The Compiler - Internal News for Faculty and Staff at the College of Computing at Georgia Tech
Issue 6 | October 2006

Message From the Dean

This month our new building will open and the moment we've all been anticipating for some time will finally arrive. The grand opening of the Klaus Advanced Computing Building will stand as an enormous milestone in the College's lifetime, physically and figuratively. Internally it demonstrates our sizeable growth and the significance of our place on campus—we will be the "new center" of Georgia Tech. To the outside world, we are putting our money where our mouth is. With the extraordinary generosity of Chris Klaus, we have built a structure that embodies the future of advanced computing—transformational, interdisciplinary, collaborative, innovative, impactful, and absolutely pervasive. At HP I was known for walking the halls and dropping in to see what our people were inventing next. I look forward to doing that again in KACB. As we cut the ribbon on the 26th, I'll be extending a sincere thank you to Chris for helping provide such an enormous opportunity to show off what we're all about—education transformation, and research that changes the world.

Christopher W. Klaus Advanced Computing Building Grand Opening Celebration

Join the College of Computing and the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering as we celebrate the grand opening of our new collaborative space on the Georgia Tech campus, the Christopher W. Klaus Advanced Computing Building! Details are at www.cc.gatech.edu/klaus. Please RSVP by Friday, October 20th.

Watch the Inaugural State of the College Address

If you missed the College of Computing's inaugural State of the College address by Dean Rich DeMillo last month, you can still view the webcast from the CoC website home page here.

Student News

UROP Accepting Applications for Undergraduate Research

The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) is now accepting applications for the spring 2007 President's Undergraduate Research Awards (PURA). PURA offers financial support for undergraduate research and the acceptance rate is currently quite high. Salary awards for a maximum of $1500 and travel assistance for up to $1000 are being offered, therefore student/faculty teams should apply for awards soon. Applications are due Thursday, October 12 and are judged primarily on the quality of the written research proposal. For additional information and application instructions, click here.

CoC Graduate Programs Welcome New Staff

Suzette Willingham has joined Student Services working with Barbara Binder (CCB 119) within graduate programs. Suzette has worked at Georgia Tech for 20 years and comes to us from ECE where she was a program coordinator, advising graduate students, approving and applying waivers, processing visa requests for international students, and supporting the associate chair of graduate affairs.

Becky Wilson Is Back!

Master's Program Adviser Becky Wilson has returned from maternity leave and is advising CoC graduate students via email at rebecca.wilson@cc.gatech.edu.

Division News

IIC Faculty & Students Contribute Three Competitive Papers at 2006 UbiComp Conference

The Interactive & Intelligent Computing (IIC) division had 3 papers out of the 30 at this year's International Symposium on Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp '06) which had a competitive acceptance rate of 13%.

"PowerLine Positioning: A Practical Sub-Room-Level Indoor Location System for Domestic Use" by Shwetak N. Patel, Khai N. Truong (Toronto) and Gregory D. Abowd

"Farther Than You May Think: An Empirical Investigation of the Proximity of Users to their Mobile Phones" by Shwetak N. Patel, Julie A. Kientz, Gillian R. Hayes, Sooraj Bhat, and Gregory D. Abowd

"Using Historical Analysis: Looking to the Past When Designing for the Present and Future" by Susan Wyche, Phoebe Sengers (Cornell), and Rebecca E. Grinter

IIC Faculty to Keynote Flairs '07 Conference

Associate Professor Ashwin Ram will be a keynote speaker at the 20th International FLAIRS Conference in cooperation with The American Association for Artificial Intelligence (AAAI). FLAIRS'07 has a special track on Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) which is an Artificial Intelligence problem solving and analysis methodology that retrieves and adapts previous experiences to fit new contexts. Ashwin will join AI researchers and practitioners from around the world with an interest in CBR this May in Key West, Fl.

Strong Show by IIC at CogSci 2006

Several IIC faculty and one student participated in the 28th annual Cognitive Science Society meeting in Vancouver, Canada. The international attendance more than doubled (960) from the last North American meeting two years ago.

Professor of Cognitive Science Nancy Nersessian participated in two symposia- "Laboratory Learning," and "Distributed Cognition in Healthcare." Nancy also participated in her last CogSci governing board meeting after being a board member for six years, and chair in 2003-2004.

Regents' Professor Janet Kolodner participated in an invited symposium called "The Emerging Learning Sciences," including Roy Pea and Mike Cole.

Graduate student Chip Mappus presented a poster based on his research with Associate Professor Ashwin Ram titled "A Synapse Plasticity Model for Conceptual Drift Problems." The poster was published in the refereed proceedings.

IIC Faculty Tapped for Advice in Developing New Cognitive Science Department in Taiwan

Professor Jenn-Yeu Chen, dean of the College of Social Sciences at the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, visited the College of Computing recently to discuss the new Cognitive Science Department he is establishing. Chen is using the college's former program called "Cognition, Design, and Technology" to develop Taiwan's own Cognitive Science program. Chen met with IIC faculty, as well as some experts in the field from Tech's College of Architecture to discuss possible exchanges between faculty and students. The Taiwanese government has committed $55 million toward building such programs within its two leading universities, as well as to promoting international exchange.

