Researchers in Software Engineering Share Expertise to Deliver Excellence
PhD student Sam Cheng’s ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Award is one example of what Professor Darko Marinov believes is the true strength of software engineering research at Illinois CS: A collaborative spirit that bolsters project progression. “(The) combination of practical and intellectually stimulating work done here on a consistent basis proves academic relevance,” Marinov said. “Nothing helps this process more than having faculty members right down the hallway from me who serve as experts in related areas. Their willingness to share in a collaborative spirit pushes our work forward.” Read more →
Hauser, AVATRINA Team Earn Finalist Position in $10 Million ANA Avatar XPRIZE Competition
A three-year effort led by Illinois CS professor Kris Hauser and his team, earned their Tele-Robotic Intelligent Nursing Assistant (TRINA) a position in the Fall 2022 finals of the ANA Avatar XPRIZE competition after competing alongside 36 semifinalists. Learn more →
NSF Funds Research Into Computer Vision Tactics That Aspire to Pace AI Development, Democratize New Solutions
Computer vision expertise from professors David A. Forsyth, Yuxiong Wang and Alexander Schwing could narrow the gap between human and machine intelligence, while reducing a dependency on labeled data. Learn more →
Soltanaghai is Ready to Build Off N2Women’s Rising Stars Recognition
First year faculty member with Illinois CS, Elahe Soltanaghai, believes this distinction serves as perfect inspiration to further develop her approach to research and education that is focused on wireless networking and embedded systems. She also looks forward to imparting lessons learned in this area to her new students here. Learn more →
Nahrstedt to Shake Off Zoom-Fatigue With an Augmented-Reality System for Virtual Meetings
Under a new grant from the National Science Foundation, Illinois CS professor Klara Nahrstedt will lead a timely effort to create a next-generation, mixed-reality, immersive meeting environment that offers attendees a vivid experience. Learn more →
Student Co-Directors Center Reflections|Projections 2021 Around ‘Tech for Good’
Jasneet Thukral and Shagun Varma both approached their co-director position of this year’s event focused on turning personal motivation into a powerful theme. Their efforts went into creating an event based on the unique power technology can have for good. Learn more →
Illinois Earns First-Ever Medal in International Collegiate Programming Contest World Finals
Held in Moscow this October, the finals included more than 100 student teams from around the world. Illinois’ team ‘Must Pass’ – including students Yen-Hsiang Chang, Zihan Wang and Zhuolin Yang – took 11th place and a bronze medal. Learn more →
Torrellas and Fletcher Begin Investigating Many-Domain Processors as Cloud Computing Alters Architecture Environment
New gift continues professors’ long-term working relationship with Intel that produces productive research through real problems as the company continues to innovate. Learn more →
Breakthroughs in Automated Formal Reasoning Lead to Gagandeep Singh’s Prestigious Dissertation Award
First year Illinois CS professor describes the process behind earning the John C. Reynolds Doctoral Dissertation Award – the most prestigious award a doctoral student in his research focus can win. Learn more →
Smartphone Motion Sensors Could Be Used to Listen to Your Phone Conversations
Track this: A relatively simple device in your smartphone that counts steps, among other things, also has the capacity to be used as a listening device, according to research being led by Illinois CS professor Tarek Abdelzaher. Learn more →
Computer Science and Philosophy Have More in Common Than You’d Think Carl Gunter, a professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who researches security and privacy issues in tech, often sees the intersection between technology and philosophical issues. “One of the themes we see all the time with the internet is how much it should be regulated… How much do we need to get involved with regulation to try to control the potential harms while preserving the potential benefits of things?” Gunter said. Built In →
IBM and UI: ‘A New Model for Corporate-Academic Partnership’ The IBM-Illinois Discovery Accelerator Institute – backed by a 10-year, $200 million combined investment from the UI, IBM and state of Illinois – has begun work on more than two dozen projects within The Grainger College of Engineering. Long term, (Dean Rashid) Bashir hopes to see the institute’s discoveries trickle down into everyday life, much like the UI’s ILLIAC I computer and MOSAIC web browser technologies pioneered last century. The News-Gazette →
‘War of Weaponized Influence’: U.S. Spending Millions to Hunt Down Foreign Tweets, Memes The University of Illinois has received $5.8 million in funding from DARPA’s INCAS program. Illinois and University of Southern California researchers will develop ways to sort an audience by psychographic attributes. “People create narratives that are divisive,” Tarek Abdelzaher, a U of I professor working with DARPA, said. “They are intended to polarize, radicalize, whatever… but we don’t understand the impact of that weapon on the population the way we understand the impact of a bomb or lightning strike.” The Washington Times →
What is Public Interest Tech? This Foundation Leader Breaks Down What it Means for DC For public interest technology proponent Vilas Dhar (BS CS ’04), using technology to help boost social change will require more than a shift in priorities. It’s a changing power dynamic. Technical.ly →
Luna Display Can Now Turn Your iPad Into a Second Screen for Windows Devices Astropad first launched Luna Display in 2017, about two years before Apple “sherlocked” it with the Sidecar feature added in macOS Catalina. Not long after, the company updated Luna Display to work wirelessly between Macs as a response to Apple’s move. “Apple zigs, we zag,” Astropad CEO Matt Ronge (BS CS ’08) tweeted at the time. The Verge →
Op-ed: Should flyers feel safer when the TSA finds more firearms at airport checkpoints? The Transportation Security Administration announced that it found more firearms in carry-on bags at airport security checkpoints through the first nine months of 2021 than it had in any full year over the past two decades. The detection rate was more than two times the rate in 2019, and even higher than the rate in 2020, when air travel was significantly depressed due to COVID-19, writes Illinois CS professor Sheldon H. Jacobson. Chicago Tribune →
Courses and Certifications to Master Cloud Computing in 2021 Cloud Computing Concepts: Offered by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the Cloud Computing Concepts course on Coursera is delivered by Indranil Gupta, Professor at the Department of Computer Science. It is the first course of the whole specialization module and takes approximately 23 hours to complete. Analytics India Magazine →
Illinois Computer Science Speaker Series Check the calendar for upcoming speakers! The Illinois Computer Science Speaker Series brings prominent leaders and experts to campus to share their ideas and promote conversations about important challenges and topics in the discipline. Join us online: talks are virtual this year! View the Calendar →
Grainger College of Engineering Convocation December 18, 2021 at 10 am We are planning for an in-person ceremony in December. Kindly note that the COVID-19 situation remains fluid and plans may change in the interest of public health. More information →
