A team of researchers led by Dana Randall, ADVANCE Professor of Computing and Daniel Goldman, Dunn Family Professor of Physics, sought to show that even the simplest of robots can still accomplish tasks well beyond the capabilities of one, or even a few, of them. The goal of accomplishing these tasks with what the team dubbed "dumb robots" (essentially mobile granular particles) exceeded their expectations, and the researchers report being able to remove all sensors, communication, memory and computation — and instead accomplishing a set of tasks through leveraging the robots' physical characteristics, a trait that the team terms "task embodiment."

The team's simple BOBbots, or "behaving, organizing, buzzing bots" were named for granular physics pioneer Bob Behringer," explains Randall. "Their cylindrical chassis have vibrating brushes underneath and loose magnets on their periphery, causing them to spend more time at locations with more neighbors." The experimental platform was supplemented by precise computer simulations led by Georgia Tech physics student Shengkai Li, as a way to study aspects of the system inconvenient to study in the lab.

Despite the simplicity of the BOBbots, the researchers discovered that, as the robots move and bump into each other, "compact aggregates form that are capable of collectively clearing debris that is too heavy for one alone to move," according to Goldman. "While most people build increasingly complex and expensive robots to guarantee coordination, we wanted to see what complex tasks could be accomplished with very simple robots."

Their work, as reported April 23, 2021 in the journal Science Advances, was inspired by a theoretical model of particles moving around on a chessboard. A theoretical abstraction known as a self-organizing particle system was developed to rigorously study a mathematical model of the BOBbots. Using ideas from probability theory, statistical physics and stochastic algorithms, the researchers were able to prove that the theoretical model undergoes a phase change as the magnetic interactions increase — abruptly changing from dispersed to aggregating in large, compact clusters, similar to phase changes we see in common everyday systems, like water and ice.

"The rigorous analysis not only showed us how to build the BOBbots, but also revealed an inherent robustness of our algorithm that allowed some of the robots to be faulty or unpredictable," notes Randall, who also serves as a professor of computer science and adjunct professor of mathematics at Georgia Tech.

The collaboration is based on experiments and simulations also designed by Bahnisikha Dutta, Ram Avinery and Enes Aydin from Georgia Tech, as well as on theoretical work by Andrea Richa and Joshua Daymude from Arizona State University, and Sarah Cannon from Claremont McKenna College, who is a recent Georgia Tech graduate.

This work is part of a Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) funded by the Army Research Office (ARO) to study the foundations of emergent computation and collective intelligence.

Funding: This work was supported by the Department of Defense under MURI award no. W911NF-19-1-0233 and by NSF awards DMS-1803325 (S.C.); CCF-1422603, CCF-1637393, and CCF-1733680 (A.W.R.); CCF-1637031 and CCF-1733812 (D.R. and D.I.G.); and CCF-1526900 (D.R.).

This story was first published on EurekAlert! by Georgia Tech. 

“In my years as chair I have most enjoyed working with the incredible faculty, staff, and students of the School of Computer Science,” Fortnow said. “As I embark on my next chapter, I look back on the great community that we built and the critical role the school has and will continue to play in the success of the College and the Institute.”

When Fortnow joined SCS in 2012, computing was undergoing a transformation as processor improvements slowed and the cloud became the new paradigm. Once separate fields would now need to work together in this changing landscape, and Fortnow viewed his role similarly. As chair, he oversaw some of the top researchers in systems, databases, cybersecurity, architecture, theory, networks, and programming languages. His goal was to create a unified research vision where faculty were encouraged to collaborate in pursuit of bold new research initiatives.

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Fortnow grew this research community through hiring faculty who excelled at working in multiple fields. Since he started, the number of pre-tenure faculty has grown from five to 11 — with 10 new faculty members added in the past two years — a striking achievement when there are five open jobs for every candidate. The school now boasts 37 faculty members, including nine endowed chairs, eight ACM fellows, and multiple NSF CAREER Award winners. The faculty manage multimillion-dollar contracts from DARPA, ONR, and other prominent research institutions.

During Fortnow’s tenure, SCS faculty lead research endeavors on the future of computing outside the school as well. The Center for Research into Novel Computing Hierarchies (CRNCH), created in 2016, finds new ways to build computing devices as the technological environment shifts. The Institute for Data Engineering and Science (IDEaS) was also launched in 2016 around data-driven research. The Institute refocused its cybersecurity efforts when the Institute for Information Security and Privacy (IISP) was founded in 2015 with many SCS faculty serving as vital members.

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“Lance has been an effective chair and leader for the School of Computer Science,” said College of Computing Dean Zvi Galil. “The school is extremely productive, not only in the foundational areas of computing, but also through efforts in areas like data science and cybersecurity.”

