CLOUD

BALTIMORE, MD -- Undergraduate faculty and middle and high school teachers interested in learning about computational science and how to integrate it into the classroom are invited to participate in the SC2002 Education Program. The training program begins this fall at SC2002, the annual conference on high performance networking and computing, to be held Nov. 16-22 in Baltimore. The Education Program continues throughout the year through regional summer workshops to keep educators current with new developments in the use of computing techniques in the classroom. Applications are now available online at www.sc-conference.org/sc2002/education. The application deadline is April 26. The SC conference has a long history of offering programs for teachers and higher education faculty to meet with scientists, engineers, and technologists to learn about the latest in high performance computing and communications technologies, and to explore opportunities for applying these technologies into classroom activities. Computational science is the use of models, simulations and visualization to better understand complex problems ranging from the ionization of atoms to global climate patterns. "We're working with educators to help them integrate computational science into the classroom," said Scott Lathrop, SC2002 Education Program Co-chair. "For a number of educators, this is their first exposure to these tools. The program will help educators introduce their students to the world of science through hands-on modeling, simulation and visualization." Both computer novices and experienced users will find topics to suit them at the conference, promises Lathrop. Workshops will vary from teaching popular software such as Stella, Excel, and Mathematica, to computational science tools for specific applications. The organizers of this year's educational sessions have a particular focus on undergraduate educators. They are seeking teams of two to six members consisting of either undergraduate faculty or a combination of faculty and middle and high school teachers. Each year, thousands of scientific computing researchers meet at SC to discuss and share their latest work. And, each year, hundreds of undergraduate and middle and high school educators participate in the conference through the Education Program, and by attending the exhibits, plenary sessions, and special programs offered to all conference attendees. The Education Program encourages the participation of underrepresented faculty and teachers, including faculty from two- and four-year colleges, primarily undergraduate institutions, and minority-serving institutions. Computational scientists, educators, and technologists will work with these teams to aid them in identifying appropriate tools to apply to their curriculum to support collaborative learning opportunities for their students. SC2002 is the industry leading high performance computing and networking conference, sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery and the IEEE Computer Society. The SC2002 Education Program runs from Saturday, Nov. 16, through Tuesday, Nov. 19, although participants are encouraged to stay for the remainder of the week to participate in the full range of conference offerings. Other activities at the conference include a first-class technical program, student volunteer opportunities, and "Student Days," aimed at providing undergraduate and graduate students with information about careers in education, research, and industry. Support for travel and housing expenses will be provided to accepted Education Program applicants, pending funding. For further information on SC2002 and the Education Program, visit www.sc-conference.org/sc2002