Candid Student Reports

The following (emails) were written by members of the TIP Tapper program during the first day of the program. Some elements may have been removed for various reasons, but the text that remains is in the student's own words.

 
Today was mostly following directions, which is easy 
enough. But figuring out why we are doing it or how 
to figure out what to do on your own, that's the 
challenge for the next couple weeks.  It was a 
frustrating day.
We first got to listen to the lecture about appl-
ication, algorithm and architecture.
The question was for today was how close lithium and 
hydrogen have to be to bond.  To figure out an 
approximation for the MO and AO, we used different 
basis sets, first STO and GTO then STO-3g or -6g or 
whatever else confusing things there were.  But I 
guess the basic point of all that was to show how 
some stuff is more accurate that others, but it took 
a long time. Chemistry was sort of confusing, so 
that made the whole thing worse.  Russell was so bad 
he made two hydrogen atoms instead of a lithium and 
hydrogen atom.  Thought I will have for the next 3 
weeks : What did i get myself into?!!!!  Thats 
alright this is kind of fun.


 Renee & Russell
 

 
Modeling seems very involved and detail-oriented...
thank goodness there are two of us, or it would be 
impossible for us to get it right.
It was nice getting handouts, making it unnecessary 
to take notes. Hopefully Bob2 will explain 
EVERYTHING this much and we should be able to under-
stand it.
We really like rope tricks, please continue...
Application...algorithm...architecture


 Matt & Alexander
 

 
Today our instructor showed us the concept of 
observation through doing a rope trick.  We learned 
the process of computational science, which involves 
the steps or identifying the application of science, 
forming a mathematical algorithm to solve this 
application, and using computer architecture to 
create a model.  In his lecture, our instructor 
discussed how often researchers must use assumptions 
and approximations when it comes to computational 
science.  We applied this in a hypothetical quantum 
chemistry problem involving the distance between two 
atoms in a molecule and how it affects the electron 
clouds in the bond.  Since many of us had not 
studied quantum chemistry in depth, the problem was 
considerably confusing.  However, as the class 
progresses, we expect to have a better grasp of the 
process of computational science.


 Madhu & Natalie
 

 
 We learned about GTOs and STOs. It was confusing at 
first, but, after an explaination, it was somewhat 
understandable. We also learned about Application, 
Algorithm, and Architecture. We think it's gonna be 
very challenging but fun at the same time. We made 
some excellent(WOW!) electron densities. Bob2 was 
very patient with the class.


 Kevin and Elizabeth
 

 
After listening to more lectures for a while, we 
finally got to get on the computers, which was good. 
The first problem was pretty complicated, and I'm 
sure it will get harder from here. I still don't 
really see how some of this (like electron clouds 
and all that) is useful. I'll just see what happens 
from here on.


 Harding
 

 
We started the day with lectures, which were kind of 
long, but we took breaks so it wasn't that bad. We 
got on the computers and it was relatively difficult, 
but interesting. Everything didn't always work 
perfectly, but Bob 2 was very helpful. Overall, I 
enjoyed today, and I think this program will be fun 
but challenging.


 Jason
 

 
This course looks challenging!  It will be difficult,
but i look forward to the rest of the course.  Today 
we learned the basics about computational modeling.  
The most general principles are application, which is 
is the scienece behind the model; the algorithm,  
which is the mathematics behind the model; and the 
architecture, which is the acutal use of a computer 
to create a visual model.  ONce the basics were done 
with, we worked on a computational chemistry problem.  
The formulas behind the chemistry were a little 
complicated, but i felt that i could keep a 
reasonable understanding of the material.  I found 
the acutal modeling part the most interesting.  
Tomorrow's problem about atmospheric pollution seems 
ominous, but I look forward to tackling it.


 Eric and Ryan
 

 
Today was a good warm-up for molecular modeling and 
using applicable software.  Bob was a wonderful 
speaker and I appreciate his knowledge of the 
subject.  I regret not being able to learn the 
details of the sciences with which we were working.  
I'm looking forward to touching on advanced sciences.   
Chemistry and physics are a few of my favorite 
topics.  With the tools we put to use, and the info 
provided, it was easily assessed and employed.


 Ben and Bev