Home - 2008 News

Computing Professor Honored by the White House

College of Computing — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:41:22 -0500

Assistant Professor Nick Feamster has been recognized as one of the nation’s top young scientists with a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). The ceremony was held today at the White House. Source: Georgia Tech Communications and Marketing

Robot Babysitters Pose Dilemmas

College of Computing — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 09:42:48 -0500

Babysitting robots, once the province of futuristic fiction, are on the market. They make conversation, recognize faces and keep track of kids. But some researchers worry kids could be harmed. Roboticist Ronald Arkin says, "This stuff absolutely warrants further study." Source: Wired

Newest Threats to Cyber Security Difficult to Fight

College of Computing — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:15:22 -0500

Computer Science Assistant Professor Jonathon Giffin says the greatest danger to Internet security today are bots and botnets, which have infiltrated up to 15 percent of all computers linked to the Internet. The worst part? It's difficult for individual computer users to protect themselves. Source: Minnesota Public Radio

Manycore Center Is Building Hardware Today for Tomorrow’s Challenges

College of Computing — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 09:59:33 -0500

Georgia Tech’s Center for Manycore Computing has been named one of “10 really cool university networking labs.” Director Tom Conte says, “We're shrinking the technology that made the Internet possible and implementing it inside a single microchip.” Source: Network World

Botnets Are Number 1 Internet Security Threat

College of Computing — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 09:47:37 -0500

The Georgia Tech Information Security Center estimates that 15 percent of online computers worldwide are part of botnets: millions of computers infected with malicious code that lets attackers turn them into "zombies" for their own evil electronic deeds. That's up from 10 percent a year ago. Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education

Entrepreneurial Alumnus Cashes Out Just in Time

College of Computing — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:02:21 -0500

Ali Suleman, who graduated in 2003 with a bachelor’s in computer science, founded a company last year called Esgut—a portfolio of Facebook applications—that became a genuine viral hit. In April, he sold the company to the Social Gaming Network for seven figures. Source: cnn.com

Computing for Good: Web Technology to Solve Human Problems

College of Computing — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:41:21 -0500

A course called Computing for Good gave two Ph.D. candidates the opportunity to solve a life-or-death problem: monitoring the safety of blood supplies in African nations ravaged by HIV and AIDS. Source: Network World

Student Helps Bloggers Overcome Writer’s Block

College of Computing — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:20:59 -0500

Atlanta (December 9, 2008) —If you write a blog and haven’t been to Skribit (skribit.com) perhaps it’s just a matter of time. Paul Stamatiou created the service as a tool to help cure blogger’s block (writer’s block for bloggers) a little over a year ago, and already it gets about 4 million hits per month from the more than 4,000 blogs using it. Source: GT Communications and Marketing

Georgia Tech, CDC Develop Web-Based Tool to Boost Safety of African and Caribbean Blood Supply

College of Computing — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 08:52:15 -0500

ATLANTA – December 9, 2008 – The Georgia Tech College of Computing, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has developed a Web-based tool for tracking blood safety. The tool is expected to help developing countries improve the adequacy and safety of their national blood supplies through better monitoring and evaluation. Source: Office of Communications

Thieves Winning Online War, Maybe in Your PC

College of Computing — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 13:34:31 -0500

Researchers at the Georgia Tech Information Security Center reported that the percentage of online computers worldwide infected by botnets is likely to increase to 15 percent by the end of this year, from 10 percent in 2007. Source: New York Times

Helper Robot Gets In-Home Testing

College of Computing — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:04:41 -0500

A Marietta artist and others with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, are testing a helper robot developed by robotics researcher Charles Kemp. Source: CNN

The Ethics of Programming Robots for War

College of Computing — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:31:42 -0500

Professor Ron C. Arkin says it’s time to focus on aspects other the efficiency and safety of soldier robots, such as programming them to comply with the Laws of War and the Rules of Engagement. Source: The Takeaway

Can Robots Be More Ethical Than Soldiers?

College of Computing — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 09:37:01 -0500

Computing Professor Ronald C. Arkin, who designs software for battlefield robots, says that “intelligent robots can behave more ethically in the battlefield than humans currently can.” Source: New York Times

Georgia Tech Ranked 8th Worldwide for IT

College of Computing — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:17:53 -0500

U.S. News & World Report ranked Georgia Tech 8th in the world for engineering and information technology programs. Source: U.S. News and World Report

Robotics Researcher Makes Arctic Exploration Safer

College of Computing — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:14:13 -0500

Associate professor Ayanna Howard of the Robotics and Intelligent Machines Center helped build robots that someday will gather weather and climate data from remote parts of the Arctic and Antarctic that are too dangerous for scientists to traverse. Source: USA Today