Dubyak Seminar Series

We are excited to announce a new bi-weekly event to foster collaboration and innovation within our community! We invite speakers from diverse domains within computer science to share their research ideas and insights with us. This is a fantastic opportunity to engage with cutting-edge topics, exchange knowledge, and spark discussions that can lead to potential collaborations. Whether you specialize in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data science, or any other area, we encourage you to participate and inspire others with your work.

Dr. Craig Tennenhouse gave the first talk entitled Combinatorial Game Complexity: From Vikings to MS Paint. Dr. Tennenhouse delved into the fascinating realm of computational complexity, focusing on its application to two-player strategy games. While much is known about the complexity of one-person problems such as bin packing, Sudoku, and protein folding, this discussion highlighted how these principles extend to interactive gameplay.

The presentation began with an overview of computational complexity and combinatorial games, setting the stage for an in-depth exploration of two specific games: a Viking chess variant and a game based on point-and-click floodfilling. The speaker demonstrated that, in both cases, determining a winning strategy is PSPACE-Hard, underscoring the intricate challenges inherent in strategic decision-making within these games. This engaging session illuminated the complexities of game theory and invited further contemplation on the implications for computational research and strategy development.

We invite you to attend our future seminars, where we will continue to explore exciting topics in computing, AI, and Digital Science and Innovation. We encourage speakers passionate about these areas to share their insights with our community. Their contributions will help enrich our discussions and foster collaboration within the Center. We look forward to seeing you there!