High Performance Computing Education at Fresno State
Preparing for the 21st Century
Fresno State offers an interdisciplinary course sequence in high performance computing for undergraduates, which gives them access to the most advanced supercomputers available at the University. The students work in a laboratory equipped with a network of multimedia graphics workstations linked to the University's parallel and distributed supercomputers.
Our courses were among the first to integrate this technology into the undergraduate curriculum. They provide our students with a unique opportunity to develop expertise in leading edge technologies crucial to scientific progress and economic strength as we approach the 21st century.
The first course, Introduction to Parallel Computing, examines parallel methods and their applications in the natural sciences. From this base, students choose from the more advanced courses, which explore specific applications in chemistry, computer science, engineering and physics. Students from all the advanced courses meet together in a weekly laboratory/seminar to explore computational algorithms and related issues of cross-disciplinary importance.
These courses and the new laboratory have been developed with the assistance of grants from the Kirk Foundation.
Students in these courses have access to the University's state-of-the art supercomputing facilities. These computers were acquired with support from a Kirk Foundation grant.
Courses Offered (subject to change)
- Introduction to Parallel Computing, ENG 120 / CSci 120 - Fall Semester
- Advanced Scientific Computing in Chemistry, CSci 155 - Spring Semester
- Parallel Algorithms & Programs, CSci 112 - Spring Semester (alternate years)
- Parallel Computing: Models, Languages & Architectures, CSci 151 - Spring Semester (alternate years)
- Parallel Computing for Engineering, ENG 121 - Spring Semester
- Advanced Scientific Computing in Physics, PHYS 221 - Spring Semester