Picture of the Month

Undergrad Wins InVenture Prize

Computer science major Roger Pincombe took first prize in the individual category at the March 30 finals of the InVenture Prize. Pincombe, a junior, won $5,000 cash, free patent filings by the Georgia Tech Office of Technology Licensing (valued at $20,000), and a paid summer internship to work on his invention. Pincombe’s DialPrice is a price-checking service that makes it possible to comparison shop without leaving the store aisle. “You dial a regular phone number and then enter the 12-digit UPC code on the box,” he said. “DialPrice will tell you the average price, the price range and what other stores or online retailers are selling it for.”

Research News

Financial Dashboard for February 2009

Newly Awarded Contracts

People@CoC

Abowd and Alumni Present at Washington, D.C., Symposium

Gregory Abowd (IC) presented his ongoing autism research at an invitation-only symposium, “Computing Research that Changed the World: Reflections and Perspectives,” organized by the Computing Community Consortium in collaboration with congressmen Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.), Vern Ehlers (R-Mich.) and Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.). It was held in the Library of Congress on March 25. Two of Abowd's former students, Gillian Hayes (University of California, Irvine) and Julie Kientz (University of Washington), joined him in the demonstration, titled “Information Technologies to Support the Challenges of Autism and Related Developmental Disorders.”

Best Honored With Ivan Allen Award

The Ivan Allen College has picked Mike Best (assistant professor of international affairs and interactive computing) as the recipient of the 2009 Ivan Allen Legacy Award, given each year to the faculty member who best “exemplifies the spirit of civic leadership personified by [former Atlanta] Mayor [Ivan] Allen.” During the award presentation March 12, John Tone, associate dean of Ivan Allen College, described some of Best's accomplishments and projects, such as his research on information and communications technology in developing countries and his leadership in establishing Computing for Good as a priority for the College of Computing.

SIGCSE 2009 Draws Many CoC Participants

Mark Guzdial (IC) co-chaired the ACM SIGCSE 2009 in Chattanooga, Tenn., March 4-7. The conference, titled “Engaging Computer Science Education,” focused on how the computer science field can attract and retain students, turn out graduates who are globally competitive and help them succeed in the interdisciplinary environment of today's professional computer scientists. As closing plenary speaker, Gregory Abowd gave a talk titled “Making IT Matter,” and shared examples of how he and his students are using computing to help in the detection and treatment of autism and to facilitate the development of sustainable practices. The following three papers were authored or co-authored CoC faculty and graduate students and will appear in the Proceedings of SIGCSE ’09:

• “What Makes CS Teachers Change? Factors Influencing CS Teachers' Adoption of Curriculum Innovations,” by Lijun Ni.
• “Georgia Computes!—Improving the Computing Education Pipeline,” by Amy Bruckman, Maureen Biggers, Barbara Ericson, Tom McKlin, Jill Dimond, Betsy DiSalvo, Michael Hewner, Lijun Ni and Sarita Yardi.
• “Personalizing CS1 with Robots,” by Jay Summet with Tucker Balch, Doug Blank (Bryn Mawr College), Keith O'Hara, Daniel Walker, Deepak Kumar (Bryn Mawr College) and Lijun Ni.

The complete program from the event is available online.

Grad, Undergrad Students Win 2009 Sigma Xi Research Awards

The Georgia Tech chapter of Sigma Xi announced that Megan Elmore (CS) won the Best Undergraduate Research Award. Elmore, whose adviser is Nick Feamster, won a plaque and $100. Lakshmi Chakrapani, a computer science Ph.D. graduate working with Krishna V. Palem (former CS faculty member), won the Best Ph.D. Thesis Award and received a plaque and $500. Sigma Xi was founded in 1886 to honor excellence in scientific investigation and encourage a sense of companionship and cooperation among researchers in all fields of science and engineering. The Georgia Tech chapter of Sigma Xi was founded in 1946.

Abowd Named 2008 ACM Fellow

Interactive computing Professor Gregory Abowd is one of 44 scientists named as 2008 ACM Fellows for generating “a broad range of innovations for industry, commerce, entertainment and education.” Abowd was recognized for his contributions to ubiquitous computing research, especially applications for education, home and health. Professor Dame Wendy Hall, ACM president, said, “These men and women are the inventors of technology that impact the way people live and work throughout the world.”

