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8.  Basic Research and Human Resources

**Basic Research**
HPCC basic research has two goals -- to develop new methods for  addressing fundamental technologicallimitations encountered as the  field advances, and to develop the foundations for next and future generations of HPCC technologies. 
The underlying basic research that develops the foundations for  future generations of HPCCtechnologies can be characterized in  seven broad areas:  components, communications, computing systems, software and tools, intelligent systems, information  management, and applications.  Examplesof accomplishments  resulting from NSF basic research illustrate its impact.  These  include thefollowing: 
- The Ray Casting Engine project used VLSI (very large scale integration) design techniques andMOSIS (metal oxide semiconductor implementation service), an ARPA- and NSF-funded service for academicresearch and education, to design and build a new, application-specific, massively parallel computerto compute solid geometry quickly for mechanical design.  This project resulted in new approaches tosolid modeling, metrology, and the treatment of sculptured objects and led to examination ofcompleteness and utility of ray representations.  The Supercomputer ToolKit project used inexpensive, fast commodity hardware modules with staticreconfigurable interconnect and dedicated software on each module to build a cost-    effectiveapplication-specific computing machine that achieved supercomputer performance in simulating a modelof the complete solar system.  This dedicated system was used to carry out a 100 million yearintegration and proved planetary orbits to be chaotic.  It was also used in engineering design tocarry out real-time computations with sensors and actuators to design dynamically stable bridges. 
A project on the Correctness of Hardware and Software Systems used theoretical models to studycomplex systems with a large number of states, to study how to scale techniques for state-spaceblowup, and to verify that models of such systems satisfy specifications. The resulting techniqueswere used to identify coherency and potential deadlock errors found in the IEEE Futurebus+ protocolfor application systems developed under the Navy's "Next-Generation Computer Resource" program. 
A Reduced Complexity Robotics project used modular hardware, simple sensors and actuators,efficient software design, rigorous scientific models and principles, theories on completeness,correctness, and complexity of plans for flexible parts handling and assembly systems that can besimulated, built, and programmed in a matter of weeks versus months and years.  Such systems aredirectly and seamlessly controllable to produce any quantity of a selected assembly within aprescribed family of products, programmed directly from piece-part CAD files and manufacturing processsheets. 
A Multi-Media, Knowledge-Based, Evolutionary Biomedical Database System studies the retrieval ofimages by content rather than image ID; the integration of images, text, and domain knowledge;approximate or fuzzy query answering; and application and demonstration of these techniques onbiomedical images and data, in particular hand growth and brain tumor studies.  The work has led tothe development of new spatio-temporal models for image representation, and the prototype system haspotential for use in radiology and other areas using image databases such as manufacturing and digitallibraries. 
A Robust Spoken Language Systems project that ARPA also supports focuses on the development ofnext-generation systems more capable of handling continuous speech, speakers' variabilities,disturbances from environmental noise, and larger vocabularies. The resulting system architecture hasbeen licensed to U.S. West for enhancing telephone voice transactions.  The U.S. 1995 Census willfield test the system for interactive telephone interviews. 
The Mentat project is developing an object-oriented programming system that transparentlydistributes computations across geographically distributed, heterogeneous, computing resources. Applications in biochemistry for comparing sequence libraries and in electrical engineering fortesting combinatorial circuits are executing in an environment of Sun, IBM, and SGI systems.  Mentatsoftware has been distributed to more than 150 sites. 
A Computational Molecular Biology project is studying the problem of how to locate genes andimportant functional signals in "raw sequences."  Efficient combinatorial matching algorithms andalgorithms for sequence reconstruction along with an innovative special biological chip as a DNAsample holder have been developed.  This will allow the reconstruction of unknown DNA fragments from aset of common DNA sequences.  The resulting binary sequencing by hybridization and customized DNAchips are expected to impact medical genetic diagnosis, DNA sequencing, DNA fingerprints for legalsystems, and recombinant DNA technology. 
Other applications that benefit directly from high performance  computing and communications researchinclude physics (for  example, astrophysics, high energy physics, low temperature  physics, andmaterial sciences), chemistry (from basic chemical  properties to chemical processing), biology(including genome  understanding, molecular dynamics, neural and cellular models, and  pharmacology),and a full spectrum of engineering disciplines (such  as fluid dynamics, petroleum engineering, andstructural dynamics). 
