Category Archives: Computer Science
New Ph.D. wants the next generation to pick up the quantum story – Harvard Gazette
This is one in a series of profiles showcasing some of Harvards stellar graduates.
I am very interested in other peoples stories, said Sukin Hannah Sim. She loves to read historical fiction (recently, Pachinko), almost majored in history (a subject built on stories), and dove into quantum computing after reading a magazine article about the mysterious new field.
Even when Im 60 or 70, Ill only have learned a very little percentage of what there is in life and the universe, Sim said.Theres so much that I dont know, but thats also whats beautiful, right?
Sim, who earned her Ph.D. in chemical physics from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, chose a field rife with the unknown. She develops algorithms and writes software, the complex computational stories that dictate how quantum computers tackle problems such as how to design more secure encryption or bespoke molecules faster than any classical computer.
But in a field full of mystery, Sim is wary of quantum computer scientists hoarding information in their heads or releasing it to only a limited audience. So, while she writes pivotal algorithms, she also pens articles for the public, sharing her knowledge through open-source software codes, podcasts, and YouTube, and mentoring high school students to make sure the next generation of thinkers can continue writing the quantum story where she and others leave off.
Otherwise, Sim said, the knowledge is stuck with you.
Growing up in South Korea, Sim spent more time exploring than reading assigned books or finishing homework. She especially loved building with Lego blocks the origin, she said, of her curiosity about science and complex construction.
Then, when Sim was 8 years old, she and her family moved to Acton, a suburb of Massachusetts, and built a life far from any extended family. Bonded through their shared immigrant experience (Sim often acted as a translator for her mother, who spoke little English), the family grew even closer. (Today, the Sims pandemic pastime is exploring western Massachusetts trails with their little chiweenie named Louie).
By high school, Sim was already attracted to science, especially the relatively new mashup of chemistry and computer science called computational chemistry. As an undergraduate at Wellesley College, she nearly chose to major in history but was more attracted to another kind of power, one that exerts an invisible influence over absolutely everything on Earth: quantum mechanics.
In 2015, during her senior year at Wellesley, Sim heard Aln Aspuru-Guzik, then a professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard, give a talk about his work in quantum computing and machine learning. Sim gushed over his research and, when Aspuru-Guzik invited her to join a lab meeting, she jumped at the opportunity. Later that fall, she joined Harvard and his team.
The transition wasnt easy. Imposter syndrome nagged Sim and, even a year and a half ago, graduation seemed like a hazy hope. But Aspuru-Guzik helped: He told her stories from when he, too, felt like an imposter. She realized that sharing her story with family, friends, her mentor and listening to their stories was critical. Her Ph.D., she said, taught her to prioritize her life.
Science is important but, at the end of the day, so is mental health, Sim said.
In the Aspuru-Guzik lab, Sim worked with another mentor, postdoctoral scholar Peter Johnson, to build a mathematical method to describe particular types of so-called quantum circuits, a set of instructions to manipulate qubits, the basic unit of information in a quantum computer. Johnson, a mathematical physicist, taught Sim the math needed to create their method, and together they published a seminal paper on their findings.
Someone like Peter, for me, was a huge help, Sim said. Now, she hopes to continue what she sees as a flow of mentorship, by guiding those behind her, especially those underrepresented in STEM fields. Recently, she mentored two high school girls who already see quantum mechanics in their future. Shes also had female undergraduate and graduate students in STEM reach out to her for advice. I dont have all the answers, she admits to them; instead, her goal is to make sure they feel like this is a choice that they have; they can enter this field. Theyre qualified.
In mid-April, right after graduating, Sim joined Zapata Computing, a startup founded by a team including two of her mentors, Aspuru-Guzik and Johnson. As a research scientist, shell continue to work on improving algorithms for early stage quantum computers and she hopes to one day help deliver quantum computers their quantum advantage, the pivotal moment when quantum computers will eclipse the classical in both speed and accuracy for certain tasks.
But to get there, Sim said, You need a quantum computer with tens of thousands or even millions of quantum bits (or qubits). Today, one of the best computers has on the order of 100 qubits. In the meantime, she plans to work to get the most of out of current noisy quantum computers. This could still be useful in accelerating the design of new chemicals, materials, and drugs.
Even quantum scientists dont fully understand quantum mechanics yet, which makes translation all the more difficult. Encouraged by Aspuru-Guzik, Sim has worked hard to spread the quantum story: She participated in a TalkPython podcast, shared her quantum origin story in a YouTube series called SuperPosition, and posted an article on Medium to discuss variational quantum algorithms with the general public.
At home, she can talk some shop with her father, who designs computer processors (for classical computers), and her younger sister, a computer scientist.
Scientists have this reputation of overwhelming conversations with formulas and equations and everyones like, OK, youre smart. I get that, Sim said. I want to help break that stereotype. Science is like history. And like any good historian, Sim knows how to tell a good story.
