DCCG Workshop, Lethbridge, July 2001

The Second Lethbridge Workshop on
Designs, Codes, Cryptography and Graph Theory

Place and Date

University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta
July 9 - 14, 2001

Sponsors

The Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences, MITACs, the University of Lethbridge and VeriSign Inc. are pleased to sponsor the workshop.

The workshop builds on the success of the Workshop on Coding Theory, Cryptography and Computer Security held at the University of Lethbridge, August 3 - 7, 1998.

Organizing Committee

Wolf Holzmann, University of Lethbridge
Hadi Kharaghani, University of Lethbridge
Jim Liu, University of Lethbridge

Invited speakers

Invited main speakers who will be giving expository/survey talks are:

B. Alspach, University of Regina
C. Colbourn, University of Vermont
C. Rodger, Auburn University
D. Stinson, University of Waterloo
V. Tonchev, Michigan Technical University

Additional invited main speakers are as follows:

M. Buratti, Universita' di Perugia, Italy
R. Craigen, University of Manitoba
G. Hahn, University of Montreal
S. Hedayat, University of Illinois at Chicago
Y. Ionin, Central Michigan University
G.B. Khosrovshahi, IPM and Tehran University, Iran
T. Kloks, Royal Holloway University of London, Great Britain
D. Kreher, Michigan Technological University
A. Ling, Michigan Technological University
K. Murty, University of Toronto
R. Rees, Memorial University of Newfoundland
R. Safavi-Naini, University of Wollongong, Australia
P. Shiue, Univ. of Nevada Las Vegas
R. Wei, Lakehead University
H. Williams, University of Manitoba

Intended audience

The participants will include researchers in designs, codes, cryptography and graph theory from throughout the world, mathematicians and computer scientists in related areas who wish to explore connections to these areas, research scientists and others from industry primarily from Canada, graduate students primarily but not restricted to Western Canada, and undergraduate students from southern Alberta including Lethbridge and Calgary. Everyone is welcome.

Call for Papers

Participants who wish to contribute 20-30 minute talks are invited to submit an abstract of at most 300 words. The abstracts should preferably be written in LaTeX or TeX and should be sent to hadi at cs.uleth.ca.

Papers presented at the workshop will be considered as regular submissions to the Journal of Combinatorial Designs (JCD) and every effort will be made to have them appear together in at least two special issues. As the workshop is now over, these papers should be preferably be submitted to jcd at uvm.edu by October 15, 2001 (indicating that they are a "DCCG 2001" paper).

Support

There is some financial support available for graduate students and postdocs. Those working in an area of combinatorics related to the workshop themes are encouraged to apply as soon as possible to be considered for financial support.

Workshop Location and Facilities

All the workshop events will be held at the campus of the University of Lethbridge. The university has excellent and inexpensive conference facilities and accommodation.

Accommodation Information

The University of Lethbridge Conference Services offers excellent rates on excellent two and four bedroom apartment suites situated on the campus and only minutes from conference meeting facilities. These apartment suites have full kitchens (no kitchenware is supplied) as well as ensuite washroom facilities with your choice of either a two or four bedroom configuration.

Here is a photo of a typical suite. More detailed information about accommodation and facilities is at Conference Services. There are also floor plans and views of the apartment suites at Housing Services - Single Student Housing (select: Aperture Park - 2 or 4 bedroom apartments, not the alternatives).

Rates for the DCCG Workshop are as follows:

	Nightly	Weekly (7 night stay)
2 or 4 bedroom suite	$30.00	$175.00

Note that rates quoted above are per person per night, in Canadian dollars and 5% Alberta Hotel Tax and 7% GST will be added. Payments can be made by cash, money order or Visa / Mastercard.

If you would like to make reservations, please:

Call (403) 329-2244
FAX to (403) 329-5166
E-mail to cnf at uleth.ca
Visit website at http://home.uleth.ca/anc-con/
Write to: Conference Services,
University of Lethbridge
4401 University Drive
Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4

If you would like information regarding local hotel properties, please contact DCCG organizers directly.

