SFU
MEMORANDUM
officeoi tin-: \'ici:-pri:sii)i:n'1", a<:adi:mk: and provqsi
University Drive, Burnaby, BC
Canada \'5A 1S6
TEL: 778.782.3925
FAX: 778.782.5876
attention
Senate
DATE February 10,2012
FROM
Jon Driver, Vice-President, Academic and
PAGES 1/1
Provost, and Chair, SCUP
RE:
Centres and Institutes Renewal Applications (SCUP 11-58)
S.12-44
www. sfu.ca/ vpacademic
At its December 7, 2011 meeting SCUP reviewed and approved the renewal of the Centre for Scientific
Computing for a five
year term.
The renewal application is attached for the information of Senate.
Encl.
c: N. Haunerland
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
thinking of the world
Norbcrt H. Haunerland, Ph.D.
Associate Vice-President. Research
Professor of Biological Sciences
MAILING ADDRESS
8888 University Drive
Burnaby BC Canada
V5A 1S6
tel: 778.782.4152
FAX: 778.782.4S60
www.sfu.ca/vpresearch
SFU
OFFICE OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT, RESEARCH
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
RE:
Sarah Dench,Secretary
Senate Committee on Univej^itA^Planning (SCU{£
Dr. Norbert Haunerland
November 15, 2011
Centre and Institutes Renewal Applications
Policy R40.01 specifies the end dates for the existing research
Centres/Institutes. Enclosed please find the application for
renewal for the Centre for Scientific Computing due this year.
SIMON PHASER UNIVERSITY
THINKING OF THE WORLD
RESEARCH
CENTRE/INSTITUTE
RENEWAL
APPLICATION
Reporting Period: April 1, 2006 March 31 2011
Pursuant to S.F.U. Policy R40.01, the Director of each Research Centre or Institute
(hereafter referred to as "the Centre") is required to submit a renewal application every five
years.
Once the Director of the Centre completes the form, it should be forwarded to the Faculty
Dean or Vice-President Research, no later than June 30th.
1. Name of the Centre: Centre for Scientific Computing
2. Director of the Centre
Name:
Robert Russell
Phone Number:
24819
Expiry Date of Term as Director:
June 30, 2012
Fax Number:
24977
Office Location:
K10532
Director's Email:_rdr@cs.sfu.ca_
http://www.sfu.ca/vpresearch/centres+institutes/scientificcomputing.html
Generic Centre Email: sandie@pims.math.ca (Administrative support)
3. Centre Description: (The description below was taken from the most recent SFU
Calendar.)
Motivated by the expanding role of scientific computation and mathematical
modeling in science and engineering, the Centre was formed to bring together
interdisciplinary research teams from various Simon Fraser University faculties. The
major purpose of the Centre is to provide Simon Fraser University with a visible
focus for computational research both on campus and in the wider Pacific Rim
research community. Specifically, the Centre'sgoals are to facilitate discussion
between scientific computing research groups (through seminars, workshops,
conferences) to provide advanced instruction in computational techniques and
applications (through graduate and post-doctoral programs), and to actively foster
joint research ventures between members of the Centre and workers in industry,
government and laboratories.
4. Provide a detailed list of accomplishments of the Centre for the past five years.
The primary research activity of the Centre has been its weekly seminar series, which
brings computational scientists and engineers from universities and industrial research
centres throughout the world to SFU to discuss their research in scientific computing
related problems. Their areas of research include applied/computational mathematics,
computer graphics/visualization, business/economic modeling, engineering (e.g., image
processing), earth sciences, physics, and, representing some of more recently hired
SFU
faculty members interests, computational linguistics, statistical computation, and
mathematical biology. Often talks are held jointly with other departments such as
Computing Science (especially the Vivarium group) and Physics and with UBC. There are
over 25 talks per year. (See attachment for a list of this year'sspeakers.)