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New Ph.D. wants the next generation to pick up the quantum story - Harvard Gazette
For Danilek ’21, a "Comp. Sci. Class that Changed Everything" – Hamilton College News
Roger Danilek 21 arrived on the Hill knowing he wanted to pursue either engineering or physics. Then, he took a computer science class and that changed everything.
The incoming Red Hat associate consultant will be based in Chicago. But when the COVID-19 pandemic ends, Danilek will travel around the country, visiting client companies and helping teams develop their software.
Danilek had taken an introductory computer science course in high school but had not been particularly drawn to it, so thought about exploring physics and engineering in college. But his older brother, who now works as a software engineer, had loved computer science since high school, so he thought he would take a course at Hamilton.
Turns out, I liked it a lot more than physics or engineering, so I decided to stick with it, Danilek said.
The computer science and math double major had two internships in software development under his belt by his senior year. He feels that those internships provided him with a good foundation for entering the field. But when looking for post-graduate career opportunities, Danilek wanted something more.
For my full-time job, I was hoping that Id find something related to software development and engineering, but a little different, Danilek said. Something more people-facing, a little more interaction, so its not just coding all day. I was very excited when a Hamilton alum reached out to the Computer Science Department here and asked if anyone would be interested in a consultant program.
The program at Red Hat provides intensive training, and employees become certified to be system administrators. Marc Petrivelli 01, managing architect at Red Hat, met with Danilek to discuss opportunities at the company.
The fact that he would go out on a limb says a lot about Hamilton connections. He was willing to give time and meet with me and my friend and recommend us; it was a huge deal, said Danilek, who was also impressed with Red Hats culture. Usually, at these companies [since Red Hat is a completely software-based company], its very technical, but there was a nice amount of social interaction, which was great.
Danilek works on campus as a computer science teaching assistant and a physics QSR tutor. Although his concentrations are STEM subjects, his courses at Hamilton have been communication-based, and he feels that this has prepared him well for his future work.
In most classes in the Computer Science Department, youre working with other people, and I think this job will be a lot of working with other people to solve issues, Danilek said. My senior seminar for math was oral presentation based. We basically taught the classes to our peers, which was really fun. So, something like that, explaining really technical stuff to other people, will come in handy.
Danilek is unsure of what his long-term career goals are, but he might want to explore management.
Computer science, for me something about it just really clicks, Danilek said. Its basically like youre solving puzzles, and sometimes its really, really frustrating, and I completely understand people who hate it, because youre grinding away at silly little details. But at the same time, when you finally get it, its really rewarding and you have this really cool product. You can make almost anything with computer science. There are lots of possibilities.
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For Danilek '21, a "Comp. Sci. Class that Changed Everything" - Hamilton College News
Helping students of all ages flourish in the era of artificial intelligence MIT Media Lab – MIT Media Lab
By Daniel Ackerman|MIT News Office
A new cross-disciplinary research initiative at MIT aims to promote the understanding and use of AI across all segments of society. The effort, called Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education (RAISE), will develop new teaching approaches and tools to engage learners in settings from preK-12 to the workforce.
People are using AI every day in our workplaces and our private lives. Its in our apps, devices, social media, and more. Its shaping the global economy, our institutions, and ourselves. Being digitally literate is no longer enough. People need to be AI-literate to understand the responsible use of AI and create things with it at individual, community, and societal levels, says RAISE Director Cynthia Breazeal, a professor of media arts and sciences at MIT.
But right now, if you want to learn about AI to make AI-powered applications, you pretty much need to have a college degree in computer science or related topic, Breazeal adds. The educational barrier is still pretty high. The vision of this initiative is: AI for everyone else with an emphasis on equity, access, and responsible empowerment.
Headquartered in the MIT Media Lab, RAISE is a collaboration with the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing and MIT Open Learning. The initiative will engage in research coupled with education and outreach efforts to advance new knowledge and innovative technologies to support how diverse people learn about AI as well as how AI can help to better support human learning. Through Open Learning and the Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab (J-WEL), RAISE will also extend its reach into a global network where equity and justice are key.
The initiative draws on MITs history as both a birthplace of AI technology and a leader in AI pedagogy. MIT already excels at undergraduate and graduate AI education, says Breazeal, who heads the Media Labs Personal Robots group and is an associate director of the Media Lab. Now were building on those successes. Were saying we can take a leadership role in educational research, the science of learning, and technological innovation to broaden AI education and empower society writ large to shape our future with AI.
In addition to Breazeal, RAISE co-directors are Hal Abelson, professor of computer science and education; Eric Klopfer, professor and director of the Scheller Teacher Education Program; and Hae Won Park, a research scientist at the Media Lab. Other principal leaders include Professor Sanjay Sarma, vice president for open learning. RAISE draws additional participation from dozens of faculty, staff, and students across the Institute.
