9451656 Diaz Computational science attempts to blend an applied discipline with computational mathematics, computing, and visualization. Many experiments that have traditionally been performed in a laboratory are being augmented or replaced by computational simulations. A computational scientist or engineer applies computational technology in innovative and essential ways to advance the respective discipline. Computational scientists and engineers work to obtain a better understanding of some phenomena through a judicious match of the scientific problem, the mathematical model that describes it, the numerical technique employed in its solution, the computer language and the computer architecture used in its implementation, and the assessment of each of these steps through visualization. This project builds a visualization laboratory to support the undergraduate computational sciences curricula. The goal is the integration of visualization with the computational science courses taken by all science and engineering undergraduate majors. We are establishing a classroom demonstration and a visualization laboratory available for the students use during scheduled laboratory hours. The instructor uses the classroom demonstration to bring to life important aspects of the material. The visualization laboratory is integrated into courses that use a problem driven paradigm for the presentation of the material. This enhances the retention of computing technology by engineers and scientist and facilitates their use and integration into other areas of science and engineering curricula.
