Paul A. Farrell

Paul Farrell received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in the field of Numerical Computation and Analysis from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland in 1978 and 1983 respectively. He was a Lecturer at the Dublin Institute of Technology (1983-1985) before joining Kent State University as an assistant professor of Computer Science in 1985. While at the Dublin Institute of Technology, he was supported by the European Community, under a industry/university co-operation grant on semi-conductor device simulation. In 1986, he was a guest of the Soviet Academy of Sciences for a two week visit. In addition he is an associate member of the Institute for Computational Mathematics and a member of the IMACS Technical Committee on Partial Differential Equations.

He is currently Chair of Faculty Senate, and has served as Vice-Chair of Faculty Senate, Chair of the University Council on Technology, Assistant Chair of the Computer Science Department, Systems Coordinator for the Computer Science Department, Applications Coordinator for Internet II for Kent State and Director of Electronic Publications for Institute for Numerical Computation and Analysis (INCA), in addition to membership of University and Department Committees. He has acted as a consultant to the United Nations Development Program and to the Irish Higher Education Development Cooperation Organization (HEDCO).

His research interests include parallel and distributed computation, cluster computing, computational steering, scientific visualization, high speed networking, numerical computation and algorithms, application of numerical methods to singularly perturbed differential equations, semi-conductor devices, Navier-Stokes equations, and liquid crystal problems, scientific visualization, automatic code generation for parallel architectures, application of expert systems in numerical computing, and mathematical text processing. He is a member of ACM, the IEEE Computer Society, SIAM, the Institute for Numerical Computation and Analysis (INCA).

Research Accomplishments

Dr. Farrell is a researcher in the area of the numerical solution of singularly perturbed equations, in parallel algorithms, for liquid crystal problems and for the solution of linear equations. He has published 68 papers, and a research monograph, and in addition has acted as organizer and chair for special sessions on singularly perturbed equations and on parallel algorithms at international conferences including BAIL V, the 12th IMACS World Congress, and BAIL VI. He has engaged in collaborative work with 13 researchers in countries such as China, Ireland, New Zealand, Russia, and Yugoslavia, in addition to the U.S. In addition to regional and national conferences and colloquia, he has presented talks at international conferences in China, France, Germany, Iran, Ireland, the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. and given colloquia in Ireland, Germany, Tanzania, Thailand, the U.S.A. and Yugoslavia.

Ph. D. Supervision:

R.R. Zeller, Parallel Numerical Solution of the Landau-De Gennes Minimization Problem for Liquid Crystals in a Slab Geometry,

Dan Bennett, Tools and Techniques for Locating and Steering Parallel Simulations through Bifurcation points

M.S. Supervision (Selective List):

• Y. Park, The Design and Implementation of a Context Dependent File System
• T. Wig, The Design of a Centralized File Archive System for a Networked Environment
• B. K. Gray, Posix Conformance of Some Versions of Unix Operating Systems
• J. Bailey, A Distributed Scientific Visualization Environment
• M. Stacey, Object Oriented Analysis and Design in GUI Component Library Design with Application Examples
• Yang-Ming Zhu, An Interactive Visualization Environment for Tensor Fields
• Xiaodong Hu, Models and Tests of Load Balancing for Green's Function Monte-Carlo
• Harit Desai, Evaluation and Tuning of Gigabit Ethernet Performance on Clusters

Funded Projects (Selective List):

• Co-Principal Investigator: NSF SCREMS: High Performance Scientific Computing Environment
• Principal Investigator: ODOD Visualization and Simulation subcontract from ODOD/WCI-ADMA
• Principal Investigator: NSF ITR/ACS:Cluster Based Computational Techniques for the Modelling of Problems Involving Bifurcations
• Principal Investigator: NSF
• Co-Principal Investigator: NSF vBNS Connectivity for Kent State University
• Co-Principal Investigator: OBR The Kent Visualization Project: Enhanced Proposal Competitiveness Through Imaging and Visualization Infrastructure
• Principal Investigator: NSF Advanced Scientific Computation, A Steering and Visualization Environment
• Principal Investigator: CISE Research Instrumentation: A High-Performance Network for Distributed Computation and Visualization (DISCOVnet).
• Principal Investigator, NSF Mathematical Sciences Grant, Uniform Numerical Methods for Singularly Perturbed Equations.
• Co-Principal Investigator, NSF Science and Technology Center for Advanced Liquid Crystalline Optical Materials (ALCOM).
• Principal Investigator, OBR Research Challenge Grant, Algorithms and Techniques for the Solution, Visualization and Steering of the Solution of Large Nonlinear Problems on a High Bandwidth/Low Latency Network of High Performance Workstations
• Kent liasion for OCARNet - the Ohio Communication and Computing ATM Research Network.

Refereeing Activity (Selective list)

IEEE Trans. on Parl. & Distr. Syst., SIAM Jour. of Numer. Anal., Numerische Mathematik, IMA Jour. of Numer. Anal., Journal of Appl. Numer. Math., ETNA, Comput. & Math. with Appl., Utilitas Mathematica, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations, Numerical Algorithms, Rocky Mountain Journal of Mathematics, many International Conferences such as ISAAC-88, BAIL V, DISCO-90, BAIL VI, and 12th IMACS World Congress.

Research Visibility

• Organizing Committee - Workshop '98 on Singular Perturbation Problems
• Session Chair - BAIL V, 12th IMACS World Congress ( 2 sessions ), BAIL VI.
• Member of IMACS Technical Committee on Partial Differential Equations 1992-

Graduate Teaching

Cluster Computing, Grid Computing, Multicore Computing, Distributed Numerical Computation and Visualization, Advanced Computer Communication Networks, Advanced Algorithms, Advanced Operating Systems, Parallel Numerical Methods, Computer Communication Networks, Systems Programming, Operating Systems, Systems Administration, Numerical Computing.

University, Professional and Public Service

• Secretary, Faculty Senate 2015-16
• Chair, Faculty Senate 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14
• Vice-Chair, Faculty Senate, 2007-8, 2008-9, 2009-10
• Chair, University Council on Technology, 1996-1997
• Consultant on Networking of Palestinian Universities for United Nations Development Program, Program of Aid to the Palestinian People (UNDP-PAPP), 1994
• External Examiner for Computer Science Courses, University of Dar-es-Salaam 1994-6
• Consultant for (Irish) Higher Education Development Cooperation Organization (HEDCO) 1994
• Member of IMACS Technical Committee on Partial Differential Equations 1992-
• Member of Ohio Supercomputer Center Statewide Users Group
• Chair, Faculty Senate Committee on Committees
• Chair, Faculty Senate Budget Committee
• Co-Chair, University Council on Technology Research Computing Working Group
• Chair, Faculty Senate Committee on Electoral Reform
• Kent State Applications Coordinator, Internet II Consortium
• Convener, Committee to Review the Networking and Information Systems Study (NISS) and the Academic Computing Study (ACS)
• University Academic Computing Systems Study Committee 1993-1994
• University Network and Information Systems Study Committee (NISS) on Administrative Computing and Campus Networking 1992-93
• Telecommunication System Committee, 1997
• Centennial Commission Internal and External Task Forces on Learning Technologies, 1997-98
• Committee to review the University's Copyright Policy, 1997-98
• Kent State Applications Coordinator, Internet II Consortium 1998-
• Search Committee for Director of Academic Computing 1998
• University Committee on Campus Wide Networking 1990-
• Director of Departmental Computer Services 1990-1994

Selected Publications