Projects and Programs of NPAC
NPAC has a diverse set of projects, which are unified by a common theme of applying computer science in the real world for academic, business and the community. Further NPAC has a uniform and to some controversial technology approach that is based on the assumption (assertion) that Web technology (software, interfaces, protocols, standards, and systems) represents the most powerful software base that has ever been developed. As it implements a general distributed computing model, we find that it can be used pervasively in the range of projects summarized below under broad categories and reached by the buttons on the left..
- Base Web Technology research and development with particular application to collaboration and multimedia systems
We believe that web-based collaboration will be critical in many applications and are pursuing several research and deployment activities. TangoInteractive was developed to support a prototype Command and Control system but is being applied actively in education and several commercial areas. We have developed state of the art video and audio digital servers and clients and are using these as components of large systems.
Our expertise in databases and their integration with the Web is used in many projects.
- Applications of Web Technology to High Performance Computing.
This includes the new WebFlow Java Server approach to software integration; leadership of the national investigation of Java as a language for computational science; an advanced Java message passing library; Web interfaces to HPCC technologies including batch and interpreted modes; and collaborative Java visualization applets for scientific computation. Our work with the DoD PET program includes an examination of CORBA and the Web for the event driven simulations of great importance in many defense applications.
- Applications of Web Technology to Healthcare
Here collaboration between medical doctor David Warner and Physicist Ed Lipson has produced breakthrough low cost interfaces for disabled individuals. Telemedicine and Web based patient record databases are also focus areas of this research whose Interventional Informatics approach is pioneering multi-sensory human computer interfaces in their GrokBox.
- "Classic" Parallel Computing technology and applications
Here the PCRC collaboration is generating the infrastructure to support interoperable SPMD programs while a new Darpa funded activity will generate tools for performance modeling of parallel programs on diverse architectures. We have deployed a public domain HPF front end and a set of HPF test application modules.
We always link this technology to practical applications and currently we are working on such diverse simulations as colliding black holes and predictions of financial derivatives. We are starting a new project with the national GEM group to develop the computational infrastructure to support earthquake prediction.
- Education and Training in practical computer science (aka computational science) in both web and high performance computing arenas
Here we have a set of technology development and delivery programs that are led by those funded through the DoD PET (Programming Environment and Tools) Program. Our work in the National High Performance Software Exchange falls into this area. Combining Tango collaborative tools with our rich WebWisdom delivery mechanisms has given us a national leadership position in the technologies to support distance education.
- Industrial outreach in leading edge relevant computer science
This is gathered into the InfoMall program funded by New York State but also includes work with industries around the country. This varies from database support for web sites to new codes for modeling financial instruments.