In todays rapidly changing economic and technological landscape, a core challenge nationally and globally is to improve the effectiveness, availability, and equity of preK-12 education, community college, and workforce development. AI offers tremendous promise for new pedagogies and platforms, as well as for new content. Developing and deploying advances in computing for the public good is core to the mission of the Schwarzman College of Computing, and Im delighted to have the College playing a role in this initiative, says Daniel Huttenlocher, dean of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing.
The new initiative will engage in research, education, and outreach activities to advance four strategic impact areas: diversity and inclusion in AI, AI literacy in preK-12 education, AI workforce training, and AI-supported learning. Success entails that new knowledge, materials, technological innovations, and programs developed by RAISE are leveraged by other stakeholder AI education programs across MIT and beyond to add value to their efficacy, experience, equity, and impact.
RAISE will develop AI-augmented tools to support human learning across a variety of topics. Weve done a lot of work in the Media Lab around companion AI, says Park. Personalized learning companion AI agents such as social robots support individual students learning and motivation to learn. This work provides an effective and safe space for students to practice and explore topics such as early childhood literacy and language development.
Diversity and inclusion will be embedded throughout RAISEs work, to help correct historic inequities in the field of AI. We're seeing story after story of unintended bias and inequities that are arising because of these AI systems, says Breazeal. So, a mission of our initiative is to educate a far more diverse and inclusive group of people in the responsible design and use of AI technologies, who will ultimately be more representative of the communities they will be developing these products and services for.
This spring, RAISE is piloting a K-12 outreach program called Future Makers. The program brings engaging, hands-on learning experiences about AI fundamentals and critical thinking about societal implications to teachers and students, primarily from underserved or under-resourced communities, such as schools receiving Title I services.
To bring AI to young people within and beyond the classroom, RAISE is developing and distributing curricula, teacher guides, and student-friendly AI tools that enable anyone, even those with no programming background, to create original applications for desktop and mobile computing. ScratchandApp Inventorare already in the hands of millions of learners worldwide, explains Abelson. RAISE is enhancing these platforms and making powerful AI accessible to all people for increased creativity and personal expression.
Ethics and AI will be a central component to the initiatives curricula and teaching tools. Our philosophy is, have kids learn about the technical concepts right alongside the ethical design practices, says Breazeal. Thinking through the societal implications cant be an afterthought.
AI is changing the way we interact with computers as consumers as well as designers and developers of technology, Klopfer says. It is creating a new paradigm for innovation and change. We want to make sure that all people are empowered to use this technology in constructive, creative, and beneficial ways.
Connecting this initiative not only to [MITs schools of] engineering and computing, but also to the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences recognizes the multidimensional nature of this effort, Klopfer adds.
Sarma says RAISE also aims to boost AI literacy in the workforce, in part by adapting some of their K-12 techniques. Many of these tools when made somewhat more sophisticated and more germane to the adult learner will make a tremendous difference, says Sarma. For example, he envisions a program to train radiology technicians in how AI programs interpret diagnostic imagery and, vitally, how they can err.
AI is having a truly transformative effect across broad swaths of society, says Breazeal. Children today are not only digital natives, theyre AI natives. And adults need to understand AI to be able to engage in a democratic dialogue around how we want these systems deployed.
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Engineers and economists prize efficiency, but nature favors resilience lessons from Texas, COVID-19 and the 737 Max – The Conversation US
Takeaways:
The damage from Winter Storm Uri, the economic devastation from the COVID-19 pandemic and the fatal Boeing 737 Max accidents show the price society pays for a relentless pursuit of efficiency.
Modern society has prioritized free-market economics and efficient computer systems to the detriment of other priorities.
Studies of algorithms show that efficiency can come at a high cost.
Sexual reproduction and car insurance highlight the benefits of resilience.
There is a trade-off between efficiency and resilience. Efficiency requires optimal adaptation to an existing environment, while resilience is an ability to adapt to large or sudden changes in the environment. Societys emphasis on short-term gains has long tipped the balance in favor of efficiency.
However, the relentless pursuit of efficiency removes hurdles to the speed and reach of transactions, hurdles that also serve as buffers against shocks. Buffers provide resilience in the face of ecological, geopolitical and financial crises.
As a computer scientist, I look at how algorithms provide a way to test assumptions about resilience, even as the field of computing itself shares the bias toward efficiency. Three recent crises the 2021 winter storm in Texas, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Boeing 737 Max software failure highlight the cost of valuing efficiency over resilience and provide lessons for bringing society into balance.
Economics has long been obsessed with efficiency. Economic efficiency means that goods and production are distributed or allocated to their most valuable uses and waste is eliminated or minimized.
Free-market advocates argue that through individual self-interest and freedom of production and consumption, economic efficiency is achieved and the best interests of society, as a whole, are fulfilled. But this conflates efficiency with the best outcome.
