ACCES is an initiative of the School of Engineering (STI) and the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC). It is based on a structure that is closely linked with the user community, leveraging the commonality of competences and needs existing across different research domains.
Steering Committee
The Steering Committee decides on the strategic direction of ACCES, based on the needs of the Computational Engineering (CE) user community, both in research and education. ACCES activities are coordinated with other modeling and simulation activities within EPFL, as indicated below.
The current Steering Committee members are:
- Prof. Nicola Marzari (STI-IMX-THEOS) – Chairman
- Prof. Jean-François Molinari (ENAC-IIC-LSMS)
- Prof. William Curtin (STI-IGM-LAMMM)
- Prof. Fernando Porté-Agel (ENAC-IIE-WIRE)
Coordination Center
The Coordination Center is responsible for implementing the strategy decided by the Steering Committee. Examples of potential activities include:
- dissemination to the ACCES Member and Network Laboratories of information related to CE activities (e.g. conferences, project calls at the EPFL, national and EU levels),
- coordinating the implementation and activities of the ACCES Member Laboratories,
- coordination of the needs of the ACCES Network Laboratories,
- planning and operating the ACCES Collaborative Visualization Facility,
- organization of the ACCES seminar series in CE as a means to exchange ideas, increase the internal visibility of current activities, as well as act as a catalyst for new avenues of research,
- organization of the annual ACCES Awards for the best Master and Doctoral theses in CE,
- monitoring of technological developments in the CE domain (e.g. new algorithms, methodologies and hardware).
Member & Network Laboratories
ACCES Member Laboratories have detailed competencies in CE areas related to their research and teaching activities (e.g. use of specialized simulation software or computer hardware). These competences are disseminated to the ACCES Network Laboratories through the transfer of information and advice. By this means, the Network Laboratories can obtain expert assistance in the application of CE techniques to their particular areas of need.
Integration into the global EPFL and European landscapes
Synergy in the Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) domain at EPFL will be achieved through interaction with members of other faculties, in particular, with the newly-formed Mathematics Institute of Computational Science and Engineering (MATHICSE). It is anticipated that the development of novel mathematical methods by MATHICSE members could greatly benefit application-based CE projects within the STI and ENAC faculties.
Within the educational framework, STI and ENAC members contribute actively to the interdisciplinary CSE Master managed by the Mathematics Section. In addition, all four Sections within STI (SEL, SGM, SMT, SMX) as well as SGC-ENAC also recommend the CSE Minor.
ACCES is an integral part of the [email protected] landscape, providing assistance in the use of resources at different levels.
ACCES also coordinates its activities with European CE organizations, such as CECAM, ECCOMAS and ERCOFTAC.
