[Amath-seminars] MathAcrossCampus talk

[Randy LeVeque]

Please come to the second MathAcrossCampus Colloquium of the year:

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                           MathAcrossCampus Colloquium
                      (http://www.math.washington.edu/mac/)

                      Combinatorial Optimization in Action

                                MARTIN GROETSCHEL
                Technical University & Zuse Institute (ZIB), Berlin

                  Thursday, January 22, 2009, 3:30 Kane Hall 220

                               Reception to follow


Abstract:

Combinatorial optimization exploded on the mathematical and
scientific scene in the 1950s.  In this lecture I will briefly
survey its development for a wide audience. Theoretical design and
analysis of algorithms dominated the early development of the
field, while computational progress has been particularly
significant in the last twenty years. These theoretical and
computational achievements, combined with successful modeling of
applications, have made it possible today to solve real-world
problems of breathtaking size and diversity. The majority of the
lecture will report on success stories in areas such as
telecommunication, transportation, traffic and logistics. These
results are based on ongoing cooperation between industry, the
DFG Research Center MATHEON and my research group at the
Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum (ZIB).

About the speaker:

Martin Groetschel currently holds the Chair of Information
Technology at the Institute of Mathematics of the Technical
University in Berlin and is Vice President of the Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum
Berlin (ZIB) and Secretary of the International Mathematical Union.
He has chaired the Research Center MATHEON "Mathematics for key
technologies" funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
from 2002 to 2008. He is a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy
and a foreign associate of the US National Academy of Engineering.
He has received various academic awards including the Leibniz Prize,
the Beckurts Prize, the Fulkerson Prize, the Dantzig Prize, and the
John von Neumann Theory Prize. His areas of mathematical research
include optimization, discrete mathematics, and operations research.
He has contributed to application areas such as production planning,
logistics, public transportation, and telecommunication.


Discussion session (brown bag):

There will be an informal discussion session with the speaker on
Friday, Jan 23 at 12:30 in Smith Hall (SMI) 115. This is an
opportunity for interested students and faculty to ask more
questions and talk about open problems and research directions.