NEWS ARCHIVE Fall 2003

Just The Headlines

Kozen Named ACM Fellow Date: Tuesday, December 23, 2003. We are pleased to announce that Professor Dexter Kozen has been chosen as a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). Founded in 1947, ACM is a major force in advancing the skills of information technology professionals and students worldwide. The ACM Fellows Program was established in 1993 to recognize and honor outstanding ACM members for their achievements in computer science and infromation technology and for their significant contributions to the mission of the ACM. The ACM Fellows serve as distinguished colleagues to whom theACM and its members look for guidance and leadership as the world of information technology evolves. Congratulations on this much-deserved honor, Dexter!

Computational Biology Scholarship Awarded Date: Thursday, December 11, 2003. Paul Shafer '05, a CS major in the College of Engineering, is the 2003-04 recipient of the Degenfelder Family Scholarship. Given by Joseph R. ('60) and Dr. Pauline Degenfelder ('61), this special grant recognizes a student in the computational biology concentration. Congratulations to Paul for this fine achievement!

Game Design Initiative Holds Open House Date: Wednesday, December 10, 2003. Projects from Introduction to Computer Game Design , an interdisciplinary, experimental course taught by David Schwartz (CS), Rajmohan Rajagopalan (Math and CS) and Rama Hoetzlein '01 will be showcased in a Game Design Open House on December 10, 2003. Featuring several multi-player networked games, strategy- and arcade-style games, and demonstrations of advanced physics engines, the Open House will be held from 3:30-6:00 PM in 319 Upson Hall. The course, recently highlighted in the Cornell Chronicle, had approximately 50 participants from a variety of fields, including computer science, art, engineering, music, and writing. Teams also included several youth apprentices from The Learning Web in Tompkins County. For more information about the Game Design Initiative and the projects visit the GDIAC site: http://www.cs.cornell.edu/projects/game/2003fa/.

Cornell Team Places First in ACM Contest Date: Wednesday, December 10, 2003. For the third year in a row a Cornell team has placed first in the Greater New York Region ACM Collegiate Programming Contest. Held at the New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury, NY on November 9, 2003 and sponsored by IBM, the annual contest pits teams from schools in portions of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut against eight or more complex problems. This year's Cornell Team included Pet Chean Ang '05, Bill Barksdale '05, and PhD student Xin Qi, with PhD student Martin Pal serving as coach. Information about this year's contest, including the team standings as well as contest problems and solutions can be found on the ACM website: http://www.acmgnyr.org/

Bala Publishes Graphics Book Date: Wednesday, October 15, 2003. Computer Science faculty member Kavita Bala has recently co-authored a book with Philip Dutre and Philippe Bekaert entitled Advanced Global Illumination. Intended for students, researchers, and computer graphics enthusiasts, the text provides the reader with a fundamental understanding of global illumination algorithms. The authors discuss a broad class of algorithms for realistic image synthesis and introduce the theoretical basis for the algorithms presented.

Game Design Project Gains Attention Date: Tuesday, September 30, 2003. The Cornell Daily Sun recently ran a front page article applauding the growing popularity of Professor David Schwartz's CS 490 Game Design Project, in which student design teams exercise both artistic and technical skills to create fully-playable games. Over 40 students are participating in the project, and organizers are working to secure the necessary funding to turn the research into an official course. The project covers technical aspects such as artwork, physics, music and networking, as well as interdisciplinary themes like gaming violence and social impact. Professor Schwartz noted that Cornell is "poised to be a forerunner in this industry. And this year, especially, we have an amazingly skilled group of students." More information can be found in the Cornell Daily Sun article: http://www.cornellsun.com/articles/9282/.

CS Professors Receive NSF Awards Date: Thursday, September 18, 2003. The National Science Foundation has named Professors Thorsten Joachims and Jayavel Shanmugasundaram as recipients of Faculty Early Career Development grants, the NSF's most prestigious award for new faculty members. The awards carry substantial grants to support research. Both professors are currently working on improving tools to search the web. More information on the award and the recipients can be found in the Cornell Chronicle: http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicle/03/9.11.03/NSF_awards.html.

Technology to Supplement Campus Tours Date: Friday, August 29, 2003. A new technology called Campus Aware is currently being tested and may eventually supplement the human tour guides on campus. It consists of a series of palmtop computers connected through a wireless net-work and equipped with GPS technology. The devices provide location-specific information and allow users to leave digital notes as they walk through campus. Campus Aware began as a project within the Human-Computer Interaction Group and was conceived and designed by Nick Farina '02, Jenna Burrell '01, and Kiyo Kubo '02 with the help of Professor Geri Gay. The Cornell Daily Sun feature article can be accessed at: http://www.cornellsun.com/articles/8843/.

Students Win Underwater Vehicle Contest Date: Monday, August 25, 2003. A Cornell student team won the sixth annual Autonomous Underwater Vehicle contest, held Aug. 7-10 in San Diego, CA. Led by faculty advisor Professor Kevin Kornegay, the team successfully built and navigated a computer controlled mini-submarine and ranked first out of twelve teams, bringing home a $7,000 prize. Team members include Vikash Goel '02, David Hinkes '04, and Bryan Silverthorn '05. More details about the win can be found in the Cornell Chronicle article: http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicle/03/8.21.03/sub_contest.html.