The intense focus on efficiency at the expense of resilience plagues not only business and economics but also technology. Society has educated generations of computer scientists that analyzing algorithms, the step-by-step instructions at the heart of computer software, boils down to measuring their computational efficiency.
The Art of Computer Programming, one of the founding texts of computer science, is dedicated to the analysis of algorithms, which is the process of figuring out the amount of time, storage or other resources needed to execute them. In other words, efficiency is the sole concern in the design of algorithms, according to this guide.
But what about resilience? Designing resilient algorithms requires computer scientists to consider in advance what can go wrong and build effective countermeasures into their algorithms. Without designing for resilience, you get efficient but brittle algorithms.
Brittle systems are more likely than resilient systems to break down when crises strike. Cold temperatures and blackouts during Winter Storm Uri killed nearly 200 people in February 2021 in Texas. The storm damaged the power grid and water systems, which lacked the weatherproofing features common to utility infrastructure in much of the rest of the country.
The harsh economic consequences of failing to prepare for a pandemic, despite many early warnings, provoke questions about whether the obsessive pursuit of efficiency, which has dominated standard business orthodoxy for decades, has made the global economic system more vulnerable to disruptive changes.
A stark example of a system designed for efficiency and not resilience is the flight-control algorithm for the Boeing 737 Max. Boeing retrofitted the 737, a passenger aircraft first produced more than half a century ago, with more efficient engines. This retrofitting caused some flight instability, which the flight-control algorithm was designed to overcome.
But the algorithm relied on data from a single sensor, and when the sensor failed, the algorithm incorrectly determined that the plane was stalling. In response, the algorithm caused the plane to dive as an emergency measure to recover from a stall that wasnt happening.
The result was two horrific crashes and hundreds of the aircraft being grounded for nearly two years. In retrospect, the engineers overly optimized for fuel economy and time to market at the expense of safety.
If brittle systems are prone to disasters, why is society filled with them? One explanation is that, short of disasters, systems that emphasize efficiency can achieve a kind of stability. A fundamental theorem in economics states that under certain assumptions a market will tend toward a competitive balance point, known as the Pareto-optimal equilibrium, in which economic efficiency is achieved.
But how well does such an equilibrium serve the best interests of society? A team of computer scientists studied how beneficial or detrimental equilibria can be from a computational perspective. The researchers studied systems in which uncooperative agents share a common resource, the mathematical equivalent of roadways or fisheries.
They came up with a ratio between the worst possible equilibrium traffic congestion or overfishing and the social optimum, a ratio dubbed the Price of Anarchy because it measures how far from optimal such uncooperative systems can be. They showed that this ratio can be very high. In other words, economic efficiency does not guarantee that the best interests of society are fulfilled.
Another team of researchers asked how long it takes until economic agents converge to an equilibrium. By studying the computational complexity of computing such equilibria, the researchers showed that there are systems that take an exceedingly long time to converge to an equilibrium.
The implication is that economic systems are very unlikely ever to be in an equilibrium, because the underlying variables such as prices, supply and demand are very likely to change while the systems are making their slow way toward convergence. In other words, economic equilibrium, a central concept in economic theory, is a mythical rather than a real phenomenon. This is not an argument against free markets, but it does require a pragmatic view of them.
It is interesting to consider how nature deals with the trade-off between efficiency and resilience. This issue was addressed in a computer science paper titled Sex as an Algorithm. Computer scientists know that search techniques allowing individual steps that are less than optimal but could lead to an overall better solution are, in general, computationally superior to search techniques that mimic natural selection by creating offspring of previous solutions and adding random mutations.
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Why, then, has nature chosen sexual reproduction as the almost exclusive reproduction mechanism in animals? The answer is that sex as an algorithm offers advantages other than good performance.
In particular, natural selection favors genes that work well with a greater diversity of other genes, and this makes the species more adaptable to disruptive environmental changes that is to say, more resilient. Thus, in the interest of long-term survival, nature prioritized resilience over efficiency.
The bottom line is that resilience is a fundamental but underappreciated societal need. But both computing and economics have underemphasized resilience. In general, markets and people are quite bad at preparing for very low-probability or very long-term events.
For example, people have to be forced to buy car insurance, because buying insurance is not efficient. After all, in the aggregate, the insurance business is profitable for the insurers, not for the insured. The purpose of insurance is increased resilience. This example shows that ensuring resilience requires societal action and cannot be left to markets.
The economic impact of the pandemic shows the cost of societys failure to act. And COVID-19 may be just the warmup act for the much bigger impending climate crisis, so focusing on resilience is becoming more and more important.
There seems to be a broad recognition that the incalculable suffering and trauma of COVID-19 offers societies ways to change for the better. Similar lessons can be drawn from Winter Storm Uri and the Boeing 737 Max.
Focusing on resilience is a way for societies to change for the better. In the meantime, the steady flow of news events like a pipeline company that appears to have underinvested in security continues to underscore the cost of prizing efficiency over resilience.
