90 likes | 186 Vues
The King's Centre for Visualization in Science (KCVS) at The King’s University College is dedicated to creating scientific visualizations for education and research. With a team of students from diverse backgrounds, KCVS focuses on developing specialized skills in programming, rendering, and subject area expertise. Supported by NSERC-CRYSTAL funding, KCVS aims to meet the visualization needs of educational researchers and expand its funding base to enhance its impact.
E N D
Visualizing the Unseen … from Kaon Decay to Global Warming And other projects of The King’s Centre for Visualization in Science
The King’s Centre for Visualization in Science (KCVS) • What do you get if you add • 6 bright & eager students • A dash of NSERC-CRYSTALfunding • 2 faculty members hanging on for dear life! • Stir “gently”
KCVS is … • A facility created at The King’s University College dedicated to the production of scientific visualizations for both education and research • Funded by NSERC-CRYSTAL Alberta (>90%), with smaller grants received from IUPAC and NSF • An “asset” of CRYSTAL Alberta and, potentially an asset of the entire CRYSTAL programme
KCVS “skill sets” … • We are developing a team of students with a broad range of backgrounds and skills which have included: • Aeronautic and Space Engineering, Chemistry, Environmental Studies and Computing Science • Areas of competence include: • Programming in JAVA, VPYTHON, Actionscript, FLASH and C++ • Rendering in BRYCE, MAYA and Blender • Subject area expertise in chemistry, physics, environmental science • Student funding comes from: • Annual base funding from CRYSTAL Alberta grant (1.8 student equiv.) • Collaboration with other CRYSTAL projects (3 student equiv.) • NSERC USRA programme (1 student equiv.) • Grants from other agencies (IUPAC, NSF etc) (0.2 student equiv.)
KCVS Goals and Challenges … • A major goal is the creation of a centre that can respond to visualization needs of educational researchers within the CRYSTAL programme as well as other educational arenas • To develop the concentrated and specialized skill set necessary to produce visualizations • Develop and maintain a stable cohort of students from one academic year to the next • To attract a broader funding base and hence leverage existing NSERC support
KCVS Outcomes to date… • Public Website:http://kcvs.ca • Links to approximately2 dozen FLASH appletsand other DigitalLearning Objects • Projects: • Visualizing the “Unseen” – Martin& Mahaffy • Particulate nature of matter – Gustafson et al • West Nile Virus – (Wonham, McNab, Norris, deVries) • Ethical Use of Chemicals - IUPAC
Visualizing the “Unseen” A global CO2 footprint calculator • Global Climate Change • Modern Physics • Chemistry Interactive graphs from global climate models Structure of the Atmosphere DLO Cloud chamber simulation Particle in a 1D box The PhotoelectricEffect Stereo molecular viewer Greenhouse gas heating
KCVS and Other Projects… • Grade Five Science (Gustafson et al) • major project (budget coordination) • First version >4 student-monthequivalents development time • West Nile Virus (Wonham, McNab, Norris, deVries) • Visualization supported by KCVS • First draft 1.5 student-monthequivalents development time
Future Ventures of KCVS… • Continue to provide visualization support to CRYSTAL Alberta • Consolidate transfer relationships with: • Telus World of Science • National Science Foundation – Visionary Grant (received August 2007 – Mike Steiff University of Maryland, Karl Harrison, Oxford University, David Geelan, University of Queensland, Brian Martin, The King’s University College)