Recent News & Accomplishments
2024
Professor Matthias Zwicker has been reappointed chair of the University of Maryland’s Department of Computer Science for a four-year term, effective July 1, 2024, following a national search. He has been chair of the department since 2020.
“I am grateful for the leadership Matthias has demonstrated over the past four years and support his vision for his next term,” said Amitabh Varshney, dean of the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences. “His commitment to students and impactful research has helped to further the University of Maryland's position as a Top 10 public university in computer science.” As chair, Zwicker oversees a department that currently ranks 17th in the nation for its graduate program and 18th for its undergraduate program according to U.S. News & World Report. The department runs one of... read more
Atmospheric turbulence—aside from causing bumpy air travel—can also affect aerial imaging systems used for surveillance, astronomy and more. Long-range imaging can be especially difficult, with pictures often ending up distorted and of little use because of the chaotic flow of air between the camera and object being photographed. A University of Maryland expert in machine learning and computational imaging has just received a $360,000 grant from the Army Research Office (ARO) to address this challenge. Christopher Metzler , an assistant professor of computer science with an appointment in the... read more
The Computer Science and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies departments collaborated on a new cross-listed course.
Issues of race and gender have shaped computing since its beginning, now with increasing debate over algorithmic bias, surveillance, data privacy and more. As technology evolves to play a larger role in everyday life, it’s even more important that people understand how technology can reinforce systems of power. This spring semester in a new course cross-listed in the University of Maryland’s Computer Science and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) departments, students examined the relationships between digital technology, power structures and social justice. The idea for the course,... read more
Sandeep Ramesh (B.S. ’22 mathematics; B.S. ’22 computer science) spins a fantasy sports internship into a full-time job at DraftKings.
Sandeep Ramesh (B.S. ’22, mathematics; B.S. ’22, computer science) has gone all-in on three things he’s passionate about: mathematics, computers and sports. But he never imagined he would find a career that combined those things until the summer before his senior year at the University of Maryland, when he landed a summer internship at DraftKings, a Boston-based daily fantasy and sports betting operator. "I don’t think a company like DraftKings was even on my radar if you’d asked me as a freshman or sophomore,” Ramesh said. “The career path in my head was always to go to Big Tech, you know... read more
Laxman Dhulipala , an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Maryland, has been honored with the 2024 Paris Kanellakis Theory and Practice Award. The award, one of the most prestigious given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), recognizes theoretical accomplishments that have had a significant and demonstrable effect on the practice of computing. It honors Paris C. Kanellakis, a computer scientist who died in a plane crash in Colombia in 1995. Dhulipala was part of a team recognized for their contributions to algorithm engineering, including several... read more
An associate professor in the College of Information, Clegg has been at UMD since 2010.
Tamara Clegg has been appointed director of the University of Maryland’s Iribe Initiative for Inclusion and Diversity in Computing (I4C) for a two-year term effective July 1, 2024. Clegg is an associate professor in the College of Information and program director of the Bachelor of Arts degree in technology and information design . “I am very much looking forward to working with Tammy and our outstanding I4C team on fostering an inclusive computing computing at UMD. I4C and its programs provide a crucial support structure for hundreds of students, and Tammy's leadership will make an... read more
After more than six years, Maryland National Guardsman Spc. Djibril Diop (B.S. '24, computer science), a 92Y Supply Specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 175th Infantry Regiment, returned to his native country to provide critical support and help bridge cultural gaps with partner-led training activities in support of exercise African Lion 2024 (AL24). Growing up Diop was born in 1998 and grew up with his mother and father in Saint Louis, a town in northern Senegal. Through his middle and high school years, Diop learned to speak three languages: English, French... read more
Colin Galen, Shayan Chashm Jahan and Cheng-Yuan Lee advance to the ICPC World Finals, which will be held in Kazakhstan in September 2024.
A student team from the University of Maryland's Department of Computer Science has earned a bronze medal at the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) North America Championship (NAC). The contest, held on May 27 and hosted by the University of Central Florida , featured 50 teams from universities across the United States and Canada. The top 17 teams advanced to the World Finals, which will take place in Kazakhstan in September 2024. Graduate student Shayan Chashm Jahan and undergraduate students Colin Galen and Cheng-Yuan Lee represented UMD in the competition. Under the... read more
Rathbun was awarded a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate fellowship for her work in AI and sensor fusion.
Isabelle Rathbun , a computer science Ph.D. student at the University of Maryland, has been awarded a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) fellowship by the Department of Defense for her research in artificial intelligence within the computer vision and sensor fusion domains. Rathbun was one of 165 individuals from 68 institutions nationwide to receive a three-year NDSEG fellowship this year. The NDSEG Fellowship program, established by Congress, aims to increase the number of U.S. citizens earning doctoral degrees in science and engineering fields critical to national... read more
Herath’s research focuses on integrating and utilizing machine learning techniques to enhance and optimize array signal processing for radar applications.
University of Maryland Electrical and Computer Engineering Ph.D. student Sanjaya Herath has been awarded a SMART scholarship from the Department of Defense (DoD) for his research that focuses on integrating machine learning techniques to enhance and optimize array signal processing. Herath, advised by Department of Computer Science Assistant Professor Christopher Metzler , aims to improve radar systems' accuracy and efficiency. The Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Program is part of the DoD’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) portfolio. It... read more