Recent News & Accomplishments
2023
Wordplay is all in a day’s work for the seasoned video game writer
Kyle Orland (B.S. ’04, computer science ; B.A. ’04, journalism) played the computer game Minesweeper anywhere he could find a personal computer as a kid in the ’90s: the computer nook in his middle school’s library, the home office of a friend’s parents and even the computer section of his local Circuit City while his mom shopped. The deceptively simple Microsoft game, which challenges players to click cells without detonating hidden mines, came pre-installed on more than 4 billion personal computers sold between 1992 and 2012. Despite the ubiquity of Minesweeper, Orland said its cultural... read more
The Stanfills named a classroom in the Brendan Iribe Center and made a $3 million estate gift to establish an endowed chair in enterprise computing.
Craig Stanfill (Ph.D. ’83, computer science) discovered he had a knack for programming in high school. After a brief stint as a biochemistry major at Michigan State University—Stanfill described himself as a klutz in the laboratory—he switched his major to math and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1973. To further explore his earlier interests in programming, Stanfill entered the University of Maryland’s computer science graduate program in 1979 to study artificial intelligence under Professor Charles Rieger III. His dissertation focused on knowledge representation, a branch of... read more
Chris Metzler , an assistant professor of computer science and a faculty member in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS) has received seed funding from the Brain and Behavior Institute (BBI) to explore neural synchrony, a phenomenon that occurs when two peoples’ brain activity sync-up as they share a similar experience. Examples of this are musicians performing in a band, co-pilots landing an airplane, or children interacting with their caregivers. Metzler, a co-PI of the award, is studying neural synchrony in the context of the latter, with the goal of... read more
The book, Human-Centered AI, won the computing and information sciences category.
A book authored by Emeritus Professor Ben Shneiderman was recognized by the Association of American Publishers with a prestigious Professional and Scholarly Excellence (PROSE) award . The awards, now in their 47th year, acknowledge books, journals, and digital products of extraordinary merit that make a significant contribution to a field of study. Both the publisher (Oxford University Press) and the author of the book— (Schneiderman)—are now eligible for the R.R Hawkins Award which recognizes an outstanding scholarly work in all disciplines in the arts and sciences. That award is expected to... read more
CS major Clarence Lam helped UMD earn a No. 4 ranking among 456 institutions in one of the most prestigious mathematics contests for undergraduates in North America. CS major Philip Guo also placed in the top 200 individual scores.
On a chilly Saturday in December 2022, 26 University of Maryland undergraduates made their way across campus to a large classroom in the John S. Toll Physics Building. Equipped with only pencils and scrap paper, the group participated in one of the toughest and most preeminent math contests for undergraduates in North America: the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition . Students took the six-hour written Putnam exam in the Physics building on December 3, 2022. Photo courtesy of Roohollah Ebrahimian. The results were announced months later in February and UMD placed fourth—behind only... read more
The University of Maryland recently awarded $30 million to 50 projects through its Grand Challenges Grants Program, an institution-wide initiative to tackle major societal issues. The College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS) received 16 Grand Challenges grants—and UMD CS faculty members are involved in 5 of them. These projects aim to address climate change, human health and disease, artificial intelligence and inclusion in STEM. “I would like to congratulate all our faculty colleagues who are among the recipients of these grand challenges grants. Our colleagues’... read more
A University of Maryland expert in computer vision, machine learning and artificial intelligence will use funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop innovative technologies so that computers can better understand temporal phenomena, the term used to describe observable changes over time. A stronger computational approach in this area is important for observing and interpreting human actions in videos, with the potential to transform applications in broader areas such as security, health and robotics. Abhinav Shrivastava , an assistant professor of computer science with an... read more
Assistant Professor Xiaodi Wu received 2023 Sloan Research Fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. These two-year, $75,000 fellowships are awarded annually to early-career researchers in recognition of distinguished performance and a unique potential to make substantial contributions to their field. "These awards from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation speak to the significance and value of Xiaodi Wu's research and scholarship, which have the potential to truly shape his field," said CMNS Dean Amitabh Varshney . "We are proud to see him honored in this way." Awarded this year to 126 of... read more
Michael Hicks, Samir Khuller and David Mount received the honor, which recognizes the top 1% of Association for Computing Machinery members.
Three faculty members in the University of Maryland’s Department of Computer Science were named Fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). They are among the cohort of 57 members named 2022 ACM Fellows , which recognizes the top 1% of ACM members for their “outstanding accomplishments in computing and information technology and outstanding service to ACM and the larger computing community.” “ACM fellowships are among the most prestigious recognitions awarded only to a very select group of outstanding researchers and leaders in the computing community,” said Department Chair... read more
Break Through Tech organized two career development programs for 111 undergrads in January
For University of Maryland freshman Valerie Yen, interning with Ticketmaster in January 2023 provided a powerful reminder that she has the skills to execute a technical computing project—even on a tight deadline. “When I did the Guild program with Break Through Tech last summer, I was shocked by the quality of the product we were able to put out at the end of the week,” Yen said. “I found the same thing when I did my Sprinternship with Ticketmaster—when I put my mind to it, I can figure it out.” Taking on Business Challenges with Sprinternship™ Launched in January 2022 at UMD, the... read more