Grid Computing and e-Engineering (MSc option)

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Cranfield University

Comments about Grid Computing and e-Engineering (MSc option) - At the institution - Bedfordshire - England

• Objectives
  The advent of the computational grid urges the third wave in IT after the Internet and WWW. It would change dramatically human capabilities and society with enormous benefits and implications. Sooner or later, everybody is likely to be impacted by the grid in a similar way that we were by the Internet. Grid Computing is already moving from a research vision into production. In 2001, Forbes predicted the grid would be a US$20 trillion industry by the year 2020. Cranfield University’s MSc in Grid Computing and e-engineering equips students with the scientific and software engineering skills surrounding high-performance computing facilities, large data archives, remote sensing instruments and digital libraries, enabling them to work successfully within the grid computing industry sector not only in the UK but also in other parts of the world.
• Course description
  Excellent Career Opportunities
  
  Graduates of this course can persue a career in the rapidly expanding IT industry sector in the UK and abroad. With the UK and EU experiencing significant activity in the areas of grid computing and e-engineering, graduates in this option also have open to them a wide range of careers embracing scientific and research development organisations and software houses.
  
  Focus on your interests
  
  Following a series of core modules providing grounding in computational and software techniques, you can select optional modules and a research project to tailor the course to your specific interests and career aspirations.
  
  Meet the needs of employers
  
  This course is directed by an industrial advisory panel who ensure that it provides generic hands-on skills and up-to-date knowledge adaptable to the wide variety of applications that this field addresses. And with 95% of Cranfield graduates securing relevant employment within six months of graduation, you can sure that your qualification will be valued and respected by employers.
  
  Benefit from our expertise
  
  Cranfield University is a leader in applied mathematics and computing applications. Our staff are practitioners as well as tutors, with clients that include Jaguar Cars and Texas Instruments.  Knowledge gained working with our clients is continually fed back into the teaching programme, to ensure that you benefit from the very latest knowledge and techniques.
  
  Access Unique facilities
  
  As a Cranfield student you will have access to our range of outstanding research facilities for research work. These include ng Globus platforms; Condor; Sun Grid engine; MPI/PVM and the Cambridge-Cranfield High Performance Computing Facility.
  
  Study Full or Part-time
  
  This course is also available on a part-time basis, enabling you to combine studying alongside full-time employment. This is enhanced by a three-stage programme from a Postgraduate Certificate to Postgraduate Diploma through to an MSc .
  
  Structure
  
  The Grid Computing and E-Engineering option  of the Computational and Software Techniques in Engineering MSc course consists of three parts: core modules, specialist modules and individual research thesis.
  
  Core modules
  
  Students begin by following a set of five core modules:
  
      * C Programming
      * Management for Technology
      * Computational Methods
      * Computer Graphics/GUIs
      * Object Oriented Programming in C++
  
  Specialist Modules
  
      * Fundamentals of Grid Computing and e-Engineering
      * Grid Middleware
      * Grid Development and e-Engineering Applications (group project)
      * High-performance Scientific Computing on the Grid
      * Visualisation
      * Software Engineering
      * Computational Methods
  
  Research Project
  
  With the experience and knowledge gained within the lectures, students are equipped for the MSc research thesis.
  
  Assessment
  
  The course is assessed through coursework assignments, examination, and individual research project.
  
  Part-time Study
  
  This course is also available on a part-time basis for individuals who wish to study  whilst remaining in full-time employment. A three-stage programme from a Postgraduate Certificate to Postgraduate Diploma through to a Master of Science enables you to take a flexible approach to your study commitments.
  
  Cranfield is very well located for visiting part-time students from across the UK and Europe and offers a range of library and support facilities to support your studies.
  
  Career opportunities
  
  The computational grid and grid computing emerged during the early 1990s in USA, has made great strides during the late 1990s and early 2000s in USA and Europe, and is expected to continue to flourish in the new millennium. The advent of the grid urges the third wave in Information Technology (IT) after the Internet and World Wide Web (WWW). The grid allows users to collaborate and share, not just information, but resources and services, such as high-performance computing facilities, large data archives, remote sensing instruments and digital libraries.
  
  The historical cycle always repeats itself spirally. If the cycle is back on track, it will be across the boundaries, from Internet to WWW to a Great Global Grid, providing a wealth of opportunities for us. It will come in the form of universal broadband access, unlimited network server availability, global virtual malls, real-time enterprise computing. It's the firstborn offspring of the Internet, only it will be sleeker, smarter, and more agile and obedient than its predecessor. Potentially it could eclipse the unprecedented economic expansion from 1992 to 1999. Forbes predicates if history holds true the grid will be a $20 trillion industry (nearly twice the current American Gross Domestic Product) by the year 2020. But even if it is only one-tenth that size, it will still constitute an economic revolution. Within this wave, it is the widespread use of 'web services', combined with a 'grid computing model' that will cause a revolutionary upheaval in the way various industries are structured and educational and academic activities are conducted.
  
  The UK plays a leading role in grid computing development with the USA and EU. In November 2000 the UK Research Councils announced £98M funding for a new UK e-Science programme, a British version of Grid Computing. The European Union funded a DataGrid project with 9.8 million euros. The objective is to build the next generation computing infrastructure providing intensive computation and analysis of shared large-scale databases, across widely distributed scientific communities.
  
  In response to the challenge of this new economic boom, the new course option aims to equip students with a scientific and engineering skill for working within the UK's rapidly expanding Grid Computing and e-Science industry sector and other similar research and development activities that exist elsewhere in the world.
  
  Steering Committee
  
  The course is directed by a Steering Committee that meets twice a year. The committee acts in an advisory role, assessing the content of the course and its relevance to present industrial needs. A number of members also attend the annual student thesis presentations which take place at the end of July, a month or so before the end of the course.
  
      * Prof Chris Thompson, Head, AMAC.
      * Dr Peter Grandison, IBM (UK) Ltd.
      * Mr Ed Lambourne, Delcam International.
      * Prof Frank Wang, Director, Centre for Grid Computing
      * Mr Tony Lawrence, Cranfield Computer Centre.
      * Mrs Kath Tipping, AMAC, Cranfield.
      * Prof Mike Sanderson, DFEI/SME, Cranfield.
      * Mr Ray Goult, LMR Systems
      * Mr Nigel Sedgwick, Cambridge Algorithmica.
      * Mr Peter Sherar, AMAC, Cranfield.
      * Dr Derek Turnbull, Advanced Technical Projects Ltd.
      * Mr David Harrison, Cray Research (UK) Ltd
      * Mr Tim Penhale-Jones, Texas Instruments Ltd
      * Mr Paul Mulvanny, QinetiQ
      * Dr Richard Burguete, Airbus UK

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