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September 14, 2010
Hi VMDL-ers...
I know it's been a while since I've talked about VMDL (remember: Virtual
Molecular Dynamics Laboratory)?
But we are starting up development again!!!
We started by getting versions to run on current machines. Including
Macs!! Water now runs on a Mac, FINALLY! And Windows 7.
There are lots of little bugs and legacy things that make the programs
look a little old (like small screens) and a stupid
system for storing labs and movies and, well if I go on you won't
download... basically, we have LOTS of content, but
it is poorly communicated.
We are going to do some development over the next 6 months or so and,
hopefully, some of you will use this in your
classes in the meantime and can write something with us that we can use
for a few papers. I've been working the
past few years on outreach and marketing of things totally unrelated to
this and have gotten much better at it. Plus,
over the past few years with my daughters in school, I have gone into
schools to teach often from K-12 and have
a blast.
So I want to bring my experience to VMDL and make it as good and
powerful as I know it can be.
VMDL has a lot going for it over other programs out there. The particle
interactions are REAL! These
are all real, honest, research-grade simulations. The electronic
measurements we can take of the systems
are enormous and tell a lot. And Water has some really cool 3D
graphics.
What's going to happen is that SMD, Universal, and Water are all going
to be integrated into one program.
There will be one single program interface. Instead of the text guides
being on paper, there will be much
simpler instructions for software and separate "for more info"
documents. When you go to an activity on the
web, all you will do is click "Run" and it opens the correct data file
and you just follow instructions on the help
screen.
You will have the ability to switch between 2-D and 3-D views, change
zoom and camera positions just
like in Water currently (but better).
And all the really interesting simulations you can do will all be at
your fingertips and more accessible.
There will be a control interface that will allow you to build custom
simulations. And things like DNA unzipping,
protein folding, first or second order reactions, burning/combustion,
osmosis, lipids, soaps, brownian
motion, alloys, nucleation, solvation, crystals, Archimede's Principle,
sound waves, viscosity, catalysis,
REDOX reactions, heat capacity, enthalpy, heat and work, and more will
all be beautiful.
If you want to be part of the new VMDL, check out what's up there
now, by going to:
Write me what you think. Use it in your classes. Tell me which
machines it crashes on.
I'll keep you in the loop. Write me if you are now using something
different that you think
is better as I want to learn all I can (my feelings won't get hurt).
Any thoughts, suggestions, whatever, send them my way so they can be
considered in the new products.
And of course send me any funding ideas... all this will cost money and
I have to find it.
Thanks so much.
Hope your lives are all going well.
Best wishes,
Paul
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| For more information, email: Paul Trunfio |