Essay from the year 2019 in the subject Computer Science - Theory, grade: 4.00, ( Atlantic International University ), language: English, abstract: The paper presents an analytical exposition, critical context and integrative conclusion on the discussion on the meaning, significance and potential applications of theoretical foundations of computer science with respect to Algorithms Design and Analysis, Complexity Theory, Turing Machines, Finite Automata, Cryptography and Machine Learning. An algorithm is any well-defined computational procedure that takes some value or sets of values as input and produces some values or sets of values as output. A Turing machine consists of a finite program, called the finite control, capable of manipulating a linear list of cells, called the tape, using one access pointer, called the head. Cellular automata is an array of finite state machines (inter-related). A universal Turing machine U is a Turing machine that can imitate the behavior of any other Turing machine T. Automata are a particularly simple, but useful, model of computation which were were initially proposed as a simple model for the behavior of neurons. A model of computation is a mathematical abstraction of computers which is used by computer scientists to perform a rigorous study of computation. An automaton with a finite number of states is called a Finite Automaton (FA) or Finite State Machine (FSM). The Church-Turing Thesis states that the Turing machine is equivalent in computational ability to any general mathematical device for computation, including digital computers. The important themes in Theoretical Computer Science (TCS) are efficiency, impossibility results, approximation, central role of randomness, and reductions (NP-completeness and other intractability results).
Professor Gabriel Kabanda is the Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Academy of Sciences, and is a Full Professor of Computer Science and Information Systems. Gabriel has a wealth of experience mainly concentrated in Information Technology/ Project Management and with over 22 years of post-qualification management experience. He spent 12 years 11 months in Senior Management of Zimbabwe Open University and was the Pro Vice Chancellor (Research, Innovation and Enterprise Development) of the University for 9 years from January, 2008 to November, 2017. He holds a Post-Doctoral degree, Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) in Computer Science from Atlantic International University (USA), a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science (California, PWU), Master of Science in Computer Science (Swansea University, Wales), B.Sc. in Mathematics and Physics (University of Zimbabwe), Gold Diploma in Computer Programming (London), a Certificate in Applied Meteorology (Reading), a Certificate in E-Moderation (University of Cape Town) and a Certificate in Management of Higher Education Institutions (Israel). He received an international award on Outstanding Contributions to Education, the Golden Academic Excellence and Professional Achievement award in 2013 in Malaysia at the World Marketing Summit. He was awarded the world-wide honour of Who's Who of Professionals in 1997. Prof Kabanda is a Board Member of the Zimbabwe National Army Schools & Welfare Trust (ZNASWT) since 2010, the Chairman of the IT Governance & Cyber Security Institute (ITGCSI), an External Examiner of one South African university, one Mauritian university and one Zimbabwean university, a Member of the International Society for Development and Sustainability, a Board member of the Pan African University (PAU) student selection jury, a member of the National Research Database of Zimbabwe Editorial Committee (NRDZEC) of the Research Council of Zimbabwe since 2013 until December 2020, Professional Member of the Computer Society of Zimbabwe, and an Advisor on ICT and STEM education to the Global STEM Leadership Alliance (GSLA), a California-based international organization. Gabriel was appointed in March 2019 to reviewthe 2019 Global Sustainable Development Report by the International Science Council (ISC), the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) and the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP).
