Sarah Cannon
[email protected] Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA PhD in Algorithms, Combinatorics, and Optimization, begun August 2013 Advisor: Dana Randall Department: Computer Science Research Interests: Markov chains, sampling algorithms, random tilings, programmable matter, computational geometry
University of Oxford, Oxford, UK MSc with Distinction, Mathematics and the Foundations of Computer Science, September 2013 Advisor: Andreas Döring Dissertation: “The Spectral Presheaf of an Orthomodular Lattice: some steps towards generalized Stone duality.”
Tufts University, Medford, MA BA, Summa Cum Laude with Highest Thesis Honors, May 2012 Advisor: Diane Souvaine Senior Honors Thesis: “Tile Self-Assembly Simulations.” Major: Mathematics Minor: Computer Science
Graduate Fellowships and National Awards
Simons Award for Graduate Students in Theoretical Computer Science, June 2015-May 2017. ARCS (Achievement Rewards for College Scientists) Foundation Award, Atlanta Chapter, for “academically outstanding US citizens studying to complete degrees in science, engineering, and medical research,” 2014-2015 Scholar; 2015-2016 Scholar. National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, Fall 2013 – Spring 2018 (also awarded 2012 but declined). Clare Boothe Luce Outstanding Graduate Fellow, Georgia Institute of Technology, for “exceptional promise for making significant contributions to the worldwide advancement of science and technology” and an ability “to serve as a role model for younger generations,” Fall 2013 – Spring 2015. National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship, awarded April 2013 (declined).
Additional Honors and Awards
Invited Attendee, China Theory Week, Institute of Theoretical Computer Science and Communications, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, August 22-26, 2016. Invited Attendee, Seminar of Algorithmic Foundations of Programmable Matter, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz Center for Informatics, Germany, July 4-8, 2016
Invited Attendee, Workshop on Markov Chain Mixing Times, American Institute of Mathematics, San Jose, CA, June 6-10, 2016. Invited Speaker, 30th Clemson Mini-Conference on Discrete Mathematics, Clemson University, SC, October 23rd, 2015. Invited Attendee, 3rd Heidelberg Laureate Forum, August 23-28, 2015. Computing Research Association’s Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award 2012. Finalist, Rhodes Scholarship, November 2011. 2011 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. Invited participant, 27th Bellairs Winter Workshop on Computational Geometry, February 11th-17th, 2012. One of twenty invitees. NCAA “Elite 88” Award, presented for academic excellence to only 88 student athletes annually, 2009.
Publications
“Polynomial Mixing of the Edge-Flip Markov Chain for Unbiased Dyadic Tilings.” S. Cannon, D. Levin, and A. Stauffer. Under review.
“A Markov Chain Algorithm for Compression in Self-organizing Particle Systems.” S. Cannon, J. Daymude, D. Randall, and A. Richa. To appear, ACM Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing (PODC), July 25-29, 2016.
“Sampling on lattices with free boundary conditions using randomized extensions.” S. Cannon and D. Randall. 27th Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA), January 10-12, 2016.
“Phase Transitions in Random Dyadic Tilings and Rectangular Dissections.” S. Cannon, S. Miracle and D. Randall. 26th Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA), January 4-6, 2015.
“Combinatorics and complexity of guarding polygons with edge and point 2transmitters.” S. Cannon, T. Fai, J. Iwerks, U. Leopold, and C. Schmidt. Under review. Preliminary results appeared as “Combinatorics of edge 2-transmitter art gallery problems,” European Conference on Computational Geometry (EuroCG), 2015, and as “NP-hardness of the minimum point and edge 2-transmitter cover problem,” 24th Fall Workshop on Computational Geometry (FWCG), 2014.
“Diffuse Reflections in Simple Polygons.” G. Barequet, S. Cannon, E. Fox-Epstein, B. Hescott, D. Souvaine, C. Tóth and A. Winslow. Discrete Applied Mathematics, in press. Previously appeared in Latin American Algorithms, Graphs, and Optimization Symposium (LAGOS), 2013.
“Two Hands are Better than one (up to constant factors): self-assembly in the 2HAM vs. aTAM.” S. Cannon, E. Demaine, M. Demaine, S. Eisenstat, M. Patitz, R. Schweller, S. Summers and A. Winslow. Proceedings of the 30th International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS), February 27 – March 2, 2013.
“Embeddedness for singly periodic Scherk surfaces with higher dihedral symmetry." V. Bucaj, S. Cannon, M. Dorff, J. Lawson and R. Viertel. Involve: a journal of mathematics, 6(4), 383-392, 2013.
“Hidden mobile guards in simple polygons.” S. Cannon, D. Souvaine and A. Winslow. In Abstracts of the 24th Canadian Conference on Computational Geometry (CCCG), August 8-10, 2012. Preliminary results presented at the Fall Workshop on Computational Geometry (FWCG), 2011.
“Conflict-free graph orientations with parity constraints.” S. Cannon, M. Ishaque and C. Tóth. Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Fun with Algorithms (FUN), June 4-6, 2012. Preliminary results presented at the Fall Workshop on Computational Geometry (FWCG), 2010.
Institutional Honors and Awards (Georgia Institute of Technology)
Featured, “Faces of Inclusive Excellence” publication, honoring “deserving faculty, staff, and students who distinguished themselves in their research, teaching, and/or service.” Algorithms, Combinatorics, and Optimization Fellowship, Georgia Institute of Technology, Fall 2013 – Spring 2015. President’s Fellowship, Georgia Institute of Technology, for “exemplary levels of scholarship and innovation,” Fall-2013 – Spring 2016. Best Little SWE Volunteer, from the Society of Women Engineers for work with a weekly after school engineering program for middle school girls.
