Annual Research Symposium KEYNOTE ADDRESS
SPEAKER: Prof. Mary F. Wheeler
Texas Institute for Computational and Applied Mathematics
University of Texas, Austin, TX
DATE: Friday, April 23, 1999
TIME: 2:00 PM
PLACE: B02 Computer & Systems Research Laboratory
1308 W. Main St, Urbana, IL
TITLE: Synthetic Environments for Modeling Subsurface Flows
ABSTRACT
Effective management of reservoirs, aquifers, bays and estuaries
demands rapid, reliable forecasts of behavior. Length scales of practical and
economic interest range from tens of meters to kilometers. A large
disparity in time scales also exists, from nearly instantaneous
chemical reactions to daily tidal movements to water infiltration into waste
repositories for millennia. Moreover, different physical processes
occur simultaneously in different parts of the domain.
A computational environment that allows for multiple physical models,
multiple discretizations and solvers, and flexibility in coupling of
different physical models can greatly increase the productivity of
scientists and engineers.
In this presentation, the speaker will discuss two different synthetic
environments and present computational results. The first involves a
framework for the integration of petroleum reservoir production; the
second environment involves water quality and modeling in bays and estuaries.
BIOGRAPHY
Professor Mary Fanett Wheeler heads the Texas Institute for
Computational and Applied Mathematics (TICAM) on the University of Texas-Austin campus. Her research interests include numerical solution of
partial differential systems with application to the modeling of
subsurface and surface flows and parallel computation. Her numerical
work includes formulation, analysis and implementation of
finite-difference/finite-element discretization schemes for nonlinear
coupled pde's as well as domain decomposition iterative solution methods. Her
applications include reservoir engineering and contaminant transport
in groundwater and bays and estuaries. Current work has emphasized
mixed finite-element methods for modeling reactive multi-phase flow
and transport in a heterogeneous porous media, with the goal of
simulating these systems on parallel computing platforms. Dr. Wheeler
has published more than 100 technical papers and edited seven
books. She is currently an editor of four technical journals and
managing editor of Computational Geosciences. In 1998 she was elected
to the National Academy of Engineering.