Professor Eric Dunn
Department: Mathematics
The Project
Most standard computers (like the one you are probably reading this on) have about 16 GB RAM, a 4-core processor, and a $150 graphics card. But for a lot of numerical simulation it turns out this isn’t good enough. My research team develops software that is meant for use on high-performance computing (HPC) machines with 256 GB RAM, thousands of processing cores, and top of the line $5000 graphics cards!
The problems we solve are computational electromagnetic (CEM) scenarios – things like finding how much energy your cellphone antenna deposits in your head, or how energy is scattered when a radar wave bounces off an airplane. If you tried to run these codes on your standard machine, they would take years of number-crunching. But with HPC hardware and clever software algorithms we can generate data in a much shorter amount of time.
Do you like working with computers and pushing them to their limits? Are you curious how real-world physics problems get modeled on a computer? If so, then you’ll have a great time working with me on this project.
Research Assistant Tasks
Tasking will involve writing and running computer programs to enable simulation of large problems (solving hundreds of thousands to millions of equations!) on big computers (thousands of cores!).
Time Commitment: 1-3 hours per week
Contact Email: ericdunn@gwu.edu
Addition Instructions for Applying: If you are interested in this type of research, then email me so we can setup a time to discuss the opportunity in more detail. When contacting me, please include a resume and a list of courses that you have taken. Ideal candidate will have some experience with computer programming, linear algebra, and physics. But even if you don’t have any experience, still contact me if this work sounds interesting since enthusiasm and desire to learn are the most important qualities I look for.
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