High Performance Computing For High School Students: A Dam Design Competition

High performance computing is an integral part of modern engineering design and research. Advanced computing techniques such as parallel computing are increasingly being used to solve difficult engineering problems. Many high school students are, however, unaware of these advanced computing techniques and their usage to solve real world problems. This paper discusses a pilot design competition conducted at the Westmoore high school in Oklahoma to expose high school students to advanced computing techniques and other skills in an engaging and exciting manner. A web-based, parallel, finite element computer code, TeraScale_Dysac, developed through a National Science Foundation (NSF) Information Technology Research (ITR) grant for predicting behavior of earth structures during earthquakes was used in this design competition. Students in an AP Geology class were requested to design the geometry of an earth dam to minimize the volume of earth and to satisfy the specified deformation criteria during an earthquake. The students used the full version of TeraScale_Dysac over the web, but the students were not required to vary more difficult input parameters such as the material properties and varied only the geometry of the dam. Preand post-competition surveys were conducted to gather data on students’ knowledge of engineering computational tools, how earth structures behave during earthquakes, and their preference for a career in science and engineering. These surveys revealed that although the competition did provide valuable knowledge for the students about engineering computational tools and the effects of earthquakes on earth structures, it had no significant influence on changing the students’ career choices. The planning and implementation of this pilot design competition is presented and the difficulties encountered during the implementation are discussed and suggestions for improving a similar competition are provided. Selected survey results are also presented and discussed.