Computer science colloquia: Aditya Dhananjay
| Date/Time: | Thursday, 01 Sep 2011 at 3:40 pm |
|---|---|
| Location: | B29 Atanasoff |
| Cost: | Free |
| Phone: | 515-294-6516 |
| Channel: | College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Categories: | Lectures |
| Actions: | Download iCal/vCal | Email Reminder |
Computer science, as a field, has largely focused on problems relevant to the developed world. The Internet and the World Wide Web have largely remained urban phenomena, which mean that a significant fraction of the developing
world, especially in rural and underdeveloped regions, remains disconnected from the rest of the world. Bridging this digital divide requires us to address several important and challenging computer science research problems, the solutions to which ultimately have significant impact on global development. Conventional computing solutions are often inappropriate in these settings due to various contextual factors including lack of infrastructure, limited purchasing power, poor connectivity, limited power, language and literacy issues, and the lack of local expertise for managing systems. These unique constraints create several new research challenges which often require a fundamental rethinking in the way we design computing solutions.
This talk focuses on providing low-cost sustainable connectivity to rural populations of the developing world. Dhananjay will discuss the following topics: a) long distance wireless back-haul links, b) high-performance wireless mesh networks, c) extremely low-power cellular base stations, and d) converting voice to data. The talk is designed for a broad computer science/engineering audience, and not only for those with a networking/wireless background.
Aditya Dhananjay is a fourth year Ph.D. student at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University. His research broadly focuses on networking, with an emphasis on connectivity solutions for the rural developing
world. He is advised by Prof. Lakshminarayanan Subramanian and Prof. Jinyang Li. As a part of the Networking and Wide-Area Systems (NeWS) and Cost-effective Appropriate Technologies for Emerging Markets (CATER)interdisciplinary groups at New York University, he has designed and built low-cost communication systems that bridge the digital divide in the developing world. His work spans the areas of wireless networks, cellular networks, solar power systems, web re-architecture, and road traffic networks. His work has been published at the following venues: a) wireless mesh networks (SIGCOMM 2009), b) converting voice to data (Mobicom 2010), and c) re-architecting rural connectivity (best demo award at SIGCOMM 2011). He has also co-taught classes in networking, operating systems, algorithms, programming, and quantitative reasoning. He is the winner of the Harold Grad prize for outstanding performance as a graduate student. He completed his M.S. in Computer Science from Iowa State University (advised by Prof. Lu Ruan) in 2008, and his B.E. in Computer Science and Engineering from RVCE (Bangalore, India) in 2005.