Resume of Warren D. Smith
Summary
Mathematician, computer scientist, and general theoretical
scientist. As you can see from my papers at
http://www.math.temple.edu/~wds/homepage/works.html, I'm more
interdisciplinary than most scientists. But at the same time, there are areas
I've penetrated to considerable depth: One is the area of "computer
science meets physics," whose fundamental questions are
- What limits on computer power
are imposed by the laws of physics?
- Conversely - what are the
computational complexities of physical theories?
I am the first to show the non-algorithmicity of
hydrodynamics and Newton's laws and the algorithmicity of Quantum Mechanics,
and the first to give the fundamental bounds on information flux and
information storage density. I'm probably most known for work on computational
geometry, e.g. papers coauthored by me give the best algorithms known (both
approximate, and exact) for the traveling salesman problem. I could teach
courses in numerous areas of math, theoretical computer science, computational
geometry, and physics.
Addresses
EMAIL (preferred): wds@math.temple.edu, WDSmith@fastmail.fm. (Backup email: WarrenDSmith2000@yahoo.com).
Education
- Ph.D. (Applied Math)
Princeton 1988
- Ph.D. Thesis: ``Studies in
computational geometry motivated by mesh generation,'' (485 pp.) Advisors:
J.H. Conway & R.E. Tarjan, Princeton
University.
- Can order copy from
University Microfilms International, via their online web server UMI
"dissertation express", at cost $29.50 US (as of 1998) and
with delivery in 4-5 days. UMI's order number for my PhD thesis is
9002713. (Also: UMI phone orders 800-521-0600 extension 3781.)
- M.A. (Applied Math) Princeton
1986
- B.Sc. (Physics) 1984 &
B.Sc. (Math) 1984 (double major) Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(4.7/5 GPA. Also got perfect scores on both the Physics and Math special
subject "GRE" tests.)
- B.Sc. Thesis: ``Learning and
Rating Systems.'' Advisor: Richard P. Stanley.
- Took 4 semesters of German;
and 2 of Spanish at M.I.T.; 1 semester of private Japanese course at NEC. Can
read papers in German & Spanish (especially with aid of a
dictionary...).
Employment history
- 2002-: Faculty, Temple
University Math Dept., Philadelphia PA.
- 1990-2002: Research
Scientist, NEC Research Institute, Inc. 4 Independence Way Princeton NJ
08540.
- 1988-1990: 2-year postdoc,
AT&T Bell Laboratories, Mathematical sciences research center, Murray
Hill NJ.
Summer jobs I had as a
student:
- 1987:
General Motors Research Labs, Warren, MI. Finite element mesh generation
and mathematical and programming work related to my PhD thesis.
- 1984:
General Electric Research Labs, Schenectady, NY. Wrote a 2D finite element
mesh generator in C; suggested an approach for precise adjustment of an
experimental permanent magnet medical NMR imager.
- 1983:
IBM, East Fishkill, NY. Theoretical electrostatics work arising in a
computerized capacitance calculation program; suggested some new numerical
approaches.
- 1982:
Fairchild Republic Corp., Farmingdale, NY. Wrote feasibility analysis for
ultrasonic inspection of epoxy bonds in aircraft wings; designed and
partially built a small robot.
- 1981:
Integrated Systems Inc., Palo Alto, CA. Created an electronics lab from
nothing, designed and partially built a high speed dedicated array
processor, with analog interfaces, for generalized control application.
- 1980:
Proximity Devices Corp., Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Designed, built, and tested
small dedicated microprocessor system. Wrote C programs to draw digital
timing diagrams on a pen-plotter.
Personal data
Born 12-22-64, Cleveland, Ohio. US citizen. Single.
Computer languages
Programmed extensively in C, Ada-95, and Modula-3. Have also
used MAPLE, MACSYMA, GAP, LATEX and MATLAB, which are more specialized
mathematical systems, perhaps not deserving of being called
"languages." Small,
but nonzero, experience with LISP, SCHEME, FORTRAN, JAVA, C++.
Publications
Listed on other subpages of my homepage, e.g. see http://www.math.temple.edu/~wds/homepage/works.html.
Teaching experience
Patents
- US patent #5804373 (with
Allan Schweitzer), on universal computer made of DNA molecules. (Pending
or completed in other countries.) Was discussed in New York Times, 14
Sept. 1998, page C7.
- US Patent #6046830 (with
Richard A. Linke) on refresh scheme for new kind of computer memory based
on nonlinear optical materials. (Pending or completed in other countries.)
- US Patent filed 26/09/2001
pending [with Sebastien Roy, Univ.Montreal] on ``Three dimensional Vision
Device and Method.''
- US Patent filed Nov 2002 on ``magnetic
catapult.’’
- US Patent filed May 2003 on
``theft proof credit cards.’’
References
- Dr. John H. Conway, Princeton
Math dept. Fine Hall, Washington Road, Princeton NJ 08544-1000 conway@math.princeton.edu.
(Area: discrete math.)
- Dr. Satish
Rao, Computer Science Division Soda Hall UC Berkeley, CA 94720-1776 satishr@cs.berkeley.edu. (Area:
CS.)
- Dr. Nicholas C. Wormald Dept. of Combinatorics and Optimization University of Waterloo Waterloo ONT
Canada N2L 3G1 nwormald@math.uwaterloo.ca.
(Area: combinatorics, general math.)
- Dr. Bernard Chazelle,
Princeton CS Dept. 35 Olden Street Princeton, NJ 08544-2087 chazelle@cs.princeton.edu
(also, NEC Research Institute, Princeton NJ). (Area: computational
geometry, CS.)
- Dr. Jonathan
Machta, Head, Dept. Physics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
01003-4525 USA machta@physics.umass.edu.
(Area: theor. physics. In his recom., will only discuss my physics-related
work.)
- Dr. Jeffrey C. Lagarias, Room
C235 AT&T Labs 180 Park Avenue Florham Park, NJ 07932-0971 jcl@research.att.com. (Areas:
Number theory, discrete geometry, math, CS.)
- Dr. Joe Kilian, NEC Research
Institute 4 Independence Way Princeton, NJ 08540 joe@research.nj.nec.com. (Area:
CS.)
- Two unsolicited testimonials are now available online. [The
chemistry one may be of interest concerning my competence in chemistry,
one of the areas "outside my expertise" in which I've written a
hubristic paper.] They are by Donald E. Knuth [Turing award winner,
computer science 1974] http://www.math.temple.edu/~wds/homepage/knuth.testim
and Roald Hoffmann [Nobel Laureate, chemistry 1981] http://www.math.temple.edu/~wds/homepage/hoffmann.testim.