My Computer Science & Engineering Department

Dr. Jason Bakos has received an award from the Office of Naval Research (ONR)/DOD for a project on the "Development of Universal Controller Architecture for SiC Based Power Electronic Building Blocks". Visit his homepage to learn more about his research.

Dr. Rekleitis, Dr. Beer, and Dr. O'Kane have received an award from the NSF for their project "A Heterogeneous Team of Field Robots for Research into Coordinated Monitoring of Coastal Environments". The award will support the acquisition of a multi-robot team that can operate in coastal environments.

Dr. Jianjun Hu has received a grant award from the South Carolina Department of Transportation for his Data Mining and Analytics for Transportation Management project. This project will analyze large existing data sets concerning the usage and maintenance of equipment at the South Carolina Department of Transportation. The effort will assess SCDOT repair shop capability needs, capacity, skills, and tools/equipment.

Under the leadership of Dr. Farkas, the department has been recognized as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Research (CAE-R). We offer an undergraduate Cybersecurity specialization and a graduate Information assurance certificate under this program. The notification states:

Your ability to meet the increasing demands of the program criteria will serve the nation well in contributing to the protection of the National Information Infrastructure. The Presidents’ National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, 14 February 2003 and the International Strategy for Cyberspace, May 2011, addresses the critical shortage of professionals with these skills and highlights the importance of higher education as a solution to defending America’s cyberspace. “Like all nations, the United States has a compelling interest in defending its vital national assets, as well as our core principles and values, and we are committed to defending against those who would attempt to impede our ability to do so.” Education is the key to promoting these ideals.

Our first annual CSE awards day was a success. Click on the photo to see a slideshow of some of the winners. You can view even more photos in this google+ album or our facebook album. Congratulations to all the winners, and also to all our graduating Seniors!

Our Cyber Defense Team won first place at the Palmetto Cyber Defense Competition. The team also has the distinction of having the Most Valuable Player of the contest, Catharine West. Congratulations to all of them! The team members are, from left to right, Marshall Hollis (mentor), Ronni Wilkinson (mentor), Alex Cummings, Saljin LaRocca, Yasemin Pak (Co-Captain), Catharine West (Captain), Matt May, Adam Formenti. Charleston paper coverage.

We are pleased to announce that two of our graduate students have received awards. Ping Liu has received the USC Outstanding Graduate Researcher award, and Daniel Pade received the Outstanding Graduate Instructor award. They are listed in the Graduate Student Day Awards Ceremony bulletin.

We would like to congratulate Connor Bain for receiving the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. The NSF awarded the GRF to 2,000 individuals from among 16,500 applicants in 2015. The GRF provides three years of financial support within a five-year fellowship period ($34,000 annual stipend and $12,000 cost-of-education allowance to the graduate institution) for graduate study that leads to a research-based master's or doctoral degree in science or engineering.

Dr. Matt Thatcher has been selected to be part of CRA's Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Leadership in Science Policy Institute (LiSPI). As part of its mission to develop a next generation of leaders in the computing research community, CRA’s CCC holds LiSPI to educate computing researchers on how science policy in the U.S. is formulated and how our government makes and enforces science policy. LiSPI is centered on discussions with science policy experts, current and former Hill staff, and relevant agency and Administration personnel about mechanics of the legislative process, interacting with agencies, advisory committees, and the federal case for computing.

ESPN has a profile on Aaron LaBerge, who received his BS from this department in 1996. LaBerge was named Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at ESPN in January.

LaBerge leads ESPN’s Technology division and is responsible for oversight and strategic leadership and direction of technology, and its marriage with ESPN’s content, across all media and businesses. He also serves on the The Walt Disney Company’s CTO Council and the Disney Research Advisory Board.