Recent News & Accomplishments
2014
The University of Maryland announced today it received a five-year, $425,000 gift from the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) Bethesda Chapter to support undergraduate student scholarships and an outreach program that encourages middle school students from underrepresented groups to explore computer science. AFCEA Bethesda also contributed a total of $550,000 to four other local educational institutions to create a pathway for local elementary through high school students interested in pursuing a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)... read more
In his Fall 2014 Video Message , University President Wallace Loh took time to highlight the record $34 million in donations by Brendan Iribe, Michael Antonov and Elizabeth Iribe to establish the Brendan Iribe Center for Computer Science and Innovation , as well as other generous donations of $4 million to establish the Elizabeth Iribe Chair in Computer Science, another endowed professorship as well as several scholarships. President Loh's mention of the Center starts at the 1:17 mark. read more
Ben Shneiderman 's treemap art project Every Algorithm has Art in It will be a featured exhibition at the National Academies Keck Center in Washington, DC. The opening night, October 16th, will feature panelists on the subject of Technology and Creativity , including Jon Froehlich, who will talk about wearable technologies. When asked about Shneiderman's work, Froehlich observes that "Ben's Treemap algorithm is a type of "space-filling" visualization that cleverly uses proportionally sized rectangles to reveal relationships in hierarchical data. Originally developed for visualizing hard drive... read more
Jon Froehlich ’s Hackerspace , located in HCIL , is the subject of a photo spread on Terp Magazine online . The photographs capture the camaraderie and excitement that takes place in hacker and makerspaces; they also capture the innovative projects that Froehlich undertakes with his graduate and undergraduate students. One of Froehlich’s students, Leyla Nooroz , currently a PhD student in the iSchool, is working on wearable technology that is also currently featured in Terp Magazine as well. In her photograph which starts the article, she wears a project she developed—a t-shirt within moving... read more
Oculus VR CEO Brendan Iribe appeared on Bloomberg West to discuss his recent donation to the University , his vision for the Iribe Center, and the future of consumer virtual reality. Iribe described his motivation behind his recent $31 million donation to construct a new Computer Science building and provided his thoughts on recent efforts by several major corporations - including Samsung and Sony - to develop consumer-grade virtual reality devices. read more
Students and Companies meet and network
On Thursday Sept. 18, 2014, The Department of Computer Science hosted its 10 th bi-annual Computer Science Department Career and Internship Fair at the XFinity Center, the largest venue for the event yet. Representatives from 122 companies, including corporate partners, attended the fair in hopes of attracting students for internships and full-time positions. The diverse companies in attendance included start-ups, government agencies, mid-size tech companies in financial, environmental, and security industries, as well as tech giants. Many representatives from the companies were alumni from... read more
The Corporate Partners in Computing Program, jointly supported by the Department of Computer Science and the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS) has experienced tremendous growth over the past six months. The program has reached current capacity with twenty five members including the addition of our newest partners: Leidos, Adobe India, Capital One, AQR Capital Management, and NSA. Partners have engaged in a variety of department events this semester including the Daemon Dash Hackathon, CS Career and Internship Fair, Resume Workshop, and Technical Interview... read more
The University of Maryland will receive $30,000 per year for three years to support efforts to increase the number of women and students of color who major in computer science. UMD is one of 15 universities that will be supported by the Building Recruiting And Inclusion for Diversity (BRAID) initiative led by the Anita Borg Institute and Harvey Mudd College. The initiative—which is funded by Facebook, Google, Intel and Microsoft—was announced on Sept. 24, 2014 by Hillary Clinton as part of a Clinton Global Initiative commitment that supports programs for women and girls. Lack of diversity in... read more
The Department of Computer Science hosted its third annual Daemon Dash Hackathon from September 13-14, 2014. Approximately 100 undergraduate students from a variety of majors including Computer Science, Engineering, Biology, and Math spent twenty-four hours building software projects around the theme of sustainability--echoing the University’s commitment to a greener future. The Daemon Dash Hackathon’s opening ceremony on Saturday afternoon included an address from Oculus VR co-founder, Brendan Iribe, as well as visits from his co-founder Michael Antonov, and Professor Samir... read more
The Department is pleased to announce that Brendan Iribe and Michael Antonov have contributed greatly to our future with a combined gift of $38 million to build The Iribe Center for Computer Science and Innovation. read more