DLS Talk by Guy Blelloch, Carnegie Mellon University

Speaker:  Dr. Guy E. Blelloch, U.A. and Hellen Whitaker University Professor, CMU

Title:  Parallel Algorithms : A Retrospective and Current Directions

Abstract:

Almost no computational devices with a single core are still being      
produced, and the vast majority of computational cycles that are used    
today are based on algorithms that make use of dozens to thousands of    
cores.  Yet when I ask my CS colleagues to list a few algorithms,        
parallel (multi-core) algorithms are rarely in the mix.  The community  
often views parallel algorithms as complicated, esoteric, and a topic    
for specialists.                                                        
                                                                         
The state of the art in parallel algorithms, however, has improved      
dramatically over the past decades, both in theory and practice.        
Today efficient parallel algorithms can be as simple as their            
sequential counterparts, and much faster on modern machines.  On the    
other hand, developing efficient parallel algorithms for some specific         
problems remains notoriously difficult.                                  
                                                                         
In this talk I will outline the current state of parallel algorithms,    
describe some techniques that have been developed over recent years,    
some problems that remain hard, and describe current and potential      
future directions in parallel algorithms.

Bio:

Guy Blelloch is a U.A. and Hellen Whitaker University Professor of  
Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. He received his     
PhD in Computer Science from MIT in 1988.  His research contributions    
have been in the interaction of practical and theoretical                
considerations in parallel algorithms and programming languages.        
Blelloch has received the ACM Paris Kanellakis Theory and Practice Award
(2024) for his work parallel graph algorithms, the inaugural SPAA        
Parallel Computing Award for his contributions in parallel algorithms,  
the IEEE Charles Babbage Award for his contributions to parallel        
programming and algorithms, and is an ACM Fellow.                                                    

Host:  Yuanhao Wei, UBC Computer Science