The University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering is working with Intel to integrate concepts of parallelism into Computer Science, CS Gaming, Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering curricula at both the undergraduate and master’s degree levels.
Parallel computing involves solving complex computational problems by breaking them into a series of smaller components which are worked through concurrently - “in parallel.” Although Parallelism has been employed for several decades in high-performance computing, current multicore microprocessors now make it possible to apply parallel computing techniques within clusters or grids of personal computers, and even within a single personal computer equipped with sufficient multicore processors.
Practicing concurrent programming is similar to learning a new programming language. Traditionally, parallel and concurrent programming was accomplished by a small subset of programmers, typically in the scientific and technical computing areas. Programmers today need to be able to write applications that will take advantage of the additional cores for performance and optimization gains.
The prevalence of multicore processors and expected use in future computing has generated a demand in industry for technologists that can create advanced software that leverages parallelism to take advantage of the processing power available. This increased applicability of parallelism necessitates that undergraduate and master’s degree curricula in computer science, computer engineering and electrical engineering be updated accordingly.
Grants for the latest hardware and software for the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and the Marshall School of Business are being provided by Intel to assist with the transition and pilots of several new courses. Intel Research Lab Director of External Programs Organization, Dr. Eric Gayles, and Intel Developer Network Organization Director, Scott Apeland, have committed resources including a contribution of equipment, development tools and software for use by faculty and students to support this bold reformatting of the University’s curricula.
Intel’s Academic Program team members, Rowena Turner, Michael Pearce and David Estrada, together with USC Professors Michael Crowley, Mark Redekopp, Murali Annavaram, Viktor Prassana, Jose Villeta, David Wilczynski, and Michael Zyda and USC Marshall School of Business Professor Sandy Green, have selected seven courses at both the undergraduate and master-levels where Parallelism will be taught. These courses, from the freshmen level to the senior level, will give students better understanding, experience and sophistication in writing and debugging multi-threaded code.
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