Cui Tao, Recent Computer Science PhD Grad, Named Computing Innovation Fellow
Dr. Cui Tao has been named Computing Innovation Fellow (CIFellow) by the Computing Research Association (CRA) and the Computing Community Consortium (CCC).
The joint CRA/CCC CIFellow program, funded by the National Science Foundation, awards excellent PhD graduates in computer science and related fields. The award supports research and teaching for 1-2 years. In fact, the total award is approximately $140,000 including stipend, benefits, travel and other research costs. This award is highly competitive. The program received more than 900 applications in 2009 and selected only 60 outstanding awardees.
Cui defended her PhD dissertation at BYU in December 2008 and officially received her PhD in Computer Science in April 2009. During her graduate study at BYU, she worked as a research assistant in the Data Extraction research group under the supervision of her advisor, Dr. David Embley. In January 2009, Cui joined Mayo Clinic, Division of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics, as a research associate. She is working with Dr. Christopher Chute on biomedical ontologies and terminologies.
Cui’s proposed work focuses on using ontologies and semantic web technologies in the biomedical domain. She will develop methods and tools to automate searching processes in biomedical research. She proposed an ontology-based approach that can annotate, query, and extract information based on user requests. More specifically, she wants to accomplish these aims: (1) develop a Description Logic-based formal model for representing search criteria; (2) develop domain ontologies to model information of interest; (3) automatically transfer or capture user-defined criteria in computable rules and queries; (4) annotate the heterogeneous source information with respect to ontologies; and (5) execute the rules and queries to retrieve information from different sources and present it in the manner users want.
Congratulations to Cui for receiving this prestigious computer science award.
moreKendell Clement receives Fulbright Scholarship and is accepted into MIT-Harvard
Kendell Clement will be going to Germany as a participant in the Fulbright program. He plans to work in the computational sciences laboratory of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin while taking graduate classes on bioinformatics at the Freie Universität in Berlin. Although he is not exactly sure what research he will be involved in, he hopes it will be a good experience and give him exposure to interesting research topics in bioinformatics. He will be in Berlin from September 2009 until July 2010.
Upon returning, Kendell has been admitted to the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology graduate program. He will be joining the Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics (BIG) PhD Training Program.
Kendell is very excited about the Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics program. He said, “When I went out to Boston for interviews, I felt relatively underqualified because it seemed as if most of the other interviewees had some sort of post-undergraduate experience like working at a biotech company or having earned a masters degree. As I talked to the professors and other students, and visited the research labs, I knew that I wanted to be a part of the research there. As the result of certain divine intervention, I was admitted into the program as one of seven BIG class members for 2009.”
After receiving notification of the Fulbright Scholarship offer earlier this year, Kendell was granted deferment of matriculation in the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology graduate program until the fall of 2010.
Kendell said, “I am grateful for the help and support of my professors and classmates, as well as the great research opportunities provided by BYU and the CS department that have contributed to my qualification for these opportunities.”
moreBYU animations bring home Student Academy Awards
Brigham Young University's latest animated shorts, "Pajama Gladiator," which was finished in 2008, and "Kites," which was completed in 2009, have won student Academy Awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In the 36th Student Academy Awards® (2009) competition, "Pajama Gladiator" was awarded the Gold Medal in the Animation category, with "Kites" bringing home the Bronze Medal in the same category.
Twelve films submitted by eight U.S. universities were recognized with the prestigious award at the 36th Annual Student Academy Awards competition, held on Monday, May 18, 2009. Three of the twelve lauded films fell into the Animation category, and two of those were from BYU.
Two computer science students in particularmade significant contributions to the lastest award-winning films. Cory Reimschussel, a masters student in the Computer Science Departmentused technology developed in Dr. Mike Jones' Computer Generated NaturalPhenomenon Laboratory to create the clouds in "Kites." Daniel Adams, adoctoral candidate in the department used machine learning techniquesto create the crowds in the "Pajama Gladiator" arena.
In addition to the awards announced this weekend, "Pajama Gladiator" and Kites also took home two of the three Animated Student Emmy's given out this year. And, in 2008, "Pajama Gladiator" beat out more than 4,500 other submitted filmsto take home the Viewers' Choice and Producers' Choice Awards at the2008 Nicktoons Network Animation Festival.Ed Catmull, president of Pixar, declared BYU students "the best in the industry" at a press conference on campus last year.
"Overthe years, Pixar has worked with a lot of different universities aroundthe country and hired people," Catmull said then. "One of theinteresting things is, all of a sudden, in the last few years, we foundthat BYU has risen to the top. BYU has an extraordinary program here."
To watch "Pajama Gladiator," go here.
To watch a clip from "Kites," go here.
For the official press release from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, follow this link.
See details of the awards at the Academy's site.
For information about the BYU Computer Science Animation Emphasis, contact Kiersten Nielsen or visit the program site at http://cs.byu.edu/animation
moreBYU CS professor addresses students in conference for female victims of pornography
Women's Services and Resources hosted a series of lectures discussing the influences of pornography on Feb. 3. The first Cyber Secrets Conference since 2003, "Cyber Secrets- Out of Site, Out of Mind: A Journey Back from Pornography's Power," featured several professors and counselors speaking about various issues relating to pornography, including Dr. Charles Knutson of the BYU Computer Science Department. Dr. Knutson's address was titled, "Technical Survival in the Facebook Generation."
"The Internet is here to stay," Knutson said. "It will continue to permeate every aspect of our society." Knutson discussed the costs and benefits of technology. All technological advancements in the history of the world have application for good and evil, and the same is true of the Internet, Knutson said. Knutson also said the Internet is a weird and amazing juxtaposition between extremely worthy pursuits and extremely evil ones. "The very same cables carrying curriculum materials from the church are carrying pornography," he said.
Knutson gave the example of his son filling out his mission papers, while just a few keystrokes away was pornography. There is no simple solution, though, Knutson said. "If you're shopping for the perfect solution, you can't buy it," he said. "Killing the electricity is not going to get rid of the problem," he said. "But there are tools to help protect from pornography." "Technology-driven pornography is aggressive," he said. "Proactive approaches to protecting ourselves and our homes are a must."
Knutson suggested college students to get a filter on their own computers. He also said students might consider giving a protective password to a roommate or friend to help each other protect against pornography.
Those interested in internet safety may visit Knutson's podcast Web site at internetsafetypodcast.com. BYU students can also become involved in the fight against pornography by joining the BYU chapter of Communities for Decency (university@communitiesfordecency.org), a student club for which Dr. Knutson is the faculty advisor.
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