Sports facilities on campus, including an Olympic size swimming pool across from the suites, are available for the use of guests.

Registration

The workshop registration fee is Canadian $250 ($1 Canadian = 0.65 US). Send your registration and fee to Conference Services (see above). The fee includes a possible excursion (see below) and a BBQ/banquet. Kindly use the registration form.

Excursion

We are planning to have a half day excursion to Drumheller. The highlight of the trip will be the Royal Tyrrell Museum with its outstanding exhibit of dinosaur fossils.

Travel to Lethbridge

Lethbridge is located approximately 200 km south of Calgary, Alberta by highway and 300 km north of Great Falls, Montana. Most conference participant will likely want to fly to Calgary, which has numerous connecting flights from points in Canada and the USA. Participants from Europe, may find it more convenient to fly direct to Calgary (instead of connecting from Toronto or Montreal). Commuter flights from Calgary to Lethbridge run several times throughout the day and are offered by the regional affiliate of Air Canada. If there is enough interest we may arrange for a car shuttle between Lethbridge and Calgary. Please note that the Calgary Stampede (the so-called ``The Greatest Show on Earth'') will be held from July 6 to 15. We suggest you book tickets early. An alternative for a better airfare may be to fly to Lethbridge via Edmonton, Alberta. American participants may find it cheaper to fly to Great Falls and drive north to Lethbridge.

Local directions and campus maps

See Lethbridge map for an overview map of Lethbridge. The route to the campus is well marked on highway and street signs. If you are driving from the north (Calgary) turn south onto University Drive (Highway 25). If you are driving from the south (either the airport or the USA) turn onto (if from airport) or stay on (if from USA) Scenic Drive until you reach Whoop Up Drive. Whoop Up Drive takes all traffic from downtown to the university which is located west of the river. Turn south onto University Drive.

Once on University Drive and immediately past Whoop Up Drive, you will notice the campus on your left. Make a left turn at Aperature Drive (after the first traffic light).

See University Campus Map. The office for housing is located in Kainai House. Morning talks will be located in PE 252 aand PE 254 in a wing of the Phys. Ed. building. Afternoon talks will be in D634 in University Hall. Meals will be in Coulee Corner in University Hall.

Weather

Weather in July in Lethbridge is very pleasant most of the time. Expect sunny weather with highs in the upper 20's C (80's F) while night time temperatures may drop to the low 10's C (60's F). Rain, if any, will probably be in form of occasional thunder showers.

Pre or Post Workshop Activities

Workshop participants may wish to extend their stay to tour the area. Scenic Waterton-Glacier Park is just 130 km (80 miles) SW of Lethbridge by road. Historic Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump and interpretive center about 45 minutes west of Lethbridge by highway is also worth a visit, as is Crowsnest Pass and the Frank Slide interpretative center about 100 minutes west.

At the beginning of July, the wild flowers in Waterton are at their peak. There are many hiking trails, although some of the high altitude ones could still be snow bound. Drives to Cameron Lake, and to Red Rock Canyon, as well as the boat excursion on Waterton Lake are worthwhile. Logan Pass and Going To the Sun Road in Glacier National Park, Montana is a must do excursion for those with the time.

Some images of campus, Waterton, etc.

Contacts

If you have questions or wish to be put on our mailing list, please send e-mail to Hadi Kharaghani at hadi at cs.uleth.ca or write to:

  DCCG Workshop,
  Dept. of Mathematics and Computer Science,
  University of Lethbridge,
  Lethbridge, Alberta   T1K 3M4
  CANADA

  FAX:            (403) 329-2519
  email:          hadi at cs.uleth.ca
  Dept. Phone:    (403) 329-2470

Abstracts

Abstracts (in PDF format).

Program

The program consists of instructional lectures and research sessions. See (tentative) program for mornings and for afternoon and evenings.