Education

This project deals with the mathematics of risk modeling and resource management. Using mathematical and statistical methods, the team develops new tools to help the financial services industry make better decisions about when to trade and at what price based on the available financial data. During the past year, the team focused on the development of statistical methods for measuring volatility and assessing asset pricing models in financial markets.

This project uses mathematical filtering theory to develop computer tractable real time solutions for incomplete, corrupted information problems. These techniques have proven to be beneficial in defence, communications, media effects, and manufacturing. In 2002-2003, Optovation Inc. was added as a new partner, Lockheed Martin Corp. filed for two new patents and we formed a spin-off company, Random Knowledge Inc. to commercialize our technology in the areas of Network Security, Fraud Detection, and Finance.

Statistical machine learning is an endeavor in which statisticians and computer scientists use computation to identify useful information from large amounts of data. Telecommunications, insurance and pharmaceutical companies use the team’s machine learning and data mining techniques to determine customer patterns, predict future customer behavior and better understand their needs. The project addresses some of the main practical and theoretical difficulties encountered when dealing with large datasets.

Due to the explosive growth in the technology for manufacturing integrated circuits, modern chips contain millions of transistors. Using sophisticated optimization algorithms, it is possible to achieve notable increases in the performance of the chips, reduce the manufacturing costs, and produce faster, cheaper computing for society. Thus, the objective of this project is to enhance the solution of large-scale optimization problems arising in these applications.

This project responds to the need for more precise tools to help oil and gas companies better understand where undiscovered energy reserves lie deep within the earth, and to manage and utilize existing reserves. Bringing together mathematicians and geophysicists, this team develops new algorithms to improve upon existing seismic imaging techniques that create accurate images of the earth beneath our feet.