NSF supports long-term investigator-initiated basic research in  science and engineering disciplinesrepresented by its Directorates  for Biological Sciences, Engineering, Geosciences, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, and Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences.   This research is generally focusedon improving the ability of  researchers to use high performance computing and communications  toadvance fundamental understanding in those disciplines.  It  frequently takes the form of advancedsoftware development that  ultimately has impact outside of the particular discipline.  These Directorates also participate in Grand Challenge and National  Challenge activities.  Some specificactivities are as follows: 
- Through group awards and individual investigator awards, graduate and postdoctoral students aresupported in order to increase the pool of talent trained in scientific computing and informationprocessing.  In FY 1995 NSF received 317 preproposals in response to a solicitation formultidisciplinary group-oriented research in Grand Challenges, National Challenges, enablingtechnologies, and challenges in computer science, mathematical sciences, and problem-solvingenvironments.  Between 15 and 20 multi-year awards are anticipated in FY 1995.  Through its institutional infrastructure and research instrumentation activities, in FY 1995 NSFprovided resources for conducting research in scalable I/O, network applications in education andmanufacturing, gigabit-speed networking research, virtual manufacturing, multimedia systems, basicexperimental research, and for the NIE program described immediately below.  In FY 1996 NSF willevaluate existing programs, develop infrastructure support for basic research needed for educationaluse of the NII, continue infrastructure support for virtual manufacturing and other NII activities,and increase NIE participation. 
The Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) and theEducation
 and Human Resources (EHR) Directorates at NSF have established the NetworkingInfrastructure for Education (NIE) program.  NIE's goals are to build synergy among technology andeducation researchers, developers, and implementers; encourage innovation and experimentation byeducational groups; and integrate networking technology with education reform.  Co-funded with ARPA,NSF awarded 19 planning grants and policy studies, 11 multi-    year projects, and 10 one-yearsupplements to existing awards.  In FY 1995 between 100 and 125 proposals are expected.  One focus ofthe new awards will be on bringing networking information to previously underrepresented communitiessuch as tribal colleges. 
NSF funds basic research in gigabit speed networking including work at 
the gigabit testbeds described in Section II.1;
 gigabitswitching systems; protocols and software structures for network management; resource discovery amongcollaborative information spaces in large decentralized environments; network information theory;multi-sender and multi-receiver network security; modulation, detection, and coding of reliableinformation storage and retrieval; all-optical networks; and optical technologies for computing andcommunications.  In FY 1996 NSF plans to fund research aimed at more effective use of largeinformation resources, solicit and make awards for wireless access testbeds, continue collaboration ina 10 Gb/s testbed with ARPA, and examine the convergence of computing, entertainment, andtelecommunications from the standpoint of Internet experience. 
NASA funds basic research in computer architectures, fundamental  algorithms, computationalcomplexity, networked and distributed  computation, numerical analysis, and application-specific algorithms.  NASA supports the Illinois Computer Laboratory for  Aerospace Systems and Software(ICLASS) at the University of  Illinois and supports research centers at its Ames, Langley, and Goddard facilities. 
DOE supports basic research in applied mathematics, computer  science, and computational sciencetoward solving large scientific  problems.  Work is conducted at ten DOE laboratories and more than 30 universities; more than 60 undergraduate students and more than  40 graduate students aresupported.  FY 1995 accomplishments  include: 
- Software based on adaptive mesh refinement techniques for resolving three-dimensional fluid flowphenomena in complex geometries  Security procedures for voice and data transmission based on sending the data encapsulated in achaotic signal and decoding the signal using techniques for controlling chaos 
Software for resolving large-scale stochastic programming problems such as those found in largecommercial electric power distribution systems, networks, and airline crew equipment schedulingoperations 
Development and implementation of sparse matrix techniques for finite element software thatperforms crash simulation and analysis 
FY 1996 DOE plans include: 
- Research in inverse scattering, nondestructive evaluation, and discrete mathematics applied toparallel programming and genome sequencing and mapping  Multidisciplinary, multi-sector research in DOE's Grand Challenge applications 
Initiating a graduate student program based at industrial and laboratory sites 
NLM grants provide training in HPCC technologies for biomedical  professionals and provide trainingfor computing professionals in  medical and health applications. 
