Foundations of Constraint Processing, Spring 2009 Jan 12, 2009 Course Administration1 Welcome Course –Foundations of Constraint Processing, CSCE 421/821 Instructor –Berthe Y. Choueiry (Shu-we-ri), –Office: AVH 360 –Tel: +1(402) GTA –Shant Karakashian. Office 123D –Office hours: TBA List of names –Please check your name, address, and program of study

Foundations of Constraint Processing, Spring 2009 Jan 12, 2009 Course Administration2 Pre-requisites –CSCE 235 (CSCE 310, 476/876 relaxed) –If you have any concerns, contact instructor Track –uGrad CS: Foundations, AI –Grad CS students: theory track 3 credit-hours

Foundations of Constraint Processing, Spring 2009 Jan 12, 2009 Course Administration3 Meetings Regular class –Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 12:30—1:30 –Friday, March 13, instructor not available Recitation –Wednesday 5:00—5:50 p.m. –Discuss homework, take quizzes, discuss projects Lectures will be given –By instructor –By visitors Professor Rina Dechter, on April 2 nd (1 st or 3 rd ?) Dr. Ben Thengval from Optec Systems Omaha, TBD –Occasionally, presentations by students

Foundations of Constraint Processing, Spring 2009 Jan 12, 2009 Course Administration4 Help Office hours –Instructor: Monday, Wednesday 1:30 p.m.—2:30 p.m. Q&A: Send your questions – to (will be set up –Ask your questions during Wednesday’s make-up class Share: your ideas and good pointers with class –Send to –Message will be broadcast to the entire class (use sparinglyl!) –Good pointers will be listed on the web under “Your catch”

Foundations of Constraint Processing, Spring 2009 Jan 12, 2009 Course Administration5 Expectations I Mastery of pre-requisite's material Effort outside classroom –9 hours of work outside classroom, if you have pre- requisites –If you spend more time, let me know Attendance –Sign-up sheet circulated for attendance –Attendance of lectures and recitation is mandatory –Absence: maximum 6 sessions (including recitation) –Prior notification ( ) for absence is mandatory

Foundations of Constraint Processing, Spring 2009 Jan 12, 2009 Course Administration6 Expectations 2 Collaboration policy –Feel free to discuss it with others –But do it on your own –Always acknowledge sources & help received –Wiki page is set up for exchanging information Prompt response to notifications –Sent to your address at CSE (you must have one) –Posted on web: cse.unl.edu/~choueiry/S / If you drop the class, let me know ASAP

Foundations of Constraint Processing, Spring 2009 Jan 12, 2009 Course Administration7 Grading Pretest: 3% Quizzes: 37%, cannot not be made up Assignments: 25% –Programming and pen+paper –Turned-in on due date, before lecture –Delay penality: 20% per day, starting first minute after deadline –You may use any programming language acceptable to GTA Project: 35% –Individual (preferred) or in small teams (if really necessary) (  mid-term)  (  final) Feedback: –Glossaries and HWK will be rotated for grading, supervised by instructor –Grades will be posted on Blackboard –Need more feedback? Please, let us know how

Foundations of Constraint Processing, Spring 2009 Jan 12, 2009 Course Administration8 Projects A list of possible projects is forthcoming, will include –Search competition for solving the GTA assignment problem –Implement and evaluate an algorithm –Model and solve a (simple) practical problem –Investigate an advanced theoretical concept –Conduct a critical literature survey (at least 3 papers), etc. Alternatives –Propose your own project and discuss it with instructor At the end of project, you must submit with handin: –Project report: -report.ext –Slides: -defense.ext –Code: -code.tar

Foundations of Constraint Processing, Spring 2009 Jan 12, 2009 Course Administration9 Improving your grades * Do the glossaries: weekly & final (8% total) –Must be typewritten, and alphabetically sorted –Goal: entice you to do required reading Collect bonus points –100% attendance, –Find bugs in slides, in lectures, –Be vocal in class, solve “riddles”, etc. Do extra work –Present a research paper (10% per presentation) –Write a critical summary of a research paper (5% per summary) –Write a chapter of a “textbook” (20% total) * Restrictions apply (deadlines, max number per student)

Foundations of Constraint Processing, Spring 2009 Jan 12, 2009 Course Administration10 Important dates Regularly check schedule on the web (3 times/week) Friday, Feb 27 –Project must be chosen, use handin Friday, Mar 27 –Progress report on projects due, use handin Friday, Apr 10 –First deadline for extra-credit work: 1 presentation, 2 summaries, 1 chapter write-up must be done by this date Friday, Apr 24 –Final glossary due –Project reports due in print and using handin –Second deadline for extra-credit work: All paper presentations (Max 2), summaries (Max 4), chapter write-up (Max 2) must be done by this date.

Foundations of Constraint Processing, Spring 2009 Jan 12, 2009 Important Dates (cont.) Regularly check schedule on the web (3 times/week) Mon/Wed/Fri, Apr 20/22/24 – Quizzes may be given during class or recitation Fri, April 25 –Deadline for final glossary, in print and using handin –Project reports are due, in print and using handin Mon/Wed/Fri, Apr 27/29/ May 1 (dead week) –Project presentations –Some presentations could be scheduled in evenings if necessary Fri, May 1 (midnight) –Projects code & defense slides (when applicable) due, use handin Course Administration11

Foundations of Constraint Processing, Spring 2009 Jan 12, 2009 Course Administration12 Course material Content of the course –Introduction: definition and practical examples –Foundations and basic mechanisms –Advanced solving techniques –Extensions to the problem definition –Alternative approaches to solving the problem Course support –New textbook by Dechter (available at bookstore). Will not be followed linearly, but should be used for reference. –Book by Tsang (on reserve at LL, available on-line, out of print) –Papers from: WWW, course web-page, library, electronic reserves, instructor, etc.

Foundations of Constraint Processing, Spring 2009 Jan 12, 2009 Course Administration13 More resources Web –Check links: –Benchmark problems: –eLists: comp.constraints –CP Online: Conferences –CP, AIOR, IJCAI, ECAI, NCAI (AAAI), FLAIRS... –Workshops in parallel to conferences Journals: –Constraints, AIJ, JACM, Annals of AI+Math, etc.

Foundations of Constraint Processing, Spring 2009 Jan 12, 2009 Course Administration14 Your future: Jobs!! Commercial companies: Ilog, i2 Technologies, Trilogy, PeopleSoft/Red Pepper, Carmen Systems (Sweden), etc. Prestigious research centers: NASA Ames, Microsoft Research (Cambridget), PARC, JPL, SRI International, BT Labs (UK), Ilog (IBM?), etc. Start your own: Selectica, Seibel, Parc Technologies Ltd, In Time Systems Inc, Blue Pumpkin, etc. Academic: –Constraint languages –Modeling, constraint representation, reasoning & propagation mechanisms –Dedicated reasoning: diagnosis, planning & scheduling, design, configuration, Case-Based Reasoning, etc.