A Virtual Workshop on Applications of Parallel Computing in Science and Engineering

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This project focuses on the evaluation and removal of barriers to incorporating parallel computing applications into the science and engineering curricula at U.S. universities. Large scale modeling and data analysis using parallel programming techniques has become an essential part of the research and development process in the physical, biological, and social sciences and engineering. Our workforce must be knowledgeable of these techniques to address challenging problems in science, to explore potential approaches to the treatment of diseases, to make U.S. industry competitive in the global marketplace, and to secure the national defense. The workshops will prepare students to contribute to these critical undertakings. It will also create a mechanism for the collaborating faculty to offer the course at their institutions and provide important insights into the current barriers to incorporating this content into their curricula. Thus, the project aligns with the NSF's mission in advancing science. The project will sponsor two virtual workshops during the spring semesters of 2017 and 2018 using a set of course materials for the blended, online course Applications of Parallel Computers. The target audience is a wide range of students from the sciences and engineering who need a working knowledge of parallel computing principles that must be integrated into current research efforts. Faculty at collaborating institutions will create a local course number to offer the course for credit to their students. The students will then watch recorded lectures, undertake quizzes, and complete computer exercises for the course using the online materials and XSEDE computational resources. There are barriers to this computational science instruction at many institutions because of limitation of faculty expertise, faculty workloads, and the interdisciplinary nature of the subject materials. The workshops will help to evaluate the potential for this approach to expand the opportunities for faculty and students to gain this expertise.