Computational & Information Sciences
Computational Biology—A foundation for multidisciplinary science
Computational biology research at PNNL uses multiscale models and approaches to characterize and describe the properties of biological systems. Models span the range from single cells to cellular communities, while keeping the resolution at the individual reaction level.
PNNL's research addresses computational biology by developing the infrastructures, databases, and software necessary to formulate and test biological models. Collecting and managing the vast amounts of diverse data that accompanies research such as the application of genomics knowledge to the understanding of biological structure and function in living systems requires the development of new computational methods to capture, store, and access it for analysis and modeling. A presentation on computational biology can update your audience on the latest developments in this break-through field, such as PNNL's research in using multi-scale models and approaches to characterize and describe the properties of biological systems. The models in this illustration span the range from single cells to cellular communities, while keeping the resolution at the individual reaction level.
High Performance Computing—New tools to enable scientific discovery
The Molecular Science Software Suite (MS3) lets chemists couple the power of advanced computational chemistry techniques with existing and rapidly evolving high-performance, massively parallel computing systems.
PNNL uses advanced high-performance computing to solve scientific problems. Supercomputers excel at highly calculation-intensive tasks, such as molecular modeling and large-scale simulations, and have enabled significant scientific breakthroughs such as genomic sequencing and fuel cell development. Yet supercomputers require continual technological advancements and redesigns that allow them to keep pace with the science they support. PNNL's multidisciplinary computational research teams include domain scientists, experts in computational science, mathematics, and human interface, working together to develop new supercomputing capabilities and the software needed for the advancement of science. A presentation on high-performance computing would provide your audience with an overview of the advances PNNL is making in supercomputing performance for scientific discovery.
Cyber Security—Making computing secure from the inside out
PNNL's approach to cyber security blends traditional security approaches with what we've trademarked as Intrinsically Secure Computing™—a philosophy of designing security into systems and operations. This combined approach enables us to build cyber-based devices and infrastructures that are inherently secure and self-defending. Our research has a wide range of applications from protecting individuals against identity theft to addressing issues of national security. PNNL specializes in behavior-based detection, active defense architectures, attack understanding and advanced forensics techniques. Bringing these techniques together lets us handle both common attacks and stealthy, covert, and never-before-seen attacks. A presentation on cyber security can inform your audience about the Intrinsically Secure approach to building reliability and security into computing infrastructures that we depend on.
Cognitive Informatics—Collaboration of mind and computer
Cognitive Informatics is the multidisciplinary study of cognition and information sciences that investigates human information processing mechanisms and their engineering applications in computing. The goal for Cognitive Informatics research is to augment abilities to understand, remember, learn, and decide via new technologies tailored for human-computer collaboration. Research and development in this area includes human-computer interaction, information analysis and decision making, scenario-based training, and cognitive processes applied to human-system integration, performance, and training problems. This research employs diverse technologies and approaches such as cognitive modeling, multimedia/Web design and development, and artificial intelligence. A description of the research area and representative research projects is provided on the Cognitive Informatics website . A topic in cognitive informatics would provide a fascinating presentation to your audiences.
Data-Intensive Computing—Pioneering solutions toward predictive data analysis
The diversity, intricacy, and sheer volume of data resulting from data-rich research in the areas of life science, energy, and national security have driven computing into a new era. The high volume of data combined with the complexity of the analyses is inundating current computing infrastructures and requires development of alternative approaches to data analysis. Extracting knowledge from massive amounts of data requires a transformation in how we analyze and visualize the data to facilitate human understanding and support decision processes. PNNL is merging high-performance computing with data-centric analysis to perform large-volume data evaluation, resulting in advanced computing infrastructures and analytical techniques. A presentation on data-intensive computing would be relevant to an audience interested in staying abreast of the advances in supercomputing and data analysis.
Modeling and Simulation—Predicting the behavior of complex systems
Computer simulations can help scientists interpret processes of molecules
Modeling and simulation is now widely regarded as the third branch of scientific inquiry, along with theory and experimentation. Modeling is the development of an analytical structure to represent a complex system in order to imitate and predict the behavior of that system. Simulation employs computational processes to model the essential features of the system's behavior. PNNL's innovations in modeling and simulation have resulted in the development of tools for reliable climate change predictions; understanding the molecular processes that provide the mechanism for cells and organisms to adjust to changing conditions; and systematic approaches to designing innovative materials for tomorrow's products. A presentation on this topic would be rich in visual appeal as well as informative about modern research.
Statistics—Supporting discovery
As a leader in applied statistics and mathematics research, PNNL develops novel data analysis methods to extract hidden features, anomalies, and signatures from high-dimensional, large-volume, multimedia data in support of discovery and confident decision-making. Data-driven analysis can let the data speak to reveal new insight and inspire new research paths. The Morning Report is an award-winning advanced proactive safety and system monitoring tool that uses statistical algorithms to analyze massive amounts of data from thousands of airline flights and generates a report that can give aviation experts "insight" into making airlines safer. This powerful data-intensive computing tool has also been adapted to analyze data from the electric power grid. A presentation based on this technology will give your audience a new appreciation of statistics and its applications.
Mathematics—Using multifractals to represent physical phenomena at different scales
One of the current challenges in developing predictive computational models is to determine how to accurately represent physical phenomena at different scales—from barely perceptible electrons and atoms to large-scale structures such as airline wings or even the entire atmosphere of the earth. Many patterns of organization in nature are mathematically self-similar at different scales—examples include the shape of clouds and the structure of geological formations. Researchers at PNNL are developing methods to identify and characterize these patterns using multi-fractals—a mathematical approach that combines the scaling behavior of fractals with the ability to capture the irregular nature of real-world systems. A presentation on mutifractals illustrates the application of mathematics to the natural world and will fascinate your audience—whether they are mathephobes or mathephiles.
Information Technology (IT) —Providing leading-edge business solutions and support
IT Services provides a leading-edge computing and communications infrastructure to support the information intensive business of scientific research and technology development. This includes a high-performance network supporting some of the world's most powerful supercomputers, unique information discovery and retrieval tools, and trusted capabilities for collaborating with researchers worldwide. IT Services offers expert speakers on a variety of IT-related topics of interest to large and small businesses, as well as educational institutions. Several timely topics are suggested as follows, or, you can tell us what other areas you are interested in learning about.
- IT strategic planning: making IT work for your business
- Web 2.0: fostering innovation through technology-assisted collaboration
- Providing world-class computer user support
- Business continuity and disaster recovery planning
- Faster than a speeding bullet: high performance computer networks
- Securing your wireless network
- Service Oriented Architecture: building better business applications
