Scientific Computing

When I first saw the words “Scientific Computing,” (which was last week, for this blog topic) I thought, “hmm, sounds like a wordy way to say Computer Science”.  Naturally, I google it.  Hmm, not much besides Wikipedia.  I specify, “scientific computing definition.”  Google gives me the ‘web definition’... straight from wikipedia.  After some digging around, I think I understand the term.  Turns out, Scientific Computing (or more commonly, computational science) is not the same as Computer Science.  Computational Science (usually paired with engineering for “CSE”) is a new field that deals with using mathematical models and simulations run by computers to analyze and solve scientific problems (Shodor.org).  Some examples are: 

• simulating air around a wing to predict which shape will get the most lift
• performing simulated stress-tests on different “materials” to choose what to make a bicycle frame out of
• using big data from past weather to create a model to predict future weather
• simulating blood flow through an aneurysm to quantify how dangerous it will be in the future

Simulated Fluid

I was fortunate to experience the last one in person this summer.  I visited a lab that worked with computational science, and an MRI machine to try to find a better way to deal with aneurysms (an aneurysm is a balloon-like bulge in a blood vessel that can cause a burst and be deadly, especially in the brain).  The head scientist working there showed me how he could use an MRI scan of someone’s brain to create a 3D model of the aneurysm on a computer screen.  He then started a simulation where lines representing blood would rush through.  I could easily observe where stress was on the vessel, and where blood would get collected.  He could simulate years of stress on the the aneurysm in just a few minutes, and assess the severity of the situation.  With computational science, hopefully we can turn something deadly and hard to detect into something that we can find and assess without even a stitch.