CS Student Teaching Java in Bosnia Date: Friday August 22, 2003. Douglas Mitarotonda '02, MEng '03 spent part of his summer in Tuzla, Bosnia on behalf of Engineers Without Frontiers USA (EWF-USA). Mitarotonda was teaching Java programming to adults and university and high school students. He also helped develop a web site that will assist local government, businesses, and nongovernmental organizations.

Engineers Without Frontiers USA (EWF-USA) is a national service organization that partners with developing communities to foster cultural, educational, and technical exchange to build a more sustainable world. EWF-USA was co-founded by Computer Science alum Regina Clewlow '01, ME '02 and Dr. Krishna Athreya, Director of Minority and Women's Programs in Engineering, in 2001.

In 2002 EWF-USA joined with Engineers Without Borders Canada and United Kingdom forming a global partnership. Clewlow now serves as the organization's Executive Director. For more information about EWF-USA see: www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicle/03/8.14.03/EWF.html and www.ewf-usa.org/

Saldana '05 Named Cornell Presidential Research Scholar Date: Monday, August 18 , 2003. Computer Science major Ivan Canales Saldana '05 has been named a Cornell Presidential Research Scholar (CPRS). Designed in honor of the president of Cornell University, this highly competitive program aims to bring the nation's most academically gifted students to Cornell. Open to all students across all academic disciplines, the CPRS program offers each student an opportunity to work with a faculty mentor. Together they design and plan an individualized program of faculty-directed research. In addition, students in CPRS have access to a Research Support Account (RSA) of up to $10,000 to cover expenses incurred from their research, such as wages during the academic year, summer research and living expenses, research-related travel, and supplies. Congratulations Ivan!

Van Loan Wins Advising Award Date: Thursday, July 31, 2003. "I am very pleased to let you know that Charlie Van Loan has been selected to receive the James M. & Marsha D. McCormick Advising Award in recognition of his outstanding performance in advising first-year engineering students. The award will be presented at the Teaching Awards Luncheon on November 6, 2003.

"It is remarkable that the chair of a department as big and complex as Computer Science could win this particular award. Not only is Charlie the CS chair, but he was director of the CS undergraduate program last year and head of recruiting. He also fills in as an associate dean for CIS when needed, and he taught a large course in the fall.

"Charlie, you continue to make us proud. Congratulations!"

Bob Constable, Dean of Computing and Information Science

Gries Named Associate Dean Date: Wednesday, July 17, 2003. Engineering Dean Kent Fuchs announced that Professor David Gries has been appointed to the position of Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs in the College of Engineering, effective June 1, 2003. Professor Gries is a long-time member of the faculty of computer science and has received a number of awards for his contributions to education: the 1994 IEEE Taylor L. Booth Award, the ACM SIGCSE award in 1991, a Cornell Outstanding Educator Award in 1990, the Clark Award from Cornell's College of Arts & Sciences in 1986, and the American Federation of Information Processing Societies' (AFIPS) education award in 1985.

In his new position as Associate Dean, Prof. Gries will be responsible for the leadership of all undergraduate programs in the College of Engineering. The Associate Dean's position also has specific oversight of the Communications and Ethics Programs and works closely with the Assistant Deans, the other Associate Deans, and the Dean in areas related to the undergraduate educational program. Congratulations Professor Gries!

Undergraduate Consulting Awards Date: Tuesday, June 17, 2003. In a ceremony held May 7th, eleven students were honored for their outstanding performance as CS consultants and ugrad TAs. Six seniors were recognized for providing high quality, continuous service (between four and seven semesters each) in specific courses: Osman Ali '03 (CS 100), Shaun Conlon '03 (CS 211), Albert Eskanazi '05 (CS 213), Abhishek Kejriwal'03 (CS 100), Navin Kumar '03 (CS 100), Andrew Marcus '03 (CS 314), and Frances Spalding '03 (CS 312). Daisy Fan nominated Sada Williams '04 for her work in CS 100M, noting that Sada took extra care with her work and was especially mindful of the students' welfare. Dave Schwartz nominated AJ Fink '04, Peter Flynn '04, and Shaun Conlon '03, "The Three Musketeers of the CS 211 staff".  All three ugrad TAs were fundamental to the success of the course.  Finally, Omar Khan '03 was nominated by John Hopcroft for being extremely conscientious and genuinely concerned that CS 381 students learn the course material.  Omar devoted large amounts of time to helping students and was "truly an outstanding ugrad TA". Congratulations and thanks to all for their dedicated support of CS courses!

Graduation Awards 2003 Date: Monday, June 2, 2003. Senior awards were presented as part of the Computer Science Class of 2003 commencement ceremony on Hoy Field on May 25, 2003. Robin Ghi-Hao Lim '03 and Praveen Sethupathy '03 were the recipients of the Jonathan E. Marx Senior Prize, awarded annually for demonstrated leadership, service, and extra-curricular activity. The Alan S. Marx Memorial Prize for Excellence Supporting Undergraduate Education was awarded to Benjamin T. Mathew '03, recognizing his efforts as a consultant and TA for CS 100. The Computer Science Prize for Academic Excellence, given by the CS faculty, was awarded to Omar Habib Khan '03.

 

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