Date:
Monday, April 20, 2015, 4:00pm to 5:00pm
Location:
Haller Hall (GM 102)
Speaker: Dr. Tim Davis (Texas A&M)
Abstract:
Sparse matrix algorithms lie in the intersection of graph theory and numerical linear algebra, and are a key component of high-performance combinatorial scientific computing. This talk highlights four of my contributions in this domain, ranging from theory and algorithms to reliable mathematical software and its impact on applications:
(1) Sparse Cholesky update/downdate
(2) Approximate minimum degree
(3) Unsymmetric multifrontal method for sparse LU factorization
(4) Multifrontal sparse QR factorization, including my current work in GPU-based heterogeneous high-performance parallel computing.
Bio:
Tim Davis is a Professor in the Computer Science and Engineering Department at Texas A&M University. His primary scholarly contribution is the creation of widely-used sparse matrix algorithms and software. His software is relied upon by a vast array of commercial, government lab, and open source applications, including MATLAB (x=A\b when A is sparse), Mathematica, Google (Street View, Photo Tours, and 3D Earth), Octave, Cadence, MSC NASTRAN, Mentor Graphics, and many more. As an NVIDIA Academic Partner, he is creating a new suite of highly-parallel sparse direct methods that can exploit the high computational throughput of recent GPUs. NVIDIA has designated his work Texas A&M as a CUDA Research Center.
He was elected in 2013 as a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, and in 2014 as a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery. He serves as an associate editor for ACM Trans. Mathematical Software, and the SIAM J. on Scientific Computing. Tim is a Master Consultant to The MathWorks.
Work is fun, but for pure fun, Tim does algorithmic art by translating music into visual art via Fourier transforms, graph algorithms, and force-directed graph visualization. His most recent commissioned work appeared as the theme artwork for the 2013 London Electronic Arts Festival, which appeared on billboards all over London in the fall of 2013.
See also: Department Colloquia
