A 12-month research activity is proposed to provide a network computing capability to run finite element and parallel computing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes on the Internet. The capabilities to be developed will provide finite element computing access for undergraduate and graduate students and the faculty from remote sites. They will lead to solution of multi-disciplinary computational engineering problems with the help of an Internet browser from any remote location. The capabilities to be developed will also provide access to a parallel CFD code to conduct metacomputing on the Internet. For these, the Purdue University Network-Computing Hub (PUNCH), developed at Purdue University will be used. Parallel computing clusters installed at the CFD Laboratory of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, IUPUI (ME/IUPUI), will be the new hubs of the PUNCH system. Since for large-scale computing, the network speed will be of major concern, the use of Internet 2 will be sought for faster communication of data across the remote sites.

The proposed project will lead to the use of Internet for scientific computations needed in computational engineering. It will provide an easy access to engineering-specific codes which reside on the computer servers in ME/IUPUI for remote users, including those in Bloomington and West Lafayette campuses. It will open doors for metacomputing on the Internet via a parallel-computing hub to be established in conjunction with this project. The experiences gained through this project will provide valuable data for the developers of Internet 2 in Indiana University. It will increase the chances of the CFD Laboratory at ME/IUPUI for attracting funds from external sources. Technical support from IU/UITS will be sought for access to Internet 2.

A Masterís student will be hired to work on this project who will also write a thesis on the technical aspects of the applications to be developed. A report will be prepared to summarize the findings, and a technical paper will be submitted to an Internet related conference. This project is expected to impact the both teaching and research activities in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at IUPUI. This type of computing will eventually reduce the need for constantly maintaining and upgrading computer laboratories on the campus, since most of the computing will be done by remote users on the Internet.