When Statistics Professor Babak Shahbaba took over as director of the Data Science Initiative, coordinating UCI faculty and students involved in data science activities, the plan was to broaden the initiative’s reach in terms of education, research and external relations. This plan motivated the creation of the Californian Data Experience Transformation (CADET) program, which aims to offer data science training via curriculum development, hands-on experiences, and close interactions with both academic and non-academic organizations.

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Looking back, it might seem an untimely decision to start a new student club just before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the UCI campus and surrounding community. Yet Commit the Change, started in March 2020 by a group of students in the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS), pressed on with their goal of developing high-quality software for nonprofit organizations while creating hands-on learning opportunities for UCI students. Now, more than a year’s worth of Zooms later, the club has close to 60 active members, a portfolio of four project collaborations with local nonprofits, and a 2021 Anteater Award for Best New Organization.

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When Daniel Cheng first came to UCI in 2013, he wanted to pursue a bachelor’s degree in computer science because of its “applicability to many other fields.” Now, as a Ph.D. student in the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS), he’s practicing that applicability with real-world impact. Specifically, he has led the development of the Calving Front Machine (CALFIN), a program that uses artificial intelligence, machine learning and neural networks to help Earth science researchers monitor glacier loss. He collaborated on CALFIN with researchers from UCI, the University of Washington, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (where he’s an intern), and the team outlined their work in a paper published by The Cryosphere. Their efforts were further spotlighted in “An Artificial Neural Network Joins the Fight Against Receding Glaciers,” an article pointing out that this “neural network is capable of recognizing and measuring the edges of glaciers in satellite images of Earth’s surface nearly as well as a trained scientist, except it’s autonomous, quick, and can reliably process countless more glaciers than any human being ever could.” Here, Cheng talks about his interdisciplinary research and how computer science can help us better understand climate change.

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The Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) welcomed two new leaders on July 1, 2021 with the appointments of Tony Givargis as chair of the Computer Science Department and Melissa Mazmanian as chair of the Informatics Department. Both start their three-year term with more than a decade of experience in ICS, a great appreciation for their predecessors, and excitement about the prospect of leading faculty and students to success in cutting-edge research and education with real-world impact.

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Dear colleagues,

On behalf of Chancellor Gillman, I am pleased to announce that Marios Papaefthymiou has been appointed to a second five-year term as the Ted and Janice Smith Family Foundation Dean of the Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences. Under his leadership, the School has made great strides in fundraising, program development, faculty recruitment, student success and increased visibility with partners and alumni.

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The Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) is pleased to recognize four faculty members who recently received the prestigious National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award. Join us in congratulating Stacy Branham and Roderic Crooks from the Department of Informatics, and Stephan Mandt and Sameer Singh from the Department of Computer Science.

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UCI’s 56th annual commencement, though not unique in marking the university’s now second ever virtual ceremony, nevertheless represented something extraordinary. “The class of 2021 will have a unique place in our institutional memory as the most resilient and responsive class we have ever had the privilege of teaching,” said Chancellor Howard Gillman during his opening remarks. “Under the most extraordinary circumstances, you rose to the occasion, supported each other, adapted and persisted.”

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