Two UBC Computer Scientists Elected to RSC

Two UBC computer scientists--one an expert on algorithms and data structures, the other a leading figure in artificial intelligence--have been elected as Fellows to the Royal Society of Canada. The award is the highest honour that can be attained by scholars and scientists in Canada.

Professor David Kirkpatrick is internationally recognized for his contributions to the design and mathematical analysis of algorithms and data structures. His research investigates the intrinsic complexity of a wide range of fundamental computational and communication tasks.

Kirkpatrick's work has broad application in algorithms for acoustic simulation of concert halls, virtual machining and video-on-demand broadcasting, fundamental techniques in computer graphics, robot motion planning and geographic information systems. He is considered a pioneer in the field of computational geometry, including the introduction and application of object-based hierarchical search structures, generalized Voronoi diagrams, alpha-shapes, and output-size-sensitive complexity analysis.

Professor and Canada Research Chair in Artificial Intelligence Alan Mackworth is Canada's leading figure in AI, particularly constraint-based knowledge representations. His pioneering development of constraint satisfaction algorithms for applications such as vision, scheduling, and design have opened up a new discipline known as constraint programming.

Mackworth is also globally recognized as the founding father of the famous robot soccer challenge RoboCup, stimulating an enormous range of research in perceptually-guided robotics. His current work on constraint nets and constraint-based agent architectures strongly influences computational intelligence, control theory, and hybrid systems.

"Alan and David are both brilliant scientists whose hard-won insights have had enormous impact on computer science internationally," says UBC Computer Science Department Head William Aiello. "Our department has always known that they are national treasures in our midst and we're thrilled that they are being recognized by the Royal Society of Canada with this honour."

"This honour recognizes the significance of the contribution that these researchers are making - to the university, to the country, and to the world," says John Hepburn, Vice-President Research and International.

Established in 1882, the Royal Society of Canada is regarded as the country's most prominent academy of scholars and scientists. More than 170 UBC faculty are members.

For more information on the Royal Society of Canada, visit: www.rsc.ca