# Presentation: 659941

## Down the Hall While Across the Country

- Using Collaboratories to Form Distributed Research Teams
- James D. Myers
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

## Outline

- Collaboratories - what’s possible
- DOE2000 Examples
- Getting Tools
- Effective Collaboration
- tools
- tasks
- policies
- Thinking about the future

## A Collaboratory is a “... ‘center without walls,’ in which the nation’s researchers can perform their research without regard to geographical location
interacting with colleagues, 
accessing instrumentation, 
sharing data and computational resources, [and] 
accessing information in digital libraries.”          
Bill Wulf (1989)

... going beyond text exchange and conference/presentation metaphors;  bringing scientific resources into an environment to allow in-depth, collaborative work.

**interacting with colleagues, **
**accessing instrumentation, **
**sharing data and computational resources, [and] **
**accessing information in digital libraries.”          **
***Bill Wulf (1989)***
**... ****going beyond text exchange and conference/presentation metaphors;  bringing scientific resources into an environment to allow in-depth, collaborative work.**

**The Collaboratory Concept**

## U.W. Chem 155 - Live from the EMSL

**U.W. Chem 155 - Live from the EMSL**

**WWW/ Excel Spreadsheet   ****	****	**** A/V, WebTour Lecture**
**Remote Data Acquisition   ****	****	****EMSL WWW Data Notebook**

## The EMSL NMR Virtual Research Facility

**The EMSL NMR Virtual Research Facility**

- Secure Remote Access to EMSL NMR Spectrometers
- Shared data acquisition/ analysis/ visualization
- Instrument sends data directly to notebook
- Notebook displays
- Instrument parameters
- Protein structures
- NMR spectra

## R&D			
Inter-operability Framework*
Collaboration Management*
Electronic Notebooks*
Security Architecture
Floor Management
Quality of Service
Shared VR

***DOE***

*2000*

**R&D**
- Inter-operability Framework*
- Collaboration Management*
- Electronic Notebooks*
- Security Architecture
- Floor Management
- Quality of Service
- Shared VR

**PiloPilotsts**
- Diesel Collaboratory
- Materials Micro-Characterization (M2C)
- (EMSL)
- (Fusion)

**    ****Pilots**

## Mission

- . . . provide the fundamental scientific basis needed to solve the nation’s environmental problems.

- . . . advance molecular science in support of the long-term missions of the
- U.S. Department of Energy.

_**National Scientific User Facility**_

- . . . make unique research resources available to DOE scientists and researchers from academia and industry.

- . . . provide opportunities needed to educate and recruit young scientists to meet the demanding environmental challenges of the future.

**DOE2000 Participant**

- . . . working with partners in government, academia, and industry to develop and deploy collaborative technologies.

**Notes:**
Next generation of scientists

DOE2000-EMSL is a participant, we’ll say more later

## Advanced Research Capabilities for Environmental Molecular Science

**Molecular Level**

**Surface **

**Chemistry**

**Cluster **

**Structure**

**and Dynamics**

**Facility**

**Real Time**

**Dynamics**

**Facility**

**High **

**Performance**

**Computing **

**Facility**

**Visualization **

**and**

**Graphics**

**Laboratory**

**Large Molecule**

**Mass **

**Spectrometry**

**Ultrahigh**

**Field NMR**

**Chambers For **

**Controlled**

**Simulation Of**

**Environmental **

**Reactions**

**Sensor, Design**

**Fabrication and **

**Testing**

**Materials**

**Synthesis**

**Advanced**

**Processing**

**Interphase**

**Chemistry**

## Diesel Combustion Collaboratory

***Diesel Combustion***
***Research Program***

**Through computer and information technologies, the DCC aims to reduce geographical barriers**
** ****to information transfer and increase the utilization of computational models and visualization**

**DCC Slides:****Larry Rahn,**
**Sandia National Lab**

**Notes:**
Purpose
To enhance DOE’s ability to solve the diesel combustion problem
Method
Implement collaboratory technology to integrate and facilitate existing distributed national laboratory, university and industrial collaborations to develop predictive engine design tools
Structure
Four national laboratories (LANL, LBNL, LLNL, SNL), Industry (Cummins, Caterpillar, Detroit Diesel) and Univ. of Wisconsin 
Supported by DOE/ER, DOE/EE, Industry, and DOE/DP
Direction
Focus on DOE heavy duty diesel CRADA funded by EE/OTT

## • Instrument Room

• Instrument Status

• Experimental Data

• On-Line Control

• Video Conferencing

• Electronic Notebooks

- • Instrument Room
- • Instrument Status
- • Experimental Data
- • On-Line Control
- • Video Conferencing
- • Electronic Notebooks

***Provides Access to:****** ***

***Materials Microcharacterization Collaboratory***

**MMC Slide:****Nestor Zaluzec,**
**Argonne National Lab**

## Today’s Collaborative Tools

**Electronic Notebook**

**Audio/Video Conferencing**

**Shared Window**

**Chat Box**

**Multi White Board**

**Real-Time Collaboration**

**Remote Instrument**

**And Analysis**

**Shared Browsers**
**Group Authoring**

**Voting Tools**
**Remote Camera**

**Today’s Collaborative Tools**

**Notes:**

Tools that exist today for real-time electronic collaboration fall into 3 main groups.

