ESP Biography

RAFAEL COSMAN, Stanford sophomore studying algorithms

Major: CS

College/Employer: Stanford

Year of Graduation: 2015

Brief Biographical Sketch:

Not Available.

Past Classes

(Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

M4088: Voting Theory in Splash Spring 2015 (Apr. 11 - 12, 2015)

In the standard Plurality voting system, whoever gets the most votes wins. When there are many candidates this can get silly - a candidate that the vast majority of voters _hate_ could win with just 10% of the vote as long as ten other generally agreeable candidates split the other 90%. If voters supply not just their top choice but a ranking of all the candidates, a whole world of other voting systems become possible. In this class we will come up with those other systems and discuss their pros and cons.

M4422: Computability and Complexity 101 in Splash Spring 2015 (Apr. 11 - 12, 2015)

What questions can computers solve quickly? In fact, what questions can computers solve at all? We will cover models of computation (what's a computer anyway?), examples of undecidable problems, and what's up with the famous open "P vs NP" problem.

H4424: Puzzle Hunts 101 in Splash Spring 2015 (Apr. 11 - 12, 2015)

Enter a weird world where a puzzle can be a list of pictures, a gibberish sound file, or just six words. What are the rules? Figure them out!

M3386: Electrons are Smarter than Humans in Splash! Spring 2014 (Apr. 12 - 13, 2014)

We'll cover two analogous problems with a beautiful connection between them: measuring the resistance of circuits and finding the fastest route to drive from A to B.

M3387: Generalizations of Game of Life in Splash! Spring 2014 (Apr. 12 - 13, 2014)

This class will explore some beautiful variations of Conway's Game of Life. Here's a sneak preview of the software we'll be playing with: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVVyjIbypwM This class complements "Generalizations of Go" nicely. WARNING: DEMONSTRATIONS WILL INVOLVE FLASHING LIGHTS

L3437: Hacking Your LIfe: Have a blast, meet new people, and learn more than you could ever imagine! in Splash! Spring 2014 (Apr. 12 - 13, 2014)

Get ready, because your life is about to get SUPER AWESOME.

S3198: Hacking Life: Have a blast, learn more than you could possibly imagine, and become a ninja. in Splash! Fall 2013 (Nov. 02 - 03, 2013)

Get ready for some hella awesome super ultra uber.

H2782: Generalizations of Go in Splash! Spring 2013 (Apr. 13 - 14, 2013)

This class will cover the basics of the game of Go and then will explore some beautiful generalizations of the game. Interactive class; No prior experience required. Complements "Generalizations of Game of Life" nicely.

M2783: Generalizations of Game of Life in Splash! Spring 2013 (Apr. 13 - 14, 2013)