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The Department is sponsoring or co-sponsoring several colloquia and seminars this term as listed below. Click here for information about the next scheduled talk, which occurs on April 30. Check this page regularly for the lastest schedule as more talks are added.
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| February 2008 |
- The Fascinating Career of Being an Actuary
Speakers: Kim Holmes, Vince Cassano
Wednesday, February 13, 4:30pm. Napier 201.
(Refreshments at 4:00pm in Napier 218.)
Abstract: Hobart alum Vince Cassano '91, and William Smith alum Kim Holmes (Oaks) '85
will discuss their experiences being actuaries. Cassano works for EBS
Benefit Solutions in Rochester, and Holmes is SVP and Chief Actuary for
Endurance Special Insurance Ltd. in Bermuda. They will cover such topics as
what an actuary does, what it takes to be one and why it is an interesting
and exciting career.
- The Bantam Java Compiler Project
Speaker: Professor Marc Corliss
Thursday, February 28, 4:45pm. Napier 201.
(Refreshments at 4:30pm in Napier 218.)
Abstract: Constructing a compiler, the software responsible for translating
high-level programs (e.g., Java, C++ programs) into machine code, is
a valuable learning experience for an undergraduate student. In this
talk, I will introduce the Bantam Java Compiler Project, a new
language and compiler designed specifically for the classroom. The
goal of this project is to provide students with the opportunity to
implement (and to some extent design) a compiler in a one semester
course. The source programming language, Bantam Java, is a small
subset of the Java language, which is a commonly-used language in
introductory programming courses. Because Bantam Java is similar to
Java, it leverages the student's existing intuition and the student
can automatically apply what they learn as they implement the
compiler directly to Java. The Bantam Java Compiler Project is also
customizable (it supports several tools and targets), which gives
instructors flexibility in designing course assignments. Finally,
the project includes a free, comprehensive, student manual, which can
be used in conjunction with any compiler textbook.
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| March 2008 |
- Computational Social Science: Large-Scale Studies of Wikis, Blogs, and Social Networking Sites
Speaker: Daniel Huttenlocher (Neafsey Professor of Computing, Information
Science and Business at Cornell)
Monday, March 3, 7:30pm. Geneva Room.
(Note: This is a public lecture for a general audience.)
Abstract: Many social interactions that are ephemeral in the physical world are recorded and accessible in the online world. The widespread use of online systems such as blogs, wikis and social networking sites provides a treasure trove of information about human behavior. This talk will discuss some recent studies of large-scale online social systems, and speculate about what these studies suggest about human interactions more generally.
- Studying Large-Scale Online Social Networks
Computer Science Colloquium
(Sponsored in part by Phi Beta Kappa)
Speaker: Daniel Huttenlocher (Neafsey Professor of Computing, Information
Science and Business at Cornell)
Tuesday, March 4, 4:30pm. Eaton 110.
Abstract: Many online social systems are naturally viewed as graphs, where nodes correspond to individuals and edges correspond to interactions between those individuals. This lecture covers recently developed techniques for analyzing such large-scale social network graphs, as well as discussing some of the limitations of using graph-based techniques to model social interactions.
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| April 2008 |
- Department Course Offerings for Fall 2008
Speakers: Members of the faculty of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
Tuesday, April 1, 7:00pm. Albright Auditorium (Lansing/Eaton).
(Refreshments at 6:45pm.)
Wondering what computer science or mathematics courses you should take next year?
Come hear all the interesting possibilities as the professors of the
Mathematics and Computer Science Department introduce the courses they will
be teaching next year! The event will take place on Tuesday, April 1st at
7:00PM in Albright Auditorium. Refreshments will be served beginning at 6:45
and are sponsored by the Math/CS Club.
- Curves, Cryptography, and Primes of the Form x2+Dy2
Speaker: Juliana Belding, PhD candidate at the University of Maryland
Friday, April 18, 4:30pm. Napier 201.
(Refreshments at 4:15pm in Napier 202.)
Abstract: The set of points of an elliptic curve over a finite field of p
elements, for p a prime, forms a group. If this group has large prime order,
it can be used for cryptographic protocols such as Diffie-Hellman key
exchange. So an important question in modern cryptography is: How to
construct curves with large prime order? In this talk, we'll introduce
elliptic curves, give an example of their use in cryptography, and show how
constructing such "cryptographic" curves relates to the classic number theory
problem: "For p a prime, can we find integers x, y and D with p = x2 + Dy2?
- A Vertex-Magic Edge Labeling Game
Speaker: Adam Giambrone '08
Wednesday, April 30, 4:30pm. Napier 201.
(Refreshments at 4:15pm nearby.)
Abstract: Suppose we have a graph G with m edges. Consider an injective mapping from set
of edges of G to the integers {1,2, ... ,m} that assigns integer labels to
the edges of G. Also suppose we have the additional requirement that for
every vertex v of G, the sum of the labels of the edges incident to v equals
some constant k, called the magic constant. A graph with the above properties
is said to have a vertex-magic edge labeling. We now define a two player game
based on this type of labeling. The players will alternate turns, each
labeling a single edge of G with an unused element of the set {1,2, ... ,m}
so that none of the requirements for a vertex-magic edge labeling are
violated. The player able to make the last legal move on G wins the game. The
goal of this project was to find a winning strategy for a given player on
graphs consisting of either a single cycle or a pair of cycles somehow
connected by a vertex or edge. By using basic results from graph and number
theory to provide a foundation for our work, we were able to find some
results. Previous results found for this topic can be found in the paper
titled ``A Vertex-Magic Edge Labeling Game'' by B. Hartnell and D. Rall.
If you have interest in giving a talk or know of someone who does, please contact Erika King at eking@hws.edu or at (315) 781-3355
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