Thomaz, Cakmak Present at Human-Robot Interaction Conference

Andrea Thomaz (IC) and second-year graduate student Maya Cakmak presented a paper, “Learning about Objects with Human Teachers,” at HRI 2009, March 11-13 in San Diego. The paper looks at the difference between how a robot learns about objects by itself versus with the help of a human partner. HRI is the only conference devoted to human-robot interaction.

Schoner Honored for Outstanding Staff Performance

Don Schoner, administrative coordinator at GVU, has been chosen to receive a Georgia Tech Outstanding Staff Performance Award. Schoner has been with GVU for three years. Director Beth Mynatt said, “Don is a professional and friendly face for GVU and has an infectious can-do attitude that inspires quality and community.” Schoner will receive his award at the Faculty and Staff Honors Luncheon on April 15.

GVU @ CHI 2009

Many GVU members will participate in CHI 2009, to be held in Boston, April 4-9. The 27th annual meeting of the ACM Special Interest Group in Computer Human Interaction will attract some 2,000 attendees from 38 countries, according to the conference website. Due to space constraints, we list only some of the proceedings of the conference. In addition, the list of papers, workshops and panels below includes only participants currently or previously affiliated with GVU. In each case, there may be other participants or co-authors from other institutions who are not listed. The complete list with all CHI'09 events and participants is available on the GVU website.
SPECIAL HONORS
GVU Director Beth Mynatt has been elected into the CHI Academy. The CHI Academy is an honorary group of individuals who have made substantial contributions to the field of human-computer interaction.
BEST PAPER NOMINEE
“Nourishing the Ground for Sustainable HCI: Considerations from Ecologically Engaged Art,”
co-authored by Carl DiSalvo
PAPERS
“Nourishing the Ground for Sustainable HCI: Considerations from Ecologically Engaged Art,”
co-authored by Carl DiSalvo
“Tangible Sketching in 3D with Posey,”
co-authored by Ellen Yi-Luen Do
“Pathfinder: An Online Collaboration Environment for Citizen Scientists,”
co-authored by Kurt Luther
“'It Feels Better Than Filing': Everyday Work Experiences in an Activity-Based Computing System,”
co-authored by Elizabeth D. Mynatt
“Lightweight Tagging Expands Information and Activity Management Practices,”
co-authored by Craig Tashman
“The Performance of Touch Screen Soft Buttons,”
co-authored by Seungyon Claire Lee
“Computer Help at Home: Methods and Motivations for Informal Technical Support,”
by Erika Shehan Poole, Marshini Chetty, Tom Morgan, Rebecca E. Grinter and W. Keith Edwards
“Extraordinary Computing: Religion as a Lens for Reconsidering the Home,”
by Susan P. Wyche and Rebecca E. Grinter
“Videolyzer: Quality Analysis of Online Informational Video for Bloggers and Journalists,”
featuring Nicholas Diakopoulos, Sergio Goldenberg and Irfan Essa
“Values as Lived Experience: Evolving Value-Sensitive Design in Support of Value Discovery,”
by Christopher A. LeDantec, Erika Shehan Poole and Susan P. Wyche
“It's Not Easy Being Green: Understanding Home Computer Power Management,”
co-authored by Marshini Chetty
“Baby Steps: Evaluation of a System to Support Record-Keeping for Parents of Young Children,”
by Julie A. Kientz, University of Washington (GVU alumna), Rosa I. Arriaga and Gregory D. Abowd
“Blogging at Work and the Corporate Attention Economy,”
co-authored by Sarita Yardi
“Exploring Websites through Contextual Facets,”
co-authored by Yevgeniy Medynskiy
NOTES
“Sacred Imagery in Techno-Spiritual Design,”
by Susan P. Wyche, Kelly E. Caine, Benjamin K. Davison, Shwetak N. Patel, University of Washington (GVU alumnus), Michael Arteaga and Rebecca E. Grinter
“Pimp My Roomba: Designing for Personalization,”
by Ja-Young Sung, Rebecca Grinter and Henrik Christensen
“CThru: Exploration in a Video-Centered Information Space for Educational Purposes,”
co-authored by Meekal Bajaj
CASE STUDIES
“Designing for and with Diaspora: A Case Study of Work for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia,”
by John Etherton, Daniel Serrano-Baquero, Michael L. Best and Thomas N. Smyth
PANELS
“Interacting with eHealth Towards Grand Challenges for HCI,”
by Christopher LeDantec and Lena Mamykina
WORKSHOPS
“Developing Shared Home Behavior Datasets to Advance HCI and Ubiquitous Computing Research,”
featuring Gregory D. Abowd
“Evaluating New Interactions in Healthcare: Challenges and Approaches,”
featuring Lena Mamykina
“Augmented-Reality Scratch: A Tangible Programming Environment for Children,”
featuring Iulian Radu and Blair MacIntyre
“Towards Intelligent Authoring Tools for Machinima Creation,”
featuring Mark Riedl and Brian O'Neill
“Research Ethics in the Facebook Era: Privacy, Anonymity and Oversight,”
featuring Erika Shehan Poole and Sarita Yardi
DOCTORAL CONSORTIUMS
“Contemporary Domestic Infrastructures and Technology Design,”
featuring Marshini Chetty
“Supporting Privacy by Preventing Misclosure,”
featuring Kelly E. Caine

