• Cluster Requirements
• Cluster Curriculum

With rapidly increasing computational capability, modeling and simulation based design is taking on increased responsibility for the success of new "engineered" systems, in replacement of the present design practice that relies heavily on extensive testing of components, subsystems and prototype systems. Associated with this paradigm shift is an emerging interdisciplinary field of "Predictive Science" which is the application of verified and validated computational simulations to predict the response of complex systems, particularly in cases where routine experimental tests are not feasible.  

The advancement of "Predictive Science", and one step further – "Predictive Science and Engineering Design" (PSED), is potentially critical to the simulation and design of new and complex "engineered" systems in a variety of applications across such diverse domains as microsystems, advanced materials, biological systems, energy generation and consumption systems, nuclear systems, climate modeling and control, to efficient manufacturing.  As such complex systems require the integration of a diverse set of disciplines and the sophisticated multi-physics simulations, there is a need for discovering, developing, and teaching the common principles and techniques underlying this new paradigm.  Specifically, the future success requires unified software and algorithmic frameworks for integrating models and code from multiple disciplines, systematic and comprehensive treatment of the uncertainties inherent in such models, and risk-based decision making to enable highly confident predictions and reliable design.

Cutting-edge, research-level graduate courses in predictive science based engineering are a critical part of the development of this field. However, by their very nature, such courses do not fit well into standard curricula in engineering, the physical sciences, or mathematics.  Hence, the Interdisciplinary Cluster in Predictive Science and Engineering Design (PSED) brings together a dynamic cluster of faculty and graduate students conducting this research in a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives – including but not limited to physical sciences, engineering, computer science and applied mathematics.  The program gives doctoral students training in core concepts of predictive science, verification & validation (V&V), and computational design of complex engineering systems, while also guiding students to develop strong individual programs at the center of their interdisciplinary scholarship.  

This program is particularly useful for students who are willing to work on their doctoral research with faculty advisors from at least two different disciplines.  The program will provide a mechanism to strengthen the links between faculty and graduate students from different departments and disciplines, who share the common interest in PSED. Meanwhile, it facilitates research collaborations in modeling, simulation, and design of emerging complex engineering systems.

Co-Directors

Programming and Events
The cluster program organizes social events, seminar series, and annual research symposium that invite Northwestern faculty and students as well as researchers from other institutions and industry who share common interests in PSED. The goal is to provide an alternative intellectual community for students from multiple departments and disciplines to gain "dual citizenship" in both a department and the cluster. The graduate students will also serve as coaches to interdisciplinary undergraduate project teams in upper-level design courses of the Segal Design Institute, further broadening their multidisciplinary experience. Furthermore, it is our intent that this effort will directly aid students in becoming successful applicants for faculty, national laboratory, and industrial positions, and thereby become tomorrow’s leaders in our expanding and increasingly diverse technical community.  Career development workshops will be organized with invited speakers from university, research labs, and industry.

Faculty

The primary appointment for those faculty with joint or affiliate status in another program is noted in parentheses.