The 7th Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research

NOTE: Additional site visits will be announced as conference planning progresses.

Field Trip - Wedensday - May 24, 2006

The Synthesis Center, a joint project between San Diego Supercomputer Center and the California Institute for Telecommunications and Technology. Time: 1:00 - 5:30 pm (PDT)

Cyberinfrastructure addressing complex science & engineering questions^SM

In many areas, science is becoming a team sport. Important science questions can only be addressed by bringing together multi-disciplinary groups of scientists along with IT experts. “Big science” in the future will not just involve running individual “super” computations. It will also be about “super” science, which brings together scientists from across sub-disciplines and disciplines, along with heterogeneous databases and tools, to solve multidisciplinary and multi-scale science problems in a collaborative way. This is the notion of synthesis.

Synthesis is at the heart of many complex science endeavors, including numerous NSF-funded projects that are either led by the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), or where SDSC has significant involvement. It is at the heart of important efforts funded by NIH and the Department of Homeland Security. The Synthesis Center serves as a center to facilitate interactions and sharing of ideas among scientists on complex science and engineering issues, without relying on a central computing resource. This is the vision for the next generation of science.

What is the Synthesis Center?

The Synthesis Center is a place where groups of collaborating scientists and engineers come together for face-to-face sessions to directly address science questions using cyberinfrastructure tools. Sessions may run for a day, a few days, or even a few weeks. Even with the availability of a variety of remote collaboration tools and technologies, real science still happens mainly in face-to-face meetings — which the Synthesis Center facilitates. Cyberinfrastructure plays a supporting role, as a facilitator of science.

The Synthesis Center is a portal to:

Cyberinfrastructure and a unique environment consisting of large-scale, wall-sized displays linked to powerful on-demand cluster computing systems, with easy access to storage and important databases;
Data analysis and mining tools, which may be stored locally or available via high speed networks.

The Synthesis Center allows groups of researchers and scientists to meet together in a resource-rich environment where they can address cutting edge science questions that can be solved only by teams of inter-disciplinary scientists meeting together to enable face-to-face discussions and “what if” computations.

The Synthesis Center can be scheduled for several days or weeks at a time for scientists to meet and discuss science in real time with access to on-demand computing. Between such sessions, Center staff work with domain scientists and computer scientists to assemble the data, tools, and systems needed in preparation for the next session.

Projects

Some projects in which the Synthesis Center are is involved:

Using the Synthesis Center

There are three ways to use the Synthesis Center:

Preparing to run experiments. The Synthesis Center can be scheduled for activities related to examining, understanding, and “cleaning” databases in preparation for use in science endeavors. There may also be collaborative efforts to arrive at common metadata specification, and define shared knowledge structures. The Center provides easy access to data and a variety of query and information visualization tools that allow a group of scientists to look at the data and information on wall-sized displays. These sessions can also be used for tool tuning—i.e., to test drive tools, understand their capabilities, and test their correctness prior to their use in serious science and/or large runs.

Running experiments. Once databases have been assembled (or connected to real-time streams) and tools have been readied, the Synthesis Center can be used to perform science runs while the collaborative group is assembled at the Center. These science sessions can runs for days, even weeks.

Studying experimental results. For problems that require large computations such as a large simulation run, a science group may first define a cyberinfrastructure campaign, where they design and develop a series of runs in advance. The runs may produce terabytes of output, which can be stored in digital libraries. After the campaign completes, the science group assembles in the Synthesis Center to examine the results, visualizing simulation output easily accessible and on an on-demand basis. Results from the campaign can be stored or deleted.

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	NOTE: Additional site visits will be announced as conference planning progresses. Field Trip - Wedensday - May 24, 2006 The Synthesis Center, a joint project between San Diego Supercomputer Center and the California Institute for Telecommunications and Technology. Time: 1:00 - 5:30 pm (PDT) Cyberinfrastructure addressing complex science & engineering questions^SM In many areas, science is becoming a team sport. Important science questions can only be addressed by bringing together multi-disciplinary groups of scientists along with IT experts. “Big science” in the future will not just involve running individual “super” computations. It will also be about “super” science, which brings together scientists from across sub-disciplines and disciplines, along with heterogeneous databases and tools, to solve multidisciplinary and multi-scale science problems in a collaborative way. This is the notion of synthesis. Synthesis is at the heart of many complex science endeavors, including numerous NSF-funded projects that are either led by the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), or where SDSC has significant involvement. It is at the heart of important efforts funded by NIH and the Department of Homeland Security. The Synthesis Center serves as a center to facilitate interactions and sharing of ideas among scientists on complex science and engineering issues, without relying on a central computing resource. This is the vision for the next generation of science. What is the Synthesis Center? The Synthesis Center is a place where groups of collaborating scientists and engineers come together for face-to-face sessions to directly address science questions using cyberinfrastructure tools. Sessions may run for a day, a few days, or even a few weeks. Even with the availability of a variety of remote collaboration tools and technologies, real science still happens mainly in face-to-face meetings — which the Synthesis Center facilitates. Cyberinfrastructure plays a supporting role, as a facilitator of science. The Synthesis Center is a portal to: Cyberinfrastructure and a unique environment consisting of large-scale, wall-sized displays linked to powerful on-demand cluster computing systems, with easy access to storage and important databases; Data analysis and mining tools, which may be stored locally or available via high speed networks. The Synthesis Center allows groups of researchers and scientists to meet together in a resource-rich environment where they can address cutting edge science questions that can be solved only by teams of inter-disciplinary scientists meeting together to enable face-to-face discussions and “what if” computations. The Synthesis Center can be scheduled for several days or weeks at a time for scientists to meet and discuss science in real time with access to on-demand computing. Between such sessions, Center staff work with domain scientists and computer scientists to assemble the data, tools, and systems needed in preparation for the next session. Projects Some projects in which the Synthesis Center are is involved: High Density Display MBT Notebook Project SDSC Active Poster Cell Signaling Pathways Visualization Medical Data Visualization On Cell Phones and PDA’s Pocket Fold Virtual Tour Guide Project Using the Synthesis Center There are three ways to use the Synthesis Center: Preparing to run experiments. The Synthesis Center can be scheduled for activities related to examining, understanding, and “cleaning” databases in preparation for use in science endeavors. There may also be collaborative efforts to arrive at common metadata specification, and define shared knowledge structures. The Center provides easy access to data and a variety of query and information visualization tools that allow a group of scientists to look at the data and information on wall-sized displays. These sessions can also be used for tool tuning—i.e., to test drive tools, understand their capabilities, and test their correctness prior to their use in serious science and/or large runs. Running experiments. Once databases have been assembled (or connected to real-time streams) and tools have been readied, the Synthesis Center can be used to perform science runs while the collaborative group is assembled at the Center. These science sessions can runs for days, even weeks. Studying experimental results. For problems that require large computations such as a large simulation run, a science group may first define a cyberinfrastructure campaign, where they design and develop a series of runs in advance. The runs may produce terabytes of output, which can be stored in digital libraries. After the campaign completes, the science group assembles in the Synthesis Center to examine the results, visualizing simulation output easily accessible and on an on-demand basis. Results from the campaign can be stored or deleted.
Copyright 2006 DGRC - Information Sciences Institute, The University of Southern California