Seth Gilbert
Distributed Programming Laboratory School of Computer and Communication Sciences

Research Interests

I am currently a postdoc in the LPD group at EPFL, headed by Rachid Guerraoui. I received my PhD from MIT, having spent six years in the the Theory of Distributed Systems (TDS) group, headed by Nancy Lynch.

In general, I study algorithms for highly dynamic, distributed environments, such as mobile ad hoc networks, wireless sensor networks, and peer-to-peer systems.

These days, I am particularly interested in problems that arise in wireless networks. For example, can we communicate reliably in a collision-prone, unreliable wireless network? How about when there are malicious and disruptive devices attempting to prevent communication? One of the most significant challenges introduced by ad hoc networks is coping with the unpredictable deployments, uncertain reliability, and erratic communication exhibited by emerging wireless networks and devices. The goal of the Virtual Infrastructure Project (see also here), the topic of my PhD thesis, is to develop a set of algorithms that address these challenges and simplify the design of software and services for wireless ad hoc networks. A virtual infrastructure is a geographic abstraction that provides reliable and predictable components in an unreliable and unpredictable environment.

I am also interested in other algorithmic and complexity-related issues that arise in the study of distributed algorithms, for example, dynamic distributed storage, cache-oblivious algorithms (in particular, B-trees), and quorum deployment.

Current Program Committees

• DIALM-POMC 2010: 6th International Workshop on Foundations of Mobile Computing
• SSS 2010: 12th International Symposium on Stabilization, Safety, and Security of Distributed Systems
• LADIS 2010: 4th International Workshop on Large Scale Distributed Systems and Middleware
• WASA 2010: 5th International Conference on Wireless Algorithms, Systems and Applications
• PODC 2010: 29th Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing
• ICDCS 2010: 30th International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems
• SPAA 2009: 21st Symposium on Parallelism in Algorithms and Architecture
• DISC 2009: 23rd International Symposium on Distributed Computing
• SIROCCO 2009: 16th International Colloquium on Structural Information and Communication Complexity
• SSS 2009: 11th International Symposium on Stabilization, Safety, and Security of Distributed Systems
• AlgoSensors 2009: 5th International Workshop on Algorithmic Aspects of Wireless Sensor Networks
• ICDCS 2009: 29th International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems

Mini Biography

I was born and grew up in Washington D.C., where I went to the Maret School. After high school, I attended Yale University where I majored in Electrical Engineering and Math. In college, I spent several years building a solar car (which we raced in SunRayce97), and working at the Yale Dramat. After graduating from Yale, I worked for Microsoft as a software developer. I was a member of the Visual Studio.Net team, responsible for developing new team collaboration tools, such as an integrated (and improved) source control system. After two years at Microsoft, I moved back to the east coast, where I spent six years at MIT in the TDS group. Currently, I am a postdoc at EPFL.