CS Colloq: Mechanism Design and Analysis Using Simulation-Based Game Models

Title: Mechanism Design and Analysis Using Simulation-Based Game ModelsSpeaker: Yevgeniy Vorobeychik (UMICH)Abstract:
I present a general framework for automated mechanism design on constrained design spaces when the outcomes of strategic interactions between the mechanism designer and participants are specified using a simulation. At the core of the framework lies a black-box stochastic optimization algorithm which guides the selection process of candidate mechanisms. I demonstrate the efficacy of such an approach using a series of applications to two-player design problems. A critical component of mechanism design based on simulations is an algorithm for approximately solving simulation- based games. I present several such algorithms, one of which is provably convergent, and experimentally assess their relative merits.Biography:
Yevgeniy Vorobeychik is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Michigan AI Laboratory. He has been a fellow in the STIET (Socio-Technical Infrastructure for Electronic Transactions) program for two years and has received honorable mention in the Computer Science & Engineer honors competition for his work on simulation-based mechanism design. His research interests include electronic commerce, game theory, mechanism design, multi-agent systems, and artificial intelligence.

Location: Vivian Hall of Engineering (VHE) - 217

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: CS Colloquia