We do fundamental, foundational research in a number of areas, including cryptography, security, information retrieval, complexity theory, data mining, database principles, distributed systems, systems management, online algorithms, geometric algorithms, statistical physics, computational biology, approximation algorithms, queuing theory, combinatorics, learning theory and descriptive complexity.
Optimization methods help businesses minimize costs and respond to market forces
The July 2007 issue of the IBM Journal of Research and Development shines a light on more than a dozen business areas that are profiting from business analytics and optimization research. Fourteen papers are available in HTML and pdf formats.
Punch-operation and die optimization for ceramic module production
Ceramic modules are high-tech versions of the familiar printed circuit board: They can have a hundred of more layers of metal wiring, alternating with insulating ceramic layers, with layer-to-layer connections through holes in the ceramic. These holes must be punched out mechanically. Optimizing this manufacturing process is a nice demonstration of the power of mathematics: We sped up the process by five to 50 percent -- at absolutely no cost. Read more.