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Stressed Out By Your 87 Open Browser Tabs? New Science Offers a Fix – Inc.
As of this writing, I have 32 open browser tabs across three windows. And that's actually a light day for me. As a professional whose work involves a ton of information gathering, I often have dozens upon dozens of tabs open at any given time, sometimes leaving them there on the top of my browser for weeks or even months at a time.
My laptop, predictably, doesn't appreciate this and not too infrequently freezes or crashes. And, if I'm honest, I'm often stressed out by all my tabs too --I waste time pondering which to close, worry about losing information in the chaos, and feel a little panicky when I see my tabs lined up there demanding my attention at the top of my screen.
If this all sounds familiar, then I have good news for you, my fellow tab abuser. We are apparently very much not alone in our problem. New research out of Carnegie Mellon University confirms that huge numbers of Americans have lost control of our tabs and, even better, offers a potential fix.
You're not the only one embarrassed by your out-of-control tabs.
For the study, titled "When the Tab Comes Due: Challenges in the Cost Structure of Browser Tab Usage"and presented at last week's Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, a team of computer scientists surveyed users about their tab usage. They found that 25 percent of participants reported that their browsers or computers were crashing because they have too many tabs open.
Many participants also admitted to feeling stressed out or ashamed because of their out-of-control tab count but still feeling unable to just close them.
"People feared that as soon as something went out of sight, it was gone,"explained Aniket "Niki" Kittur, the head of the research team. "Fear of this blackhole effect was so strong that it compelled people to keep tabs open even as the number became unmanageable."
If you're interested in a deep dive into the design and psychology of tabs that explains Americans' love-hate relationship with the ubiquitous browser feature, then this article from Inc.'s sister site, Fast Company, is for you. But if you simply want something to sort out your tab issues once and for all, then all you need to know is that the researchers didn't just document the problem; they are also developing a possible solution.
A fix for your tab addiction?
The fix is a Chrome extension called Skeema, which allows you to translate your 87 open tabs into a list of "tasks," which you can then organize and prioritize to your heart's content. At the moment, it's waitlist only, but you can sign on to be notified when it goes live here.
Many testers seem to like it. "Kittur says that in early testing with a dozen users, 75 percent chose to keep using Skeema daily two months later,"Fast Company's Mark Wilson reports. When Wilson gave it a try himself, though, he found it "completely overwhelming"and felt the UI was "quite a heavy lift to get used to."The tool is still in development and should become more streamlined, the researchers note.
Let's hope so. Because whether or not Skeema ends up being the tool that finally breaks our tab addiction, it's clear there are tons of people out there like me who really need a better alternative than continuously stressing about dozens of open tabs.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.
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Stressed Out By Your 87 Open Browser Tabs? New Science Offers a Fix - Inc.
Cracking the high school code – Arlington Catholic Herald
At the start of his freshman year at Bishop Ireton High School inAlexandria, Christopher Critter Johnson was a little apprehensive aboutgetting involved. But his hesitancy to jump into all different kinds ofextracurriculars didnt last long. When I got to (Ireton), I didnt wantpeople to see me go into Coding Club, he said. Over the course of four years,I went from being too nervous to have people see me walk into the computerscience room to saying on the loudspeaker, Come to (the annual hackathon) HackBI, said Johnson, who goes by his childhood nickname of Critter.
Johnsons love of tinkering with technology led him to the manycomputer science activities at Ireton, not to mention working part time for anearby software company. Hes taken computer science classes, including twoindependent studies where he learned the programming languages Java and C++.Through Coding Club, he helped plan Hack BI, a daylong hackathon competitionfor high and middle schoolers held virtually this year.
As president of the Robotics Club, hes enjoyed using the schoolsnew robotics lab. Its awesome. Theres a workshop and if the teachers withyou, you can saw metal, which is just a fun thing to do in school take abandsaw and cut a piece of metal in half, he said.
When he wasnt behind a computer screen, Johnson ran track andfield and cross-country. With the National Honor Society, this year he helpedput on a livestreamed coffeehouse where he played the guitar. Last year, hewent on the student-led Kairos retreat and this year hes helping to plan it.The retreats and proximity to the school chaplain have propelled his faith lifeforward. Our campus ministry office is right there when you walk in, soanytime I have anything on my mind at all, Im going to walk past Father Noah(Morey) so I might as well pop in his office and say hi and ask him aquestion, said Johnson, who attends the Basilica of St. Mary in Alexandria.Its made my faith really personal.
As the senior class president, Johnson enjoyed the challenges ofplanning school events during the pandemic. For me, its been really fun. Instudent council, a lot of things you quote-unquote plan youre justemailing the same deejay you emailed last year, he said. But this year werecompletely rethinking everything. It allows us to be really creative withschool events. Would I have still preferred a regular senior homecoming? Maybe.But Ive really enjoyed it for what it is.
