This award will permit acquisition of a high-performance parallel computer to be housed in the Mathematical Sciences Department at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). This acquisition will support research activities conducted by, among others, five department members; and also its broader impact. The research activities involve a wide variety of areas in applied mathematics, computational modeling, numerical algorithms, and applied and computational statistics. They interface strongly with other disciplines and institutions through applications and collaborations. Specific areas include the following: -Bayesian analysis of correlated categorical data models using scale mixtures of multivariate normal link functions. -Enhanced methods for modeling and simulation of atmospheric flows, clouds and their radiative properties. -Design of particulate suspensions for optimal dissipation of thermal energy. -Modeling of blood flow coupled with stenosis (narrowing) in arteries. -Numerical methods for large-scale nonlinear systems, with applications to fluid dynamics and reactive flows.