In 2004,
the CSC opened a multi-disciplinary research facility, the Scientific Computing
and Imaging Research Facility (SCIRF), which was funded through a successful CFI
application on fuel cell applications and run by the CSCBoard of Advisors. For part of
the past 5 year period, the CSChad a Fulbright Chair in the area of remote sensing. It
was funded by the SFU Administration (President, VP Research, and Deans of Applied
Science and Arts) at $75,000 per annum.
A CSCLab serving primarily graduate students and postdoctoral fellows is located in
PIMS space. It utilizes computer equipment purchased through NSERC funding obtained
by CSC members (the numerical analysts in Mathematics and computer graphics and
visualization researchers in Computing Science). It is
the major space used by students
and PDFs working in the computational and applied mathematics group. The CSC
through its members in the latter group has had various collaborations with the CECM
and IRMACS. Forexample, the apex of the CSC seminars, the CSC/PIMS Distinguished
Speaker Series, is held in the main IRMACS auditorium.
5. Has your Centre accomplished its goals?
With members ofthe CSC getting together before and after weekly seminars, there has
been great synergy which has led to a number of research collaborations and joint
supervision of graduate student, as well as successful BIRS Workshop proposals (often
between professors from different departments) and MITACS projects (between people
from different universities). As a result, the CSC certainly fulfills the University's
requirement for Research institutes "to facilitate collaborative multi-disciplinary
research
between different Faculties and/or multi-university initiatives and to provide
research-related services to the community/'
Acouple of more ambitious goals are yet to be achieved. It was planned that the CSC
set up formal interchanges with research institutions internationally, e.g. the Graduate
School on Computational Engineering at
the Technical University Darmstadt and the
Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR) at the University of Heidelberg,
but arrangements for these were not completed because of reduced effort from the
Director due to illness. Likewise with a proposed interdisciplinary MSc: a rough proposal
for
base budget funding to mount MSc and PhDdegree programs in Scientific
Computing was being prepared, and the Dean of Graduate Studies as well as Chairs in
Mathematics, Computing Science, and Engineering Science endorsed the development
of the graduate program in scientific computing in principle, but further effort would be
required to overcome administrative hurdles.
The CSC has been very successful in fostering collaborations between its members and
industry and governmental organizations and laboratories. A selection of a few of the
collaborations for which its Board of Advisors played a key role during the past 5 years
are the following:
A long-term collaboration with Teck Metals Inc. has been led by Stockie in the area of
atmospheric pollutant dispersion modelling. Several graduate students have developed
new methods for estimating pollutant emissions using ground-level measurements of
contaminants at Teck's lead-zinc smelter in Trail BC. Planning for future work by
graduate
students on extending this work to other contaminants and validating the
results using more advanced numerical techniques is underway.
Ghassan Harmaneh, Torsten Moeller and Manfred Trummer collaborate with MIRG(the
Medical Imaging Research Group) at VGH, directed by Dr. Anna Celler on various aspects
of single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). SPECT is a nuclear medicine
imaging modality mostly used for functional imaging, e.g., for myocardial perfusion or
kidney clearance. The group is involved in research on methods for use when a dynamic
behavior is imaged. For instance, instead of using data collected over a typical 20
minute scan to reconstruct one single image, a time-sequence of images (a movie) is
reconstructed from an equal sized data set. The problem entails many computational
and mathematical challenges. The group's work has resulted in a number of joint
publications. It has held joint grants, and a number of graduate students have
completed their studies under joint supervision.
A new project led by John Stockie has recently been undertaken involving a long-term
research project on modelling of sap flow in mapletrees. Itis funded jointly by the
North American Maple Syrup Council and the MITACS NCE. Several graduate students
and postdoctoral fellows are involved, and future work will engage other faculty in
mathematics and biology.
