Jennifer E. Walter

Associate Professor and Department Chair
Department of Computer Science
Vassar College

Office: 124 OLB

Office hours: On leave spring 2012

Office Phone: (845)437-7449 (Map to my office)

Email: jewalter@vassar.edu

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

• VWiCS Program Announcement
  

Please contact me to find out how you can get involved!

• Picture of VWiCS members at the 2007 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in Orlando, FL
• Picture of VWiCS members at the 2008 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in Keystone, CO
• Picture of VWiCS members at the 2009 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, Tuscon, AZ
• Picture of VWiCS members at the 2010 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in Atlanta, GA
• Sorry, no picture of VWiCS members at the 2011 GHC in Portland, OR. But we were there!!
  

Anyone interested in attending the next GHC (in Baltimore!) should e-mail me. Applications are due in Spring 2012.

• CMPU241-01 - Analysis of Algorithms (1 section)
  • Course highlights:
    1. Upper level course teaching the student to design and analyze the complexity of algorithms.
    2. Focus on comparing different algorithms in terms of running time and memory space used during execution as a function of input size.
    3. Introduction to basic algorithms for particular problems (e.g., sorting, searching, spanning trees, minimum spanning trees).
    4. P versus NP algorithms and NP-completeness.
       
       

• CMPU240-01 - Language Theory (Theory of Computation) (1 section)
  • Course highlights:
    1. Upper level course teaching students different basic models of computation including:
       • Finite automata,
       • Push-down automata, and
       • Turing machines.
    2. Focus on creating and identifying machines and grammars to produce particular languages, such as:
       • Regular Languages
       • Context-free Languages,
       • Context-sensitive Languages (the Chomsky hierarchy).
    3. Computability, the Halting Problem and reduction proofs.
       
       

• To the extent possible, these courses will be paperless.
• Students are encouraged to learn LaTex, a type-setting program for scientific documents.
• Programming will be optional for some assignments. Some experience with programming logic is necessary.
• Prerequisite: CMPU 145.
  
  

• CMPU101 - Introduction to Computer Science (Vassar): Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Spring 2010, Spring 2009, Fall 2008, Spring 2008, Fall 2007, Fall 2006, Fall 2005, Spring 2005, Fall 2003, Fall 2001
  
  
• CMPU102 - Introduction to object-oriented programming (Vassar): Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009, Spring 2005, Fall 2004, Spring 2003, Fall 2002, Spring 2002
  
  
• CMPU125 - Topics in Computer Science (CMPU101-102 combination): Fall 2008
  
  
• CMPU240 - Language theory and Computation (Vassar): Fall 2007, Fall 2006, Fall 2002
  
  
• CMPU241 - Algorithmics (Vassar): Fall 2011, Spring 2009, Spring 2008, Spring 2006, Spring 2003, Spring 2002
  
  
• CMPU342 - Algorithmic Geometry (Vassar) *New course*, Spring 2006
  
  
• CPSC433 - Formal Languages and Automata (Texas A&M): Summer 2001, Spring 2001

Development, analysis, and simulation of distributed algorithms. In particular, my work has concentrated on development of distributed algorithms for mobile ad hoc networks and for modular, reconfigurable robotic systems.

A grant from the National Science Foundation (IIS-0712911) has enabled me to hire Vassar College undergraduate students to collaborate in research on motion planning algorithms for hexagonal robotic systems as well as the development and simulation of distributed algorithms on networks of mobile processors. To learn more about my research, please contact me via e-mail to request an appointment.

• Monographs
  
  J. Welch and J. Walter, Link Reversal Algorithms: Synthesis Lectures on Distributed Computing Theory, Morgan & Claypool Publishers, Series Editor Nancy Lynch, October 2011, 93 pages. ISBN: 9781608450411 (paperback). ISBN: 9781608450428 (ebook). This volume is a version of a work that appears in the Synthesis Digital Library of Engineering and Computer Science
  
  

• Journal Papers (^* indicates undergraduate student co-author):
  
  J. Walter, E. Tsai^*, and N. Amato, Algorithms for Fast Concurrent Reconfiguration of Hexagonal Metamorphic Robots, IEEE Transactions on Robotics, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 621-631, 2005.
  
  J. Walter, J. Welch, and N. Amato, Distributed Reconfiguration of Metamorphic Robot Chains, Springer-Verlag Journal on Distributed Computing, 17:171-189, 2004.
  
  J. Walter, J. Welch, and N. Amato, Concurrent metamorphosis of hexagonal robot chains into simple connected configurations, IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, Vol. 18, No. 6, pp. 945-956, 2002.
  
  J. Walter, J. Welch, and N. Vaidya, A Mutual Exclusion Algorithm for Ad Hoc Mobile Networks, Wireless Networks , Vol. 9, No. 6, November 2001, pages 585-600.
  

