May 19, 1997 Contact Ross West (541) 346-2060 Source Jan Cuny (541) 346-4154 EUGENE--Most of us have seen the results of high performance computer graphics in such films as "Jurassic Park," where Stephen Spielberg created herds of trotting dinosaurs. Now, with the opening of the University of Oregon's new Computer Visualization Laboratory, scientists will have access to similarly powerful computer graphics for visualizing and studying complex problems in geology, architecture, physics and other fields. "With this lab, we can utilize extremely sophisticated 3-D graphics," says Jan Cuny, UO computer science professor and co-director of the Computational Science Institute. "These machines will give scientists and their students a way to visualize their data, manipulate it and come to insights and understanding that would otherwise be impossible to achieve." The lab, Cuny says, "features 12 high-end SGI [Silicon Graphics Inc.] work stations, connected to the largest, most powerful computers on campus." The lab will primarily support research applications from the geological sciences. The smashing of a virtual bottle of champagne will mark the lab's official opening at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20, in Room 101 of Cascade Hall, 1260 Franklin Blvd. on the UO campus. The open house that follows until 5 p.m. will feature demonstrations of the new machines. Included will be a "fly through" of the UO campus, architectural visualizations, applications in physics, and seismic tomography (a way of imaging structures deep within the Earth in a manner similar to how medical CAT-scans or PET-scans image areas inside the body). Also on hand will be a representative of SGI, the industry leader in visualization hardware and software. Funding for the laboratory was provided by SGI, the National Science Foundation and the Murdock Trust. "This lab will play a vital role in our efforts to accelerate scientific exploration by coupling it with significant computational power," Cuny says. -30- #P-7249/Local,OrSci