The strategic plan of the CEWES MSRC PET effort has evolved over the first two years of operation, through close collaboration of the university team leadership with that of Nichols Research and the CEWES MSRC.
1. Goals and Objectives
The goal of the PET effort at the CEWES MSRC is to bring university HPC knowledge and skills to bear on both the overall theme and the specific sub-areas listed as examples under the "umbrella" for the CEWES MSRC:
FIG: CEWES MSRC Vision "Umbrella"
The key objectives of the PET effort in the CEWES MSRC are as follows:
Establish a mechanism for identifying and transferring emerging advances in programming environments, computational tools, algorithms, and computational solution techniques for CTA applications from academia and industry into the CEWES MSRC.
Create a virtual extension of the CEWES MSRC into academia that will be responsible for identifying and acquiring near-term programming environment improvements and long-term expansions, anticipating CEWES MSRC user needs and making users aware of pertinent emerging technology.
Utilize state-of-the-art HPC technology as an inherent part of the implementation of the CEWES MSRC PET Program itself.
Establish a training program to ensure CEWES MSRC user proficiency with transferred advances in HPC tools and technology.
Establish cooperative development and training programs with HBCUs/MIs to significantly enhance participation in the HPC community.
Establish effective collaboration with academia to encourage the development of graduate and post-doc programs that will enhance the skill levels and efficiency of the DoD HPC community.
Based on this, the vision for PET at CEWES MSRC is as depicted below: FIG: PET Primary Role
The true deliverable of the CEWES MSRC PET effort is the raised level of CEWES MSRC user capability and programming environment in the CEWES MSRC - to a level not surpassed by academic, industry, or other government HPC centers. 2. Approach
The approach to PET at the CEWES MSRC is to marshall an elite and readily accessible university team to constitute a virtual extension of the CEWES MSRC into top academic expertise, able both to respond and anticipate needs of the CEWES MSRC users for training and assistive collaboration in advancing the programming environment, utilizing a combination of strong on-site presence and dedicated support from the universities.
Support for CEWES MSRC users is provided by the PET team in the five Computational Technology Areas (CTAs) for which the CEWES MSRC has responsibility:
CFD: Computational Fluid Dynamics CSM: Computational Structural Mechanics CWO: Climate/Weather/Ocean Modeling EQM: Environmental Quality Modeling FMS: Forces Modeling and Simulation/C4I
and also for three relevant technical infrastructure areas:
Scalable Parallel Programming Tools Scientific Visualization Collaboration/Communication
The PET effort at CEWES MSRC consists of three fundamental elements: Core Support, Focused Efforts, and Training. Intertwined with these efforts are outreach to CEWES MSRC users and a program to enhance the involvement of HBCU/MIs in HPC.
FIG: PET Activities
*Core Support* provides continual interaction and assistive collaboration with CEWES MSRC users in the technical areas supported at the CEWES MSRC to migrate and enhance important codes to scalable parallel platforms and to extend the applicability of such codes and systems.
*Focused Efforts* address current specific projects to enhance the programming environment at the CEWES MSRC and the capabilities of CEWES MSRC users.
*Training* provides instruction for MSRC users, both on-site at CEWES MSRC and remote, in the technical areas supported at the CEWES MSRC and consists of both in-person and web-based courses.
3. Core Support
Core Support is provided to the CEWES MSRC through continual interaction in each of five CTAs supported at the CEWES MSRC, as well as in the three technical support areas, with a specific supporting university on the PET team having responsibility for each area.
This Core Support operates primarily on-site at the CEWES MSRC, coupled with continual support from specific individuals at the university, through continual interaction and assistive collaboration of the PET team with CEWES MSRC users in the five CTAs supported at the CEWES MSRC, and in the three technical support areas, to migrate important codes to scalable parallel platforms and to enhance and extend the applicability of such codes and systems. In the operation of this Core Support, CEWES MSRC user demographics and software usage are continually be monitored to provide input for identification of codes and systems of important impact.
4. Focused Efforts
In addition to this continual Core Support, certain specific Focused Efforts within the scope of the CEWES MSRC and the resources of the PET effort are identified for implementation by the PET team, operating across the universities as necessary. Such projects have specific objectives and deliverables. When appropriate, projects involve coordinated efforts among PET teams from other MSRCs and/or funding from other MSRC PET efforts. Interest by CEWES MSRC users in collaborative effort in such projects is a necessary factor in identification of such Focused Efforts for implementation.
5. Training
Training is conducted with emphasis on intermediate and advanced topics, and is coordinated across the MSRCs to reach the entire DoD user community through innovative solutions. A state-of-the-art training facility is maintained at the CEWES MSRC with workstations for hands-on training and facilities for remote transmission. Delivery is on-site at the CEWES MSRC, in-person at some other DoD sites and at the universities as appropriate, and remotely using emerging distance learning approaches. Training specifically addresses the need to reach an ever greater number of DoD users, leveraging emerging digital infrastructures and the unique educational expertise of the PET team. Delivery is ultimately to be any time, any place, and at any pace.
6. Outreach
Since the great majority of users of the CEWES MSRC are off-site, the PET effort at the CEWES MSRC places emphasis on outreach to remote users through visits to major remote user sites, training courses at such remote sites, web-based remote training delivery, and remote communication via email and the CEWES MSRC PET website. Emphasis is also placed of the implementation of appropriate tools for remote collaboration, especially with regard to scientific visualization. Continually updated user demographics are assembled into a CEWES MSRC user taxonomy to guide this outreach to all users of the CEWES MSRC.
7. HBCU/MI Program
The principal purpose of the HBCU/MI component of the PET effort at the CEWES MSRC is to enhance the capability of the HBCU/MI members of the CEWES MSRC PET academic team to participate fully in the PET support effort of the CEWES MSRC. To this end, both Jackson State and Clark Atlanta are involved directly in Focused Efforts. Particular emphasis is placed on enhancing the opportunities of students at the HBCU/MI PET partners through web-based university classes at the HBCU/MIs from the other PET team members and through summer institutes at the HBCU/MIs.