CS News Briefs

$5 Million NSF Grant to Enable Machine Learning Systems Across the ‘Internet of Things’ and the ‘Internet of Senses’

The Department of Computer Science at the University of Virginia has been awarded a large Principles and Practice of Scalable Systems grant from the National Science Foundation for collaborative research.

As the lead institution, UVA will receive $3 million of the total $4,999,995 award. The partner institutions, the University of Pittsburgh and Saint Louis University, will receive $1.8 million and $199,995 respectively.

Aidong Zhang, the William Wulf Faculty Fellow and professor of computer science, biomedical engineering and data science, is the principal investigator on the project, Co-designing Hardware, Software and Algorithms to Enable Extreme-Scale Machine Learning Systems. Zhang leads a team that includes four co-PIs and two senior personnel from the UVA Department of Computer Science.

Contributing for UVA are:

• Kevin Skadron, Harry Douglas Forsyth Professor of Computer Science
• Matt Dwyer, Robert Thomson Distinguished Professor, computer science
• Ashish Venkat, William Wulf Career Enhancement Assistant Professor, computer science
• Brad Campbell, assistant professor, computer science and electrical and computer engineering
• Tianhao Wang (senior personnel), assistant professor, computer science
• Yonghwi Kwon (senior personnel), John Knight Career Enhancement Assistant Professor, computer science

Data Mining Team Earns Best Research Paper Award at KDD 2022

Congratulations to Jing Ma and her co-authors who earned the best research paper award at KDD ’22, a premier scientific conference in knowledge discovery and data mining. 

UVA Computer Science Team Aims to Amplify Data Sharing in Distributed Environment Through Collaborative Learning

The Department of Computer Science at the University of Virginia has been awarded a new Computer and Information Science and Engineering Community Research Infrastructure grant from the National Science Foundation for collaborative research with the University of Pittsburgh.

As the lead institution, UVA will receive $1.12 million of the total $1.6 million award for the project, titled A Scalable Hardware and Software Environment Enabling Secure Multi-party Learning.

Aidong Zhang, the William Wulf Faculty Fellow and professor of computer science, biomedical engineering and data science, is the principal investigator. The UVA team includes Hongning Wang, associate professor of computer science; Ashish Venkat, William Wulf Career Enhancement assistant professor of computer science; Tianhao Wang, assistant professor of computer science; and Mehdi Boukhechba, an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Systems and Environment.

Professor Dwyer Receives Test of Time Award at ISSTA

Congratulations to Professor Matthew Dwyer for receiving the Test of Time Award for the paper "Probabilistic Symbolic Execution" at the ISSTA 2022 conference!

UVA Leader in Computer Science Research, Jack Stankovic, Wins Prestigious IEEE Award

BP America Professor John A. (Jack) Stankovic in the Department of Computer Science is the 2022 recipient of the prestigious IEEE Technical Committee on Cyber-physical Systems Technical Achievement Award.

Stankovic also is director of the Link Lab, a multidisciplinary center for research in cyber-physical systems.

The Technical Achievement Award is among the most prestigious honors for cyber-physical systems researchers. The award recognizes the impact of the recipient’s high-quality research throughout his or her lifetime, and “significant and sustained contributions to the cyber-physical system (CPS) community.”

Computer Science Associate Professor’s Knack for Individualizing Students Earns Him the 2022 Harold S. Morton Jr. Teaching Prize

The Harold S. Morton Jr. Undergraduate Teaching Award for 2022 has been awarded to Raymond Pettit, an associate professor of computer science.

UVA Engineering dean Jennifer L. West announced the award at the School of Engineering and Applied Science’s annual reception marking the end of the academic year, during which retiring faculty also are honored.

West read from the award committee’s notes: “In a crowded field of strong nominees, Professor Pettit stood out for the scope of his positive influence teaching CS1110 and 1111. By noticing students’ and TAs’ identities as intertwined with their learning, and by leveraging relationships, accessibility and fun, he is able to make students feel welcomed and respected, even when total enrollments topped 600 students in a semester.”

CS1110 and 1111 are first courses in programming, software development and computer science, which introduce students to computing fundamentals and computational thinking. For students in CS1110, the course is often their first exposure to programming.

Sirat Samyoun Recognized for Outstanding Research in Smart and Connected Health Systems

Sirat Samyoun, a computer science Ph.D. candidate who earned his master’s in computer science from UVA this May, was recipient of the Link Lab Outstanding Graduate Research Student Award. The award recognizes Sirat’s work to advance smart devices for healthcare.

Computer Science Hosts Inaugural Virginia Cyber Navigator Boot Camp

The Cyber Innovation and Society Initiative at the University of Virginia and the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative hosted the inaugural Virginia Cyber Navigator Boot Camp June 2 and 3 at UVA. The camp is a critical piece of the Virginia Cyber Navigator Program, a multi-university internship program launched in fall 2021 in partnership with the Virginia Department of Elections.

The Virginia Cyber Navigator Program, led by the UVA School of Engineering and Applied Science, is a collaborative program for students at six Virginia public universities to train future cybersecurity professionals to protect election infrastructure. The program is funded by a $3 million grant from the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity Program, within the National Security Agency, which promotes academic excellence for institutions that are equipping the cybersecurity workforce to protect critical infrastructure.

2021-2022 CS Department End-of-Year Awards

Congratulations to the winners of the 2021-2022 annual Department of Computer Science awards! We were so excited to present these awards in-person at the ceremony on May 4, 2022. You can view the presentation pdf at the bottom of this page!

Team of Computer Science Students to Compete for North American Title in Programming Competition

The University of Virginia is sending a team of computer science undergraduate students to compete in the North America Championship final of the International Collegiate Programming Competition to be held May 26-31.

A few weeks ago, eight UVA teams squared off against roughly 110 opposing teams in the Mid-Atlantic Regional round of the International Collegiate Programming Competition. They all performed well: When the standings were finalized, UVA’s top team, the Seg Faults, placed fourth – which qualified them to move on to the competition’s next level. UVA teams also placed fifth and six, for a total of five Wahoo teams finishing in the top 11 and seven in the top 25.

The Seg Faults team members – Annabel Li, Edward Lue and Chase Hildebrand, all second-year computer science majors – will represent UVA as one of 45 U.S. and Canadian universities in the North American competition, hosted by the University of Central Florida.