Curriculum vitae (brief):


   Dr. Darse Billings


 Education:

 * Ph.D., Computing Science, University of Alberta, 2006.
   Area: Artificial Intelligence, computer game-playing
   GPA: 9.0 / 9
   Thesis title:  Algorithms and Assessment in Computer Poker

 * M.Sc., Computing Science, University of Alberta, 1995.
   Area: Artificial Intelligence, computer game-playing
   Thesis title:  Computer Poker

 * B.Sc. (Honours), Computer Science, University of Calgary, 1989.
   Area: Theoretical Computer Science, analysis of algorithms


 Scholarships:

 * The Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship (two years)
   (highest scholarship awarded by the University of Alberta)

 * The Ralph Steinhauer Award of Distinction
   (highest scholarship awarded by the Province of Alberta)

 * iCORE Graduate Student Scholarship Top-Up Award (twice)

 * NSERC Post-Graduate Scholarship

 * NSERC Summer Research Fellowships (three times)

 * Province of Alberta Graduate Fellowships (many times)


 Employment:

 * 2006-07  Post-doc research associate, U. Alberta.

 * 1998-99  Research associate, games analyst, U. Alberta.

 * 1996-98  Professional poker player.

 * 1995-97  Consultant for a publishing start-up (successful).

 * 1989-91  Research assistant, sessional instructor, U. Calgary.


 Achievements:

 * Distinguished Paper Award, International Joint Conference on
   Artificial Intelligence (2003).

 * Best Journal Paper of the Year, International Computer Games
   Association Journal (2000).

 * Creator and director of The International RoShamBo Programming
   Competitions (for Rock-Paper-Scissors).

 * Co-founder and lead architect for the Computer Poker Research
   Group at the University of Alberta.

 * Designer of the strongest poker-playing programs in the world
   (Loki, Poki, Sparbot, Vexbot, Hyperborean, Polaris, Maxwell,
   Qeqbot, etc.); licenced to Poker Academy (www.poker-academy.com)
   traing software, STACKED Entertainment, etc.

 * Author of the world champion program for Lines of Action, Mona,
   which defeated all of the top human players, achieving a perfect
   life-time record.

 * Author of the world's best solver for SameGame puzzles (highest
   score ever on websites with thousands of users; highest score
   ever on Linux version).

 * Author of the world's strongest program for analyzing and
   participating in NHL hockey playoff pools, with a skill level
   exceeding the best humans.