Computation is now an integral part of modern science and engineering. In science, computer simulation allows the study of natural phenomena impossible or intractable through experimental means. In engineering, computer simulation allows the analysis and synthesis of systems too expensive, dangerous, or complex to model and build directly. Astronomers studying the formation of massive black holes, neuroscientists studying neural networks for human memory, mechanical engineers studying the designs of turbines and compressors, and electrical engineers studying the reliability of electronics aboard spacecraft are united both in the computational challenges they face and the tools and techniques they use to solve these challenges.
Students in the program in Scientific Computing are taught techniques for understanding complex physical, biological, and social systems. Students are introduced to computational methods for simulating and analyzing models of complex systems, to scientific visualization and data mining techniques needed to detect structure in massively large multidimensional data sets, to high performance computing techniques for simulating models on computing clusters with hundreds or thousands of parallel, independent processors and for analyzing terabytes or more of data that may be distributed across a massive cloud or grid storage environment.
Scientific Computing News
- 5/2020 Scientific Computing Minor requirements revised. See the Minor Requirements page for details (click here).
- 3/2020 Students who declared Scientific Computing before Spring 2021 will need to take an approved course from the list of elective courses to substitute for SC3250 (if they have not taken SC3250 already).
- 5/2019 Brigit Maynard Fitzgerald, 2019 graduate in the Blair School of Music with a minor in Scientific Computing, is awarded the Founder's Medal for First Honors in Blair: Vanderbilt honors Class of 2019 Founder’s Medalists
- 5/2019 David K. Zhang, 2019 graduate in the School of Engineering with a minor in Scientific Computing, is awarded the Founder's Medal for First Honors in Engineering: Vanderbilt honors Class of 2019 Founder’s Medalists
- 5/2017 Jarrod Shilts, 2017 graduate with a minor in Scientific Computing, is highlighted by Vanderbilt News: Class of 2017: Jarrod Shilts makes biological discoveries and collaborates across disciplines
- 5/2016 Julie Anne Schnur, 2016 graduate in Biomedical Engineering with a minor in Scientific Computing, is awarded the Founder's Medal for First Honors in Engineering.
- 4/2015 Junyi Chu, 2015 graduate with a minor in Scientific Computing, wants to develop computational models of how we think and learn. Click here to see her story in VU News.
- 2012-2013 Seven students graduated with a Scientific Computing minor: three from the School of Engineering, four from the College of Arts and Science.
- 12/2012 Ezra Chu is the first student at Vanderbilt to graduate with a minor in Scientific Computing.
- 1/2012 CS 204: Program Design and Data Structures for Scientific Computing is being taught for the first time this spring 2012 by Dr. Roth. This is one of the two (new) core courses in the Scientific Computing Minor.
- 9/2011 Scientific Computing highlighted in Vanderbilt Engineering magazine: Computing: It's Not Just for Computer Scientists and Engineers Anymore.
- 8/2011 First course in the Scientific Computing minor offered Fall 2011: SC250 Scientific Computing Toolbox.
- 4/2011 Vanderbilt News story about the new undergraduate minor in Scientific Computing appears: New Minor in Scientific Computing Launched.
- 3/2011 New undergraduate minor in Scientific Computing is officially approved.
- 10/2009 Professors Bodenheimer, Miga, Palmeri, and Weintraub receive grant entitled Revitalizing Computing Education Through Computational Science from the National Science Foundation to create minor in Scientific Computing at Vanderbilt.