In the fall, Johnson is planning to be part of the U.S. Navy ROTCat the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, unless he gets off thewaitlist at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. Either way, hes excitedto serve in the Navy. I really want to contribute to something greater thanmyself, he said.
It's something hes been able to accomplish through hisleadership and volunteering at Ireton. I love being involved, he said. (Thecommunity is) small enough that I feel like I have a really good opportunity tobe involved and feel like I matter there, he said. He encouraged others toattend school activities, too. Or at least one of them. Go to Hack BI, hesaid.
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Northwestern Polytechnic University Professor Ahmed Banafa’s Book "Secure and Smart Internet of Things (IoT): Using Blockchain and Artificial…
When first released in 2018, Professor Banafa's book was met with widespread acclaim for its skillful articulation of the benefits and risks associated with the Internet of Things (IoT) and the billions of networked devices that comprise the IoT. Professor Banafa was further lauded for his insights as to how the IoT will continue to interact with new and cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence and blockchain. These issues take on particular importance in the context of cybersecurity, as the security risks associated with an interconnected world are amplified as the world's collective reliance on connected devices increases.
Professor Banafa's book has become a "must read" among academic circles and for anyone who wishes to develop a deeper understanding of the IoT. Reflecting its significance, numerous colleges with exceptional computer science and engineering programs have added his work to their library collections, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, UC Berkeley and Princeton. Previously published only in English, its translation into Chinese gives Professor Banafa's insights a much broader audience and allows his work to further contribute to the discussion of the means by which governments, companies, and consumers can best protect the IoT in a world in which hacking, ransomware attacks, and cybersecurity threats are ever-present. In this regard, Professor Banafa's thoughts, theories, and input have taken the same global stage as the IoT itself.
NPU is delighted that Professor Banafa continues to be recognized for his work and his contributions to an expanding technological field that has become a centerpiece of our daily lives.
Founded in 1984, Northwestern Polytechnic University (NPU) is a WASC/WSCUC-accreditednon-profitprivate university in Silicon Valley in Northern California that awards bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science, engineering, technology, and management programs. Learn more athttps://www.npu.edu/.
SOURCE Northwestern Polytechnic University
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Meet the Class of 2021 from HCC’s middle college – Herald-Mail Media
From staff reports| The Herald-Mail
Hagerstown Community College announced the graduates in the seventh class of the STEMM Technical Middle College (STMC).
Twenty-nine students are earning associate degrees from HCC at the same time they are completing high school. The program includes educational pathways in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathand medical) fields.
Since the start of the middle college in 2013, enrollment has grown, with more than 70 students expected to be enrolled for the fall of 2021. The middle college is a partnership between HCC and Washington County Public Schools to allow college-ready high school students the opportunity to earn college degrees or certificates while completing their high school diplomas.
The 29 graduates in the 2021 class include:
Tina Akondeng-Azise will graduate from North Hagerstown High School and receive an associate degree in arts and scienceswith a concentration in biology. She plans to attend Shepherd University to earn a bachelors degree in biology.
Manav Bhatt will graduate from North Hagerstown High School and will receive anassociate degree in arts and sciences in cybersecurity. He plans to attend the University of Maryland-Baltimore County to complete a bachelors degree in computer science with a cybersecurity concentration.
Zann Butt will graduate from North Hagerstown High School and will receive an associate degree in arts and scienceswith concentrations in biology and pharmacology. He plans to complete a bachelors degree in physicians assistant studies at Towson University.
Casey Douglas will graduate from Hancock Middle-Senior High School and will receive an associate degree in arts and sciences, with a concentration in biology, chemistry and pharmacology. He plans to attend the University of Maryland-Baltimore County to complete his bachelors degree in biochemistry/pre-med.
Jacob Frazee will graduate from North Hagerstown High School and will receive an associate degree in arts and sciences, with concentrations in math, physicsand engineering science. He plans to complete a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland-College Park.
Laura Golden will graduate from Hancock Middle-Senior High School and will receive an associate degree in arts and sciences, with a concentration in biology. She plans to attend West Virginia University to earn a bachelors degree in biology and pursue a degree to become a physicians assistant.
Carissa Grach will graduate from Grace Academy and will earn more than 30 college credits towards a degree. She plans to transfer to Liberty University to complete her bachelors of science degree in nursing.
Kylie Grimsley will graduate from Clear Spring High School and will receive an associate of applied science degree in biotechnology. She plans to start working in the field of biotechnology.
Lauryn Hare will graduate from North Hagerstown High School and will receive an associate degree in arts and scienceswith a concentration in biology. She plans to attend Frostburg State University to earn a degree in clinical psychology.
Zaid Jaffery will graduate from Smithsburg High School and will receive an associate degree in arts and sciences in cybersecurity. Jaffery plans to attend Frostburg State University to complete his bachelors degree in cybersecurity.
Lindsey Kookaby will graduate from Boonsboro High School and will continue in HCCs nursing program with an expected graduation date of December 2022 with an associate degree in nursing.