Lipton Blogging

Richard Lipton (CS) has a new blog on the theory of computing,“Godel’s Lost Letter and P=NP: A Personal View of the Theory of Computation.” It ranked in the Top 100 posts for March 29 on WordPress.com.

Personnel Announcements

Elizabeth Collums has been hired permanently in the Office of Outreach, Enrollment and Community as Program Coordinator I effective March 13. Her email address is ecollums@cc, her phone number is 4-7602, and she is located in CCB 135. Congratulations Elizabeth!
Allyana Ziolko’s last day at CoC was March 19. Best wishes to Allyana!
Rebecca Wilson’s last day at CoC was March 27. Best wishes to Becky!

General News

Changes in the Development Office

Christina Pearson, who joined CoC last year as director of development for the School of Computer Science, will take on a new role in the central College office, reporting to Senior Director of Development Mary Alice Isele. She will remain the primary point of contact between the College and the Alumni Council. Pearson will retain her focus with CS and also assume primary responsibility for the School of Interactive Computing. Isele will have the same responsibilities for the Computational Science & Engineering Division, as well as for the College's ongoing efforts to establish a school in biomedical informatics. Isele and Pearson will remain in their current office spaces in CCB and Klaus, respectively.

Biros Named AD for Technology Infrastructure

To help align the College’s IT and computational resources with its strategic and academic goals, George Biros (CSE) has agreed to serve as Assistant Dean for Technology Infrastructure, effective May 1. Russell Poole, director of the Technology Services Organization (TSO), will report to Biros regarding TSO. Poole also oversees CoC facilities operations, and on these matters he will continue to report to Jim Foley. TSO’s mission is to provide technology support for administration, education and research. Biros will work with faculty, staff, administrators and TSO to understand and prioritize the College's needs, as well as set its strategic direction. He also will interact with Georgia Tech’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) as CoC increasingly relies on OIT for more “standard” IT services.

Korean Students Visit CoC

Twenty-two master’s students from the Dual Georgia Tech/Korea University M.S. Program in Embedded Software visited CoC last month. The visitors toured campus and several computing labs, got Buzz cards, sat in on CS6310 and CS6290 classes, visited the Georgia Aquarium, attended a reception with faculty and students from CoC and ECE, and registered for their spring classes in Korea. Unfortunately their plans to watch Georgia Tech take on arch-rival Georgia on the baseball diamond fell through when the game was rained out.

Contributions to TRS Increase for FY2009

The Teachers Retirement System (TRS) has announced a change in both the employee and employer contribution rates to the system for the Fiscal Year 2010. The TRS employer contribution will increase from 9.28 percent to 9.74 percent, while the employee contribution rate will increase from 5 percent to 5.25 percent. The new rates will become effective July 1, 2009. The TRS, a defined contribution plan, operates on a fiscal year cycle (July 1 to June 30).