Tanushree Mitra has been appointed assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech. She is one of 27 new faculty members hired by the college for the 2017-18 academic year.
Mitra’s research combines computer science and sociology, more popularly known as computational social science. Blending concepts from both these fields, she uncovers insights about social life and human behavior online using large datasets.
“What excites me most about computer science is the interaction between computer systems and their human users and the plethora of new applications and opportunities that this can enable,” said Mitra.
Museums have a captive audience in visitors who typically meander through static exhibits depicting various scenes of cultural and natural history. But in the new digital age, the museum audience is increasingly digitally savvy and accustomed to learning through interactive games and other forms of digital media.
A Virginia Tech researcher is helping to bridge the digital gaps that visitors experience in museums by studying virtual spaces that could serve to make institutions more interactive, social, and gamelike — and hopefully more appealing — to 21st century audiences.
Panagiotis Apostolellis, an adjunct professor in the Department of Computer Science in Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering, and a team of researchers assessed the ability of museums to provide young visitors with an enjoyable and augmented learning experience by harnessing the educational value of virtual environments and computer games for a large audience.
An interdisciplinary study conducted by researchers at Virginia Tech suggests the secret to obtaining your summertime fitness goals might not be the amount of weight you’re bench pressing or how many miles you run, but generating friendly competition to keep you one step ahead of your fitness buddies.
The concept of friendly competition in group exercise being explored by the researchers uses a smartwatch app that could help people in a group exercise program get —and stay — more active.
At the heart of the group exercise research is a Fitbit-like smartwatch and its software developed by Andrey Esakia, a Ph.D. candidate in Virginia Tech’s Department of Computer Science who worked on the project to study the effects of technology in group physical activity. The work is supported by a multidisciplinary seed grant from Virginia Tech’s Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology.
Exascale computing — the ability to perform calculations at 1 billion billion per second — is what researchers are striving to push processors to do in the next decade. That’s 1,000 times faster than the first petascale computer that came into existence in 2008.
Achieving efficiency will be paramount to building high-performance parallel computing systems if applications are to run in environments of enormous scale and also limited power.
A team of researchers in the Department of Computer Science in Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering discovered a key to what could keep supercomputing on the road to the ever-faster processing times needed to achieve exascale computing — and what policymakers say is necessary to keep the United States competitive in industries from everything to cybersecurity to ecommerce.
“Parallel computing is everywhere when you think about it,”said Bo Li, computer science Ph.D. candidate and first author on the paper being presented about the team’s research this month. “From making Hollywood movies to managing cybersecurity threats to contributing to milestones in life science research, making strides in processing times is a priority to get to the next generation of supercomputing.”
Daphne Yao, an associate professor of computer science, is the principle investigator on a new three-year $1.2 million Office of Naval Research (ONR) grant, title “Data-driven Vulnerability Repair in Programs with a Cloud Analytics Architecture for Practical Deployment.” Na Meng, computer science assistant professor, and Trent Jaeger, computer science professor at Penn State University, are co-principle investigators on the grant. Yao is also the Elizabeth and James E. Turner Jr. ’56 and L-3 Fellow.
Abstract:
The proposed effort is toward a secure software ecosystem that enables the automatic attack detection, vulnerability localization, code repair against attacks including stealthy exploits. In this project, we will focus on vulnerability location and code repair that leverage and build upon existing security detection solutions, i.e., detection-guided localization and repair. In preparation for near-term deployment, we will also develop a new cloud data analytics framework that minimizes the client-side effort and substantially enhances the transparency and usability of data-driven security tools.
Keith Sturgill, vice president and chief information officer for Eastman Chemical Company, was awarded the 2017 Distinguished Alumni Award by the Department of Computer Science on April 21. Mr. Sturgill was welcomed back to campus by faculty and students, and gave the final lecture of this year’s Distinguished Lecture Series. Sturgill spoke about technology’s ability to solve problems in the corporate arena and how young professionals can harness that ability in their careers throughout various disciplines.
