DERI Seminar with Dr Justin Ward

When: Thursday, April 28, 2022, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Where:

Speaker: Dr Justin Ward, Senior Lecturer in Optimisation at QMUL.

 DERI Seminar with Dr Justin Ward, Senior Lecturer in Optimisation at QMUL.

Zoom link: https://qmul-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/81148100921

Title:
Optimising sensor placement for detection and localisation

Abstract: 
In this talk, I will discuss the following general sensor placement problem: suppose that we are given a 2-dimensional cityscape and a small set of electromagnetic sensors. We want to find a placement for these sensors within the city that best allows us to detect and locate some unknown transmitter (for example, a malicious or disruptive agent within the city). I will present a relatively simple approach to the problem based on Bayesian modelling and integer programming and discuss its performance. This talk is based on joint work with Will Handley (Cambridge), PA Consulting, and DSTL.

Bio:
Justin Ward is a Senior Lecturer in Optimisation in the School of Mathematical Sciences at QMUL. He specialises in the theory of computing and the design and analysis of algorithms for discrete optimisation problems, with a research focus on obtaining approximation algorithms with provable guarantees for computationally hard optimisation problems. Justin obtained his PhD in computer science from the University of Toronto in 2012. Before joining Queen Mary, he worked as a research fellow in the Department of Computer Science and the Centre for Discrete Mathematics and its Applications at the University of Warwick, and as a research scientist in the Theory of Computing Laboratory at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).