We’ve been working in 3 areas to build on top of standards like...

As most of you know, remote spectrometer operation has been possible for a number of years via the vendor software because their software is X windows based. So all you need on your desktop is a computer with X windows or X windows emulation ability such as a Macintosh with MacX or a PC with Exceed. What we’ve added at the EMSL Virtual Facility is security and the Collaboratory suite of tools.  That is, we’ve added the capability of encrypting the X windows as they go back and forth over the internet so that the experiment and the spectrometer are secure.  

## Electronic Collaboration: Worse, Better ... or Different?

- Lack of non-verbal cues
- Lack of presence
- Intrusion of technology
- Delays, network outages
- Rapidly changing technologies

- Remote access
- Scaling
- Desktop access to people, information and scientific resources
- Automation of recording and routing
- Translation/different views of data
- Media integration
- Anonymity / equality

- Use Collaboratory Tools in Ways that play to their strengths

## Collaborate in All Phases of Research

- Resource Discovery
- Planning and Organization
- Experiment Design
- Software Development
- Computation and Simulation
- Collaborative Remote Experiments
- Shared Analysis and Discovery
- Remote Consultation & Mentoring
- Joint Authoring

## Collaboration Archetypes

- Can understand each others’ raw data
- Share equipment (new source, new detector)

- Unequal knowledge
- Need reference material
- Mentor needs to lecture, demonstrate
- Mentor oversees student’s efforts

- Shared Literature
- Shared Databases
- Shared Tools

**Community**

-    Bi-directional Mentor-Student
-    Can understand each others’   		processed results
-    Share goals, samples

-    Consumer has problem / provides	   sample
-    Producer returns results

## Personal
interesting work with colleagues
develop a new specialization (follow a
     molecule)
expose more students to practicing scientists and the latest techniques
Scientific Team
exploit timely science opportunities
cross-disciplinary niche-manship
assemble scientific “SWAT” teams
Organizational
shared research capabilities 
virtual institutes (disciplinary or topical)
connect researchers from smaller institutions, branch offices, etc., with scientists and capabilities at larger facilities

- interesting work with colleagues
- develop a new specialization (follow a
-      molecule)
- expose more students to practicing scientists and the latest techniques
- Scientific Team
- exploit timely science opportunities
- cross-disciplinary niche-manship
- assemble scientific “SWAT” teams
- Organizational
- shared research capabilities
- virtual institutes (disciplinary or topical)
- connect researchers from smaller institutions, branch offices, etc., with scientists and capabilities at larger facilities

**Look for Benefits at All Levels**

## “working together apart” works
Benefits outweigh costs, i.e. during NMR experiment setup
Audio + Screen/App Sharing Indispensable 
Electronic Notebook for exchange/display/organization/history
“like driving a Cadillac”
moved towards smaller tasks - finer division of work
agile use of resources
A real pilot project is a very effective way of introducing Collaborative technologies
4 of 7 first round proposals requested access via the Virtual NMR Facility

- Benefits outweigh costs, i.e. during NMR experiment setup
- Audio + Screen/App Sharing Indispensable
- Electronic Notebook for exchange/display/organization/history
- “like driving a Cadillac”
- moved towards smaller tasks - finer division of work
- agile use of resources
- A *real* pilot project is a very effective way of introducing Collaborative technologies
- 4 of 7 first round proposals requested access via the Virtual NMR Facility

**Lessons Learned from the Virtual NMR Facility ...**

## Evolving Practice and Policies

- How can we preserve informal communications?
- What’s more important - home or virtual institute affiliation?
- Who are your peers in cross-disciplinary work?
- What’s a paper?
- How do we evaluate and fund work across institutional boundaries?
- What is the best division of work (what scales)?
- What’s software and what’s plumbing?
- How can we assure mutual benefits?
- research work/education? super technicians?

## Collaboratories

- More than new technology
- A “new” paradigm for scientific research and education
- Will change the way we build, think, and do

**Borromean Rings -**
** ****the synergy of collaboration**

## EMSL Collaboratory Project

**Kelly Keating Elena Mendoza **

**George Chin**
**Brett Didier **

**Shawn Merriman James Myers**
** ****Tom Valdez**

**EMSL Collaboratory Project**

**Acknowledgements ...**

**Instrument Development Laboratory**

**Computing and Network Services**

**John Price **
**Ken Swanson**

**Jeff Mack**
**Gordon Anderson**

**Troy Thompson**
**Kerry Steele**

**Jeff Mauth**
**John McCoy**

**Ray Bair**

**Computing and Information Sciences**

## Acknowledgments-funding

- 	U.S. Department of Energy
- Mathematical, Information and Computational Sciences Division of the Office of Energy Research
- Distributed Collaboratory Experiment Environments (DCEE)
- DOE2000 project (Multi-institution project developing and piloting scientific collaboration technologies)
- 	Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a multiprogram national laboratory operated by Battelle Memorial Institute for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC06-76RLO 1830
- Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD)
- NMR Virtual Facility Project

## EMSL Collaboratory Website

- Background
- Software Download
- Help
- Research Directions
- Related Projects
- Resources
- papers
- presentations
- links

**http://www.emsl.pnl.gov:2080/docs/collab/**