Undergrad_Book_16-18_Pge_View_Print_no print marks_compressed

Selected Projects 2016-18
the journal Computing in Science and Engineering,
co-published by the IEEE Computer Society and the
American Institute of Physics.
My OUR funded project was very fruitful for many
reasons. It provided insight into an unexplored alternative
to meet my research group’s supercomputing
needs, and the journal publication contributes to
a specialized area of research. Also, the project
enabled me to experience presenting at a research
conference, and publishing a paper. Finally, it was a
valuable experience because I learned something
about a growing field of interest, High Performance
Computing (HPC). This changed the way I view
science and made me reflect on the capability of
computer models. Additionally, it made me wonder:
to what extent can we really simulate physical phenomena?
Nowadays, the scope of simulations that
scientists and engineers are implementing is incredible,
and new advances are being made all the time.
I find scientific computing a compelling subject, and
it is the main reason I decided to pursue a Master’s
Degree in Mechanical Engineering.
This project was related to my research on Ocean
Wave Energy Converters, because it introduced me
to the field of High Performance Computing, and
gave me an idea about how the simulation model
performs on different types of supercomputers.
Supercomputers come in many different flavors, and
it is not always apparent which flavor is the best,
because different algorithms require specialized
hardware to run efficiently. For instance, data analytics
and molecular dynamics models would require
184
Computer simulation of an ocean wave energy converter. The
device is a buoyant flap that pivots around a shaft on the ocean
floor. Courtesy of Ashish Pathak
The front page of Freniere’s undergraduate research
publication, which was partially supported by the OUR