James Boerkoel awarded Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship

James Boerkoel, doctoral candidate in computer science and engineering working with Prof. Edmund Durfee, has been awarded a 2011 Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship from the Rackham School of Graduate Studies at the University of Michigan.

The title of his thesis is “Distributed Methods for Solving Constraint-based Multiagent Selection and Scheduling Problems.” The goal of his research is to build computational agents that assist people in managing their activities in environments in which tempo and complexity outstrip people’s cognitive capacity, such as in coordinating rescue teams in the aftermath of a disaster, or in helping people with dementia manage their everyday lives. His work contributes to the development of intelligent algorithms that efficiently manage a person’s individual and group-based activities, while also protecting his or her autonomy and privacy to the extent possible.

Rackham Predoctoral Fellowships support outstanding doctoral students who have achieved candidacy and are actively working on dissertation research and writing.