**Education and Training**
During the three years that the HPCC Program has formally existed,  the community of expert users hasgrown from a small enclave of  researchers in computing and communications technologies to large groups of researchers and students in all fields.  The community of  able users spans all sectors ofthe economy and all sectors of  society throughout the U.S. and around the world.  This growth in knowledge and ability was initially the result of hands-on and  formal training at HPCC-fundedfacilities (described in Section II.5) and in industry; today this typeof training and education is  being conducted on line; at universities, colleges, elementary and secondary schools; at other places of learning such as museums and  libraries; and in industrialtraining programs throughout the country. 
In FY 1994 NSF established a Native American Telecommunications  Technical Assistance think tank,joined with ED and the National  Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA, part of  theDepartment of Commerce) in sponsoring a workshop on the role  of state networks in developingstatewide networking  infrastructure, and developed museum-based networking support  activities inurban centers. 
On-going NSF activities include the following: 
- Joint NSF/ARPA funding of more than 4,000 student projects in VLSI fabrication by MOSIS  The Superquest program that provides high school students and teachers with research experiencesat its Supercomputer Centers, undergraduate course and curriculum development, and researchexperiences for undergraduate students   
Pilot Educational Networks project to develop, implement, test, and evaluate applications ofcomputing and communications to education.  The NIE 
(described earlier)
addresses issues of large scale networking for education.  Issues include scalability, cost/benefits,policy, effective applications, and educational impact for user-driven models of computer networkingin education. 
Pilots and large-scale models for educational applications of digital libraries 
The Maryland "Virtual High School for Computational Science" on the Internet, where studentsthroughout Maryland learn science and mathematics by participating in collaborative applicationprojects using computational science, guided by experienced teachers and other mentors.  Three groupsparticipate: 
   -- Montgomery Blair High School, which has developed a collaborative    teaching approach basedupon computational science applications 
   -- Maryland high school teachers and students, including those at    isolated rural, inner-city,and suburban schools 
   -- Government agencies, business groups, and network groups    concerned about the schools'abilities to respond to the promise of    advanced technologies 
The NSF postdoctoral training program in computational science and  engineering and experimentalcomputer science continues.  To date  some 80 people received two years of support to pursue computational science across a spectrum of disciplines and in  experimental computer science. 
NASA has a broad-based program designed to produce rapid  improvement in both K-12 and lifelonglearning in science,  mathematics, and engineering.  The two components of this program  are (1) opencompetitive solicitations called "cooperative  agreement notices," and (2) an educational outreachprogram at  seven NASA field centers nationwide. 
In FY 1995 NASA solicited for projects to use the Internet in  lifelong learning through thecooperative agreement notice  "Education, Training, and Lifelong Learning in Aeronautics."  Details can be found at: 
ftp://quest.arc.nasa.gov/pub/can95/
Outreach program accomplishments at the field centers include: 
- Ames Research Center (Moffett Field, CA) -- Produced several popular videos on approaches to andbenefits from using the Internet in the classroom  http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/
   -- Established a popular educational resource Web page supporting teachers nationwide 
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/trc/toc.html 
Dryden Flight Research Center (Edwards, CA) -- Investigating how to use the Internet to assistchallenged and emotionally disturbed students in the classroom 
Goddard Space Flight Center (Greenbelt, MD) -- Established an Internet-based program for Goddardscientists to work with teachers in all 24 Maryland school districts to improve the teaching of Earthand environmental science 
http://viva.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, CA) -- Produced multimedia software to guide schoolchildren through a space exploration mission from defining objectives through designing and selectinginstruments and platforms to analyzing scientific data 
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/educ/education.html 
Johnson Space Center (Houston, TX) -- Developed a knowledge robot (Knobot (TM)) to discover andprovide materials on the Internet tailored to the needs of K-12 teachers 
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/stb/ILIAD/Mosaic/iliad.html
Langley Research Center (Hampton, VA) -- Deployed Internet networks to public schoolseconomically by using the local carrier telephone infrastructure 
http://k12mac.larc.nasa.gov/Networks/Models.html
Lewis Research Center (Cleveland, OH) -- Demonstrated prototype high bandwidth, low-costInternet access to schools using wireless radio frequency technology 
http://www.lerc.nasa.gov:80/Other_Groups/K-12/K-12_homepage.html