The USC Center for Applied Mathmatics (CAMS) awarded its first graduate student prizes this year - and computer scientist Mahyar Salek received one of them.
The prizes are for "for excellence in research with a substantial mathematical component," and are open to candidates from any USC department.
CAMS judge Sol Golomb, center, with Vlad Vicol, left, and Mahyar Salek
Salek's citation notes his award comes for "his work on algorithmic game theory, an interdisciplinary research field that lies at the intersection of economics, computer science and mathematics. he was described by an international expert in the area as one of the most promising young researchers who competes at an international level.
"He has already written and published several strong papers in prestigious journals. His research contributions are poised to be quite influential in the fields of internet economics and social computing."
Salek works with David Kempe, an Associate Professor of Computer Science who holds Robert G. and Mary G. Lane Endowed Early Career Chair. "I also would like thank David Kempe for being a great advisor, in addition to being an outstanding researcher," said CS Chair Shanghua Teng. "Congratulations David."
Another CAMS prize went to mathematician Vlad Vicol, who was cited for "his work on the equations that describe the motion of fluids. These are an exceptionally challenging system of nonlinear partial differential equations. He has solved several important problems that have been open for many years. He has already published a number of papers in several of the top journals in the field. He has given more than a dozen invited lectures at national and international conferences and established a significant reputation in the area of mathematical fluid dynamics."
Michael Arbib, Susan Friedlander, Solomon Golomb, and Michael Waterman made up the prize committee that judged the submittals.
