2009 High Performance Computing Grant Winner Profiles

Pictured holding check is grant winner Oleg Zikanov from the University of Michigan, Dearborn. Pictured L to R, back row, are ORAU Board Chair Win Phillips, Interim ORAU President Homer Fisher, ORAU Council Chair Sandra Degen and Deputy Associate ORNL Lab Director for Computing and Computational Sciences Jeff Nichols.

Dr. Oleg Zikanov

Associate Professor, University of Michigan, Dearborn (UM-Dearborn), Department of Mechanical Engineering

Co-researchers
Dr. Ben Li

ORAU Member Councilor
Dr. Stephen Forrest

Research Focus
Investigating the process of solidification, which is commonly used in the manufacture of materials such as metals, alloys or semiconductors.
This research will seek to understand how turbulence in the melting process affects the internal microstructure of the final material. Dr. Zikanov and co-researchers believe that the desired knowledge can be obtained through numerical simulation. The challenge is to develop a computational model that simultaneously includes: (1) the features of the melt flow, with typical sizes varying between a few microns and a few centimeters; and (2) the process of solidification that occurs on the scale of a few nanometers. This is possible only with a new modeling approach—developed by Dr. Zikanov and co-researchers—and heavy use of a supercomputer, now made possible by the ORAU high-performance computing grant.

What does it mean to you to win this grant?
“The grant is important and timely for my co-author Ben Li and me. The financial part will help us support a doctoral student, who will be in the initial class of our new automotive systems engineering doctoral program, which is scheduled to open in September 2009.  Even more important is the access to the ORNL supercomputing facilities and the opportunity to interact with ORNL staff.”

What will it help you accomplish in your research that you couldn’t have done otherwise?
“Our project’s idea is high risk. We will try to establish a link between characteristics of turbulent flow in a solidifying melt and microstructure of final solid material, such as steel, aluminum, alloys or plastics. We believe that this can be done through multi-scale numerical simulation. The problem is that the model should encompass an extremely wide range of length scales, from a few centimeters down to nanoscales. This is only possible with a new modeling approach, which we have developed, and heavy use of a supercomputer.”

“Obtaining support for the project from a government or industry source would not be possible without first securing the supercomputing capability. With the ORAU grant, establishing a full-scale research group to work on the project seems realistic.”

How will others (your students, the research community, your university, etc.) benefit from what you plan to accomplish through your research under this grant?
“The main benefit is for graduate students who will work on the project. They will receive thorough training in advanced computational models and high-performance computing. The possibility to work with and learn from the ORNL staff is of great value in terms of education and career growth.”

“The project will have an impact on the education process at UM-Dearborn, which is primarily an undergraduate institution. The impact will come from the incorporation of high-performance computing into undergraduate engineering education in the form of short-term research projects.”