about.html

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title: "About us"
permalink: /about-us/index.html
description: "Computational Science & Engineering Software Forum"
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<img itemprop="image" class="img-rounded" src="/assets/img/Duong-Do.jpg" alt="Duong Do">

<h2>What are we doing?</h2>

<p>We’re creating a clearinghouse to <strong>gather, discuss, and disseminate</strong> experiences, techniques, tools, and other resources
for the entire lifecycle of CSE software,
from initial concept through the growth phase to maturity, re-investment, and eventually to retirement.</p>

<p>We want to <strong>raise awareness</strong> of the importance of good software practices to scientific productivity and
to the quality and reliability of computationally-based scientific results,as well as
raising awareness of the increasing challenges facing CSE software developers as high-end computing heads to extreme scales.</p>

<p>Many Forum members are active in <strong>outreach</strong> to the CSE community, not only raising awareness of the issues,but also providing
practical guidance, training, and support to help software developers understand andaddress their particular software issues.</p>

<h2>Why is it important?</h2>

<p>The computational science and engineering community is facing a <strong>crisis in software productivity</strong> due a confluence of powerful factors,
including ongoing <strong>disruptive changes</strong> in computer architectures, <strong>new frontiers</strong> in the modelling, simulation,
and analysis of complex multiscale and multiphysics phenomena, and <strong>increasing expectations</strong> of predictive skill.</p>

<p>The result is software that is increasingly large and complex, developed by geographically distributed multidisciplinary teams,
making it more challenging to develop and maintain the software at quality levels commensurate with the scientific needs.</p>

<p>The vast majority of CSE software developers have <strong>little or no formal education or training</strong> in software engineering.
Further,  know from experience that software engineering practices from other areas (IT, business, etc.) <strong>do not necessarily
translate</strong> directly to the CSE domain.  And while CSE software developers have accumulated a great deal of practical experience,
the prevailing culture emphasizes the scientific results over the software tools used to obtain them.
<strong>So the CSE community has a tendency not to share experiences with software.</strong></p>

<p><strong>The CSE Software Forum intends to change this by providing a forum to share our experience and learn from others.</strong></p>

<h2>Contact</h2>

<ul>
    <li><a href="mailto:mheroux@csbsju.edu">Michael A. Heroux</a>, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM</li>
    <li><a href="mailto:dhdo@csbsju.edu">Duong H. Do</a>, Saint John's university, Collegeville, MN</li>
    <li>Subscribe our <a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/csesoftware">Google group</a> for more information.</li>
</ul>