Anna Lubiw facts for kids

Anna Lubiw is a brilliant computer scientist. She is known for her amazing work in computational geometry and graph theory. Currently, she is a professor at the University of Waterloo.

Her Journey in Learning

Anna Lubiw earned her Ph.D (a high-level university degree) in 1986. She studied at the University of Toronto. Her teachers were Rudolf Mathon and Stephen Cook.

What She Researches

At the University of Waterloo, Professor Lubiw has taught many students. Two of her students were Erik Demaine and his father Martin Demaine. Together, they published the very first proof of the fold-and-cut theorem. This theorem is about how you can fold a piece of paper and make one straight cut to create any shape you want. It's like magic, but with math!

Solving Graph Puzzles

Anna Lubiw also works on something called graph drawing. Imagine a map with cities connected by roads. That's a graph! She and her colleague Hutton found a special way to draw graphs. It's called an polynomial time algorithm for upward planar drawing. This means they found a fast way to draw graphs so that all the connections go upwards, like a tree growing.

Finding Patterns and Solving Problems

Professor Lubiw has also helped solve other tough computer science problems. She proved that finding certain permutation patterns is very hard. This means it's an NP-complete problem, which is a big deal in computer science. It's like saying, "This puzzle is super tricky to solve quickly!"

Awards and Recognition

In 2009, Anna Lubiw was named an ACM Distinguished Member. This is a special honor given to computer scientists who have made important contributions to the field.

Her Life Outside Work

Besides her amazing work in computer science, Anna Lubiw is also a talented amateur violinist. She even helps lead the volunteer group for the University of Waterloo orchestra. She is married to Jeffrey Shallit, who is also a computer scientist.