Colloquium Details
Computer Graphics in the Computational Sciences
| Author: | Steve Cunningham California State University Stanislaus |
|---|---|
| Date: | October 16, 2000 |
| Time: | 16:00 |
| Location: | 220 Deschutes |
Abstract
Computer graphics is taking a more prominent role in the computational sciences as increasingly powerful and sophisticated graphical systems become available. This makes it increasingly possible for students to take advantage of computer graphics in their science studies.
We are developing one approach to giving students the graphics tools to use in their science studies through changes in the traditional beginning computer graphics course in computer science. This new approach focuses more on graphics programming with a capable programming system (currently OpenGL) than on the details of graphics algorithms, and includes an emphasis on science-based examples and projects throughout the course. Early experience shows that students with sound programming skills can achieve considerable success in this kind of course without needing more advanced computer science or mathematics experience.
In addition to the graphics programming approach and science emphasis, the course being developed includes several other features that are somewhat unique in beginning courses and that should have value to computational science. These include discussions of visual communication through computer graphics, an emphasis on animation and interaction in making graphics more useful, and an introduction to genuine 3D imaging without sophisticated equipment. We are also developing an approach to graphics modeling that enables a student to program complex motion and viewpoint behavior in a readily-understandable way. We will describe this course and give examples of the kind of science projects students have been able to complete in a beginning graphics course, and will discuss how such a course, or an adaptation of the concepts it contains, might fit into a computational science program. The notes for the course and other materials (under development and in an early form) are available.
Much of this development has been in collaboration with Dr. Michael J. Bailey of the San Diego Supercomputer Center, and has been supported by National Science Foundation grant DUE-9950121. All opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations in this work are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Biography
Dr. Cunningham is Professor of Computer Science at California State University Stanislaus in Turlock, California. His Ph.D. is in mathematics from the University of Oregon (1969) and his later MS in Computer Science is from Oregon State University (1982). He is active in several professional associations, having served on the boards of the Mathematical Association of America, ACM SIGCSE (the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education), ACM SIGGRAPH (the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics), and Eurographics (the European Association for Computer Graphics). He is currently Past Chair of ACM SIGGRAPH and is a Fellow of Eurographics. He is the co-author or co-editor of five books and has spoken and written widely on computer graphics education, visualization in mathematics, and electronic publishing.