Fortnow, a computational complexity scholar, came to Georgia Tech from Northwestern University in 2012. He is an ACM Fellow and was the founding editor of ACM Transactions on Computation Theory. As a leader in his field, he has chaired ACM SIGACT and the IEEE Conference on Computational Complexity.

DoD’s Multidisciplinary University Research Initiatives (MURI) Program funds projects that bring researchers together from diverse backgrounds to work on a complex problem. Institute for Data Engineering and Science co-director and School of Computer Science Professor Dana Randall is project investigator and leads a team of six that includes Daniel Goldman, Dunn Family Professor in the School of Physics. The Formal Foundations of Algorithmic Matter and Emergent Computation team also includes chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, and computational science researchers from other universities.  

The researchers are trying to predict and design emergent behavior within computation by using basic algorithms on simple machines to perform complex tasks. Emergent behavior is when a microscopic change in a parameter creates a macroscopic change to a system. This collective behavior is easy to find in nature, from a swarm of bees to a colony of ants, but also appears in other scientific disciplines. 

“A MURI lets us take a deep dive toward understanding how many computationally limited components at the micro-scale can be programmed to work collectively to produce useful behavior at the macro-scale,” said Randall, who is also the ADVANCE Professor of Computing. “Our interdisciplinary team combines expertise in many fields, mimicking the research by forming a collaboration that is also greater than the sum of its parts."

The MURI hybrid approach to algorithmic matter combines traditional logic-based programming with non-traditional computational methods, such as using physical characteristics of the interacting matter to drive a system toward collective behavior. One of the goals is to program based on this predictable emergent behavior. The approach also predicts basic properties of the collective’s emergent behavior, like whether it will behave like a gas, fluid, or solid. In this context, emergent behavior turns into emergent collective computation.

“MURI promises basic algorithms that allow very simple machines to work collectively to perform amazingly complex tasks,” Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) chemical engineering Professor Michael Strano said. “Our team will examine systems of autonomous cell-like particles that interact and respond to the movement of their neighbors in a programmable way. Theorists will be able to test ideas of emergent computation from these simple devices and learn how to execute tasks from the behavior of relatively simple, autonomous particles.”

Although the behavior has footing in physics, computer science, and swarm robotics, there is no underlying framework to explain why until this research. The multidisciplinary approach allows theory and experiment to continuously inform each other and determine the computational capabilities of emergent behavior. The team has an ideal range of expertise in machine learning, control theory, and non-equilibrium physics and algorithms. They are also working with experimentalists who build collective systems at granular and microscopic scales.  

“An exciting aspect of this collaboration will be our attempts to interface and integrate ideas and tools from robotics, non-equilibrium physics, control theory, and computer science to develop task-capable swarms,” Goldman said.

This MURI project will run for five years and is funded by the Army Research Office. In addition to Randall, Goldman, and Strano, the team also includes Arizona State computational science and engineering Professor Andrea Richa, MIT physics Associate Professor Jeremy England, and Northwestern mechanical engineering Professor Todd Murphey.

The overarching goal is to find how simplistic the computation can be for this complexity. This could lead to advances in engineered systems achieving specific task-oriented goals.

“The MURI promises nothing short of the transformation of robots,” Strano said, “from the large, bulky constructions that we think of today, to future clouds or swarms that enable functions that are currently impossible to realize.”

Georgia Tech researchers have been awarded $6.25 million from the Department of Defense (DoD) to use collective emergent behavior to achieve task-oriented objectives. 

DoD’s Multidisciplinary University Research Initiatives (MURI) Program funds projects that bring researchers together from diverse backgrounds to work on a complex problem. Institute for Data Engineering and Science co-director, Professor Dana Randall, is project investigator and leads a team of six that includes Daniel Goldman, Dunn Family Professor in the School of Physics. The Formal Foundations of Algorithmic Matter and Emergent Computation team also includes chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, and computational science researchers from other universities.  

The researchers are trying to predict and design emergent behavior within computation by using basic algorithms on simple machines to perform complex tasks. Emergent behavior is when a microscopic change in a parameter creates a macroscopic change to a system. This collective behavior is easy to find in nature, from a swarm of bees to a colony of ants, but also appears in other scientific disciplines. 

“A MURI lets us take a deep dive toward understanding how many computationally limited components at the micro-scale can be programmed to work collectively to produce useful behavior at the macro-scale,” said Randall, who is also the ADVANCE Professor of Computing. “Our interdisciplinary team combines expertise in many fields, mimicking the research by forming a collaboration that is also greater than the sum of its parts."

The MURI hybrid approach to algorithmic matter combines traditional logic-based programming with non-traditional computational methods, such as using physical characteristics of the interacting matter to drive a system toward collective behavior. One of the goals is to program based on this predictable emergent behavior. The approach also predicts basic properties of the collective’s emergent behavior, like whether it will behave like a gas, fluid, or solid. In this context, emergent behavior turns into emergent collective computation.

