Recent News & Accomplishments
2023
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
Saket Navlakha (Ph.D. ’10, computer science) finds his research inspiration at the intersection of biology and computer science
For years, Saket Navlakha (Ph.D. ’10, computer science) has been fascinated by biological processes in nature. But when he looks at a plant or an ant or even a fruit fly, he sees much more than biology. As a computer scientist, he also sees the potential to discover new algorithms. “All of biology, I view it as one big computer,” explained Navlakha, an associate professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York. “It’s not like the computers that we use every day, but it’s fundamentally computation and problem-solving. And everything I see is sort of tilted by that lens now.” In his... read more
Mohammad Hajiaghayi and Dana Nau received one of the most distinguished honors within the scientific community.
Two professors in the department of Computer Science were named 2022 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS): Mohammad Hajiaghayi Dana Nau “I join the CMNS community in congratulating Professors Hajiaghayi and Nau on their well-deserved election as AAAS Fellows,” said CMNS Dean Amitabh Varshney. “This is an affirmation of what we already know—that they are each pushing the boundaries in their respective fields and making a significant impact on the grand challenges our society faces today.” UMD’s 2022 Fellows, seven in total, join a class of 506 new Fellows... read more
Christopher Metzler to study the neural mechanisms that support toddlers’ learning as they interact with caregivers.
A focus on healthy development and aging unite the projects awarded seed grant funding for 2023 by the University of Maryland’s Brain and Behavior Institute (BBI). Inspired by cutting-edge technologies at UMD and BBI core facilities, the 2023 seed grant recipients take on such disorders as autism, anxiety, Alzheimer’s disease, hearing loss, caregiver-child communication, and familial dysautonomia—a rare but fatal neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorder. The investigators on the six interdisciplinary teams hail from 13 departments, centers and institutes across five UMD colleges,... read more
Professorship funded by a $1 million gift from IonQ and matched by $1 million from the Maryland Department of Commerce.
The article has been republished from CMNS webpage. The University of Maryland’s College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS) will establish the IonQ Professorship with a $1 million gift from IonQ (NYSE: IONQ), an industry leader in quantum computing. IonQ’s gift is being matched by $1 million through the Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative (MEI), a state program created to spur basic and applied research in scientific and technical fields at the state’s colleges and universities. The IonQ Professorship will be held by a faculty member in either the Department of Physics or the... read more