IVW26: Interactive Visual Workflows for Science and Engineering at Scale

Organizers:
Francesca Samsel (TACC), Silvio Rizzi (ANL), Axel Huebl (LBNL), Jefferson Amstutz (NVIDIA), and Berk Geveci (Kitware)

Keywords: interactive visual workflows, high-performance computing (HPC), scientific visualization, AI-augmented analysis, simulation and experimentation, in situ and streaming workflows, data management and orchestration, usability and UX

Abstract

This workshop brings together researchers, practitioners, and tool builders who are rethinking how science and engineering are done by treating interactive visual workflows as core instruments of discovery. Visualization is central, serving as the connective tissue among HPC, AI, data, and usability to support the design and steering of simulations and experiments, the exploration of complex results, and clearer communication of insight. We welcome contributions on visual workflow components as well as enabling technologies and practices, including AI- and ML-driven analysis, data management and streaming, workflow orchestration on advanced systems, and human-centered design for accessible, scalable interfaces.

Relevance and Impact

Interactive visual workflows sit at the intersection of simulation, experimentation, AI, and modern HPC, directly addressing a key bottleneck: the growing gap between data generation and actionable insight, as the time and effort spent designing campaigns and then analyzing and visualizing results increasingly dominates the path from project start to discovery and can even outlast allocation cycles. By focusing on interactive, domain-aware visual workflows that integrate AI, simulation, and experimental data, this workshop targets that gap head-on, exploring how to compress lengthy pre- and post-processing into days or even into the runtime of the computation itself so that insight keeps pace with computation and instrumentation.

An interactive visual workflow tightly couples computation, data, AI methods, and rich visual interfaces, with visualization as the central feature that lets people steer simulations and experiments, inspect streaming results, and adjust hypotheses in real time rather than waiting for long, disconnected pre- and post-processing cycles. The impact of this focus extends beyond performance metrics to who can meaningfully participate in HPC- and AI-driven science. Interactive visual workflows democratize capabilities often confined to computational specialists, making complex pipelines understandable and actionable for domain scientists, early-career researchers, and decision makers, while improving expertise transfer, supporting multi-audience analysis, and operating across desktops, Jupyter, HPC, and the web to accelerate discovery, collaboration, and transparent, inclusive, reproducible use of advanced computing.

Community Building, Inclusivity, and Goals

IVW will intentionally combine inclusivity and community-building with its core workshop goals. We will mentor early-career participants by involving them in the review process and an Early Career Program Committee, while assembling diverse committees and contributors from academia, industry, and government labs. A 4-page, rigorously reviewed paper format lowers barriers to entry and serves as an idea incubator, encouraging participation from a broad range of voices.

Together, these choices support our goals of socializing early work, building bridges between interdisciplinary communities, offering a forum for HPC practitioners to share state-of-the-practice challenges and innovations, and creating opportunities for professional development in technical communication, leadership, and service.