The Art of Algorithms: Divide-and-Conquer (Virtual Sample Class)

Algorithms are at the heart of everything from connecting your cell phone to a tower, to scheduling professional sports leagues, to piloting aircraft, and everything in between. Designing elegant and clever algorithms is an important skill that turns out to be half-science and half-art. This class will present an actual, self-contained lecture on the “divide-and-conquer” and how it is used to solve one important, and one very unimportant, problem. The format will be interactive and collaborative, but no particular programming, math, or algorithms background is needed to enjoy the topic. The professor will be Dr. Cole Smith, who is the Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Following the class portion, Dean Smith will be available to answer questions about the College of Engineering and Computer Science in general and about algorithms, too, if there is interest. We will encourage you to enable your audio and video to engage with us and ask questions.