Computer subroutines and programs are algorithms that accomplish tasks and solve problems. Advances in computer technology propelled sophisticated numerical analysis into the artful symmetry of the human body. The MIT Control, Instrumentation and Robotics laboratory replaced biological muscles in the human arm with synthetic polymer muscle actuators. At the University of California, Los Angeles, improved mathematical models led to actuators, 1.5 millimeters long, which perform invasive exploratory microsurgery and assist in partial breast radiation therapy for breast cancer.
Every 10 years in the United Kingdom, the universities hold a "State of the Art in Numerical Analysis" conference. In 1996, the fourth conference was held at Oxford University. Dissertations presented at the conference represent the state of the art, the latest, numerical analysis research. The dissertations presented at the conference are listed in one volume summarizing the latest developments in the field of numerical analysis. The volume accompanying the 1996 conference, released in 1997 by I Duff and G Watson, editors, is "The State of the Art in Numerical Analysis," published by Oxford University Press. Cambridge University publishes "Acta Numerica," an annual collection of a variety of the latest numerical analysis research articles. Highlights of the "State of the Art in Numerical Analysis" conference include "A History of Algorithms: From the Pebble to the Microchip," edited by Jean-Luc Chabert.
Since 1979, the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute has equipped robots with sensors and numerical analysis algorithms and data to explore uncertain areas in the ocean and transmit data to researchers. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory at the University of Tennessee maintains the most extensive library of numerical analysis software in the United States. LINPACK, EISPACK, and LAPACK are the core linear algebra numerical analysis software used in the United States.
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 25 miles west of Knoxville, Tennessee, houses the state of the art spallation neutron source (SNS), the most intense pulsed neutron beam in the world. Spallation is a process, which causes fragments of the neutrons to be ejected forcefully.as a projectile. The SNS was built by the U.S. Department of Energy. Oak Ridge also houses the High Flux Isotope Reactor. Applying state of the art numerical analysis to neutron research led to high-temperature superconductors, powerful lightweight magnets, aluminum bridges and plastic products.