“Virginia Tech was a key factor to the successful trajectory of my career,” said Sturgill. “I received an education that prepared me to think broadly and thrive and be innovative in an environment that was ever changing and touched many areas of not only information technology but also the chemical industries.”
Sturgill joined Eastman in 1986 as a systems analyst after graduating from Virginia Tech. He has had various and growing responsibilities around implementation of enterprise wide technologies that have significantly impacted the business strategies and financial health of Eastman.
A native of Wise, Virginia he earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Virginia Tech in 1986. Sturgill is also a graduate of the Tuck Executive program at Dartmouth College, and has served various roles in multiple IT associations. He has been Chairman of the Board of Directors of America’s SAP User Group since 2011.
Currently he leads the strategy, use, and delivery of information technology services to Eastman’s global businesses. He is also responsible for driving improvements and productivity across Eastman through the widespread use of Six Sigma methods and leadership. Under Sturgill’s tutelage his organization delivers technology to nearly 11,000 Eastman employees spread throughout the company’s international operations.
As part of an effort to encourage more young women to choose careers in technology, the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) and the Virginia Affiliate Award for Aspirations in Computing program recognized 65 high-school women for their accomplishments and aspirations in computing and technology. The award event was held at the Bank of America facility in Richmond, Virginia, and featured a welcome by Mr. Victor Branch, Senior Vice President – Bank of America, and a keynote speech by Mr. Michael Karafotis, Global Wholesale Banking, Production Support Executive at Bank of America. The event was chaired by Ms. Libby G. Bradford, Director of Undergraduate Studies and Student Engagement in Computer Science at Virginia Tech.
The NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing is a program of the National Center for Women & Information Technology, a coalition of over 900 universities, corporations and organizations dedicated to increasing the meaningful participation of women in computing. The NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing was created to acknowledge the computing aspirations of young women, introduce them to leadership opportunities in the field, and generate visibility for women’s participation in computing-related pursuits. Award-winners have been selected for their outstanding aptitude and interest in computing and desire to pursue computing-related studies. The NCWIT Aspirations in Computing program is sponsored nationally by AT&T, Bank of America, Bloomberg and Microsoft with additional support from Google, Intel, Motorola Solutions Foundation and Northrop Grumman.
“It feels so good to be involved in this. We see real progress happening. Young women who might have been overlooked or discouraged now actively moving into computing with support and encouragement from people in the field. But there is more than that. There is an overall feeling that this is good, this is working. Then, even more, a feeling that this is awesome! We are making this happen together–the balance is changing!” said Ms. Jennifer Rupert, Academic & Career Advisor Virginia Tech and Virginia Affiliate committee member. In the affiliate’s six year history, 239 students have been recognized.
Paul Bui, a teacher at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia, received the 2017 Outstanding Educator award from the affiliate.
