The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a research grant, in the expected amount of $800,000, to Philip Klein, Claire Mathieu and Ph.D. alum Glencora Borradaile (now Assistant Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Oregon State University), to develop new algorithms for solving fundamental optimization problems on planar networks. Many optimization problems in networks are considered computationally difficult; some are even difficult to solve approximately. However, problems often become easier when the input network is restricted to be planar, i.e., when it can be drawn on the plane so that no edges ...