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S. A. Austin (Dept. of Computer Sciences, The City College of CUNY), E. L. Zirbel (Dept. of Engineering Science and Physics, The College of Staten Island), L. P. Johnson (Dept. of Physical, Environmental and Computer Sciences, Medgar Evers College of CUNY)
Scientific computing in the traditional Computer Science curriculum typically involves the application of methods across the disciplines of both Engineering and the Physical Sciences. Typical applications detach methods and computational techniques from the underlying science. As part of a OSS-funded educational initiative for Minority Institutions, we are exploring the integration and applications of Astronomy as part of an experimental project course. The exploratory course integrates fundamental background material in Astronomy together with computational methods used to generate graphical simulations of underlying physical concepts. Students participating in the course are advanced Computer Science majors with Physics minors interested in combining the two areas. The course is led by faculty in Astrophysics and Computer Science. Examples of some of the student' projects will be provided with some discussion of the challenges and opportunities posed by this interdisciplinary approach. [Supported by NASA/OSS]
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: saustin@cs.ccny.cuny.edu