Virginia Affiliate winners are:
First Name
Last Name
School
Rebecca
Abbott-McCune
Blacksburg High
Janna
Almokhtar
Orange County High School
Navya
Annapareddy*
Battlefield High School
Brooke
Barlow*
Mclean High
Bilguunzaya
Battogtokh
Yorktown High
Sarah
Bolstad*
Midlothian High School
Katherine
Cinnamon*
Forest Park High School
Lidya
Etissa
South Lakes High School
Lydia
Fozo*
Forest Park High School
Rachel
Fulk
Rockbridge County High
Sydney
Howard*
Grassfield High School
Elizabeth
Hu*
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Laurel
Hunter
Governor’s School of Science and Technology
Danielle
Kaldmaa
Falls Church High School
Anika
Kumar*
South Lakes High School
Kirthi
Kumar*
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Hannah
Lewis
Albemarle High School
Kimberly
Louie
Chancellor High
Tian
Low
Woodbridge High
Jocelyn
Marencik
Deep Run High
Eleanor
Ozer
Galax High School
Samhita
Pendyal
Deep Run High
Christina
Pfab
Powhatan High School
Britney
Phan
Oakton High School
Kara
Probasco
Washington Lee High
Margaret
Richey*
Western Albemarle High
Caylor
Scales
Cumberland High
Riley
Schnee
Loudoun Valley High School
Marissa
Sumathipala
Broad Run High
Michelle
Wu
Princess Anne High
Virginia Affiliate Honorable Mentions are:
First Name
Last Name
School
Grace
Barrett-Johnson
Albemarle High School
Madison
Crouch
Western Albemarle High
Brianna
Croye
Hidden Valley High
Neha
Damaraju*
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Ally
DeVall
Colonial Forge High
ErinGrace
Drake
Battlefield High School
Heather
Eichman
Nansemond River High
Salonee
Ferrao
Hampton Roads Academy
Emily
Haggard
Loudoun Valley High School
Ankita
Khera
Forest Park High
Crystal
Lee
Woodson High
Mengyun
Lee
Hidden Valley High
Katie
Liu
New Horizons Gov School
melanie
massie
Radford High
Caroline
McCain
Rockbridge County High
Elizabeth
Moar
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Lisa
Moshiro
Battlefield High School
Clara
Na
Briar Woods High
Cora
Ormsby
Floyd Kellam High
Angela
Pastore
Albemarle High School
Emma
Peck
Washington Lee High
Amber
Perkins
Powhatan High School
Grace
Qian
Oakton High School
Shravya
Shetty
Deep Run High
Caroline
Spruell
Cave Spring High
Destiny
Stern
Forest Park High School
Aiesha
Suarez Del Real
Stuart High
Hiwot
Temesgen
Washington Lee High
Sajni
Vederey*
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Faith
White
Richlands High
Carol
Yang
Albemarle High School (Virginia)
*Also NCWIT National Honorable Mentions
Also recognized at the Virginia Affiliate Ceremony were sixteen NCWIT National Honorable Mentions:
First Name
Last Name
School
Navya
Annapareddy
Battlefield High School
Brooke
Barlow
Mclean High
Sarah
Bolstad
Midlothian High School
Katherine
Cinnamon
Forest Park High School
Neha
Damaraju
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Jessica
Edwards
St Stephens & St Agnes School
Lydia
Fozo
Forest Park High School
Kriti
Ganotra
Rock Ridge High School
Sydney
Howard
Grassfield High School
Elizabeth
Hu
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Anika
Kumar
South Lakes High School
Kirthi
Kumar
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Rachel
Naidich
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Hojung
Park
Albemarle High School
Margaret
Richey
Western Albemarle High
Sajni
Vederey
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
The NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing offers both national and local affiliate competitions to generate support and visibility for women’s participation in communities nationwide. The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) works to correct the imbalance of gender in technology and computing because gender diversity positively correlates with a larger workforce, better innovation, and increased business performance.
The “Aspirations in Computing Awards” event and the gifts received by the winners this year were funded by Bank of America, Eastman Chemical, The Washington Post and Virginia Tech. Additional support was provided by General Motors, George Mason, Google IBM, and the University of Richmond. Winners receive prizes from multiple companies and two trophies: one for the winner and one to be displayed at her high school.
For more information on the Aspirations program please visit here.
Back row (l. to r.) Amber Perkins, Jessica Edwards, Hojung Park, Hannah Lewis, Janna Almokhtar, Cora Ormsby, Christina Pfab, Margaret Richey, Lisa Moshiro, Salonee Ferrao, Shravya Shetty, Danielle Kaldmaa, Anika Kumar, Katherine Cinnamon, Lydia Fozo Middle row (l. to r.) Riley Schnee, Emily Haggard, Aiesha Suarez Del Real, Laurel Hunter, Caylor Scales, Mengyun Lee, Angela Pastore, Grace Barrett-Johnson, Kriti Ganotra, Sydney Howard, Heather Eichmann, Caroline McCain, Tian Low, Rachel Fulk, Rebecca Abbott-McCune, Marissa Sumathipala Front row (l. to r.) Samhita Pendyal, Britney Phan, Crystal Lee, Ally DeVall, Jocelyn Marencik, Kirthi Kumar, Navya Annapareddy, Neha Damaraju, Sarah Bolstad
Clifford Shaffer, professor of computer science in the College of Engineering, has received the university’s 2017 XCaliber Award.