• Papers in refereed conferences and workshops (^*indicates undergraduate student co-author):
  
  P. Ivanov^* and J. Walter, Layering Algorithm for Collision-Free Traversal Using Hexagonal Self-Reconfigurable Metamorphic Robots, accepted to the IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robotic Systems, Oct. 2010, Taipei, Taiwan (acceptance rate 58%).
  
  S. Matysik^* and J. Walter, Using a Pocket-Filling Strategy for Distributed Reconfiguration of a System of Hexagonal Metamorphic Robots in an Obstacle-Cluttered Environment, in Proc. of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 2009, Kobe, Japan, Page(s):4265 - 4272 (acceptance rate 43%).
  
  R. Ingram^*, P. Shields^*, J. Walter, and J. Welch, An Asynchronous Leader Election Algorithm for Dynamic Networks, in Proc. of the IEEE International Parallel and Distributed Processing Symposium, May 2009, Rome, Italy (acceptance rate 23%), 12 pages in un-numbered volume.
  
  D. Little^* and J. Walter, Using Hexagonal Metamorphic Robots to Form Temporary Bridges, in Proc. of the IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robotic Systems, Aug. 2005, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, pages 2652-2657 (acceptance rate 55%).
  
  J. Kamunyori^* and J. Walter, Enveloping Multiple Obstacles with Hexagonal Metamorphic Robots, in Proc. of the International Conference on Parallel and Distributed Techniques and Applications, June 2005, Las Vegas, NV, pages 3097-3103 (acceptance rate 26%).
  
  J. Walter, M. Brooks^*, D. Little^*, and N. Amato, Enveloping Multi-Pocket Obstacles with Hexagonal Metamorphic Robots, in Proc. of the IEEE Intl. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, Apr. 2004, New Orleans, LA, pages 2204-2209 (acceptance rate 58.8%).
  
  J. Walter, M. Brooks^*, and N. Amato, Filling an Obstacle Pocket with Hexagonal Metamorphic Robots, in Proc. of the 8th Conference on Intelligent Autonomous Systems, 10-13 March 2004, Amsterdam, the Netherlands (invited paper for special session), pages 703-711.
  
  J. Walter and D. Little^*, Bridging Gaps in Traversal Surfaces with Hexagonal Metamorphic Robots, in Proc. of the American Nuclear Society 10th International Conference on Robotics and Remote Systems for Hazardous Environments, 28-31 March, 2004, Gainesville, FL, pages 438-444 (invited paper for special session).
  
  J. Walter, E. Tsai^*, and N. Amato, Enveloping Obstacles with Hexagonal Metamorphic Robots, in Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 2003, Taipei, Taiwan, pages 741-748 (acceptance rate 60.5%).
  
  J. Walter, E. Tsai^*, and N. Amato, Choosing Good Paths for Fast Distributed Reconfiguration of Hexagonal Metamorphic Robots, in Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 2002, Washington, DC, pages 102-109 (acceptance rate 59.8%).
  
  J. Walter, G. Cao, and M. Mohanty, A K-Mutual Exclusion Algorithm for Ad Hoc Wireless Networks (pdf format), in Proceedings of the first annual Workshop on Principles of Mobile Computing (POMC 2001), August 2001, pages 29-39 (acceptance rate 42%).
  
  J. Walter, J. Welch, and N. Amato, Distributed Reconfiguration of Metamorphic Robot Chains, in Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual ACM SIGACT-SIGOPS Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing (PODC 2000), Portland, Oregon, 2000, pages 171-180 (acceptance rate 27%).
  
  J. Walter, J. Welch, and N. Amato, Distributed reconfiguration of hexagonal metamorphic robots in two dimensions, in Sensor Fusion and Decentralized Control in Robotic Systems III, Gerard T. McKee and Paul S. Schenker, eds., Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 4196, pages 441-453, 2000 (invited paper for special session).
  
  J. Walter, J. Welch, and N. Vaidya, A Mutual Exclusion Algorithm for Ad Hoc Mobile Networks, 1998 Dial M for Mobility workshop, Dallas TX, Oct. 1998, 15 pgs (acceptance rate 45%).
  
  J. Walter and J. L. Welch, Hazard-Free Connection Release, 1997 International Conference on Parallel and Distributed Techniques and Applications (PDPTA ‘97)

• Technical Reports:
  
  D. Little and J. Walter, Using Hexagonal Metamorphic Robots to Form Temporary Bridges: Proof of Correctness, Texas A&M Parasol Robotic Laboratory Technical Report 05-001, 2005.
  
  J. Walter, A K-Mutual Exclusion Algorithm for Dynamic Networks, Texas A&M Technical Report 00-022, 31 pages, 2000.
  
  J. Walter and S. Kini, A Mutual Exclusion Algorithm for Ad Hoc Mobile Networks, Texas A&M Technical Report 97-014, 1997.
  
  

Last Updated January 30, 2012

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