A number of potential projects are in early discussion stages. One engineering project
involves work with a local insurance assessor on 3D modeling for a better and faster car
damage assessment. Another isa project to simulate the flow of traffic on the new
South Fraser Perimeter Road that serves the DeltaPort. It is being developed by CSC
members and a local engineering firm representing Delta Chamber of Commerce and a
consortium
of transport authorities. Another project, involving software development
for imaging applications on cell phones, is in early planning stages between CSC
members and software consultants. The projects should have substantial graduate
student involvement.
6. Briefly describe your Centre membership and organization structure, as a separate
document, attach a full membership list.
The CSC membership includes around 50 fulltime SFU faculty. A Board of Advisors
consults with
the Director on important matters. (See attached membership list.)
7. Provide a summary of financial resources attracted and used, both from the
University
and
external sources.
(Attached a separate document, if necessary.)
Period
Source
Purpose
Total Budget
Yearl
PIMS
Distinguished Speakers
$5,000
Year 2
PIMS
Distinguished Speakers
$5,000
Year 3
PIMS
Distinguished Speakers
$5,000
Year 4
PIMS
Distinguished Speakers
$5,000
Year 5
PIMS
Distinguished Speakers
$5,000
N.B. Inaddition, a sum of about $5,000 (intotal), given to the from the SFU
Administration when the CSC began, has been used sparingly to cover occasional CSC
expenses, and minor funding from PIMS is used each year to cover a portion of visitor
expenses.
8. Please identify the university resources, ifany, provided to your Centre.
Space: Inaddition to the two Labs mentioned above, two offices provided through
PIMS in TASC2
University Personnel: Some secretarial support provided by the PIMS Administrative
Assistant and some temporary web support by the Computer Science Graphics and
Visualization Lab technical
support staff.
Major Equipment: None
9. How has your Centre enhanced research over and above what would have been
accomplished by an individual faculty member?
The amount of discussion of research problems, actual research collaboration, and joint
graduate student supervision among faculty members from SFU and elsewhere would
have been an order of magnitude less had there not been the weekly interaction
amongst CSC members.
10. Provide a rationale for the continuation of your Centre.
Scientific computing has become a lynchpin for doing science and engineering throughout
the world and in particular at SFU, as evidenced by the growing number of new faculty who
rely on computational techniques to do their basic research. At SFU the activities of the
applied and computational mathematics group (which is nearly half of the Department of
Mathematics) take place primarily within the Centre for Scientific Computing. Virtually all
of the other faculty members doing research involving scientific computing to a significant
degree are also members of the CSC. It is a time of continued success for the Centre, which
prides itself on its emphasis on the scholarship of its members and a grassroots structure. It
has an energetic Board of Advisors which takes great pride in the CSC's current projects and
optimistic about several projects now in their planning stages.
11. Listyour Centre's goals for the next five years.
In light of this year's review, there has been recent discussion amongst some of the more
active (mostly young) CSC members, and several priorities have been identified:
- Continue to secure funding for the Seminar Series, particularly the very successful
Distinguished Speakers Series
- Secure stable CSC web support (and use the resulting web visibility as a recruitment
tool to attract more new students)
- Submit an NSERC equipment grant proposal to secure new computing equipment for
the PIMS/CSC labs
- Investigate some type of integrated graduate degree program in "Scientific
Computing", perhaps as a joint ENSC-MATH-STAT-CMPT program
In the longer term, submit a larger funding request for the CSC, e.g., in the envelope
of a more ambitious CREATE or Strategic Network grant proposal
12. Describe other changes planned upon renewal (e.g. membership, organization
structure, etc.).
It is
timely to do a survey of all ofthe CSC membership to determine each member's desired
level
of continued participation. As well, the Advisory Board will be reconstituted, bringing
in some new faces. (Broader scale plans regarding new projects are as discussed above.)
13. Provide an updated calendar description if different from the old listing on the first
page.
