CLU to launch scientific computing center

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - July 20, 2011) California Lutheran University has received a $250,000 grant to open a new center to boost the scientific computing skills of middle school, high school and college students.

Set to launch Aug. 1, the Hugh and Hazel Darling Center for Applied Scientific Computing will enable the university to develop innovative new courses and intensive summer research opportunities for CLU students majoring in bioengineering, biology, chemistry, computer science, math and physics.

The center will also offer workshops for middle and high school students to impart computing skills and encourage them to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines in college.

The center's activities will help students gain a command of the computing techniques that are crucial to formulating hypotheses, designing experiments, interpreting results and simulating the dynamics of complex natural and physical systems. The focus will be on both theoretical perspectives and real-world applications.

With the new curriculum, CLU will be able to add a minor in applied scientific computing.

Part of the grant will fund 10 $5,000 student research fellowships during the next two years, increasing the number of CLU students who will be able to engage in full-time research with faculty mentors during the summer.

The center's co-directors will be Grady Hanrahan, assistant dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the John Stauffer Endowed Professor of Analytical Chemistry, and Craig Reinhart, an associate professor of bioengineering, computer science and physics.

The center, which will be housed in D Building, will have high-performance computers capable of running heavy processing workloads such as modeling, molecular simulation, advanced mathematics and computational chemistry. It will also have a 3-D prototype printer that will allow faculty and students to produce physical models.

The Hugh and Hazel Darling Foundation of Los Angeles was established in 1988 to advance education in California. The foundation previously provided a $500,000 grant for a distance-learning laboratory in CLU's Spies-Bornemann Center for Education and Technology and donated $250,000 for renovations to Pearson Library.