You are cordially invited to the first IACS Seminar of the new academic year. Also please note below that we are launching a new course and a new course category, Applied Computation, this fall.
Seminar speaker: Nicolas Hadjiconstatinou, MIT
Location: Maxwell Dworkin G125, 33 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Date: Friday, Sept. 7
Time: Informal lunch with speaker, 12:30pm. Talk, 1:00pm.
Title: Efficient Simulation of Multiscale Kinetic Transport
Abstract:
This talk will discuss a new class of approaches for simulating multiscale kinetic problems, with particular emphasis on applications related to small-scale transport. These approaches are based on an algebraic
decomposition of the distribution function into an equilibrium part, described deterministically (analytically or numerically), and the remainder, described using a particle simulation method. The discussion will pay particular attention to stochastic particle
simulation methods that are typically used to simulate kinetic phenomena. Algebraic decomposition can be thought of as control-variate variance-reduction formulation, with the nearby equilibrium serving as the control. Such formulations can provide substantial
computational benefits; in many cases, the computational cost reduction is sufficiently large to enable otherwise intractable simulations. The proposed methods will be illustrated with a variety of problems of engineering interest, such as microscale/nanoscale
gas flows.
Bio:
Nicolas Hadjiconstantinou is professor of mechanical engineering and Director of Computation for Design and Optimization at MIT. He holds BA and MA degrees in engineering from the University of Cambridge
(UK), an SM degree in physics from MIT and a PhD in mechanical engineering from MIT. After completing his PhD in 1998, he spent a year at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as a Lawrence Livermore Fellow working with Berni Alder on computational kinetic
theory. He then joined the faculty of the Mechanical Engineering Department at MIT, where he is now Professor. His interests include molecular simulation methods, microscale fluid mechanics and transport theory. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers (ASME) and was recently presented the 2012 Gustus L. Larson Memorial Award.
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COURSE ANNOUNCEMENT
Number: Applied Computation 263
Title: Data and Computation on the Internet
Meets: 4-5:30 pm Monday/Wednesday Maxwell Dworkin G125
Description: From TCP/IP to HTTP, this course will present the architecture of the Internet and how it has become a key part of modern large-scale data processing and computation. We will explore low-level
protocols and standards, look at data storage and movement over wide area networks, and consider how modern science, commerce and society have come to rely on the Internet and the Web.
The course will emphasize web- based interaction patterns for data and computation. Grading will be based on a mixture of reading responses, programming assignments and systems labs, culminating in a team
systems + programming project. Class and section time will include tutorials, demonstrations and mini programming and systems exercises. There will be guest lectures on state-of-the-art Internet-¡©oriented systems and ¡°Grand Challenges¡± for large-scale data
and computation.