The university announced the selection of the undergraduate and graduate student representatives to the Board of Visitors. Mohammed Seyam, a doctoral student in computer science, is appointed to serve a one year term as the graduate student representative. The Board of Visitors is the governing body of the university. Seyam is an active student leader and ambassador. Read more here.
A team of six undergraduate and graduate students won, the Caring for the Caregiver Hackathon sponsored by the Lindsay Institute for Innovations in Caregiving. Three members of the team and the faculty advisor came from the Department of Computer Science. The winning design, called CareFood, helps caregivers develop ideas and plans about what to eat, given the burdens of caretaking and the many restrictions on food that people with Alzheimer’s disease may face due to their medication regimes. It relies on location-based crowdsourcing for recommendations.
CS team members Maoyuan Sun, Peng Mi, and Junyang Chen stayed up throughout the night to create a working prototype of the front end. Dr. Deborah Tatar, CS faculty, coached the team. Yujun Liu, from human development, represented the gerontology knowledge and assembled the team. Yong Sue from the Pamplin School developed the required approach to business, and Ross Ritsch, a freshman in International Studies, provided a fresh voice and served as a spokesman during the project presentation. Mary-Margaret Fosmark, a caregiver provided by the sponsors, advised the team about caregiver needs.
Balaji Subramaniam, CS Ph.D. student, was selected as the College of Engineering Outstanding Doctoral Student this year. The award recognizes outstanding scholarship and service and was given out at the Graduate Awards Banquet on March 26, 2015. Join the CS Department in congratulating Balaji and his advisor Wu Feng!
The Virginia Tech Graduate School announced the seven inaugural members of the university’s chapter of the Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society. Ashley Robinson, CS doctoral candidate, was selected to join. Ashley is a native of Chesapeake, Virginia. She is investigating the attitudes of African-American middle school girls toward computer science and the factors that influence these attitudes.
For more information visit http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2015/03/032415-gradschool-bouchetscholars.html
The Bouchet Society was established in 2005 by Yale and Howard universities and named for the first African-American to earn a doctoral degree in the United States. Bouchet graduated from Yale College in 1874 and earned his doctoral degree in physics from Yale University in 1876. The society’s goal is to create a network of strong scholars and professionals who “serve as examples of scholarship, leadership, character, service, and advocacy for students who have been traditionally underrepresented in the Academy,” according to its webpage. Virginia Tech is among 11 university partners with Bouchet Society chapters.