BANDUNG, fmipa.itb.ac.id, -One of the combinatorics experts from the University of the Philippines Diliman, Philippines, Prof. Jose Maria P. Balmaceda gave a guest lecture at the 7th series of the 2023 Combinatorics Today Series (2023 CTS) webinar on Saturday, September 30, 2023 at 14.00-15.30 WIB. The title of the lecture is Association Scheme and Related Structures. Association Scheme and Related StructuresThe association scheme, which was first introduced around the 1950s by R.C. Bose and T. Shimamoto, is a combinatorics object used by P. Delsarte in the 1970s to study coding theory and design theory. Today, the association scheme is an important structure in the field of algebraic combinatorics and serves as a unifying framework for studying several objects such as finite geometry, highly symmetric graphs, codes, and design. In his presentation, Professor Balmaceda first presented an introduction regarding association schema theory, including its origins and relationship with several other branches of mathematics. He also presented several recent studies related to the extension of classical theory to association schemes on triples, where the underlying relations and the corresponding adjacency algebra are ternary.

Dr. Djoko Suprijanto, as moderator in this session, said that Prof. Balmaceda is one of the leading figures in combinatorics. “He has made significant contributions in the fields of algebraic combinatorics and group theory. Among the articles he has written are “Mass formula for self-dual codes over” which was published in the journal Discrete Mathematics and “Leonard triples from Leonard pairs constructed from the standard basis of the Lie algebra” which was published in the journal Linear Algebra and its Applications. He has also been awarded the National Academy of Science and Technology Outstanding Young Scientist (1995), UP Diliman Most Outstanding Teacher (1996), National Academy of Science and Technology-Third World Academy of Sciences Science Prize (Mathematics) (1996), UP Diliman Most Outstanding Researcher (1998), and National Research Council of the Philippines Achievement Award (Mathematical Sciences) (2000),” he said. “Apart from actively writing, his dedication to developing the field of mathematics was demonstrated when he became: President – Mathematical Society of the Philippines (1997-1999, 2014-2016), Director – Institute of Mathematics, UP Diliman (2007-2010), Member – National Academy of Sciences and Technology (2008-present), Dean – College of Sciences, UP Diliman (2011-2017), Chair – Technical Committee for Mathematics, Commission on Higher Education (Philippines) (2012-present), President – Southeast Asian Mathematics Society (2016-2018), Member representing Asia – International Mathematical Union-Commission for Developing Countries (2019-2022), and Secretary for Grants – International Mathematical Union-Commission for Developing Countries (2023-2026),” he added.

The 2023 CTS activity was organized by Combinatorial Mathematics Research Group, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA), Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), in collaboration with Pusat Kolaborasi Riset Teori Graf dan Kombinatorika Indonesia (Center for Indonesian Graph Theory and Combinatorics Research Collaboration). Throughout 2023, this online activity will provide 11 editions and present leading speakers in the field of graph theory and combinatorics from various countries including Australia, Czech Republic, Italy, Philippines, Austria, Slovenia, Canada, and of course Indonesia.

Prof. Edy Tri Baskoro, as Chair of the 2023 CTS Committee and Chair of Combinatorial Mathematics Research Group, FMIPA ITB, in his speech stated that holding this CTS was a commitment from Combinatorial Mathematics Research Group, FMIPA ITB, to continue to exist in the context of scientific development of graph theory and combinatorics, and to continue trying to expand research collaboration with various world centers of excellence. This webinar was attended by around 55 participants consisting of lecturers, researchers and undergraduate and graduate students from various countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, and several other countries. Further information regarding CTS can be accessed via https://fmipa.itb.ac.id/combinatorics-today-series-2023/. The 2023 CTS recordings can be accessed via https://www.youtube.com/@yukkuliahteorigraf3184.

Next Speaker Schedule on the 2023 CTS:

20Okt: Prof. Mihyun Kang (Graz Univ of Technology, Austria), 03Nov: Prof. Kiki Ariyanti Sugeng (UI, Indonesia), 17Nov:  Prof. Sandi Klavzar (Univ of Ljubljana, Slovenia), 08Des: Prof. Vida Dujmovic (Univ of Ottawa, Kanada).