Noticias en español
Researchers from the Mathematical Modeling Center of the U. of Chile participate in a new group focused on scientific computing formed under the wing of the UCSC.
Although in practice, the Research Group in Numerical Analysis and Scientific Calculus (GIANuC²) of the Faculty of Engineering of the Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción (UCSC) started working at the end of 2020, it received institutional recognition at the beginning of 2023.
GIANuC² is formed by five professors from the Department of Applied Mathematics and Physics of the aforementioned faculty: Sergio Caucao (coordinator), Tomás Barrios, Jessika Camaño, Luis Gatica and Abner Poza; together with Edwin Behrens from the Department of Civil Engineering. Caucao, Camaño and Gatica are also members of the Center for Mathematical Modeling (CMM) of the U. de Chile.
“When I started working at UCSC in 2020,” Caucao explained, ”there were already ideas to create a group. In fact, during the second semester of 2020, the group was coordinated by Luis Gatica, and under his management the name of the group was defined and the first steps were taken to apply for institutional recognition. However, due to the pandemic and the different responsibilities of the members of GIANuC², this postulation did not materialize”.
“Once we returned to face-to-face work, and since I had the time and energy to carry out the necessary steps to apply for institutional recognition, I offered to lead the coordination of the group and take on the administrative work. The colleagues agreed, and we obtained recognition by the University as a consolidated group”, explained Caucao.
The intention now is to expand the group through the participation of researchers from other areas and departments of the University. In this context, the ‘GIANuC² 2024Meeting : Numerical Methods for Multiphysical Systems – Theory and Applications‘ was held last Thursday, September 26, which brought together scientists and undergraduate and graduate students interested in the subject. The event included six talks and a workshop, which were given by members of the group and two UCSC researchers from outside the group.
Collaborate and move toward applications
“The idea of the groups at the University,” Caucao explained, ”is that they interact with as many faculty as possible. That is precisely why one of the purposes of this event is to start working with professors from other departments who use numerical methods, although perhaps not at the level of analysis as we do. This generates a synergy between the theory we develop and its applications. Under this premise, researchers from the Civil Engineering Department, Felipe Villalobos and Diego Caamaño, participated with talks related to their research work”.
This is in line with the group’s medium-term objectives. “We want to consolidate the scientific production of the group through publications and the awarding of projects. Currently, we have the internal group project FGII 04/2023 of the UCSC Research Direction, which is precisely the one that financed this event, and at this moment we are applying for its second version. In the future, of course, we plan to apply for a ring or an external fund, such as those of ANID”.
“Another of our objectives is to disseminate our scientific work in the academic community and to start networking with researchers both from the University and from outside,” Caucao emphasized.
“We want to make the leap from performing computer simulations to also contrasting them with laboratory results,” emphasized the UCSC academic.
Regarding the relationship of GIANuC² with the pole of Numerical Analysis of Partial Differential Equations, which is formed by researchers from the three main universities of the Biobío and Ñuble regions (U. de Concepción, U. del Bío-Bío and UCSC), Caucao stated that “the interaction is natural and is expressed, for example, in the co-direction of undergraduate and graduatetheses of students from the three universities”.
By Iván R. Tobar Bocaz, journalist of the Mathematical Modeling Center, Concepción.
Posted on Oct 2, 2024 in News