Institutional Honors and Awards (Tufts University)
Norbert Weiner Award in Mathematics, “given on those rare occasions when a student exhibits such prodigious strength in mathematics as to recall the highly unusual talents of Norbert Wiener 1909, who went on to become one of the giants of twentieth-century mathematics,” May 2012. Class of 1942 Prize Scholarship, for students “most likely to become outstanding university teachers, counselors, or administrators,” April 2012. Senior Award, for “significant academic achievement and exceptional leadership in student and community activities,” March 2012. Audrey Butvay Gruss Science Award, for outstanding academic work in the sciences, April 2011. Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence and Leadership, April 2010, the only academic award presented to second year students, one of three recipients. Martin Guterman Award, “to the first-year student with the highest academic achievement in mathematics, to encourage further study in that field,” April 2009.
Outreach
Featured, “Diversity at Georgia Tech: Faces of Inclusive Excellence” Video, to promote diversity at Georgia Tech, one of only three people chosen to be interviewed. Available at https://youtu.be/Njwq6b2OhQk. Premiered September 9th, 2015. Weekly Volunteer, Little SWE, Georgia Tech Society of Women Engineers’ after school engineering program for middle school girls, Spring 2014.
Volunteer, Siemens Science Day and Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School Field Trip, to excite young students about science and engineering, Spring 2014. NSF Proposal aimed to increase the female faculty in STEM to 50%, coordinated data collection on career concerns of female graduate students, Spring 2014. Academic Assistant, Mathematics Research Community on Discrete and Computational Geometry, for researchers in the early stages of their careers with a particular focus on women, minorities, and other possibly disadvantaged students, Summer 2012. Calculus 3 Tutor, Bridge to Engineering Success at Tufts, helping underrepresented students transition from high school to college, Spring 2012.
Teaching
Teaching Assistant, Advanced Algorithms, Fall 2015. Held weekly office hours, provided assistance with homework, explained class material, organized and led weekly grading sessions. Coach, USA Computing Olympiad Training Camp, Clemson University, May 20-29, 2015. Guided the top 24 high school programmers in the country as they prepared for an international competition. Tufts Academic Resource Center, mathematics and computer science tutor, September 2009-May 2012. Assisted undergraduate and graduate students in both one-on-one and group sessions on a weekly basis. Counselor, Tufts Developmental Technologies Research Group Summer Robotics Camps, teaching elementary school children the basics of computer programming using Lego robots, Summer 2009.
Service
Georgia Institute of Technology Graduate Women in the College of Computing, organizing committee 2015-present, member 2013-present. Algorithms, Combinatorics, and Optimization Student Seminar, co-organizer, Fall 2015Spring 2016. Society of Women Engineers, Georgia Institute of Technology Graduate Chapter, member 2014-present. Tufts Math Society, President 2010- 2012, member 2009- 2012. Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Tufts Chapter, member 2009-2012
Presentations
“A Markov Chain Algorithm for Compression in Self-Organizing Particle Systems.” o Algorithms, Combinatorics, and Optimization Student Seminar, Georgia Institute of Technology, GA, September 16, 2016. o China Theory Week, Hong Kong, HK, August 25, 2016. o Principles of Distributed Computing (PODC), Chicago, IL, July 28, 2016.
o Seminar of Algorithmic Foundations of Programmable Matter, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz Center for Informatics, Germany, July 5, 2016.
“Sampling on lattices with free boundary conditions using randomized extensions.” o SIAM Conference on Discrete Mathematics (SIAM-DM), Atlanta, GA, June 10, 2016. o 27th Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA), Arlington, VA, January 10-12, 2016. o Algorithms, Combinatorics, and Optimization Student Seminar, Georgia Institute of Technology, GA, September 25, 2015.
“Phase Transitions in Random Dyadic Tilings and Rectangular Dissections.” o Workshop on Markov Chain Mixing Times, American Institute of Mathematics , San Jose, CA, June 7, 2016. o 30th Clemson Mini-Conference on Discrete Mathematics, Clemson University, SC, October 23, 2015. o Poster, Heidelberg Laureate Forum, Heidelberg, Germany, August 27, 2015. o Algorithms, Combinatorics, and Optimization Student Seminar, Georgia Institute of Technology, GA, February 27, 2015.
“Algorithmic Self-Assembly: DNA and Tiles,” USACO Training Camp Enrichment Lecture, Clemson University, SC, May 28, 2015.
“NP-hardness of the minimum point and edge 2-transmitter cover problem.” 24th Fall Workshop on Computational Geometry (FWCG), University of Connecticut, CT, October 31, 2014.
“Mixing Times of Weighted Random Rectangular Tilings,” Women in Theory, New York University, NY, May 29, 2014.
“Conflict-Free Graph Orientations with Parity Constraints,” 6th International Conference on Fun with Algorithms (FUN), Venice International University, Italy, June 4, 2012.
“Tile Self-Assembly Simulations,” o New England Undergraduate Computing Symposium, Brandeis University, MA, April 21, 2012. o Symposium for Undergraduates in the Mathematical Sciences, Brown University, RI, March 10, 2012.
“Even orientations with forbidden pairs and demands.” o 20th Fall Workshop on Computational Geometry (FWCG), Stonybrook University, NY, October 30, 2010. o Poster, New England Undergraduate Computing Symposium, April 17, 2010.
“Minimal Surface Transformations,” Women in Mathematics in New England, Smith College, MA, September 24, 2010.
