Math Department Awarded NSF SCREMS Grant for Parallel Computer

The Department of Mathematical Sciences was recently awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation in the area of Scientific Computing Research Environments in the Mathematical Sciences (SCREMS). This NSF SCREMS grant is in the amount of $68,460 and, together with a match from the University of Delaware, will fund the purchase of a 32-processor Beowulf cluster for research in the Mathematical Sciences.

The principal investigators on the grant are Professors Richard Braun, Tobin Driscoll, Peter Monk and Louis Rossi. The research problems they posed include: Ordering and coarsening dynamics for an fcc binary alloy (Braun); domain decomposition for modal computations (Driscoll); electromagnetic scattering (Monk); and vortex computations of vortex dipole evolution, dipole pair collisions and simulations of synthetic jets (Rossi). These projects all involve the numerical solution of complex partial differential equations in applied mathematics. Realistic solutions use algorithms which have large memory and time requirements. The proposed Beowulf cluster of 32 processors linked with a dedicated Myrinet will allow the principal investigators and other Mathematics professors, postdocs and students to study these and other problems efficiently using parallel algorithms.

Beyond new results in the Mathematical Sciences, the impacts of the award are twofold. First, we will generate new results of interest to environmental and materials scientists, fluid dynamicists, electrical engineers and the defense industry. Second, through involvement of graduate and undergraduate students in the proposed projects, we will prepare a new generation of applied mathematicians skilled in parallel computation.

© 2003, Department of Mathematical Sciences
Last Modified: November 14, 2003
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