Two Graduate Students Awarded UMD’s Summer Research Fellowship

The University of Maryland’s Graduate School has announced Department of Computer Science graduate students Pooja Guhan and Kyungyeon Lee as recipients of this year’s Summer Research Fellowship, an award designed to bolster doctoral students' research endeavors during the summer. Each student will receive a $5,000 stipend to support their projects, underscoring the university’s commitment to fostering academic research and innovation. The fellowship aims to advance doctoral students' progress toward their degrees.

The research focuses of the awardees are:

Pooja Guhan

​​Pooja Guhan is a Ph.D. candidate advised by Distinguished University Professor Dinesh Manocha. Guhan’s research focuses on refining and improving the video editing process through artificial intelligence. Her work aims to make video editing more accessible and efficient, thereby enhancing the creativity of content creators. This is particularly relevant in meeting the increasing demands of visual storytelling in the digital era. Guhan's research includes a comprehensive exploration of the role of camera movements in video editing. 

"Receiving the summer research fellowship fills me with a deep sense of honor and gratitude," Guhan said. "The excitement and motivation I feel for the journey ahead in my PhD are beyond words. I am truly thankful to my advisor, Professor Dinesh Manocha, and my collaborators for their unwavering guidance and support. With this fellowship, I eagerly anticipate a profoundly rewarding summer ahead."

Guhan has also collaborated with Dolby to examine various video production styles, such as documentaries, dramas, vlogs and feature films. This cooperation seeks to understand how different video editing elements, including cuts, transition effects and shot sequencing, contribute to achieving a specific production style. Guhan's research and collaboration with Dolby are part of her broader effort to contribute to the evolution of video editing through the integration of advanced AI technologies.

Kyungyeon Lee

Kyungyeon Lee is a Ph.D. candidate advised by Assistant Professor Jun Nishida. Lee’s research focuses on motor skill acquisition, integrating subjective elements such as personal agency and confidence into the development of these skills. Her objective is to identify effective methods for enhancing motor skill performance.

“Receiving this research fellowship is a great honor, as it allows me to continue and fully commit to my project during the summer,” Lee said. “I am deeply grateful for the support from UMD’s Ph.D. community. I would also like to mention my advisor, Dr. Nishida, and my EMD lab mates for their continuous feedback and support.” 

Lee is developing wearable devices with various modalities and a personalization model. This model aims to incorporate individual subjectivity factors to provide tailored user feedback. Her research seeks to optimize the acquisition of motor skills by considering each individual's unique characteristics and preferences.

—Story by Samuel Malede Zewdu, CS Communications