Speaker: Di Bartolomeo, Sara
Abstract
Graphs are a fundamental data structure. We read, use, and categorize information through graphs in daily tasks: every time we read a map of public transportation, every time we create a mental map of a concept, every time we send and receive packets through the internet, we are using graphs. Given how widespread graphs are, it is fundamental that we visualize them effectively. Here, graph layout algorithms come into play: each layout algorithm maps nodes and edges in a graph to coordinates in space, allowing us to draw a graph while attempting to respect readability criteria. We encounter graphs with a wide variety of features and users with diverse use cases: layout algorithms must take into account this breadth of possible requirements, and specialize accordingly. In this talk, I explore different challenges and applications of graph layout algorithms for layered graphs - discussing the usefulness of graph layout algorithms in temporal event sequence visualizations, in a number of case studies, and the tradeoffs involved in choosing and developing a layout algorithm.
Bio
Sara Di Bartolomeo has completed a PhD at Northeastern University, in Boston, with a thesis focused on graph layout algorithms for layered graphs, under the guidance of professor Cody Dunne. She also spent time as a visiting scholar at INRIA Paris, working on algorithms for displaying hypergraphs with professor Jean-Daniel Fekete, and at Microsoft Research, where she worked on visualizing cyberattacks on networks of computers. Currently, Sara leads a small group of PhD students as a postdoc in professor Daniel Keim’s lab at the University of Konstanz and teaches Advanced Topics in Data Visualization.
