News 2009

AuScope SAM Vic in the media and other news.

Support to present research using Underworld at SC09

Wendy Mason will present some of her PhD research using Underworld at the Early Adopters PhD Workshop at the Supercomputing Conference 2009, in Portland, Oregon, USA in November. Wendy has received funding from the Victorian Partnership for Advanced Computing (VPAC) to assist her with costs to participate in the workshop. AuScope SAM Vic is covering the remainder of her travel costs, to enable her participation in pre-conference tutorials in visualisation techniques, and the conference itself in an AuScope outreach capacity.

Support to present collaborative Grid activities at eRA 2009

Wendy Mason has received a postgraduate student bursary sponsored by the Victorian eResearch Strategic Initiative (VeRSI), to assist with her travel costs to attend the eResearch Australasia 2009 conference, as publicised in the:

The remainder of Wendy's costs are being covered by AuScope SAM Vic and the Australian Research Collaboration Service (ARCS). See the Events page for details and links to Wendy's talk abstract, the conference programme and AuScope's other activities at eRA 2009.

November eResearch Newsletter article (Full Newsletter)

Underworld of Monash Sun Grid now on ARCS Grid

AuScope 'Simulation, Analysis, Modelling' Victoria (AuScope SAM Vic) (http://www.auscope.monash.edu.au/) , the Monash e-Research Centre (MeRC) (http://www.monash.edu.au/eresearch/) and the Australian Research Collaboration Service (ARCS) (http://www.arcs.org.au/) have worked together to make the Monash Sun Grid (MSG) facility and its latest Underworld installation accessible on the ARCS Grid. Underworld (http://www.underworldproject.org/) geodynamics software is under collaborative development by Monash University (http://www.monash.edu.au/) and the Victorian Partnership for Advanced Computing (http://www.vpac.org/) as part of AuScope SAM Vic. Monash Underworld users, including those arising from the ‘Underworld Grid Workshop’ in June, can now submit compute jobs to the MSG using the ARCS Grid submission client Grisu. This enhances the already strong grid presence held by Monash University through the Monash eScience and Grid Engineering (MeSsAGE) Laboratory (http://www.messagelab.monash.edu.au/), which performs research and development on software tools and techniques for programming e-Science applications. Users of other codes at Monash University are invited to contact MeRC to discuss grid-enabling their code.

Enquiries can be made to:

AuScope ‘Simulation, Analysis, Modelling’ Victoria: Steve Quenette, Project Director, steve@vpac.org (0438 558 275), or Wendy Mason, Underworld e-Research Officer, wendy.mason@sci.monash.edu.au (03 9905 1120)
Monash e-Research Centre: Prof. Paul Bonnington, Director, Paul.Bonnington@adm.monash.edu.au (03 9902 0711)
Australian Research Collaboration Service: Prof. Anthony Williams, ARCS Executive Director, anthony.williams@arcs.org.au (08 8303 3546)

Underworld-1.2.0 module on Monash Sun Grid accessible on ARCS Grid

The Underworld-1.2.0 release module installation on the Monash Sun Grid (MSG) can now be accessed on the Australian Research Collaboration Service (ARCS) Grid using the ARCS Grisu Grid submission client. Great collaboration and teamwork between AuScope SAM Vic, the Monash e-Research Centre and ARCS has made this possible. See the Underworld Project documentation webpage for links to further information about using Underworld on the ARCS Grid.

September eResearch Newsletter article (Full Newsletter)

Bringing Underworld to the wider Geoscience research community

Underworld (http://www.underworldproject.org/) is a 3D, parallel finite element modelling code & framework, particularly well suited to long time scale geological processes such as basin to continent and ocean formation. It is under collaborative development by Monash University and VPAC, as part of the Victorian node (http://www.auscope.monash.edu.au/) of the NCRIS AuScope 'Simulation, Analysis, Modelling' (SAM) capability.

Through collaboration with the Australian Research Collaboration Service (ARCS), Underworld is becoming increasingly accessible to Australian researchers. A recent hands-on Underworld Grid Workshop held at Monash University and supported by AuScope, ARCS, the Monash eResearch Centre, VPAC and iVEC enabled engagement with novice users and increased uptake and interest within the local Geoscience community.

Further collaborative activities between AuScope and ARCS have enabled stable releases of Underworld to be installed as modules on a wider range of ARCS Grid-enabled facilities, a tuned template developed for the ARCS Grid submission client Grisu, and an Underworld Workflow Application Programming Interface (API) that is being developed together with the AuScope Grid and Interoperability initiative. The underlying ARCS API will provide an infrastructure environment upon which other Australian eResearch end-user tools can also be built.

Further information from:

Steve Quenette, Project Director Underworld Project, steve@vpac.org (0438 558 275)
Wendy Mason, Underworld e-Research Officer, wendy.mason@sci.monash.edu.au (03 9905 1120)
Prof. Anthony Williams, ARCS Executive Director, anthony.williams@arcs.org.au (08 8303 3546)

May eResearch Newsletter article (Full Newsletter)

Underworld Grid Workshop, Wednesday 10 June 2009

Potential, new and current users of Underworld (http://www.underworldproject.org/) are invited to attend a half-day Underworld Grid Workshop, to be held on Wednesday 10 June 2009 at Monash University Caulfield Campus. Registration is free, and includes morning tea and lunch. Places are limited, and registrations close Wednesday 3 June 2009. See http://www.geodynamics.monash.edu.au/underworldgridworkshop/ for more details and to register.

Underworld is a 3D-parallel geodynamic modelling framework capable of deriving viscous / viscoplastic thermal, chemical and thermochemical models consistent with tectonic processes, such as mantle convection and lithospheric deformation over long time scales. Underworld is under collaborative development by Monash University (http://www.monash.edu.au/) and the VPAC (http://www.vpac.org/), as part of the NCRIS AuScope capabilty in the Simulation and Modelling Victoria (http://www.auscope.monash.edu.au/) program.

The workshop will introduce participants to submitting Underworld models to computer clusters across the ARCS (http://www.arcs.org.au/) Grid, using the Grid submission client Grisu graphical user interface. Participants will learn how to submit existing Underworld model files to a computer cluster, using a select range of Underworld's modelling capabilities, and view and retrieve their results.

Wendy Mason
AuScope Research Assistant (Underworld e-Research Officer)

March eResearch Newsletter article (Full Newsletter)

Underworld: a long term geodynamics simulation platform

Underworld is a 3D-parallel geodynamic modelling framework capable of deriving viscous / viscoplastic thermal, chemical and thermochemical models consistent with tectonic processes, such as mantle convection and lithospheric deformation over long time scales. Underworld is under collaborative development by Monash University and the VPAC, as part of the NCRIS AuScope capabilty in the Simulation and Modelling Victoria program. To access more information, including downloads of the latest stable release Underworld 1.2.0, modelling capabilities and user documentation visit: http://www.underworldproject.org and http://www.auscope.monash.edu.

Megan Hough
Operations Manager, AuScope Simulation & Modelling Victoria

Last updated: 03 November 2009 by Wendy Mason & Megan Hough.