Ian Lennon-Puthoff will graduate from Hancock Middle-Senior High School and will receive an associate degree in arts and scienceswith a concentration in chemistry. He plans to complete his bachelors degree in chemistry at the University of Delaware.
Kaleb Little will graduate from Smithsburg High School and will receive an associate degree in arts and scienceswith a concentration in biology. He plans to attend Clemson University to complete his bachelors degree in biology with plans to attend medical school to become a surgeon.
Annette Martenot will graduate from South Hagerstown High School and will receive an associate degree in arts and scienceswith a concentration in biology. She plans to continue her education and work in conservation.
Micaela Merriman will graduate from Smithsburg High School and will receive an associate degree in arts and scienceswith a concentration in biology. She plans to attend Salisbury University to pursue a bachelors degree in nursing.
Ayman Motoda will graduate from Smithsburg High School and will receive an associate degree in arts and scienceswith concentrations in mathematics and physics. He plans to attend Purdue University-West Lafayette to complete his bachelors degree in electrical engineering.
Jessica Murray will graduate from Williamsport High School and will receive an associate degree in arts and scienceswith a concentration in mathematics. She plans to attend Frostburg State University and complete her bachelors degree in early childhood elementary education.
Janely Paulino will graduate from North Hagerstown High School and will receive an associate degree in arts and scienceswith a concentration in biology. She plans to attend Temple University to complete her bachelors degree in biology.
Madisyn Ramacciotti will graduate from Clear Spring High School and will receive an associate degree in arts and sciences with a concentration in biology. She plans to attend Seton Hill University to complete her degree in exercise science.
Brett Ricketts will graduate from North Hagerstown High School and will receive an associate degree in arts and scienceswith concentrations in mathematics and computer science. He plans to attend the University of Maryland-College Park to complete his bachelors degree in computer engineering.
Jayda Sandridge will graduate from North Hagerstown High School and will receive an associate degree in arts and scienceswith a concentration in biology. She plans to attend the University of Pittsburgh to pursue her bachelors degree.
Keri Scallion will graduate from North Hagerstown High School and will receive an associate degree in arts and sciences. She plans to complete her bachelors degree at Frostburg State University.
Erianna Schleigh will graduate from North Hagerstown High School and will receive an associate degree in arts and sciences. She plans to attend Towson University to complete a bachelorsdegree in nursing.
John Simms III, home school graduate, will receive an associate of applied science in simulation and digital entertainment concentration. He plans to enlist in the U.S. Navy Officers Program.
Hamza Sohrab will graduate from Boonsboro High School and will receive an associate degree in arts and sciences. He plans to attend the University of Maryland- College Park to complete a degree in English.
Rana Solieman will graduate from North Hagerstown High School and will receive an associate degree in arts and scienceswith a concentration in biology. She plans to attend West Virginia University to complete a bachelors degree in political science and plans to attend law school.
Sneha Sunilkumar will graduate from South Hagerstown High School and will receive an associate degree in arts and scienceswith concentrations in math, physics, and engineering science. She plans to attend the University of Maryland-College Park to complete a bachelors degree in aerospace engineering.
Charli Wingfield will graduate from South Hagerstown High School and will receive an associate degree in arts and scienceswith a concentration in biology. She plans to attend the University of Tampa to complete her bachelors degree in biology.
Owen Woods will graduate from Williamsport High School and will receive an associate degree in arts and scienceswith concentrations in math, physicsand engineering science. He plans to attend the University of Maryland-College Park to complete his bachelors degree in aerospace engineering.
Jacob Zirkle will graduate from Hancock Middle-Senior High School and will receive an associate of applied science degree in biotechnology. After graduation, he plans to pursue a career in the field of biotechnology.
For more information on the STEMM Technical Middle College at HCC, visitwww.hagerstowncc.edu/middlecollege.
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Meet the Class of 2021 from HCC's middle college - Herald-Mail Media
What is Google Project Starline and how does it render in hyper-real 3D? – Pocket-lint
(Pocket-lint) - People are still learning from the coronavirus pandemic, including that there is no substitute for being together in a room with someone.
While video conferencing apps such as Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams try to help you virtually connect with those you love and work with, the experience still feels rather limited. So, in an attempt to push the boundaries of remote collaboration, Google has come up with Project Starline.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai took the stage at Google I/O 2021 to announce that his company kicked off a project "several years ago" that builds on different areas of computer science and relies on custom-built hardware and highly specialised equipment. Called Project Starline, it's an early system that essentially allows you to video call someone and experience them in hyper-realistic 3D.
There are three components to Project Starline:
Project Starline uses high-resing cameras and custom depth sensors to capture a user's shape and appearance from multiple perspectives, and then all that is fused together by software to create an extremely detailed, real-time 3d model. Google said it's applying research in computer vision, machine learning, spatial audio, and real-time compression.The effect is the feeling of a person sitting just across from you.
