Mechanism design

If you're not familiar with game theory and mechanism design, MD is actually hugely applied in technology. Trivial examples include ad network auctions (which so many startups get wrong); there is a LOT of literature about how to design and structure auctions so that we have desirable properties, such as strategy-proofness, simple bidding rules, transparency, low risk, etc..

Other examples include the FCC spectrum auction. It's really hard to sell such complex (essentially) networked spectrum, such that the government maximizes revenue and bidders can't manipulate each other/prices. Lots of people try to "hack" the auction whenever it runs with mixed results.

There's a lot of joy to be found in the math/abstraction/intuition/creativity of mechanism design and game theory!