EXTREEMS-QED: Research and training in computational and data-enabled science and engineering for undergraduates in the mathematical sciences at NJIT

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The NJIT EXTREEMS program builds upon the established record of the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in interdisciplinary research involving the computational analysis of data and the modeling and simulation of complex systems. The program will immerse undergraduates in courses and group projects relating to mathematical computation and data analysis, and promote faculty professional development through participation in workshops on computational science education. Students will be exposed to computational issues in multidisciplinary situations, including in industrial settings. The program includes the development of new courses and enhancements of existing ones that will permanently enrich the Computational and Data Enabled Science and Engineering (CDS&E) curriculum at NJIT. Some of the enhancements are in courses that are taken by students in a wide variety of majors, and the changes will impact their careers in science and technology. The group research projects will use and develop fast and accurate algorithms to study problems in medicine, fluid dynamics, acoustics, climate modelling, and risk assessment. Many of the projects will lead to improvements in computational techniques for data analysis such as dimension reduction, data assimilation, and Monte Carlo methods. Valuable information will be gained and disseminated on effective ways to educate students in these computational techniques.Computational tools are increasingly important in a broad number of areas in science and technology. For example, computer algorithms are used to predict the spread of an oil spill, investigate the properties of DNA, process and sharpen radar images, and assess the risks of investment portfolios and nuclear power plants. In many fields, extremely large data sets are being collected or generated, posing significant challenges to modeling, computer simulation, and data analysis. This five year EXTREEMS program will significantly enhance the exposure of undergraduate mathematical science students at NJIT to topics in CDS&E. This exposure will come from the broad infusion of CDS&E topics into the curriculum and a rigorous interdisciplinary research program that will introduce students to computational tools for the analysis of large data sets and modeling and simulation of complex systems. An important component of our program is the group nature of the proposed activities, including team projects supervised by multiple faculty, and participation of industrial partners. With expertise in scientific computation and data analysis and their honed leadership and communication skills, EXTREEMS students will emerge from this program with unique interdisciplinary skills and are expected to become future leaders in the mathematical sciences both in industry and in the nation's graduate programs. This project is jointly supported by NSF's Division of Mathematical Sciences and Division of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure.