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Computer Science and Software Engineering Capstone Presentations

Summer Quarter

August 21, 2020

Christopher O'Keefe

"Reengineering the Architecture of BrainGrid"

(UWB Bio-Computing Lab)

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Mike Stiber

Abstract

I performed my CSS 497 Capstone project by assisting Dr. Stiber, together with a graduate student, in re-engineering the architecture of BrainGrid. BrainGrid is a neural network simulator managed by Dr. Stiber that is used in biological research. The simulator has existed for over a decade, evolving with numerous student contributions. The many contributors caused the simulations code base to become complex, difficult to understand and painful to modify. Our goal this summer was to redesign the simulator to introduce modern standards, simplify complex internal relationships and expand the simulator's capabilities to ease the burden of future contributors.

We achieved many accomplishments that helped fulfill our project's goals. We simplified the simulator's architecture. We added a testing framework to assure functionality stays consistent while making changes. We added a logging framework to check simulation status while running and to identify any errors afterwards. We modernized the compilation platform from Make to CMake to provide more compilation flexibility and functionality. We updated documentation and designed a comprehensive introduction for new contributors. Overall, the progress of work this summer resulted in a much more modifiable and beginner-friendly program.

This project was a very important part of BrainGrid that needed to be done for the future of the simulator. The older architecture was designed to work, but by prioritizing functionality, it sacrificed scalability and limited its applicability to new problems. I believe the work we completed this summer succeeded in creating a strong foundation that will give BrainGrid the adjustments it needed to reach its full potential for the next decade.

Updated August 20, 2020, 1:01