Ruml, Wheeler

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University of New HampshireUniversity of New Hampshire Scholars' RepositoryFaculty Travel Reports Global Education CenterSpring 2010Wheeler Ruml, Assistant Professor of ComputerScience, travels to IrelandWheeler RumlUniversity of New Hampshire, wheeler.ruml@unh.eduFollow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/international_travelThis Report is brought to you for free and open access by the Global Education Center at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It hasbeen accepted for inclusion in Faculty Travel Reports by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For moreinformation, please contact nicole.hentz@unh.edu.Recommended CitationRuml, Wheeler, "Wheeler Ruml, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, travels to Ireland" (2010). Faculty Travel Reports. 48.https://scholars.unh.edu/international_travel/48Wheeler Ruml | Center for International Education and Global Engagementhttp://unh.edu/cie//wheeler-ruml[6/14/2016 1:57:43 PM]Home UNH Home Contact/Emergency Center for International Education and Global EngagementCopyright © 2016, Center for International Education and Global Engagement  •  University of New HampshireHood House  •  89 Main Street  •  Durham, NH 03824  •  Ph 603-862-2398  •  Fax 603-862-0169Thompson Hall  •  105 Main Street  •  Durham, NH 03824  •  Ph 603-862-1288  •  Fax 603-862-0844For questions about this website          For UNH main directory dial 603-862-1234ADA Acknowledgement | Contact the UNH WebmasterKevin Rose & Wheeler Ruml in Kinsale, County Cork,IrelandWheeler RumlAssistant Professor of Computer Science - College of Engineering and Physical SciencesProfessor Wheeler Ruml traveled to Ireland in June to establish a collaborative relationship with a research group at the Cork ConstraintComputation Center.As part of the research for his senior honors thesis, rising UNH senior Kevin Rose spent thesummer of 2009 on a UNH International Research Opportunities Program (IROP) grant at one ofthe foremost labs for discrete optimization in the world, the Cork Constraint Computation Centre inIreland (also known as 4C). Thanks in part to a Faculty International Development Grant from theUNH Center for International Education, I was able to travel to 4C to spend the first week ofKevin's IROP with him, helping him settle in and building a collaboration with the group at Corkaround our shared interest in computer systems that use their experience in solving problems tolearn how to solve problems better in the future. There is a strong history in the Cork group onlearning from past problem-solving episodes, and we are exploring the productive interplaybetween those techniques and my work on learning during problem-solving itself.While modern computers may seem to be fast enough for everyday web browsing, the dirty littlesecret of computer science is that there are many important problems for which current methodswould take literally thousands of years to compute a solution. Even worse, for some types ofproblems the solving time can vary anywhere between a fraction of a second and thousands of years, and there is no way to know whether theproblem at hand will be solved quickly or slowly without trying it! For anyone who wants to build a practical system, this is intolerable. The workthat Kevin and I are pursuing in collaboration with the Cork group is aimed at understanding some of the reasons for this wide variation anddeveloping methods that are responsive to those factors during problem-solving. Kevin's work will culminate in his senior honors thesis this springand it will also inform the efforts of one of my graduate students, who is working on a closely-related project.I had never been outside of an airport in Ireland before, so the opportunity to visit the 4C lab in person and to see a bit of the country waswonderful. While Cork is the second-largest city in the Repulic of Ireland, the city proper is quite small and easily traversed by foot. Pastures withsheep directly abut the international airport, which is only about 10 minutes from the center of town. 4C is part of University College Cork, whereGeorge Boole, the father of the "boolean logic" that underlies modern computers, taught in the mid-nineteenth century. 4C has about three timesas many people working in its specific subarea as UNH has in all of computer science, and it was great to see at one place and time the peoplewhom I usually get to see only in brief glimpses at conferences. There is already a link between 4C and UNH - the director, Gene Freuder, was aprofessor at UNH for many years. Thanks to the support of CIE and IROP, we have started to build a new and fruitful research collaboration.About OISS Int'l Affairs Dual Major / Minor Study Abroad The World at UNH UNH Int'l Travel Policies & Resources Faculty Alumni