“MURI promises basic algorithms that allow very simple machines to work collectively to perform amazingly complex tasks,” Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) chemical engineering Professor Michael Strano said. “Our team will examine systems of autonomous cell-like particles that interact and respond to the movement of their neighbors in a programmable way. Theorists will be able to test ideas of emergent computation from these simple devices and learn how to execute tasks from the behavior of relatively simple, autonomous particles.”

Although the behavior has footing in physics, computer science, and swarm robotics, there is no underlying framework to explain why until this research. The multidisciplinary approach allows theory and experiment to continuously inform each other and determine the computational capabilities of emergent behavior. The team has an ideal range of expertise in machine learning, control theory, and non-equilibrium physics and algorithms. They are also working with experimentalists who build collective systems at granular and microscopic scales.  

“An exciting aspect of this collaboration will be our attempts to interface and integrate ideas and tools from robotics, non-equilibrium physics, control theory, and computer science to develop task-capable swarms,” Goldman said.

This MURI project will run for five years and is funded by the Army Research Office. In addition to Randall, Goldman, and Strano, the team also includes Arizona State computational science and engineering Professor Andrea Richa, MIT physics Associate Professor Jeremy England, and Northwestern mechanical engineering Professor Todd Murphey.

The overarching goal is to find how simplistic the computation can be for this complexity. This could lead to advances in engineered systems achieving specific task-oriented goals.

“The MURI promises nothing short of the transformation of robots,” Strano said, “from the large, bulky constructions that we think of today, to future clouds or swarms that enable functions that are currently impossible to realize.”

Writer: Tess Malone

DoD’s Multidisciplinary University Research Initiatives (MURI) Program funds projects that bring researchers together from diverse backgrounds to work on a complex problem. Institute for Data Engineering and Science co-director, Professor Dana Randall, is project investigator and leads a team of six that includes Daniel Goldman, Dunn Family Professor in the School of Physics. The Formal Foundations of Algorithmic Matter and Emergent Computation team also includes chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, and computational science researchers from other universities.  

The researchers are trying to predict and design emergent behavior within computation by using basic algorithms on simple machines to perform complex tasks. Emergent behavior is when a microscopic change in a parameter creates a macroscopic change to a system. This collective behavior is easy to find in nature, from a swarm of bees to a colony of ants, but also appears in other scientific disciplines. 

“A MURI lets us take a deep dive toward understanding how many computationally limited components at the micro-scale can be programmed to work collectively to produce useful behavior at the macro-scale,” said Randall, who is also the ADVANCE Professor of Computing. “Our interdisciplinary team combines expertise in many fields, mimicking the research by forming a collaboration that is also greater than the sum of its parts."

The MURI hybrid approach to algorithmic matter combines traditional logic-based programming with non-traditional computational methods, such as using physical characteristics of the interacting matter to drive a system toward collective behavior. One of the goals is to program based on this predictable emergent behavior. The approach also predicts basic properties of the collective’s emergent behavior, like whether it will behave like a gas, fluid, or solid. In this context, emergent behavior turns into emergent collective computation.

“MURI promises basic algorithms that allow very simple machines to work collectively to perform amazingly complex tasks,” Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) chemical engineering Professor Michael Strano said. “Our team will examine systems of autonomous cell-like particles that interact and respond to the movement of their neighbors in a programmable way. Theorists will be able to test ideas of emergent computation from these simple devices and learn how to execute tasks from the behavior of relatively simple, autonomous particles.”

Although the behavior has footing in physics, computer science, and swarm robotics, there is no underlying framework to explain why until this research. The multidisciplinary approach allows theory and experiment to continuously inform each other and determine the computational capabilities of emergent behavior. The team has an ideal range of expertise in machine learning, control theory, and non-equilibrium physics and algorithms. They are also working with experimentalists who build collective systems at granular and microscopic scales.  

“An exciting aspect of this collaboration will be our attempts to interface and integrate ideas and tools from robotics, non-equilibrium physics, control theory, and computer science to develop task-capable swarms,” Goldman said.

This MURI project will run for five years and is funded by the Army Research Office. In addition to Randall, Goldman, and Strano, the team also includes Arizona State computational science and engineering Professor Andrea Richa, MIT physics Associate Professor Jeremy England, and Northwestern mechanical engineering Professor Todd Murphey.

The overarching goal is to find how simplistic the computation can be for this complexity. This could lead to advances in engineered systems achieving specific task-oriented goals.

“The MURI promises nothing short of the transformation of robots,” Strano said, “from the large, bulky constructions that we think of today, to future clouds or swarms that enable functions that are currently impossible to realize.”

Writer: Tess Malone

The rapid growth of data seems wild and limitless. But various Transdisciplinary Research in Principles of Data Science (TRIPODS) institutes have been making theoretical sense of it.