Sufficient for now
14. Outlook for the future and other comments, by the Director ofthe Centre:
The University's recent change in its structure for Centres, such that there will no longer be
"Schedule A and Schedule B" Centres but only ones facilitating research mainly within a
Faculty - with Institutes doing the facilitation between different Faculties - means that the
CSC in its current form would not have been approved in the first place as a Centre. That is
to say, a strict interpretation of policy at this point would require the CSC to either call itself
an Institute or its
structure to be focused primarily on one Faculty (e.g, under the Dean of
Science). It is unclear to me whether or not the SFU Administration will interpret this policy
strictly in its renewal process.
The feedback Ireceived from the most active CSC faculty members was that by the Centre
should maintain a multidisciplinary (and multi-faculty) focus representative of the discipline
of Scientific Computing itself and more appropriate for obtaining future grant funding in
related fields of research. The CSC is in a position where on the one hand it is the focal
point on
campus for many faculty members whose research takes a very interdisciplinary
approach
to applied mathematics and computer science, and on the other hand, it has no
significant internal
SFU financial support. This is not a surprising situation given the way
projects
are often funded within universities and given that emphasis has been placed on
bringing top researchers together but not so much on putting big projects together.
At the end of my term as CSC Director, the abilities of its active members are certainly
sufficient to maintain its activities, and with enough commitment, to take it to another
level.
Signature of the Director of the Centre/Institute
^^
& A^^^i
Director
Faculty Dean - Centres Only
a. Comment on the Centre'sperformance:
Date: January 23, 2012
b. Comment on future Faculty support for the Centre (financial, teaching release, space,
etc.):
c. Recommendation:
Date:
Vice-President Research • Institutes Only
,
Stoty
,
fa Oik U W«*} ret*;*** "^ruJ^^ly, « <" <(<*<<?
okitttJK
P/ftLi
b. comment on future University support for the Centre (financial, teaching release,
space
u
i, etc.):
-
f
r
, rf
4U^ P
#'tf
c. Recommendation for renewal:
Signature/of
trieVice-President,
Research
:
(II Ml 2H(
Date
C?
Page 1 of 1
Board of Advisors:
T. Moeller, Computing Science
R. Russell, Mathematics (Director)
S. Ruuth, Mathematics
J. Stockie, Mathematics
L. Trajkovic, Engineering Science
Administrative Support:
Sandie Dielissen, PIMS Administrative Assistant
Other Members:
P. Borwein, Mathematics
R. Fetacau, Mathematics
L. Goddyn, Mathematics
M.C. Kropinski, Mathematics
D. Muraki, Mathematics
M. Monagan, Mathematics
N. Nigam, Mathematics
A. Oberman, Mathematics
P. Tupper, Mathematics
M. Trummer, Mathematics
J. F. Williams, Mathematics
R. Wittenberg, Mathematics
B. Bhattacharya, Computing Science
M. Drew, Computing Science
M. Ester, Computing Science
G. Hamarneh, Computing Science
L. Hafer, Computing Science
P. Hell, Computing Science
R. Krishnamurti, Computing Science
G. Mori, Computing Science
J. Pei, Computing Science
C. Sahinalp, Computing Science
K. Wang, Computing Science
R. Zhang, Computing Science
J. Bechhoefer, Physics
M. Hayden, Physics
G. Kirczenow, Physics
M. Wortis, Physics
D. Bingham, Statistics
R. Lockhart, Statistics
T. Swartz, Statistics
I. Bajic, Engineering Science
F. Beg, Engineering Science
K. Gupta, Engineering Science
J. Jones, Engineering Science
J. Liang, Engineering Science
B. Roitberg, Biology
K. Delaney, Biology
E. Palsson, Biology
D. Allen, Earth Sciences
A. Calvert, Earth Sciences
G. Flowers, Earth Sciences
D. Stead, Earth Sciences
R. Bencay, Economics
B. Ben Youssef, Interactive Arts and Technology (Surrey)
https://connect.sfuxa/service/hom
1/23/2012
