Women in Information and Computer Sciences (WICS) Organization Mentors and Supports Future Tech Professionals

Back in 1975, UCI alumnus Barbara Kew was one of two female computer science students in her class and, as she has noted, female ICS role models were scarce. By 2017, Kew had been inducted into the ICS Hall of Fame, and the number of female ICS undergraduates had grown to 685. Furthermore, there is now a plethora of available resources and mentors, thanks to UCI’s Women in Information and Computer Sciences (WICS) student organization.

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Strava Map Exposes Weaknesses in Understanding Complexities of Pervasive Data

It was recently reported that Strava unknowingly revealed U.S. military bases when it produced a heat map showing the movement of people around the world who use its exercise-tracking app. In reviewing the map, a college student from Australia realized that he could locate military bases in counties such as Iraq and Syria, where the app was almost exclusively used by American soldiers.

This prompted the U.S. military to review its security practices, and it renewed talks of privacy concerns, but according to Informatics Professor Matthew Bietz, “privacy is probably the wrong framework here.” The issue is much more complex.

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“‘Leonardo Da Vinci’: Walter Isaacson goes back to Renaissance for his latest biography of a genius” by Michael Goodrich

Following compelling biographies of such geniuses as Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin, Walter Isaacson paints the story of the most creative genius in history — Leonardo da Vinci. Rather than simply giving us a chronology of Leonardo’s life, Mr. Isaacson invites us to learn life lessons from the Renaissance artist and scientist.

Read the full story at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Symmetry: “Neural networks for neutrinos” (Pierre Baldi quoted)

“All these big physics experiments are really very similar at the machine learning level,” says Pierre Baldi, a computer scientist at the University of California, Irvine. “It’s all images associated with these complex, very expensive detectors, and deep learning is the best method for extracting signal against some background noise.”

Read the full story at Symmetry Magazine.

Levorato Collaborates on $3.7 Million Grant for Electricity Distribution Cybersecurity

Assistant Professor of Computer Science Marco Levorato is part of a multidisciplinary team that aims to investigate the impact of cyberattacks on electricity distribution infrastructure. The team, led by Hamed Mohsenian-Rad of UC Riverside, includes researchers from UCI, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Through their grant, “UC-Lab Center for Electricity Distribution Cybersecurity,” they will receive $3.75 million between now and February 2021. The grant was awarded as part of the UC Laboratory Fees Research Program, which aims to enhance partnerships between UC researchers and laboratory scientists at LLNL and the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
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ICS Professors Presenting at AICRE Events for Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend

Two ICS professors are participating in events hosted by UCI’s Africana Institute for Creativity, Recognition and Elevation (AICRE) for Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. AICRE aims to “create a dynamic exchange of cultural, scientific, economic and spiritual knowledge between local communities and academia to positively impact the next generation, so people of African descent can equitably contribute to a more sustainable society and command respect worldwide.” Informatics Professor and AICRE Fellow Aaron Trammell and Computer Science Professor Magda El Zarki will be presenters at two of the public events, contributing to this exchange of knowledge.

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Tsudik Awarded Visiting Professorship at TU Dresden

Chancellor’s Professor of Computer Science Gene Tsudik has been awarded an honorary 2017/18 Visiting Professorship at the Technical University (TU) Dresden in Germany. The competitive position comes with a grant of about $30,000 (€25,000) from the TÜV Süd-Foundation, which has been awarding visiting professorships at TU Dresden since 2014. The visiting professorship allows renowned international scholars, such as Tsudik, to be invited to the university for a period of up to three months to contribute to the academic discourse, as well as engage in dialogue with scholars and students. This year, the foundation was looking to award the professorship to an expert in the field of security, which falls in line with Tsudik’s research interests that include privacy, computer and network security, and applied cryptography.

IoT Hackathon Apps Coming Soon

Students, faculty and staff in Donald Bren Hall (DBH) will soon have access to apps stemming from the first IoT Hackathon held in the School of ICS. Last June’s event challenged students to develop apps that exploit data for a “smart” campus while preserving user privacy. Organized by UCI Postdoc fellow Roberto Yus, the focus on user privacy stems from the TIPPERS (Testbed for IoT-based Privacy-Preserving PERvasive Spaces) project, which is part of DARPA’s Brandeis program.

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