CSE associate professor named executive director for high-performance computing

CSE Associate Professor David Bader is the new Executive Director for High-Performance Computing at CoC. This year, Bader has received numerous awards and recognition from IBM, the National Science Foundation, SUN Microsystems, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE), to name a few. His outstanding achievement and importance to the field and to industry continues to be recognized.

CSE Collaborations in Data Analysis & Digital Health

Tom Judd, National Research Director for Kaiser Permanente visited with CSE faculty last month to discuss research collaborations in the area of data analysis and digital health care.

CSS Chair Serves on Noteworthy Committees

CSS Chair Ellen Zegura will serve on the Environmental Research and Education Advisory Committee of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE). Zegura has also joined the Committee of Examiners for the GRE Subject Test in Computer Science for a two-year appointment ending June 30, 2008.

CSS Appoints Mostafa Ammar Associate Chair

The Computing Science & Systems division announced that Regents' Professor Mostafa Ammar will take on the position of Associate Chair for CSS. Among other responsibilities, Ammar will play a key role in faculty workload, including teaching and service assignments, as well as faculty recruitment.

CSS Professor Co-Chairs Workshop at VLDB '06

CSS Professor Sham Navathe co-chaired a one-day workshop, along with Malu Castellanos of Hewlett Packard Labs and Chris Bussler of CISCO in Seoul, Korea last month. Navathe's workshop titled "BIRTE_ Business Intelligence for Real Time Enterprises" was given in conjunction with the 32nd International Conference on Very Large Databases (VLDB '06).

Research Center News

GVU Starts "Geometers"

Professor Jarek Rossignac and Professor Eric Carlen (Math) have started a bi-monthly brown bag Geometry Lunch in an effort to promote interaction between faculty whose research is either focused on or involves Geometry (modeling, creating, analyzing, comparing, segmenting, visualizing, animating, transmitting, curves, surfaces, motions, etc.). The goal is for faculty to help with specific geometry problems, explore collaborations, and join forces for grant proposals.

RIM Welcomes Ben Johnson

Ben Johnson is a recent addition to the Robotics & Intelligent Machines Center at Georgia Tech. Ben is working on electronics integration for Tech's entry in the DARPA Urban Challenge. He is a CoC alumnus, receiving his B.S. in computer engineering in 2005. Ben previously worked with the Human Systems Engineering Branch at GTRI for five years, starting as a co-op student. His interests include embedded systems development, robotics, and reverse engineering.

GTISC Publishes Inaugural Newsletter

The GTISC newsletter, The Password, mailed in September and is planned to be published quarterly. To see the latest Password online, visit the GTISC website here.

CERCS Annual Industry Workshop

CERCS is hosting the 5th annual Industry & University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) Industry Workshop on October 19-20 at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center. This year's keynote speaker is Dr. Raj Yavatkar, Intel Fellow and Director of Intel's Platform Validation Architecture Digital Enterprise Group. Companies and organizations attending the workshop include: AT&T Labs, Cisco, Delta Technology, Georgia Pacific, IBM, Intel, Logicblox, Microsoft, Motorola, Network Appliance, NSF, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TATA Consultancy Services, and Worldspan. For more information, contact Jennifer Chisholm at chisholm@cc.gatech.edu.

Office of Diversity & Communities News

Women@cc Kick-Off

The new Office of Diversity and Community team is off to a great start this year, hosting the Women@CC kick-off last month sponsored by industry partner SAIC. The Women@CC developed 10 CoC Interest Groups to be launched this month by the women's leadership team. The successful event also introduced the new SAIC scholarship and mentorship program for women. For more information on the SAIC opportunities at CoC contact Vickie Suggs at vickie@cc.gatech.edu.

Minorities in Computer Science (MCS) Kick-Off

The Minorities in Computer Science (MCS) student group also hosted their kick-off event, sharing advice and insights with CoC international students and launching their newly developed leadership structure that models corporate "Teams." The four MCS teams include Communications, Social, Academic, and Corporate Relations. MCS encouraged student volunteer participation during the kick-off banquet sponsored by Goldman Sachs, and will host a membership drive on Saturday, October 7th.

Peer Led Team Learning Training Begins

The Office of Diversity and Community has partnered with Professor Monica Sweat for the new Peer Led Team Learning Training, an innovative initiative that encourages development of community while fostering group problem solving in CS 1301 recitations.

CoC Launches Peer to Peer (P2P) Network Mentoring Program

The P2P Network gives first-year CoC students the opportunity to engage and collaborate with upper classmen that serve as peer mentors. Nearly 100 new freshmen students have signed on for this enriching opportunity, as well as over 50 upperclass student mentor volunteers. Be sure to visit the program website for more information.

CoC Hosts National Information Receptions

Giselle Martin hosted a number of area high school college counselors at the Troy–GT game last month. She will also be launching the college's national information receptions in strategically targeted cities across the country. Any interested faculty who will be traveling in the New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, or South Florida areas this fall or spring should contact Giselle at gmartin@cc.gatech.edu as soon as possible.