TRIPODS institutes receive funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Among them is Georgia Tech’s TRIAD – the Transdisciplinary Research Institute for Advancing Data Science, which is directed by Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering Professor Xiaoming Huo. TRIAD researchers are poised to share data science insights with the Atlanta higher education community.

Meanwhile, NSF aims to expand the scope of TRIPODS institutes. Today the agency awarded 19 collaborative projects at 23 universities. The awards are called TRIPODS+X grants. X is the scope-expanding activity; it could be research, visioning, or education.

Among the award recipients is Georgia Tech’s project: TRIPODS+X:EDU Collaborative Education: Data-driven Discovery and Alliance, led by Prasad Tetali, a professor of mathematics and computer science at Georgia Tech.

The award to Georgia Tech and its alliance partners – Agnes Scott, Morehouse, and Spellman Colleges – aims to train a diverse workforce for the inevitable data-driven future. The project will also engage faculty at the minority-serving institutions to help them teach data science and develop related curricula.

"TRIPODS+X is exciting not only for its near-term impact addressing some of society's most important scientific challenges, but [also] because of its potential for developing tools for future applications," says Anne Kinney, NSF assistant director Mathematical and Physical Sciences. 

With the $200,000 TRIPODS+X:EDU grant, the alliance partners will develop undergraduate data-science-focused courses. Through boot camps, workshops, and other joint activities, they will prepare data science modules to integrate into science curricula at the partner institutions. The goal is to prepare students who can address the emerging challenges in data science.

“The NSF-supported educational alliance is exciting in many ways,” says Prasad Tetali.

“It gives an opportunity to infuse the foundational data science curriculum with real-world applications from the physical and life sciences,” Tetali says. “It will also likely catalyze collaborative research in data science and related fields between Georgia Tech and Atlanta area colleges.”  

Following are the individuals involved in the TRIPODS+X: EDU project:

Principal Investigators

• Chris DePree, Agnes Scott College
• Alan Koch, Agnes Scott College
• Wenjing Liao, Georgia Tech School of Mathematics
• Brandeis Marshall, Spelman College       
• Chuang Peng, Morehouse College
• David Sherrill, Georgia Tech School of Chemistry and Biochemistry
• Prasad Tetali, Georgia Tech School of Mathematics and School of Computer Science
• Joshua Weitz, Georgia Tech School of Biological Sciences

Senior Personnel

• Thinh Doan, Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Flavio Fenton, Georgia Tech School of Physics
• Xiaoming Huo, Georgia Tech Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering
• Renata Rawlings-Goss, Georgia Tech Institute for Data Engineering and Science
• Justin Romberg, Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Photo Caption

From left to right, top row: Joshua Weitz, Justin Romberg, and David Sherrill; middle row: Alan Koch, Brandeis Marshall, Chris DePree, and Wenjing Liao; bottom row: Thinh Doan, Prasad Tetali, and Chuang Peng

The rapid growth of data seems wild and limitless. But various Transdisciplinary Research in Principles of Data Science (TRIPODS) institutes have been making theoretical sense of it.

TRIPODS institutes receive funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Among them is Georgia Tech’s TRIAD – the Transdisciplinary Research Institute for Advancing Data Science. TRIAD researchers are poised to share data science insights with the Atlanta higher education community.

Meanwhile, NSF aims to expand the scope of TRIPODS institutes. Today the agency awarded 19 collaborative projects at 23 universities. The awards are called TRIPODS+X grants. X is the scope-expanding activity; it could be research, visioning, or education.

Among the award recipients is Georgia Tech’s project: TRIPODS+X:EDU Collaborative Education: Data-driven Discovery and Alliance, led by Prasad Tetali, a professor of mathematics and computer science at Georgia Tech.

The award to Georgia Tech and its alliance partners – Agnes Scott, Morehouse, and Spelman Colleges – aims to train a diverse workforce for the inevitable data-driven future. The project will also engage faculty at the minority-serving institutions to help them teach data science and develop related curricula.

"TRIPODS+X is exciting not only for its near-term impact addressing some of society's most important scientific challenges, but [also] because of its potential for developing tools for future applications," says Anne Kinney, NSF assistant director Mathematical and Physical Sciences. 

With the $200,000 TRIPODS+X:EDU grant, the alliance partners will develop undergraduate data-science-focused courses. Through boot camps, workshops, and other joint activities, they will prepare data science modules to integrate into science curricula at the partner institutions. The goal is to prepare students who can address the emerging challenges in data science.

“The NSF-supported educational alliance is exciting in many ways,” says Prasad Tetali.

“It gives an opportunity to infuse the foundational data science curriculum with real-world applications from the physical and life sciences,” Tetali says. “It will also likely catalyze collaborative research in data science and related fields between Georgia Tech and Atlanta area colleges.”  

