The Systems Engineering Computational Laboratory (SECL) houses several linux-based high performance computational workstation clusters dedicated to the study of advanced numerical analysis and optimization techniques. The laboratory also provides the computational resources necessary to support research projects in the simulation, analysis, design, control, and optimization of complex nonlinear systems.

Contact Information

Systems Engineering Computational Laboratory
117 White Hall
Villanova University
800 Lancaster Ave.
Villanova, PA 19085-1681

Computational Facilities

The SECL computational facilities consist of a series of dedicated workstations based on the AMD Opteron/Athlon, Intel Xeon, and Intel P4 processor families that are networked together to form the clustered computational environments. The laboratory facilities are constantly evolving as older, less capable processor families are replaced with newer, more powerful technology.

Cluster Environments

The laboratory currently employs two different linux-cluster operating systems for its high performance computational clusters. The first is the Rocks Clustering Toolkit (http://www.rocksclusters.org/) and the second is Cluter Knoppix (http://clusterknoppix.sw.be/) which is a version of the OpenMosix (http://openmosix.sourceforge.net/) enhancement to the Linux kernel for cluster capabilities.

Clusters

There are currently four computational clusters in operation in the Systems Engineering Computational Laboratory. The two public clusters have open access for educational and research purposes by the faculty and students of the college and university. The two private clusters have limited access and are dedicated to individual research groups and programs.

Example Research Projects

Examples of current and recently completed SECL research projects include:

• Coordinated supervisory control of autonomous unmanned surface vehicles
• Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) studies of bio-processing equipment
• Advanced control and monitoring techniques for automotive emission control systems
• Multi-scale simulation of nano-structured ceramics
• Optimization of electro-mechanical systems (MEMS)
• Nonlinear model-based control of constrained distributed systems
• Optimization of the chemical reaction process for pharmaceutical manufacture
• Modeling and optimization of traffic flow patterns

Support

Financial support for the development and operation of the SECL computational facilities has been provided by the following sponsors:

• Advanced Ceramics Research
• Ford Foundation University Research Grant Program
• GlaxoSmithKline
• National Science Foundation
• Office of Naval Research
• State of Pennsylvania Engineering School Equipment Grant Program
• Villanova University College of Engineering