 |
Dengji's PhD Thesis Acknowledgement
Before I went to university I never dreamed that I would have what I have now. To reach this point, I owe much to a great many people. I deeply appreciate their kindness, support and guidance.
I would like to express my gratitude to the following:
To my co-supervisors, Dongmo Zhang and Laurent Perrussel. Apart from the many things you have taught me about research, your inspiration, encouragement and willingness to help provided me with a great learning environment. To the rest of my supervisory panel, Yan Zhang and Andreas Herzig, I very much appreciate your care as I worked to complete my thesis.
To my Mum, who is my hero and who taught me a much about life. I cannot imagine how difficult your life has been after losing my Dad and my sister when I was 10 years old. Your attitude towards life and your endless support to the family drove me towards finding a meaningful future. To my grandma, who has been my guiding light throughout my life. To my stepfather, thank you for joining the family; I cannot go far without you. To my extended family, especially my uncle Yushun Li and my cousin Yanfang Peng, for your love and support.
To Fan Xuhe, Huang Gang, Luo Wenbin, Wang Lian, Wong Ka Weng, Kwong Ying Wa, Cheang Chak Fong, Tang Zesheng, Xu Aoao, Michael Thielscher, Stephan Schiffel, Frank Ciesinski and Monika Mayer, who have guided and influenced me throughout my life. I am extremely fortunate to have you.
To my dearest friends, Yao Xu and Yonghua Chen: I just could not make all this happen without you. Also to my dear friends David Black, Minyi Li, Christy Liang, Ji Ruan, Yunjing Xiang, Heng Zhang, Zhiqiang Zhuang, Ben Gu and his family, whose help, caring and sharing have brought me an enjoyable PhD journey.
To my friends from the two great research labs, ISL and IRIT, especially to Chun Gao and Md Khan from ISL for the wonderful times we had in the jackaroo team, to Yun Bai, Leanne Ryland, Weixing Zheng, Yi Zhou, Sylvie Doutre and Jean-Marc Thévenin for your support and encouragement. Also to the AI community, especially Enrico Gerding, Vincent Conitzer, Lirong Xia, Ruggiero Cavallo, David Pennock, Wolf Ketter, Yingqian Zhang, Andreas Symeonidis and Tim Miller for your support and stimulating suggestions.
Finally, to the two universities and the Australian Research Council (ARC) for the funding and support provided for my PhD research. This work was supported by the ARC Discovery project: Logical Foundation and Implementation Technology for Automated Negotiation (DP0988750). The Cotutelle joint supervision program by the two universities, with the help of my co-supervisors, has provided me with an excellent learning experience.
Dengji Zhao
Sydney, 10 May 2012