Established in 1996 by the Office of the Provost, the XCaliber Award is presented annually by Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies to recognize individual faculty members or teams of faculty and staff who integrate technology in teaching and learning. The award celebrates innovative, student-centered approaches.
Shaffer received the award for his development of the computer science course, CS3114 Data Structures and Algorithms.
This course plays a central role into the curriculum of the computer science program and is essential for learning fundamental programming skills. The course is also notorious for its exceptional difficulty, resulting in an unusually high drop rate, which was Shaffer’s inspiration for innovative pedagogy.
“It’s a good time to be a CS major!” This upbeat observation was one of academic advisor Terry Arthur’s favorite ways to encourage students. (We miss you, Terry!) The context for this remark was usually the promising employment prospects of our graduates. But it’s more than that, isn’t it? It’s always good to be in CS for many reasons! After almost forty years in and around computer science, I am still grateful every day to participate in such a rich discipline, marked by a unique confluence of analytical precision, theoretical elegance, creative innovation, powerful impact, and broad application.
Of course, it’s still a good time to be a CS major in terms of career opportunities as well. Many of our alumni have fond memories of the career fairs organized by our corporate partnership program, the Computer Science Resources Consortium (CSRC). The CSRC continues to play a significant role in the department, under the direction of Laurie Brogdon, Director of External Relations. Besides two career fairs each year, the CSRC helps connect over seventy companies with CS majors and minors throughout the year, and provides critical support for student activities and scholarships. The CSRC’s impact can be measured in many ways: last fall the career fair was attended by nearly 1000 students; in a survey of graduating seniors this semester, nearly 90% reported that they have had career-related internships, most with companies in the CSRC; and the annual university survey of recent graduates always ranks CS graduates near the top in all the usual measures of employment. So as May commencement draws closer, we trust that our newest alumni will agree that their decision to study CS at Virginia Tech was a very good one!
Cory Bart, computer science PhD student, won the Best Research Paper award at the SIGCSE conference in March. The SIGCSE Technical Symposium is the largest computing education conference worldwide organized by ACM SIGCSE. It attracts around 1,300 researchers, educators, and others interested in improving computing education in K-12 and higher education. Ryan Whitcomb, computer science undergraduate student, along with CS faculty members: Dennis Kafura, Cliff Shaffer, and Eli Tilevich are co-authors of the paper.
ABSTRACT
To successfully bring introductory computing to non-CS majors, one needs to create a curriculum that will appeal to students from diverse disciplines. Several educational theories emphasize the need for introductory contexts that align with students’ long-term goals and are perceived as useful. Data Science, using algorithms to manipulate real-world data and interpreting the results, has emerged as a eld with crossdisciplinary value, and has strong potential as an appealing context for introductory computing courses. However, it is not easy to nd, clean, and integrate datasets that will satisfy a broad variety of learners. The CORGIS project (https://think.cs.vt.edu/corgis) enables instructors to easily incorporate data science into their classroom. Specifically, it provides over 40 datasets in areas including history, politics, medicine, and education. Additionally, the CORGIS infrastructure supports the integration of new datasets with simple libraries for Java, Python, and Racket, thus empowering introductory students to write programs that manipulate real data. Finally, the CORGIS web-based tools allow learners to visualize and explore datasets without programming, enabling data science lessons on day one. We have incorporated CORGIS assignments into an introductory course for non-majors to study their impact on learners’ motivation, with positive initial results. These results indicate that external adopters are likely to nd the CORGIS tools and materials useful in their own pedagogical pursuits.
