NPAC REU Program
Research Experiences for Undergraduates in
High-Performance Computing and Communications
The Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program of the
Northeast Parallel Architectures Center
(NPAC) at Syracuse University
provides education and hands-on experience
in high-performance computing and communications (HPCC) technologies and
applications.
The program has been conducted annually since 1991, and is held during a
10-week period each summer.
Every year, 12 or more undergraduate ``Research Apprentices''
are selected from applications received from students throughout the country.
Application information
is available for the 1997 NPAC REU program.
The program has two main components:
intensive training in high-performance computing and communications, and
an individual research project.
Typical student projects are in areas such as
parallel algorithms and languages, computational science,
optimization, digital multimedia, applications of the World Wide Web and
the National Information Infrastructure (NII),
education, financial modeling, natural language processing,
computer graphics, scientific visualization and virtual reality.
For more information on NPAC REU research projects, see the home pages for
each year's program:
Contacts
- Nancy McCracken, REU Coordinator, njm@npac.syr.edu
- Geoffrey Fox, NPAC Director, REU Principal Investigator,
gcf@npac.syr.edu
- Questions concerning the program should be directed to
reu-info@npac.syr.edu
Goals of the Program
The purpose of this program is to enhance the computing skills and expertise
of undergraduate students by introducing them to state-of-the-art hardware
and software in high-performance computing and communications.
The intent is to encourage
students to pursue advanced degree programs and research careers,
and to further advance the development and application of HPCC technologies.
For participants who choose to enter the workforce immediately following
graduation, the goal is to facilitate the transfer of these
technologies to industrial applications and encourage the student
to pursue a research career in industry.
Another goal of the program is to encourage the application of
high-performance computing and communications in many different fields,
and to foster a multi-disciplinary research environment.
Participants in previous years have included majors in computer science,
engineering (several disciplines), mathematics, physics, journalism
and communications, economics and fine arts.
Program Description
The main element of this program is a 10 week education and training
program held each summer for a group of 12 or more (dependent on funding)
undergraduate students.
The program has two main components: an intensive two-week
training course in high-performance computing and communications,
and an individual research project.
The training course includes lectures on computational science,
parallel computer architectures, languages and programming techniques,
high-speed networking technologies and applications, and digital multimedia.
The students also gain hands-on experience with different advanced computers
in NPAC's state-of-the-art computing facilities,
including a SGI Power Challenge, IBM SP-2, Sun Ultra2 PentiumPro Pc and DEC Alpha clusters,
high speed ATM networks,
and a digital multimedia lab, as well as numerous workstations.
Requirements for the research project are structured to
expose students to the full range of research activities:
they write research proposals, give oral
proposal presentations,
prepare Web pages describing their projects and results,
write full technical papers, and give final oral presentations
at a symposium at the end of the program.
In addition to training and research experiences, the REU program
also includes weekly seminars, in which speakers present applications
of high-performance computing.
Social events and
weekend outings
are also provided.
NPAC computer accounts for each participant are maintained for
a period of one year, to encourage students to continue their
research projects once they return to their home institution.
References
-
Coddington, P.D., editor,
Journal of Undergraduate Research in High-Performance Computing,
Volume 5, NPAC Technical Report SCCS-747, December 1995.
Individual papers are available from the
NPAC REU '95 Abstracts and Papers.
-
Bogucz, E.A., editor, Journal of Undergraduate Research in
High-Performance Computing, Volume 4,
NPAC Technical Report SCCS-632, August 1994.
Individual papers are available from the
NPAC REU '94 Abstracts and Papers.
-
Bogucz, E.A., and Weinman, V.E., editors, Journal of Undergraduate
Research in High-Performance Computing, Volume 3,
NPAC Technical Report SCCS-576, November 1993.
Individual papers are available from the
NPAC REU '93 Abstracts and Papers.
-
Bogucz, E.A., and Weinman, V.E., editors, Journal of Undergraduate
Research in High-Performance Computing, Volume 2,
NPAC Technical Report SCCS-468, March 1993.
Individual papers are available from the
NPAC REU '92 Abstracts and Papers.
-
Biham, O., editor, Journal of Undergraduate Research
in High-Performance Computing, Volume 1,
NPAC Technical Report SCCS-169, August 1991.
Hard copies are available by request to reu-info@npac.syr.edu.
Funding
Funding for this program has been provided by the National Science Foundation
under an REU Site Award, with additional funding from
the GE Foundation Faculty for the Future Program, Syracuse University,
the Northeast Parallel Architectures Center, and corporate members of
InfoMall,
the NPAC technology transfer program.
Northeast Parallel Architectures Center
REU program,
reu-info@npac.syr.edu
Last updated February 19 1997 by GCF
