Abstract: The Centrality of Advanced Digitally ENabled Science (CADENS) is a new National Science Foundation project to develop a series of science documentaries that highlight computational scientific visualizations with the primary goal to help raise public awareness about the importance of computational and digitally-enabled science. The Project assembles a group of production professionals, educators, and advanced technology teams with a proven track record of successful projects. CADENS is led by Donna Cox, Director of the NCSA Advanced Visualization Lab (AVL). AVL has created cinematic data visualizations seen by millions of people at museums, IMAX theaters, broadcast television and other public venues. CADENS expands upon these former visualization efforts to develop three fulldome museum shows and nine television documentaries targeted for the general public to help raise awareness of what computational science is and how it relates to society. AVL is currently developing data visualizations from Blue Waters, XSEDE, and National Center for Atmospheric Science for the fulldome show “Solar Superstorms.” Cox’s visual presentation will include excerpts from “Solar Superstorms” in-the-making, “Hubble 3D” IMAX movie and a Virtual Director interactive remote collaboration between Chicago’s Adler Planetarium and NCSA. As part of the colloquium & refreshments, AVL will show 4000-pixel resolution movies during walk-thru demonstrations in the 4K3D theater at NCSA 1005.
Bio: Dr. Donna J. Cox is the Michael Aiken Chair, Director of the Advanced Visualization Laboratory (AVL) at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), Director of Illinois eDream Institute at the NCSA, and Professor in the School of Art and Design, University of Illinois. For over 30 years, she has researched the art of scientific visualization. She organized the first “Renaissance Teams” as an interdisciplinary methodology to address visualization challenges. She is an international keynote speaker and serves on a variety of national panels. She has served as Director-at-Large and Experimental Technologies Chair for the SIGGRAPH Conference. The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry selected her as one of 40 modern Leonardo DaVinci’s. She and her collaborators have thrilled millions of people with stunning cinematic data visualizations of science for IMAX movies, feature films, PBS HD television, and large-screen digital museum shows around the world. AVL develops visualization software and display technologies. In collaboration with NCSA and the University of Illinois leadership, Cox helped form the eDream Institute to synergize innovation across the arts and sciences, supporting artists, faculty and students and creative productions such as the Tao of Bach. AVL and her team are currently working on a new fulldome digital planetarium show, “Solar Superstorms”. She is lead for the new NCSA Culture and Society theme.