ICS Researchers Receive $1.5 Million NSF Grant for Smart Water Infrastructures

Can emerging technologies help alleviate water reliability concerns in various communities by minimizing water waste, supporting conservation and providing a resilient supply of safe drinking water? This is the question researchers in the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) are working to address with a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through its Smart and Connected Communities (S&CC) program.

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Computer Science Researchers Win Best Paper Award for Work on Smart Community Monitoring

At the Sixth IEEE International Conference on Smart Computing (SMARTCOMP 2020), a trio of researchers from the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) received the Best Paper Award. Ph.D. student Praveen Venkateswaran co-authored the work with Computer Science Professors Nalini Venkatasubramanian and Sharad Mehrotra, in collaboration with Associate Professor Cheng-Hsin Hsu of National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan. Their paper, “REAM: Resource Efficient Adaptive Monitoring of Community Spaces at the Edge Using Reinforcement Learning,” presents a framework for combining Internet of Things (IoT) technologies with machine learning techniques to better support smart infrastructure.

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Computer Science Researchers Contribute to ‘Editor’s Choice’ Paper on Deep Learning and Hair Loss

Two computer science researchers from the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) are co-authors of a paper selected as the Editor’s Choice for the October issue of the Lasers in Surgery and Medicine journal. Computer science Ph.D. student Gregor Urban and his adviser, Distinguished Professor Pierre Baldi, are part of the multidisciplinary team behind “Combining Deep Learning with Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging to Determine Scalp Hair and Follicle Counts.” Urban and Baldi worked with dermatology physicians Natasha Mesinkovska and Chloe Ekelem, and with undergraduate students Ella Csuka and Kiana Hashemi, medical student Nate Feil, and M.D. resident Franchesca Choi.

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Virtual Workshop on Privacy Aspects of Contact Tracing – Oct. 2

UCI Professors Athina Markopoulou and Gene Tsudik have helped organize the inaugural one-day Virtual Workshop on Privacy Aspects of Contract Tracing from 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 2 via Zoom. 

With mobile devices and networking technologies useful tools in the battle against COVID-19, especially for digital contact tracing and risk assessment, this virtual workshop will discuss recent developments in this rapidly evolving area, with a particular focus on privacy aspects. The workshop also brings together participants with technical background (networking, security and privacy, and related areas), as well as policy expertise (data protection, disease surveillance and other information-related aspects of public health). 

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Alumni Spotlight: Dan Woolley’s Success in Building from Scratch

UCI alumnus Dan Woolley (B.S. ’90) realized his ability to build something from scratch as a teenager after creating a “rudimentary version of Donkey Kong” on his dad’s Osborne 1 PC, one of the first portable personal computers. He’s been building ever since, with his latest creation being W+R Studios, a startup he founded in 2008 with Greg Robertson that provides software for the real estate industry. This year, W+R Studios not only received a 2020 Software Companies to Watch Award from Startup Weekly, it also made its seventh appearance on Inc. 5000, an annual list of the nation’s fastest-growing companies. Here, Woolley talks about his years in the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS), what led to his startup success, and why ICS graduates should consider creating a startup of their own.

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Professor Rina Dechter Receives 2020 Classic Paper Award

Distinguished Professor of Computer Science Rina Dechter recently received the 2020 Classic Paper Award from the Artificial Intelligence Journal. Given to papers “published at least 15 calendar years ago in the AI Journal that are exceptional in their significance and impact,” this year’s award recognized “Temporal Constraint Networks,” which Dechter co-authored with Itay Meiri and Judea Pearl in 1991. The work introduced a new framework called the temporal constraint satisfaction problem (TCSP).

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Women in Technology at UCI: First Event Offers Encouragement and Empowerment

The new Women in Technology at UCI (WiT UCI) organization had 243 guests at its first event on Sept. 10, a virtual panel focused on “Altered Environments, New Opportunities.” There were faculty, staff, alumni and students of all genders, from across UCI and other higher education institutions and from industry. “This shows a great deal of support and interest around the experiences of women and minorities in tech fields during these altered times,” says Shohreh Bozorgmehri, director of the Student and Academic Services Division of UCI’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) — the inspiration behind WiT UCI.

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Faculty Spotlight: Rina Dechter is Pushing the Frontiers of AI Research

Distinguished Professor of Computer Science Rina Dechter has been teaching and conducting research at the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) since 1990. Focused on advancing our understanding of automated reasoning in artificial intelligence, she has helped develop algorithms and models that enable computers to perform foundational tasks such as diagnosis, prediction, situation assessment, decision making, and planning. Her 1991 paper, “Temporal Constraint Networks,” co-authored with Itay Meiri and Judea Pearl, recently received the 2020 Classic Paper Award from the Artificial Intelligence Journal, an award that recognizes papers “exceptional in their significance and impact.” That early contribution has been used by NASA to support expeditions, including the Mars Exploration Rover mission. Now, as the associate dean of research for ICS — a role Dechter was appointed to late last year — she continues to influence the computing field, advancing not only her own research but also that of fellow faculty and students.

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