DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE STANFORD UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE STANFORD UNIVERSITY Cover illustration byWendy Hiller ¥ Department of Computer Science 3 Divisions 5 Major Awards and Honors , ....6 Degree Programs 8 Faculty and Research Associates 11 Artificial Intelligence and Robotics 11 Foundations of Computer Science 15 Scientific Computing 18 Systems 19 Laboratories and Centers 24 Computer Systems Laboratory 24 Knowledge Systems Laboratory 26 The Robotics Laboratory 28 Center for Algorithmic Theory 29 Center for Intergrated Facility Engineering 30 Center for Integrated Systems 31 The Center for Large Scale Scientific Computation 31 Scientific Computing and Computational Mathematics 32 Stanford Institute for Manufacturing andAutomation 32 Center for the Study ofLanguage and Information 33 Computing Facilities 33 Student Life 34 External Relations 35 Faculty 36 Abbreviations andAcronyms 36 i ;JMiMM T DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE STANFORD UNIVERSITY ounded in 1965,the Department ofComputerScience is acenterforresearch and educationatthe under- graduateandgraduatelevels. Strongresearchgroups exist in areas ofartificial intelligence androbotics, foundationsofcomputer science, scientificcomput- ing, andsystems. Basic work incomputer science is the mainresearch goal ofthese groups, butthere is alsoa strong emphasison interdisciplinaryresearch and on applicationsthat stimulatebasicresearch. Fields inwhich interdisciplinarywork has been undertaken include chemistry, ge- netics, linguistics, physics, medicine and various branches ofengi- neering. Close ties are maintainedwithresearchers withcomputational interests in other university departments. In addition, both faculty and students commonlywork with investigators atnearbyresearch or industrialinstitutions. The main educationalgoal is to prepare studentsforresearch and teaching careers, eitherin universities or in industry. !i>. -t T " ARTIFICIALINTELLIGENCEAND ROBOTICS: Artificial intel- ligence consists ofa numberofrelatedresearch projects with both basic and appliedresearch objectives. Current projects include basicresearch inartificial intelligence andformalreasoning, expert systems, large knowledgebases, image understanding,robotics, mathematical theory ofcomputation, program synthesis andver- ification, natural language understanding, parallel architectures, design/manufacturing, and portable LISP systems. TheArtificial Intelligencefaculty perform theirresearch in collab- orationwith a number ofStanford laboratoriesand centers. Some ofthese are theRobotics Laboratory, the Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI), the StanfordInstitute ofManu- facturingAutomation (SIMA), Center for Integrated FacilityEngi- neering(CIFE), and theKnowledge Systems Laboratory (KSL). " FOUNDATIONS OFCOMPUTER SCIENCE:Faculty in the foun- dations ofcomputer science seek greaterunderstandingofthe fundamental algorithms and data structures ofcomputer science. Research in the Center for Algorithmic Theory (CAT) includes the development ofnew, efficient methods for useon computers, the analysis oftheperformance ofimportant computer techniques, the studyofthe computational complexityof problems and the inherent limitations ofcomputing devices, the relation and trade- offs betweendifferent measures ofcomplexity, studies ofprogram- ming languages, and supporting studies in combinatorial theory and the logicalbasis ofcomputing. " SCIENTIFICCOMPUTING:The research inscientific computing involvestwo closelyrelated aspects: development ofmathematically basedtheoryto solveparticularproblems, and implementation of appropriate computer algorithms. Particular emphasisis placed on numericalaccuracy ofa computation; additionalconsiderations are algorithm design, computational efficiency, data structures andparallel procedures. Seminars are heldalmost everyweek of theyear with members ofthe Stanfordcommunityand industrial researchers. Close cooperationand collaboration with government and industriallaboratories is maintained, and there is an active visitors program. Research is done incollaboration with theScientific Computing and Computational Mathematics Program. " SYSTEMS: Thesystems area encompassesboth experimental and theoreticalworkgrowing out oftopics inoperating systems and compilers, computercommunication and networks, architecture, programming languages and environments, distributedsystems, VLSI design and fabrication, graphics, reliability and fault toler- ance, system specificationand verification, and user interfaces. A large concentration ofsystems research takes place within the Computer SystemsLaboratory, a joint laboratoryoftheDepart- ments ofComputer Science andElectricalEngineering. MAJOR AWARDSWARDS ANDANI HONORS impressive