Laboratory For Scientific Computation And Simulation

9350748 Jackson The goal of this project is to introduce scientific computation and simulation techniques into the undergraduate curriculum at Central Michigan University. To this end, a laboratory-based course is being created as a part of the Physics curriculum and offered as an elective to students in the other sciences. The course will be taught as an in-class lab, where the students run simulation experiments in the class and discuss the results, as well as any difficulties, with the instructors on the spot. Our team-teaching approach, pairing a Physicist and a Computer Scientist, stresses sound programming practices - modular design, proper documentation and program efficiency - as well as standard numerical and simulation techniques. Computer simulations allow the students to experiment with realistic systems which cannot be handled by traditional analytical methods. The course includes a selection of real-world problems from various scientific disciplines to illustrate and emphasize the power and broad applicability of the computational techniques. The in-class lab format and mix of student backgrounds lead to a productive exchange of ideas and a better awareness of the unity of the underlying science. ***