Dean's Dispatch: Nov. 10, 2026

Dear College of Computing Community, 

I am delighted to announce the College’s inaugural Entrepreneurship Week! We have three exciting events planned this week, and I encourage everyone to attend and participate:

• Fireside Chat with Candace Mitchell — Today (Nov. 10), 6–8 p.m., Klaus 1116 E/W. Join us this evening for a conversation with Candace Mitchell (CS 2011), founder and CEO of MYAVANA, a company that uses AI to deliver personalized hair care solutions.
• Startup Meetup — Thursday, November 12, 6–9 p.m. Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center, Rooms 4–6. This event will bring together Georgia Tech students and alumni, startup founders, investors, and members of Atlanta’s entrepreneurial ecosystem for an evening of networking and exchanging ideas.
• Founders Friday — Friday, November 13, 3–4:30 p.m., Klaus Atrium. Hear from Seth Lytle (IE 2003), founder, and Christian Doetsch (CS ’203), VP of Technology, at VinoBarrel, a company developing technology-enabled wine dispensing systems.

Entrepreneurship Week is an exciting addition to our ongoing efforts to expose students to entrepreneurial thinking and opportunities, building on ongoing initiatives such as CREATE-X and the Klaus Startup Challenge. I believe that developing an entrepreneurial mindset can benefit all our students, regardless of what career path they choose. I look forward to expanding these opportunities and making entrepreneurship an even more integral part of the College of Computing experience in the future, both for our on-campus and our online students.

And now, on to more good news from across the College, as always: 

• Ahmed Saeed, Anand Iyer, and Kexin Rong (SCS) each received a 2026 Google ML and Systems Junior Faculty Award, recognizing promising researchers working at the intersection of machine learning and computer infrastructure. Congratulations to all three on this well-deserved recognition. Thank you for advancing research in this important area!
• AlbertoDainotti (SCS) received a Test of Time Award at the ACM Internet Measurement Conference (IMC 2026) for his 2011 paper, Analysis of Country-wide Internet Outages Caused by Censorship. The award recognizes the paper “for pioneering the measurement and characterization of country-wide internet shutdowns, establishing methodologies that have enabled sustained research and operational monitoring of Internet outages and censorship worldwide.” Congratulations, Alberto, on the lasting impact of your foundational research!
• NathanielSwinger, Myeonghan Ryu, Cynthia M. Baseman, Kefan Xu, and Andrew M. Sherrill (all Ph.D. IC), and Rosa Arriaga (IC), received a Best Paper Award at CSCW 2026 for their paper, Postphenomenological Insights from an In-the-Wild Collective Sensing System Deployment for PTSD Therapy. Their research involved developing an app for Fitbit devices to collect real-time data from patients undergoing exposure therapy for PTSD. Congratulations to the entire team on this recognition and thank you for demonstrating how computing research can make a meaningful difference in people’s lives!
• KarmeshYadav (Ph.D. IC), Yusuf Ali (Ph.D. IC), and ZsoltKira (IC) were featured in TechXplore for their work developing a benchmark to evaluate the memory capabilities of vision-language models. Their research has important implications for improving the reliability of in-home assistive robots. Congratulations to all and thank you for advancing this promising area of AI research!
• FisayoOmojokun (SCI) was interviewed by Dice about the growing importance of strong computing fundamentals in the age of AI. Fisayo highlighted how programmers’ roles are evolving beyond writing code to include auditing, critical evaluation, and oversight of AI-generated software. Thank you, Fisayo, for helping articulate why foundational computing knowledge remains essential even as AI transforms the profession!
• VeronicaRivera (SCP) spoke with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette about the use of personal information by AI agents. Thank you, Veronica, for sharing your expertise on this increasingly important issue at the intersection of AI and privacy!
• PeterSwire (SCP) was interviewed by The Globe and Mail about a brief he co-authored for the Canadian Senate concerning proposed legislation that would require electronic service providers to enable law enforcement surveillance and monitoring. Thank you, Peter, for contributing your expertise to this important debate about privacy and government access to information!
• AnnieAntón (IC) was interviewed twice by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in her role as Georgia Tech’s representative on the University System of Georgia Faculty Council. The interviews addressed President Cabrera’s departure and the selection of Thomas A. Fanning as the system’s new chancellor. Thank you, Annie, for representing the faculty perspective and contributing to public discussions on these important leadership transitions!

Best regards,

Vivek