Sevan Hanssian

I am currently an M.Sc. Computer Science student at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
You can email me at: shanss@cs.mcgill.ca


Research Interests

I am in the Scientific Computing Lab. My main interest lies in the area of integer ambiguity validation. Integer ambiguities can be found, for instance, in carrier phase measurements in GPS applications. We must first estimate integer values for the ambiguities, typically through solving an integer least squares problem (this is NP-hard). If the integer estimates are not correct, the position estimates which depend on these integer estimates will have large errors. This may be dangerous for certain applications, like aircraft landing. Therefore we must then try to validate the integer estimates obtained. The most effective validation approach is to find the probability of correct integer estimation, called the success rate. My focus is on extending success rates to box-constrained integer least squares problems which arise in Communications.
If you would like to hear more on the topic, contact me!

Courses

I am a TA for COMP 350 Numerical Computing and COMP 206 Introduction to Software Systems in Fall 2011, and have previously TA'd COMP 322 Introduction to C++, COMP 303 Software Development and COMP 202 Introduction to Computing 1. Having also been a Computer Science undergraduate at McGill, I have taken many interesting higher-level COMP courses, so feel free to contact me if you are looking for suggestions! Also, if you need help in any course, be sure to check out the SUMS list of tutors.

Personal Interests

In a nutshell, I love programming, colorful boots, fountain pens, wooden pencils, and rain. In my free time, I contribute to ChichiKir, a blog. Not surprisingly, my favorite season is autumn, my favorite colors are green and purple, my favorite pastimes are reading novels and listening to almost all kinds of music. My name comes from the name of a lake in Armenia, Lake Sevan. Part of my life story can be viewed in this CTV interview.

"Never wonder. By means of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, settle everything somehow, and never wonder."
(Charles Dickens: Hard Times)