Following are the individuals involved in the TRIPODS+X: EDU project:

Principal Investigators

• Chris DePree, Agnes Scott College
• Alan Koch, Agnes Scott College
• Wenjing Liao, Georgia Tech School of Mathematics
• Brandeis Marshall, Spelman College       
• Chuang Peng, Morehouse College
• David Sherrill, Georgia Tech School of Chemistry and Biochemistry
• Prasad Tetali, Georgia Tech School of Mathematics and School of Computer Science
• Joshua Weitz, Georgia Tech School of Biological Sciences

Senior Personnel

• Thinh Doan, Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Flavio Fenton, Georgia Tech School of Physics
• Xiaoming Huo, Georgia Tech School of Industrial and Systems Engineering
• Renata Rawlings-Goss, Georgia Tech Institute for Data Engineering and Science
• Justin Romberg, Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Photo Caption

From left to right, top row: Joshua Weitz, Justin Romberg, and David Sherrill; middle row: Alan Koch, Brandeis Marshall, Chris DePree, and Wenjing Liao; bottom row: Thinh Doan, Prasad Tetali, and Chuang Peng

Wolf co-edited this issue with Dimitrios Serpanos, a professor in the Department of ECE at the University of Patras. A Ph.D. graduate of Princeton University, Serpanos was advised by Dick Lipton, who is now the Frederick G. Storey Chair in Computing in Tech’s School of Computer Science.

Cyber-physical systems use computers to control physical systems: automobiles, aircraft, medical devices, and manufacturing systems are all examples. These systems are often safety-critical. Safety is traditionally handled as an engineering task that concentrates on avoiding unsafe physical actions. Computer security is traditionally handled by computer scientists who concentrate on information security and integrity. Now that so many critical systems have been entrusted to a combination of computers and physical systems, safety and security can no longer be treated as separate topics.

This special issue of the Proceedings of the IEEE includes a survey article by Wolf and Serpanos that introduces key concepts and trends in the safety and security of cyber-physical systems. It also features a number of articles by leading experts in both academia and industry, including two papers from the Georgia Tech School of ECE:

“HoneyBot: A Honeypot for Robotic Systems” – written by Celine Irvene, David Formby, Samuel Litchfield, and Interim Steve W. Chaddick School Chair and Motorola Foundation Professor Raheem Beyah – describes a novel honeypot for robotic systems. Honeypots are Internet computers that are set up as lures for attackers; building a honeypot for robots requires simulation of the physical effects of their attacks. Irvene and Litchfield are ECE graduate students and Formby is an ECE postdoctoral researcher.

“Improving the Safety and Security of Wide-Area Cyber-Physical Systems Through a Resource-Aware, Service-Oriented Development Methodology” – written by Umer Tariq, Jacques Florence, and Wolf – describes a service-oriented architecture for cyber-physical systems that preserves the quality-of-service requirements of real-time control. The paper also illustrates their work on smart grid examples. Tariq is a Ph.D. graduate of Wolf’s research group and is the principal software architect at Prosumer Grid, Inc., and Florence is an ECE graduate student.

During its October meeting in Macon, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved the appointment of Georgia Tech’s Prasad Tetali as Regents Professor.

Tetali, who began his career at Georgia Tech in 1994, has a joint appointment in the College of Sciences’ School of Mathematics and the College of Computing’s School of Computer Science.

“This is a great honor and I very much appreciate being recognized by my colleagues,” Tetali said. “One does not reach this level in a career alone. I am grateful for all of the incredibly talented and brilliant people that I have been fortunate to work with during my time at Georgia Tech.”

School of Mathematics Chair Rachel Kuske and School of Computer Science Chair Lance Fortnow and nominated Tetali for the appointment.

“Prasad has distinguished himself across research, teaching, and leadership. We do not know how he finds time to do it all, but Prasad is a model citizen in addition to being a prolific and influential researcher and a dedicated teacher and mentor,” the school chairs wrote of Tetali to the nomination committee.

“I extend warm congratulations to Prasad for this outstanding recognition,” said College of Sciences Dean and Sutherland Chair Paul M. Goldbart. “I thank him again for wisely guiding the School of Mathematics when he served as interim chair, before Rachel came on board, and for consistently modeling the qualities of a compassionate academic who shines in all dimensions.”

“This is a richly deserved honor for Prasad, and I’m thrilled for him,” said Zvi Galil, John P. Imlay Jr. Dean of Computing. “In addition to his leadership contributions in the School of Mathematics, he has previously served as director of our Algorithms & Randomness Center and enjoys a sterling reputation among his fellow faculty. On behalf of the entire College of Computing, I extend my warmest congratulations.”

Tetali’s research interests include discrete mathematics, theoretical computer science, probability, and functional analysis.

