iain@cs.strath.ac.uk (Iain Buchanan) (05/12/88)
RESEARCH ASSOCIATESHIP ON TRANSPUTER PROJECT
Dynamic Programming on the Meiko Supercomputer
SERC has funded a project to develop parallel algorithms to solve
dynamic programming (DP) problems using the Edinburgh Concurrent
Supercomputer. A wide range of Operational Research problems may be
formulated as DP problems, for example stock control, equipment
maintenance and replacement, queue control, capacity expansion and
manpower planning. These are all special cases of Markov decision
processes. Unfortunately realistic problems often produce formulations
with huge state spaces. Such problems require too much memory and take
too long to solve using existing algorithms on sequential machines and
this limits the practical application of DP.
The programme of research will involve developing and implementing
parallel versions of algorithms based on the standard, decomposition,
aggregation and reward revision methods used on serial machines. We plan
to investigate automatic ways of using the structure of a problem to decide
how to divide it up between the processors so as to minimize communication
traffic.
The grant is for 3 years starting in October 1988 and has funding for a
research assistant or fellow on the 1B or 1A scale, salary 8675-15720
pounds according to qualification. The person appointed will need to
become familiar with programming the Edinburgh Concurrent Supercomputer
and with the theory of DP. A quantitative background and some computing
experience is important. For further details please contact one of the
grant holders listed below.
Prof. Lyn Thomas, Business Studies, Edinburgh University, WRB, George Square,
Edinburgh EH9 8JY, Tel (031) 667 1011 ext 6577.
Dr. Ken McKinnon, Maths Department, Edinburgh University, King's Buildings,
Edinburgh EH9 3JZ, Tel (031) 667 1081 ext 2941.
Dr Iain Buchanan, Computer Science, Strathclyde University, Glasgow G1 1XH,
Tel (041) 552 4400 ext 3424.
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"iain@uk.ac.strath.cs"JHOH@phyvax.edinburgh.ac.UK (06/10/88)
POSTECH
POHANG INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
P.O.BOX 125, POHANG 790-600, KOREA
POPA\%postech.postech.ac.kr@relay.cs.net
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POSTECH PARALLEL PROCESSOR PROJECT
POSTDOCTORAL POSITIONS IN TRANSPUTER RESEARCH
Applicants are invited for postdoctoral positions to work on a large scale
Transputer research project. According to the qualification, visiting and
tenure-track faculty positions can be considered. The starting time of
each position is negotiable. Visitors at graduate student level are also
invited.
The project aims to implement large scale transputer based parallel computer
and to develop related system software, scientific and industrial applications.
A prototype machine with 256 or more T800 Transputers will be built during
1989. We are currently running B004, B003 based Transputer Development Systems
(TDS), and a Transputer array including 64 T800's will be available during
the third quarter of this year.
Possible research areas are
1. Development of hardware and system software for dynamically
allocating Transputer resources.
2. Applications in the area of physics, chemistry, finite element method,
neural network and artificial intelligence, robotics, industrial
applications including image processing and real-time control, etc.
Pohang Institute of Science and Technology (POSTECH) is a newly established
research-oriented university in Korea. POSTECH has 9 departments and accepts
only first-rate undergraduate and graduate students. In addition, Korea's first
particle accelerator, a 2 GeV synchrotron radiation source, will be constructed
on the campus beginning this year. POSTECH's Computer Center operates
2 VAX 8800's and an IBM 4381. We also have a VAX 8200(UNIX), a Gould image
processor, many SUN, Apollo, Symbolics workstations, and PC's for education and
research use. Access to Cray-2 outside the campus will be possible.
Applications should be sent to
Prof. S. Y. Bang, Department of Computer Science, POSTECH,
P.O. Box 125, Pohang 790-600, Korea.
e-mail: sybang\%postech.postech.ac.kr@relay.cs.net
or
Dr. Jong-Hoon Oh, Department of Physics, University of Edinburgh,
The King's Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3JZ, United Kingdom.
e-mail: jhoh@uk.ac.ed.phyvax.