Computational Science

CIS 455/555
Winter 2012

The term "computational science" refers to the use of computer modeling in scientific research. Computer simulation using high performance systems is an important research method in a wide variety of fields, not only in the physical sciences such as physics, chemistry, and geology, but also in the biological sciences, medicine, and psychology. Many of the techniques of computational science can also be applied in advanced engineering projects, where computer models have helped engineers design new cars and airplanes, among other things.

From a computer science perspective, the key elements of computational science include high performance computer architecture (i.e. parallel processing); programming languages and compilers; numeric algorithms; and computer graphics. In this course we will study some of the basic techniques used in computational science and engineering applications and the computer systems and software tools that make these applications possible.