ksbooth@watcgl.waterloo.edu (09/24/89)
The ICR Evening Lecture Series Monday, September 25, 1989 8:00 p.m. DC 1302 Towards an Electronic Oxford English Dictionary Frank Wm. Tompa Professor of Computer Science Since 1984, the Oxford University Press has been working towards computerization of the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary (OED). As a joint venture with the Press, the University of Waterloo has been designing an on-line dictionary database suitable for editors charged with maintaining the OED, lexicographers working on other dictionaries, and researchers who wish to consult the OED interactively. Several innovative components have been developed as part of the project. For example, the PAT text searching engine retrieves all occurrences of words or phrases appearing in the 540 Mbyte OED in less than 1 second. The approaches used to computerize the OED are equally applicable to managing the text inventory of many other organizations, whether or not the enterprise has formal publication as a goal. This lecture will recount the experience at Waterloo with the OED to illustrate the major ideas that have emerged. Prior to his appointment to the Department of Computer Science in 1974, Frank Tompa attended Brown University, from which he received BSc and MSc degrees in Applied Math, and the University of Toronto, from which he received a PhD in Computer Science. He is currently a Professor in the Department, a member of the Data Structuring Group, and a co-Director of the UW Centre for the New OED. Professor Tompa's interests span the fields of data structures and databases. In recent years, he has been particularly interested in database design for videotex systems and in the design of text management systems suitable for maintaining large bodies of text.
ksbooth@watcgl.waterloo.edu (10/25/89)
The ICR Evening Lecture Series Monday, October 30, 1989 - 8:00 p.m. Room 1302 Davis Centre University of Waterloo Solving the Traveling Salesman Problem William R. Pulleyblank Professor of Combinatorics & Optimization and Computer Science A major oil company has an offshore drilling field consisting of about fifty platforms. Each day, certain platforms must be visited to regulate oil flow and, in addition, people and objects must be transported between various pairs of platforms. This activity is carried out by means of one or more helicopters. Because of the high cost of helicopter operation, it is desired to find a route which satisfies the requirements for which the flying time is minimized. This lecture describes how the problem was solved and discusses a PC-based implementation that is currently being used by the company. The problem is a special case of the well known ``traveling salesman problem'' whose efficient solution has eluded mathematicians for many years. William R. Pulleyblank is a professor in combinatorics & optimization and computer science. He has held the Canadian Pacific/NSERC chair of optimization and computer applications since 1988 and served for three years as the first director of the Division of Mathematics for Industry and Commerce in the Faculty of Mathematics. Prior to joining the University of Waterloo in 1982, he was a member of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Calgary and a systems engineer with I.B.M. Canada. His main interests are mathematical optimization problems which arise in the ``real world,'' as well as the underlying theory. Everyone is welcome to attend the ICR evening lecture series. Each lecture addresses an area of current research at the University of Waterloo related to the use of computers. The series is designed for a broad audience, including non-specialists interested in gaining more insight into recent advancements in the field of computing and the potential impact those advancements have on everyday life. Coffee and cookies will be served after the lecture. Guest parking is available in the University's ``B'' Parking Lot (entrance off Phillip Street). For further information, contact the Institute for Computer Research at the University of Waterloo, 519/888-4530.
ksbooth@watcgl.waterloo.edu (11/20/89)
The ICR Evening Lecture Series Monday, November 27, 1989 -- 8:00 p.m. Room 1302 Davis Centre University of Waterloo Adding the Colour Dimension to Computer Graphics William B. Cowan Associate Professor of Computer Science and Psychology Colour adds greatly to the richness of all aspects of visual experience. At the same time it is surprisingly difficult to use effectively, whether its purpose is aesthetic or informational. The increasing use of colour on computer displays makes it imperative that techniques for using colour, long known to designers and artists, be embodied in graphical algorithms for use by the computer industry. To do so it is necessary to study the interaction of the human visual system with the display properties of computer output media. This lecture provides an introduction to human processing of information displayed using colour, with an emphasis on those aspects that are important for graphical computer interfaces and some of the novel problems that arise when the display surface is shared by the output of several application programs. William Cowan has been an associate professor of computer science and psychology since 1988 and is director of the Computer Graphics Laboratory. He obtained a a BSc in physics from the University of Waterloo and a PhD in statistical physics from McGill University, then worked at the National Research Council of Canada where he learned colour psychophysics from the late Gunter Wyszecki. His research interests encompass many aspects of the transfer of information from a computer to its human user, particularly those in which information density is great and where temporal and multi-processing (by human or computer) factors are important. Everyone is welcome to attend the ICR evening lecture series. Each lecture addresses an area of current research at the University of Waterloo related to the use of computers. The series is designed for a broad audience, including non-specialists interested in gaining more insight into recent advancements in the field of computing and the potential impact those advancements have on everyday life. Coffee and cookies will be served after the lecture. Guest parking is available in the University's ``B'' Parking Lot (entrance off Phillip Street). For further information, contact the Institute for Computer Research at the University of Waterloo, 519/888-4530.
rmvale@watcgl.waterloo.edu (Ruth Vale) (11/21/89)
ICR Evening Lecture Series Dr. William B. Cowan Associate Professor of Computer Science & Psychology Date: Monday, November 27, 1989 Time: 8:00 p.m. Place: DC 1302 Colour adds greatly to the richness of all aspects of visual experience. At the same time it is surprisingly difficult to use effectively, whether its purpose is aesthetic or informational. The increasing use of colour on computer displays makes it imperative that techniques for using colour, long known to designers and artists, be embodied in graphical algorithms for use by the computer industry. To do so it is necessary to study the interaction of the human visual system with the display properties of computer output media. This lecture provides an introduction to human processing of information displayed using colour, with an emphasis on those aspects that are important for computer graphical computer interfaces and some of the novel problems that arise when the display surface is shared by the output of several application programs. William Cowan has been an associate professor of computer science and psychology since 1988 and is director of the Computer Graphics Laboratory. He obtained a BSc in physics from the University of Waterloo, then worked at the National Research Council of Canada where he learned colour psycho- physics from the late Gunter Wyszecki. His research interests encompass many aspects of the transfer of information from a computer to its human user, particularly those in which information density is great and where temporal and multi-processing (by human or computer) factors are important.
rmvale@watcgl.waterloo.edu (Ruth Vale) (01/15/90)
ICR Evening Lecture Series Fast Silicon Chips from Fast Computer Programs Dr. David J. Roulston Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Waterloo Monday, January 22, l990 Davis Centre Room l302 8:00 p.m. Admission is free. Refreshments served after the talk. Everyone welcome! Abstract The talk will describe the most widely used type of computer chip for high speed applications, emitter coupled logic (ECL), in which a combination of fast computer analysis and new laboratory fabrication procedures have produced significant improvements. The presentation will include an overview of fabrication methods used at the Silicon Devices and Integrated Circuits (SiDIC) laboratory at the University of Waterloo. It will explain the problems associated with making high speed logic chips on silicon and how the use of a fast computer program - BIPOLE, developed at Waterloo - can assist researchers and industrial engineers to reduce the propogation delay time of ECL circuits. The talk will conclude with a brief outline of present trends and anticipated performance for both silicon and GaAs structures.