arrayofhonors has beenbestowed uponthe fac- An__ ultyandresearch associates within the Computer Science Department. National MedalofScience:Professors George Dantzig, Donald Knuth. Member, NationalAcademy ofSciences:Professors George Dantzig, DonaldKnuth, JohnMcCarthy Member, NationalAcademy ofEngineering: Professors George Dantzig, Edward Feigenbaum, DonaldKnuth, JohnMcCarthy, William Miller, Jeffrey Ullman. Member, Institute ofMedicine (NationalAcademy of Sciences): ProfessorEdward Shortliffe. Association for Computing MachineryTuringAwards: Professors Robert Floyd, Donald Knuth, John McCarthy, JamesH. Wilkinson (deceased). Fellow, AmericanAcademy ofArts andSciences:Professors George Dantzig, Robert Floyd, DonaldKnuth, JohnMcCarthy, William Miller. Fellow, AmericanAssociation for theAdvancement ofScience: Professors Edward Feigenbaum, Robert Floyd, George E. Forsythe (deceased), Gene Golub, EdwardMcCluskey, William Miller,Nils Nilsson. Fellow, British Computer Society: Professor George E. Forsythe (deceased); Distinguished Fellow: Professors DonaldE. Knuth, James H. Wilkinson (deceased). Fellow, Royal Society, London: Professor JamesH. Wilkinson (deceased). Kyoto Prize:Professor JohnMcCarthy The NewYorkAcademy of SciencesAward: ProfessorDonald Knuth. Franklin Medal: Professor Donald Knuth. MacArthur Foundation Prize Fellowship:Professors Charles Bigelow, David Rumelhart. Fellow, American College ofMedical Informatics: Professors Bruce Buchanan,Edward Feigenbaum, EdwardShortliffe, Gio Wiederhold; Lawrence Fagan, SeniorResearch Associate. " Institute ofElectrical andElectronics EngineersAwards: Honor- ary Members: Professors George Dantzig, Gene Golub, Donald Knuth. Fellows: Professors MichaelFlynn, Edward McCluskey, William Miller,FouadTobagi. Centennial Medal: ProfessorEdward McCluskey " Associationfor Computing Machinery GraceMurray Hopper Award: Distinguished ComputerScientist underage 30:Professors DonaldKnuth, Brian Reid, Edward Shortliffe. " Endowed Chairs: JohnL. Hennessy, WillardR. and InezKerrBell Professor ofEngineering; Donald E. Knuth, Fletcher JonesPro- fessor ofComputer Science; JohnMcCarthy, Charles M. Pigott Pro- fessor ofEngineering. " Dean'sAwardfor Excellence inTeachingfrom School of Human- ities andSciences:Professors Gene Golub, Terry Winograd. Guggenheim Fellows: ProfessorsRobert Floyd, Gene Golub, Donald " Knuth, Zohar Manna, Jeffrey Ullman. " National ScienceFoundation Presidential YoungInvestigator Award: Professors David Cheriton, David Dill, Giovanni De Micheli, AndrewGoldberg, JohnHennessy, MarkHorowitz, Ernst Mayr, Teresa Meng, JohnMitchell,Brian Reid, David Ungar. " Digital EquipmentCorporation Incentives for Excellence, Fac- ultyProgramAward: ProfessorAnoop Gupta. " IBMFaculty DevelopmentAwards: Professors AndrewGoldberg, Mark Horowitz, Keith Lantz, Mark Linton,Ernst Mayr, Brian Reid, Teresa Meng, David Ungar. " ONR YoungInvestigatorAward: Professor Teresa Meng. " DinkelspielAward: Staff membersRalph Gorinand StuartReges for contributionto undergraduate educationatStanford. "I have never heard an electronicorgan that soundseven remotely asbeautiful as apipe organ." Donald E. Knuth FletcherJonesPro- fessor ofComputer Science and(by courtesy)Electrical Engineering R Undergraduate Majors Involving Computer Science Themajorin Computer Science is composedofcourses in theory, systems, artificialintelligence, and hardware, with an emphasis on theory and systems. Themajorin Computer Systems Engineering is an interdiscipli- narymajor involvingCSand EE. It focuses on the morepractical aspects of designingsystems atboth the software and hardware level. Symbolic Systems is also an interdisciplinarymajor. It is offered jointlybyCS, Linguistics, Philosophy, andPsychology, and examines information, itsrepresentation in naturaland computer languages, and howit is processedby minds and computers. The Mathematical and Computational Science interdisciplinary majorincorporates elements ofCS, Mathematics, OperationsRe- search, and Statistics. It provides acore ofmathematicsbasic to all ofthe mathematicalsciences, and an introductionto the concepts and techniques ofautomatic computation, optimal decisionmaking, probabilistic modeling, and statistical inference. Masterof Science The department offers a Master ofScience in Computer Science (MSCS) degreeprogramwhich canbe completedin one to two years. The degree is intendedas aterminalprofessional degree and does not leadto the Ph.D. degree. The program combines courseworkfrom acore group ofComputer Science breadth classes andfrom a depth area. Current pre-approved specializationareas are: Numerical Analysis/Scientific Computation; Systems; SoftwareTheory; Theo- retical Computer Science; Symbolic and Heuristic Computation; and Databases. Students mayalso propose other coherentprograms