[Sci-all-l] new course CMPU 342 - Algorithmic Geometry

[jewalter at vassar.edu]

Please bring this course to the attention of your students and encourage
any of your students who are interested to register.

Thank you.

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COURSE ANNOUNCEMENT:

CMPU 342  Topics in Theoretical Computer Science: Algorithmic Geometry
Spring 2006

Prerequisites: permission of the instructor.

Instructor: Prof. Jennifer Walter

Lecture Time:  Mondays, 3:10 to 6:10 pm.

Book:  Computational Geometry in C (2nd edition), by Joseph O'Rourke

Course description:

This class will explore some of the fundamental algorithms used in the
emerging field of research known as Computational Geometry.  Geometric
problems are often easy to visualize, but that does not necessarily make
them easy to solve.  Many problems that can be solved instantly by a
person looking at a piece of paper (for example: Is a given point inside a
given polygon?) require nontrivial algorithms.

Geometric algorithms are important in design and analysis systems for
physical objects ranging from buildings and automobiles to very
large-scale integrated circuits.  There are many fields of computer
science that deal with solving problems of a geometric nature.  These
include computer graphics, computer vision and image processing, robotics,
computer-aided design and manufacturing, computational fluid-dynamics, and
geographic information systems, to name but a few.

The particular classes of problems studied in this course will include
geometric searching, convex hull construction, proximity, shortest paths,
and intersection.  We will solve these (mainly 2-dimensional) geometric
problems using a variety of abstract data types and algorithmic
techniques.  We will also analyze the relative efficiency (in terms of
time and space)  of these algorithm and abstract data type combinations.

This course will involve several small-scale programming projects intended
to demonstrate the concepts learned in the classroom.


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Jennifer E. Walter		       	   Phone: 845-437-7449
Assistant Professor of Computer Science	   Fax:   845-437-7498
Vassar College, Box 351
Poughkeepsie, NY USA 12604-0351
		e-mail: walter at cs.vassar.edu
	    url: http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~walter/
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