Volume 7, Issue 1 -
Spring/Summer 1999

Volume 6, Issue 3
Fall 1998

Volume 6, Issue 2
Spring/Summer 1998

Volume 6, Issue 1
Winter 1998

Volume 5, Issue 4
Fall 1997

Volume 5, Issue 3
Summer 1997

Volume 5, Issue 2
Spring 1997

Volume 5, Issue 1
Winter 1997

Volume 4, Issue 4
Fall 1996

Volume 4, Issue 3
Summer 1996

Volume 4, Issue 2
Spring 1996

Volume 4, Issue 1
Winter 1996

Volume 3, Issue 4
Fall 1995

Volume 3, Issue 3
Summer 1995

Volume 3, Issue 2
Spring 1995

Volume 3, Issue 1
January 1995

Volume 2, Issue 4
October 1994

Volume 2, Issue 3
July 1994

Volume 2, Issue 2
April 1994

Volume 2, Issue 1
January 1994

Volume 1, Issue 4
October 1993

Volume 1, Issue 3
July 1993

Volume 1, Issue 2
April 1993

Volume 1, Issue 1
January 1993

CalTech Workshop Exposes Teachers to New Computing Developments

At CalTech this summer, 19 Los Angeles-area teachers from high schools and middle schools with large minority enrollments attended the eighth Minorities Teachers Computational Sciences Awareness Program. Held June 23-27, the workshop introduced these teachers to the most recent developments and opportunities in concurrent computing. The participants will use this information to motivate their students to consider career opportunities in science and engineering.

This year's participants were exposed to the cutting edge of these fields through presentations, demos, hands-on applications, and discussions with some of the world's leaders in new areas of concurrent computing, biotechnology, computer graphics, and their applications and interrelationships.

Dr. Tom Gottschalk, the project originator, describes to teachers the use of a parallel computer built with PCs.
In a special presentation, the teachers had the opportunity to preview a new project on the use of a high-performance computer system for secondary schools. Led by Tom Gottschalk of CalTech's Center for Advanced Computing Research (CACR), the program will provide access to a parallel computer built with PCs that will enable local schools to perform simulations and analyses not feasible on classroom computers. Students will be exposed to technology of the most advanced kind, including simulations of air pollution modeling, neural systems, universe characteristics, and AIDS research. A teacher survey after the presentation revealed high enthusiasm for the project, with requests for classroom access to cutting-edge technologies, interesting math applications, and real-world problems in physics, biology, and other areas. The project is scheduled to debut in Los Angeles-area classrooms later this year.

"It was great to find out what's going on in the research community," says Debora Blais, a math teacher at Alhambra High School. "Being sheltered in the classroom on a daily basis, we don't have the time or opportunity to keep up with the latest activities and share them with our students."

"I enjoyed learning and reviewing how computational sciences are used to facilitate advanced research studies," adds Colette Barris, a computer science/ physical science teacher at Wilson Middle School. "I look forward to the process of creating a way to introduce and implement computational science at the middle school level."

For more information on the Minorities Teachers Computational Sciences Awareness Program, contact JoAnn Boyd at CalTech, joann@cscr.caltech.edu . For information on the Scientific Simulation Cluster Computer Project, see http://oscar.cacr.caltech.edu/Hrothgar/DD/.

Table of Contents