Week Lecture ART: CS: 2 ART: CS: Elements and Principles of Composition Fundamentals of Graphic Design Overview of project from Art perspective additive, subtractive color systems RGB, CMY(B), HSV, HLS Object-oriented vs. draw programs Graphics display hardware, file formats, storage and processing costs Tour of graphics lab Overview of project from CS perspective ART: ART: CS: Both: 10 Both: 11 Both: Art students present preliminary designs. CS students experience a critique. Production for Print Media Operating the film recorder Teams present work-in-progress on a display monitor using initial banner designs and with warping and antialiasing implemented. Teams present slides of work-in-progress. Final Presentation and Critique Table 2: Joint class meetings Parkland Community College Scientific Visualization Program Richard Bennett Program Director Visualization Computer Graphics Specialist Program Parkland College 2400 W. Bradley Ave. Champaign, 1L 61821 (217) 351-2549 Today's computer graphics applications require specially trained personnel, especially in the field of scientific visualization. But very few colleges, and only one community college, offer the training needed. Parkland College in Champaign, II1., is a pioneer in the field, offering a one-of-a-kind program which trains specialized technicians to visualize data on high-performance computers. Blending science, art and computer programming, graduates of the visualization computer graphics specialist (VCGS) program write customized software which creates scientific images by translating computer data into 2-D and 3-D graphic simulations. The program curriculum is very demanding, requiring two computer graphics courses, the C computer language, data structures in C, numerical analysis, UNIX operating systems, three semesters of calculus, an art course, computer ethics and three semesters of English. Some optional courses are C++, X windows programming in C and a course in Wavefront. The program also requires a 20 hours per week internship, with students gaining work experience with employers such as the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Motorola, Caterpillar Farm Machinery, the Aviation Research Laboratory, the Army Corp of Engineers Construction Research Laboratory and some departments of the University of Illinois and Parkland College. Unlike most of Parkland's student body, many of the students enrolled in the VCGS program have already earned a B.S. degree and are at Parkland with degrees in varied disciplines such as electrical engineering, computer science, fine arts and psychology. Many students with previous college experience can complete the visualization computer graphics associate of applied science degree in one year. Likewise, almost all of those entering the program without a B.S. have elected to pursue further academic studies after graduation from Parkland. Many VCGS students continue their education and work part time in the field. Jan Mooreman, for example, is working for Motorola while earning a masters degree in computer science at the University of Illinois. Employer satisfaction with the quality of Parkland's VCGS graduates is indicated by a pattern of multiple hirings by the North C a r o l i n a S u p e r c o m p u t i n g Center, the A v i a t i o n Research Laboratory, the Army Corps of Engineers Construction Research Laboratory and the Bruce Artwick Organization. The North Carolina Supercomputing Center (NCSC) hired program graduates Dave Bock and Dave Bennett. Larry Lee, director of NCSC, said the two "are at the core of the scientific visualization staff. They have helped build one of the best scientific visualization groups in the country." Using the skills he learned in Parkland's program, Bock wrote an animated program for a medical researcher at Duke University. As a result of the program, the researcher made an important discovery regarding "drug effects in the treatment of heart arrythmia." B e n n e t t is the director of the I n t e r n a t i o n a l A d v a n c e d Visualization System Center located at NCSC. AVS is a flexible software package that can accept software modules written by the user, allowing the user to modify the system to do projects outside the realm of its original power. IBM and Silicon Graphics have developed similar packages. Other Parkland VCGS graduates are also making strides in the field. Ron Carbonari was hired by the A v i a t i o n Research Laboratory, where he wrote a 3-D flight control program which attracted the interest of the FAA. One of the unique aspects of Parkland's program is the cooperation with the U n i v e r s i t y of I l l i n o i s N a t i o n a l C e n t e r for Supercomputing Applications. The cooperative program began with a Department of Education grant to both schools. NCSA released two of its employees, Ray Idazak and Mike Krogh, during the inaugural year to develop and teach two graphics courses at Parkland. NCSA also permits Parkland's computer graphics students to use their Renaissance Education Laboratory. The laboratory, located at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Study, has 19 Silicon Graphics Personal Iris high-performance workstations. Donna Cox of NCSA and one of her graduate students, Fred Daab, have been very helpful. Daab teaches Wavefront, an optional course. The VCGS program could not exist without this cooperation. Prior to the initiation of Parkland College's visualization computer graphics program, graphics programmers were self-taught, and they still are in most parts of the country. But Parkland's VCGS curriculum is a model which could be replicated. Wake Technical Community College in North Carolina, for example, is using the Parkland program as a model for developing a similar program. However, the major drawback to replication is that access must be gained to workstations. Parkland recommends that other institutions considering implementation of a comparable program contact businesses and/or research firms to determine the feasibility of accessing high performance workstations during evening hours when the facilities are not in use. 12/Computer Graphics • V o l u m e 27 ° Number 1. January 1993

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