The Scientific Visualization and Virtual Design Environment Laboratory enhances undergraduate courses in science, mathematics, and engineering. It also improves the preparation of undergraduates who plan to pursue a career in teaching science and mathematics. This project funds six Silicon Graphics INDIGO workstations, CrystalEyes VR, and software packages by Alias Research Incorporated and Sense8 Corporation. This laboratory is being used by undergraduates to develop maintainable graphics programs and to visualize scientific data. Students learn about using visualization as a tool for discovering and understanding complex phenomena. In addition, students use the proposed laboratory to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate potential design solutions. Students easily develop virtual worlds, animate them with realistic properties, and experience them in partially immersive mode. Finally, the new laboratory provides students with hands-on experience of software packages that are widely used in the field. This project injects a component into our curriculum that heretofore has not been widely applied in the science and engineering disciplines.