“In the past few decades, discrete mathematics has received much attention and support from the computer science community, thanks to attempts to understand and classify many useful, everyday optimization problems as computationally easy, tractable, or intractable,” said Tetali in a Q&A published last year.

Tetali served as director of the interdisciplinary Algorithms and Randomness Center from 2011 until 2014. He served as interim chair for the School of Mathematics from April 2015 to December 2016. Tetali assisted the new chair for six months in 2017 in his role as associate chair for research.

Along with Tetali, the Board of Regents appointed two other Georgia Tech Regents Professors during its recent meeting. They are:

• Marilyn Brown, School of Public Policy
• Suresh Sitaraman, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering

Tetali, who began his career at Georgia Tech in 1994, has a joint appointment in the College of Computing’s School of Computer Science and the College of Sciences’ School of Mathematics.

“This is a great honor and I very much appreciate being recognized by my colleagues,” Tetali said. “One does not reach this level in a career alone. I am grateful for all of the incredibly talented and brilliant people that I have been fortunate to work with during my time at Georgia Tech.”

School of Computer Science Chair Lance Fortnow and School of Mathematics Chair Rachel Kuske nominated Tetali for the appointment.

“Prasad has distinguished himself across research, teaching, and leadership. We do not know how he finds time to do it all, but Prasad is a model citizen in addition to being a prolific and influential researcher and a dedicated teacher and mentor,” the school chairs wrote of Tetali to the nomination committee.

“I extend warm congratulations to Prasad for this outstanding recognition,” said College of Sciences Dean and Sutherland Chair Paul M. Goldbart. “I thank him again for wisely guiding the School of Mathematics when he served as interim chair, before Rachel came on board, and for consistently modeling the qualities of a compassionate academic who shines in all dimensions.”

“As another computer theoretician I am somewhat biased, but this is a richly deserved honor for Prasad, and I’m thrilled for him,” said Zvi Galil, John P. Imlay Jr. Dean of Computing. “In addition to his leadership contributions in the School of Mathematics, he has previously served as director of our Algorithms & Randomness Center and enjoys a sterling reputation among his fellow faculty. On behalf of the entire College of Computing, I extend my warmest congratulations.”

Tetali’s research interests include discrete mathematics, theoretical computer science, probability, and functional analysis.

“In the past few decades, discrete mathematics has received much attention and support from the computer science community, thanks to attempts to understand and classify many useful, everyday optimization problems as computationally easy, tractable, or intractable,” said Tetali in a Q&A published last year.

Tetali served as director of the interdisciplinary Algorithms and Randomness Center from 2011 until 2014. He served as interim chair for the School of Mathematics from April 2015 to December 2016. Tetali assisted the new chair for six months in 2017 in his role as associate chair for research.

Along with Tetali, the Board of Regents appointed two other Georgia Tech Regents Professors during its recent meeting. They are:

• Marilyn Brown, School of Public Policy
• Suresh Sitaraman, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering

The new institute, the Transdisciplinary Research Institute for Advancing Data Science (TRIAD), is one of 12 national data science projects to receive $17.7 million in NSF funds, the agency recently announced. The School of Mathematics is one of six Tech schools taking part in TRIAD, which will receive $1.5 million of the NSF funding.

“The successful funding of the TRIAD partnership between the Colleges of Science, Computing, and Engineering recognizes Georgia Tech as a leader in the foundations of data science,” says School of Mathematics Professor and Chair Rachel Kuske. “We welcome the opportunities and challenges that come with this recognition. TRIAD will be an important base as our leadership in the mathematical and quantitative sciences continues to expand, addressing both fundamental and applied questions.”

Other schools participating in TRIAD are the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial & Systems Engineering, the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, the School of Biological Sciences, the School of Computational Science and Engineering, and the School of Computer Science.

The rise of technology in everyday life has come with an increase in raw data generated by an ever-expanding number of connected devices. Media outlets are calling this information explosion “big data.” Companies, organizations, and governments are now on the hunt to find better ways of analyzing and modeling big data, with potential benefits for business, science, education, and law enforcement.

The NSF initiative Transdisciplinary Research in Principles of Data Science (TRIPODS) hopes to leverage academic expertise in mathematics, statistics, and theoretical computer science. In Phase I of TRIPODS, the NSF put out a call to support the development of small collaborative institutes. Georgia Tech responded with TRIAD, which will be operate alongside the recently launched Institute for Data Engineering and Science (IDEaS).  Xiaoming Huo, professor in the School of Industrial & Systems Engineering, will be TRIAD’S executive director; Prasad Tetali, professor in the School of Mathematics with a joint appointment in the School of Computer Science, will serve as co-principal investigator.

