Looking Forward to School

The summer is flying by! What with Summer of Code and trying to plan my wedding (which is on August 24th), I haven't even had a chance to ride my motorcycle more than a few times this season let alone keep up with this blog.

Still, as the calendar flips over to August, thoughts of "back to school" start swimming in my head. Oddly enough, I always look forward to hitting the books again each September. This year is no different in that regard, but there is a new excitement in the fact that I will be returning to Carleton as a graduate student.

I've already registered for the five courses I will be taking in the first two semesters. I figured I'd share the title and description and see if you had any comments on the topics covered (love it or hate it, never heard of it, etc).

Computational Aspects of Geographic Information Systems

Computational perspective of geographic information systems (GIS). Data representations and their operations on raster and vector devices: e.g., quadtrees, grid files, digital elevation models, triangular irregular network models. Analysis and design of efficient algorithms for solving GIS problems: visibility queries, point location, facility location.

Advanced Topics in Computer Systems (from Systems and Computer Engineering)

Recent and advanced topics in computer systems. The course will generally focus on one or more of the following areas: specification, design, implementation, and modeling/analysis. Students may be expected to contribute to lectures or seminars on selected topics.

Applied Computational Geometry

Computer-based representation and manipulation of geometric objects. Design and analysis of efficient algorithms for solving geometric problems in applied fields such as Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing, Cartography, Materials Science, and Geometric Network Design.

Topics in Medical Computing

Introductory course on data structures, algorithms, techniques, and software development related to medical computing (in particular spatial modeling). Topics may include: computational geometry algorithms for cancer treatment, medical imaging, spatial data compression algorithms, dynamic programming for DNA analysis.

Selected Topics in Computer Science: Computer Graphics

[No description available.]