Teaching Computational Materials Science for Nanoscale Science and Engineering
- PDF / 1,602,569 Bytes
- 6 Pages / 612 x 792 pts (letter) Page_size
- 29 Downloads / 234 Views
BB2.4.1
Teaching Computational Materials Science for Nanoscale Science and Engineering S.C. Glotzer1a,b, M.A. Horscha, M.H. Lamma,2 , C.R. Iacovellaa, and Z.L. Zhanga Department of Chemical Engineeringa and Department of Materials Science & Engineeringb, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2136 ABSTRACT We describe the development of a graduate level course designed to teach computational materials science and its application to nanoscale science and engineering. We discuss the use of MatDL, a web-based digital library and materials science resource, as a collaborative learning tool within the context of the course. INTRODUCTION Computational methods are pervasive throughout materials research. Because of remarkable recent increases in computer speed, memory, and accessibility, as well as important advances in algorithms and simulation methods, materials simulation is now quantitatively as well as qualitatively predictive. As a result, computational materials science is a scientific tool on par with theory and experiment. Many experiments today are guided by predictions of materials simulations, and data are interpreted through comparison with simulated properties and behavior. Experimentalists now routinely collaborate with simulators, and many use commercial materials simulation software in their labs. For this reason, it is important that all students of materials science and engineering, and of any disciplines home to materials research, learn the fundamentals, potential, and limitations of computational materials science. RESULTS To teach computational materials science as it applies to nanotechnology to science and engineering students, we developed a course suitable for first year graduate and advanced undergraduate students. The course is entitled, “Computational Nanoscience of Soft Matter,” and is listed as Chemical Engineering (ChE)/Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) 557 at the University of Michigan (U-M). The course is one in a sequence of computational courses taught in the MSE and ChE departments at U-M, and is open to students across the university. The aim of the course is to provide students with an understanding of the strategies, methods, capabilities and limitations of computer simulation as it pertains to the modeling and simulation of soft materials at the nanoscale. Students completing the course learn to (i) appreciate the role of computer simulation in modern research and development, and understand the relationship between theory, simulation and experiment; (ii) assess the relevance and quality of molecular and mesoscale simulation studies reported in the literature; (iii) judge which simulation models and methods are useful for describing processes and phenomena on different length and time scales; (iv) ascertain which, if any, simulation methods are relevant to their research, and, if so,
1 2
[email protected] Present address: Department of Chemical Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA
BB2.4.2
how to develop or find codes and how to use them; and (v) unde
Data Loading...