“The emphasis on theoretical foundations of data science offers a great opportunity for mathematicians to actively engage with other scientists and help make breakthroughs in this fast-growing interdisciplinary field,” says Tetali. “Our team also recognizes the importance of being the only team, out of the dozen winners of Phase I, to have been selected from the Southeast,” he added.

Faculty from the College of Sciences with expertise in algebraic and convex geometry, applied dynamics, computational and numerical methods, discrete mathematics, quantitative and computational biology, high-dimensional probability, and statistical inference will provide research for TRIAD. Faculty members include School of Biological Sciences Professor Joshua Weitz and School of Mathematics professors Leonid Bunimovich, Sung Ha Kang, Vladimir Koltchinskii, Rachel Kuske, Anton Leykin, Galyna Livshyts, Ionel Popescu and Mayya Zhilova.

The event was set in motion by Executive Vice President of Research Steve Cross, whose welcome included a view of interdisciplinary research across Georgia Tech, and the rationale and value of the Interdisciplary Research Institutes (IRIs) like IDEaS. A series of short introductory presentations transitioned into a town hall conversation about opportunities, resources, and ways to engage. The evening ended with a celebratory reception and presentation of data-driven music provided by Mason Bretan, a Ph.D. student in the Center for Music Technology. The reception also included a presentation featuring the research of IDEaS-affilated faculty, centers, and institutes.

During the town hall, Randall introduced the IDEaS team, including the recently appointed associate directors David Sherrill (Chemistry and Biochemistry), Deirdre Shoemaker (Physics), and Marilyn Wolf (Electrical and Computer Engineering), and the newly formed IDEaS Faculty Council. Randall also talked about the role IDEaS will play in shaping research neighborhoods in the upcoming Coda Building.

"We want the community to engage with us and start a conversation about their data science needs--to create the next big idea in data science with us," Randall said.

Aluru gave an overview on how the Institute is composed, and of its motivation, goals, and affiliations with centers dedicated to data science foundational research and applications. IDEaS is also closely allied with the South Big Data Hub, with Aluru (as the hub PI) and Renata Rawlings-Goss (as the hub co-executive director) serving in leadership roles for both entitites.

Aluru discussed IDEaS's progress to date, including three industry-academia-bridging workshops in the areas of materials and manufacturing, analytics and machine learning, and precision medicine. A fourth upcoming workshop at Georgia Tech on April 26-27 will concentrate on IoT for smart and connected cities and campuses.

Aluru summarized IDEaS's work developing collaborative proposals to date, and issued a call to mobilize for future strategic activities. Aluru and Randall called attention to upcoming activities such as several IDEaS mini-retreats: IDEaS in Research,  IDEaS for the Future, a retreat on Data Science for Pediatrics (with the Pediatric Technology Center) on May 23, and a Retreat for Energy (with SEI) in early Fall. Other events include monthly networking gatherings, with the first of these scheduled for April 28 at 4 p.m.; Data Science modules, short courses, specialized training; and the IDEaS seminar series starting in the fall on Fridays from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. IDEaS is also planning to launch the IDEaS Labs, and the IDEaS Data Repositories. Anyone interested in contributing to these efforts can contact the IDEaS team.

Rawlings-Goss, directory of industry partnerships, gave a synopsis of the IDEaS Industry Alliance Program. "We've had some early successes," she said. "For example, through our new Program to Empower Partnerships with Industry (PEPI) program, companies like United Healthcare and McKesson are paired with faculty for research, going on-site to target relevant problems and growing new working partnerships."

She also explained how IDEaS worked with Microsoft to become an executive partner and provided faculty resources as well as cloud support. Microsoft's gift to Georgia Tech included Microsoft Azure and funding for seed projects in Data Engineering and Science. Rawlings-Goss asked interested industry and faculty researchers to get involved by contacting her.

Nearly 130 people attended the days events, with about a quarter of those from industry.The event was planned by Shkina Halbert of IDEaS, with assistance from the College of Computing Event Coordinator Birney Robert. Robert, who is also a studio artist, crafted technology-themed artwork using an arrangement of surplus store circuit boards, wiring, and light bulbs, and used these as table centerpieces.

IDEaS unifies data science researchers and resources spanning all disciplines throughout Georgia Tech to take on grand challenges in data science. It strategically builds collaborations and supporting resources to stimulate foundational research in areas such as machine learning, high-performance computing, and algorithms and optimization. It identifies and unites researchers to pursue collaborative and ambitious funding opportunities, to drive research, and to evolve and promote data science education. IDEaS provides an accessible and stable means of navigating the vast landscape of data science research and opportunities internally, and externally as it connects to industry and other partners.

While the IRI was officially organized in summer 2016, the March 29 event marked the operational launch of IDEaS and the beginning of a new campus-wide conversation on data science research, partnerships, resources, and education.

