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Working in a University allowed me to do research into some areas of
Computer Science that really fascinated me. I gradually got involved in
complexity theory: trying to analyse what makes some computing problems
hard to solve. I've been focussing on a type of problem which is known
as a constraint
satisfaction problem. This is the kind of problem you have when you
are trying to design a timetable, or something like that, which has to
satisfy lots of constraints, like "nobody can be in two places at
once". For some types of constraint these problems are easy, and
for other types of constraint they can be enormously hard, and my work
has helped to show how to tell the difference.
A lot of my research
work has been theoretical, but some of it has been applied to
problems in designing mobile phone networks, scheduling repair jobs, and
designing efficient printing machinery. I've worked with Vodafone, the
Radiocommunications Agency, and Rank Xerox, and I enjoy seeing deep
theoretical ideas being used in practice.
I am a founder member of ConsNet
- a national network of researchers interested in constraint problems.
Recently, I've started to look at how problems in molecular
biology can be viewed as constraint satisfaction problems.
I give lectures as part of the Computer Science degree: on
Complexiity Theory, Mathematics for Software Engineering, and Computers
in Society. At St Anne's I give tutorials on all of the first year
Computer Science courses, and some of the second year courses, depending
on what options the students choose.
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