The resulting data is also huge - many gigabits per second.
So, to send this 3D imagery over existing networks, Google developed novel compression and streaming algorithms that reduce the data by a factor of more than 100. Google also developed a light field display that shows you the realistic representation of someone sitting right in front of you in three dimensions.
As you move your head and body, Google's system can adjust the images you see in the light field display to match your perspective. It creates a sense of volume and depth without the need for additional glasses or headsets. "You can talk naturally gesture and make eye contact," CEO Sundar Pichai described at I/O 2021. "It's as close as we can get to the feeling of sitting across from someone."
Google said it's already spent thousands of hours testing Project Starline in its own offices. Although there are no plans to commercially release a product for consumers, it said there's been excitement from enterprise partners, and it is planning to expand access to partners in healthcare and media.
Check out Google's blog post for more details.
Writing by Maggie Tillman.
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What is Google Project Starline and how does it render in hyper-real 3D? - Pocket-lint
Connections are the superpower of the College of ACES – Agri News
CHICAGO The COVID-19 pandemic not only triggered lots of difficulties for people, it also provided opportunities.
Its been a very difficult time for people not only here, but around the world, and people have rallied to try to do their best to navigate the situation, said Kim Kidwell, dean of the College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois.
What is fabulous about this situation is the research we do became more obvious to people, said Kidwell during a presentation at The Chicago Farmers meeting. People didnt understand what U of I Extension does or whats done in the College of ACES thats helpful for their everyday lives.
For example, Extension already had a listing of Illinois food banks.
It didnt take long to put that information on a website, Kidwell said. There were some people that never sought a food bank before that wanted to know where to get food in their local community.
Access to 4-H programs also was expanded last year.
Some was difficult to do online, but it also offered people who couldnt get to events to participate online, Kidwell said. Weve realized that some hybrid opportunities of in-person and online will serve well to expand access.
A lot of engagement is now happening with digital agriculture.
Our farmdoc is one of the best examples of a successful digital program in the country and it has been around for 20 years, Kidwell said. They were early innovators to provide real-time information to growers on a daily basis so they can make decisions on what to do on their farms.
One Of A Kind
Students at the U of I have the opportunity to study a new major.
The Metropolitan Food and Environmental Systems major is designed to bring people in that may not come from an ag background, Kidwell said. Its the first undergraduate major of its kind focused on all the components of the system and the goal is to breakdown the silos between the disciplines and have students be versed in all aspects of the food system.
Food system reliance was a big issue during the pandemic.
This major is designed to take a look at some of these things not only locally, but at the national level, as well, Kidwell said. Graduates from this program will drive innovation and work with infrastructure and policy changes in the food and agricultural space.
Connections, Kidwell said, is the super power of the College of ACES.
We love to do things that matter to people, she said. We have a system on campus that provides lots of opportunity for us to discover things, to ground test them and to de-risk them before they go into commercial channels.
The U of I Research Park includes about 120 companies.
This is where academia meets industry, Kidwell said. We hope some of the discoveries we make on campus come to life with our industry partners so we can ground test them in our field space adjacent to campus.
The Future Is Now
A couple of years ago, the College of ACES and the Grainger College of Engineering worked together to develop the Center for Digital Agriculture, which resulted in a couple of new majors computer science plus crop science and computer science plus animal science.
Its fabulous to see engineers talk to crop and animal scientists and visa versa, Kidwell said. Theyve opened each others eyes to possibilities.
Data analytics is a big component of the center, as well as automation and precision agriculture.
Were building an online program for digital agriculture that should launch in about a year, Kidwell said.
A 4-acre autonomous farm has been established on campus.
It has all kinds of high-tech equipment like robots that can go between rows of corn, Kidwell said. The robots do exciting things like identify weeds through facial recognition software and shoot lasers at the weeds to kill them.
The goal of these projects is improve farmer productivity, as well as improve environmental safety and sustainability.
Its high-tech agriculture, and urban gardening is a big part of this, including fruit harvesting with mechanical robots, Kidwell said.
We have an aspirational goal to create an Extension and public engagement enterprise that is the envy of our peers, she said. We want to create a southern portal to campus that is a destination.
One of Kidwells favorite places on the U of I campus is the Arboretum.
We did a master plan for the Arboretum to elevate it to a more visible asset for the U of I with more pathways, demonstration areas for teaching, hospitality space for weddings and the creation of a home for Extension, she said.
Currently, Extension is located at six places on campus.
We would like to have a new facility as the heartbeat of Extension, Kidwell said. This building will be the go-to place for people to connect to teach, learn and engage with the community.
The goal is to kick the project off in the next couple of months through a fundraising campaign.
Were excited for this space to cultivate engagement and host events for 4-H, master gardeners and for kids to come here to learn, Kidwell said.
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Connections are the superpower of the College of ACES - Agri News