Wheeler Ruml, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, travels to Ireland

University of New Hampshire

University of New Hampshire
University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository
Faculty Travel Reports Global Education Center
Spring 2010
Wheeler Ruml, Assistant Professor of Computer
Science, travels to Ireland
Wheeler Ruml
University of New Hampshire, wheeler.ruml@unh.edu
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/international_travel
This Report is brought to you for free and open access by the Global Education Center at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has
been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Travel Reports by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more
information, please contact nicole.hentz@unh.edu.
Recommended Citation
Ruml, Wheeler, "Wheeler Ruml, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, travels to Ireland" (2010). Faculty Travel Reports. 48.
https://scholars.unh.edu/international_travel/48
Wheeler Ruml | Center for International Education and Global Engagement
http://unh.edu/cie//wheeler-ruml[6/14/2016 1:57:43 PM]
Home UNH Home Contact/Emergency
 
Center for International Education and Global Engagement
Copyright © 2016, Center for International Education and Global Engagement  •  University of New Hampshire
Hood House  •  89 Main Street  •  Durham, NH 03824  •  Ph 603-862-2398  •  Fax 603-862-0169
Thompson Hall  •  105 Main Street  •  Durham, NH 03824  •  Ph 603-862-1288  •  Fax 603-862-0844
For questions about this website
          
For UNH main directory dial 603-862-1234
ADA Acknowledgement | Contact the UNH Webmaster
Kevin Rose & Wheeler Ruml in Kinsale, County Cork,
Ireland
Wheeler Ruml
Assistant Professor of Computer Science - College of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Professor Wheeler Ruml traveled to Ireland in June to establish a collaborative relationship with a research group at the Cork Constraint
Computation Center.
As part of the research for his senior honors thesis, rising UNH senior Kevin Rose spent the
summer of 2009 on a UNH International Research Opportunities Program (IROP) grant at one of
the foremost labs for discrete optimization in the world, the Cork Constraint Computation Centre in
Ireland (also known as 4C). Thanks in part to a Faculty International Development Grant from the
UNH Center for International Education, I was able to travel to 4C to spend the first week of
Kevin's IROP with him, helping him settle in and building a collaboration with the group at Cork
around our shared interest in computer systems that use their experience in solving problems to
learn how to solve problems better in the future. There is a strong history in the Cork group on
learning from past problem-solving episodes, and we are exploring the productive interplay
between those techniques and my work on learning during problem-solving itself.
While modern computers may seem to be fast enough for everyday web browsing, the dirty little
secret of computer science is that there are many important problems for which current methods
would take literally thousands of years to compute a solution. Even worse, for some types of
problems the solving time can vary anywhere between a fraction of a second and thousands of years, and there is no way to know whether the
problem at hand will be solved quickly or slowly without trying it! For anyone who wants to build a practical system, this is intolerable. The work
that Kevin and I are pursuing in collaboration with the Cork group is aimed at understanding some of the reasons for this wide variation and
developing methods that are responsive to those factors during problem-solving. Kevin's work will culminate in his senior honors thesis this spring
and it will also inform the efforts of one of my graduate students, who is working on a closely-related project.
I had never been outside of an airport in Ireland before, so the opportunity to visit the 4C lab in person and to see a bit of the country was
wonderful. While Cork is the second-largest city in the Repulic of Ireland, the city proper is quite small and easily traversed by foot. Pastures with
sheep directly abut the international airport, which is only about 10 minutes from the center of town. 4C is part of University College Cork, where
George Boole, the father of the "boolean logic" that underlies modern computers, taught in the mid-nineteenth century. 4C has about three times
as many people working in its specific subarea as UNH has in all of computer science, and it was great to see at one place and time the people
whom I usually get to see only in brief glimpses at conferences. There is already a link between 4C and UNH - the director, Gene Freuder, was a
professor at UNH for many years. Thanks to the support of CIE and IROP, we have started to build a new and fruitful research collaboration.
About OISS Int'l Affairs Dual Major / Minor Study Abroad The World at UNH UNH Int'l Travel Policies & Resources Faculty Alumni


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Wheeler Ruml, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, travels to Ireland

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