Upcoming Events

SCS Seminar Talk: Shi Li

TITLE: Leveraging Fundamental Algorithmic Techniques on Modern Applications

ABSTRACT:

The fast growth of data has placed many new challenges to algorithm designers. Many datasets unavoidably contain noise, outliers, and errors, which can dramatically influence the performance of computations. This necessitates algorithms that are robust against the inconsistencies. Due to their large volumes, many datasets are stored across different servers in a cluster. It is desirable that the algorithms are not only fast but also communication efficient. The computational tasks of an algorithm may be dependent of each other and thus good scheduling decisions are crucial in its performance. In this talk, I will present some of my recent results on many types of fundamental problems rooted in these applications, such as clustering with outliers, scheduling, and network design. I will highlight how fundamental algorithmic techniques from mathematical programming and combinatorial optimization can be leveraged to address these challenges.

BIO:

Shi Li is an assistant professor in the department of computer science and engineering at University at Buffalo. He obtained his Ph.D in 2014 from the department of computer science at Princeton university. Before joining University at Buffalo in 2015, he spent two years in Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago as a research assistant professor. His primary research interest is in the design of algorithms with provable guarantee for problems arising in modern applications under various computation models.

Dr. Li is a recipient of an NSF Early Career Award, a Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Research Initiation Initiative (CRII) award, University at Buffalo Exceptional Scholars – Young Investigator Award, School of Engineering Early Career Researcher Award, Department of Computer Science and Engineering Early Career Teaching Award, and Early Career Researcher Award. He was also a recipient of the best paper award in FOCS 2012, the best student paper award in ICALP 2011, and a gold medal winner of International Olympiad in Informatics in 2004.