CISCO Names Internet Generations Scholars

Lawrence Jarvis and Nicholas Marquez are recipients of the Internet Generations Scholarship from CISCO Systems. The CoC Freshmen will each receive an award of $20,000 over four years, and the opportunity for summer internships throughout the course of their funding. CISCO Systems plans to work with the Office of Diversity & Community to select new Freshmen scholarship recipients, increasing by two the number of winners each year until CoC has eight Freshmen who start the program each Fall.

Celebrating Women in Computing

Over 30 CoC women will participate in the annual Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference in San Diego, Ca. The women will also host a reception for prospective female graduate students attending the conference. Many of the CoC students attending will be sponsored by industry partners or anonymous donors.

Women@cc To Be Showcased at National Conference

Georgia Tech will host the annual National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) Bi-Annual Alliance Meetings and the 2nd annual Practices Workshop on November 15-16, 2006. The Women@CC will be launching and showcasing a new messaging strategy centering around the tagline "Inspiration Through Community." For more information contact Maureen Biggers or visit the conference website here.

K-12 Outreach Initiatives

CoC women students are volunteering to teach Lego® Mindstorms during an upcoming Girl Scout weekend camping events called "Daddy and Me" at Misty Mountain in Tennessee.

Twenty-one teachers are scheduled to attend a CoC "Teaching Java Using Multimedia" workshop led by Barb Ericson. Funding from the Toyota Foundation and the Georgia Vocational Staff development consortium helps to support such programs.

CoC students also joined Barb Ericson at a special kick-off event for 50 girls, ages 12-15, who participate in the YMCA's TGI Tech program which focuses on increasing skills in science, math, and technology. A highlight was "Georgia" the CoC dancing robodog!

Office of Development News

New IPA Member GSE Systems, Inc.

The College of Computing welcomes new Industrial Partner Association (IPA) member GSE Systems, Inc., a world leader in real-time simulators and training solutions for the power and process industries. GSE pioneered simulation training with the famous "Blue Box" flight simulator in 1929, and more recently has delivered over 500 simulation and training applications to 200 customers in 30 countries spanning the globe.

Major Corporate Gifts

The College of Computing has received generous contributions this semester from the following corporations: GSE Systems, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, and Microsoft.

Office of Communications News

Threads™ Announced Publicly for the First Time

A press release announcing the launch of Threads was distributed Tuesday, September 26th and inspired several high profile original stories about the program in Information Week, Atlanta Business Chronicle, and Inside Higher Education. Public interest in the program, and CoC's reputation as an educational innovator continues to grow substantially.

Order Official CoC Print Materials for Your Next Presentation

Communications has developed a form for anyone to order the official print collateral for presentations or meetings with people new to the CoC community. What's different? The look is cohesive with the rest of our identity, the packages are printed in-house so they are updateable on the fly—information is always current and the content is customizable based on who you are meeting with—not everyone needs to know about our academics, and others don't need to read in depth about research. You can now deliver the right information, rather than all of the information.

Office of Technology Services News

TSO Prototypes "ThreadSpace"

TSO staff member Cedric Stallworth is helping Threads™ students navigate the college's celebrated program by creating "ThreadSpace," a web-based application that supports students, advisors, administrators, and faculty in making informed decisions regarding the Threads™ curriculum. This summer, efforts focused on analyzing and planning the development of ThreadSpace, and meetings with user groups have since garnered design suggestions. Now that the prototype code is written and some interface designs have been explored, the application will mature as Threads™ grows, and provide CoC with a useful tool to help realize the potential of its innovative new curriculum.

Event Spotlight

Oct. 4

RIM Lecture

(Mike Montemerlo, Stanford )

Oct. 7

Minorities in Computer Science (MCS) Membership Drive

Oct. 10

GTISC Lecture

(Rebecca Blalock, Southern Company)

Oct. 18

RIM Lecture

(Joel Burdick, CalTech)

Oct. 19-20

CERCS Industry Workshop

(Raj Yavatkar, Intel)

Oct. 26

Klaus Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

(2-3pm KACB Courtyard)

Oct. 27

Klaus Open House

(12-3pm KACB Atrium & Courtyard)

Oct. 31

GTISC Lecture

(Tony Spinelli, Equifax)



Numbers and Stats

542

Number of parking spaces available in the three-story deck under the new Klaus Building.

$650K

Total major corporate gifts received by the College of Computing over the past two months.

50%

Amount of green space preserved using environmentally friendly features throughout the Klaus Building's six-acre urban site.



Numbers and Stats
This month various groups at CoC are pursuing partnerships with the following companies:
· Aflac
· Amazon
· BellSouth
· Cisco Systems
· Dell
· Equifax
· Goldman Sachs
· Google
· Harris Corporation
· Internet Security Systems
· Kaiser Permanente
· Lawrence Livermore
· Microsoft
· Northrop Grumman
· Patient Care Technologies
· Royale Institute of Technology
· SAP America
· SAIC
· Southern Company
· SpiDynamics
· Streamcraft Technologies