing the digital data life cycle
• Domain X for non-domain X’ers
• Considering a full-blown PhD program
• Problem: Organizing for “Interdisciplnarity” means making the
walls of the silos permeable
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