==course no. 7 ===

Distributed Scientific Visualization on High Performance Networks

course level: beginning  / full
day offered: Monday 

Chair(s):  Jeffrey A. Terstriep  
               -National Center for Supercomputing Applications
                Charles E. Catlett
               - National Center for Supercomputing Applications

==Lecturer(s)=== 
Charles E. Catlett
National Center for Supercomputing Applications

Michael L Norman, PhD.

Deyang Song

Patrick Moran

Jeffrey A. Terstriep - Proj. Leader Networking Dev.
National Center for Supercomputing Applications

==Course Description===
This course provides an overview of distributed scientific 
visualization.  The course begins with the motivation for distributed 
visualization from the scientist's perspective.  This is followed by a 
description of the enabling technologies: networks and distributed  
computing software.  The basic concepts of networking are 
introduced, with a discussion of existing wide-area networks and 
emerging technologies.  A description of distributed computing is also 
presented, with a comparison of software tools available for creating 
distributed applications.

The course concludes with case studies examining several of the 
demonstrations being presented in the SIGGRAPH'92 Showcase.  
Showcase presenters will provide a detailed description of their 
applications, will examine the benefits and problems of their  
implementation, and will discuss the performance issues surrounding 
their solutions.

==Who Should Attend===
The beginner will not be overwhelmed; the intermediate will not be 
bored.  The intended audience is the software developer or any 
computer user who works in a networked environment and wishes 
to understand how the networks work and how to make use of them 
for scientific visualization.

==Recommended Background (Prerequisites)===
Beginners course. Some experience in networked computing from a 
user standpoint.  The course does not assume any knowledge 
regarding network concepts or technology, but  moves quickly over 
these topics.  The participant may find it helpful to have some  
knowledge of distributed computing concepts.

==Course Objectives===
This course is aimed at individuals who wish to make use of 
distributed computing for visualization.  The basic networking 
knowledge is provided, such that participants will gain an 
understanding of the capabilities and problems associated with 
networked computing.  Participants will also learn how to determine 
what network technology is best suited for their applications.

The second half of the course reviews the working applications.  The 
students will gain some insight into the benefits and difficulties of 
distributed scientific visualization.

==Chair Biographies===
Jeffrey A. Terstriep is the project leader in the Networking 
Development group at the National Center for Supercomputing 
Applications.  Presently, he is leading the effort to develop 
distributed applications on the BLANCA testbed.  He also teaches two 
courses at the community college:  Beginning Computer Graphics and 
Scientific Visualization.  He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from 
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Charles E. Catlett is Manager of Networking Development at the 
National Center for Supercomputing Applications, located at the 
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  He is principal 
investigator for NCSA's work developing applications and 
programming environments for the BLANCA gigabit/second network 
testbed, one of five such testbeds being coordinated by the 
Corporation for National Research Initiatives with funding from  
industry, the National Science Foundation, and the Defense Advanced 
Research Projects Agency.  Mr. Catlett received a B.S. in Computer 
Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 
1983.