The 12 Interdisciplinary Research Institutes (IRIs) of Georgia Tech are responsible for bringing together a mix of researchers – spanning colleges, departments, and individual labs – around a single core research area. IRIs also connect a large portfolio of basic and applied research programs, support world-class research facilities and laboratories, engage Georgia Tech students, and collaborate with government and industry research partners.

Click here to view a photo album from the IDEaS launch!

As an example, she posits that efforts to optimize a given outcome—like a business decision—may involve a tremendous amount of data. “It might be prohibitively slow to collect, sort and analyze all that data,” she says. “But there might be an approximation to that process—a shortcut of some sort—that could get you close enough to what you’re attempting to do that would be many-fold more efficient. And in this case it could make sense to relax your parameters and not look at every granular bit of data to arrive at your conclusion.”

That’s a lot to digest, but she’s not alone. In fact, in doctorate student Sarah Cannon, Randall has found a kindred spirit and fellow theoretical computer science geek. After earning her bachelor’s degree at Tufts and master’s degree at the University of Oxford, Cannon came to Tech specifically to study in the Institute’s Algorithms, Combinatorics and Optimization program.

Cannon works with Randall on a number of research projects.  

“Right now we’re collaborating with some physicists to help them build robotics systems that change shape in a coordinated fashion to achieve a greater, global behavior,” Cannon says. “Using tools from theoretical computer science, we can help them model or predict the behavior of the entire system and understand what will emerge.”

Cannon also serves as a teaching assistant for Honors Discrete Math, a freshman course. “It’s great to see these new students getting really excited about a topic that most people don’t get excited about,” she says.

Her goal is to stay in academia for her career, and she’s watched Randall closely to pick up on her teaching and research leadership techniques. “I want to excel as a teacher,” Cannon says. “The way Dana teaches, interacting with students and getting them engaged and excited about the material, is what I hope to learn to do. ”

Last summer, Randall says Cannon took her teaching to a higher level. “We had a very strong undergraduate student and Sarah took it upon herself to mentor her and train her,” Randall says. “We just submitted a joint paper and because of Sarah’s influence, this student got her first taste of being a published academic herself.”

Randall’s praise doesn’t stop there. “Basically, I dream up things to do and Sarah does it all,” she says. “I hit the jackpot—she’s just fearless about research. She’s already earned some of the most prestigious awards in the theoretical computer science field, as well as some for her efforts to promote women in computing, something that’s very important to me.”

Randall serves as the ADVANCE Professor of Computing, and as part of the ADVANCE program, she helps sustain a network of top faculty members at Tech who support the advancement of women and minorities in higher education. “There’s one ADVANCE professor in every college,” Randall says. “It’s really a privilege to get to work with and learn from this group of women, especially when we’re able to turn ideas into policies that will attract more women to campus.”

Already loaded with a full plate as a teacher and researcher, Randall was named the co-executive director of Tech’s Institute for Data Engineering and Science last year. In this role, she’s helping to harness all the data expertise that resides on campus. “It’s a huge advantage for us in that we’re able to put all the pieces together from different areas—our resources and people are really coming together,” she says.

“I had no experience programming,” said Randall, now ADVANCE Professor of Computing in the College of Computing. “So I learned it to pass the exam. When I went to tell them that I had passed the test, they said, ‘why don’t you try out to teach?’”

She did, and then she spent several years

teaching other students from her self-described perspective of “I know nothing extraneous. I’m going to tell you how to learn and get through this exam.”

During those early years, Randall said she very deliberately tried to make the classroom comfortable for the students. Sometimes, she would sit on the desk to be different from the students’ usual classroom experiences, causing them to have different expectations.

Another early experience — two summers during high school spent at a math program at Hampshire College — taught her how to engage people and “trick” them into learning something complex by solving a puzzle.

“These experiences really shaped how I teach now,” she said.

Classroom Strategies

This semester, Randall is teaching Honors Discrete Mathematics (CS 2051). She describes the class as an honors class on “how to think about discrete math, how to do proofs, and how to think mathematically [for mostly computer science students].”

“Early on, I explain my expectation that everyone in the class, at some point, will say, ‘I don’t understand.’ And everyone at some point will say, ‘wow.’ I see it as my job to get them to the point where they feel comfortable saying those two things,” she said.

When designing a course, Randall said she has a collection of topics that need to be covered. But she works to keep it from being boring.

“I definitely switch things up,” she said.

“With some courses, you have to start with the basics, and it’s just boring for the first couple of weeks.”

Randall said she often starts with the ‘meat’ of the course — and even though the students may not have some of the fundamentals, they can follow along. Then she goes back later to fill in the missing details.

“I think it’s more fun to go out and play tennis a little bit before you spend two hours learning how to hold the racket,” she said.

Reaching the Students

Randall is excited when she sees students “thinking differently” after taking her class. She enjoys leading students and pushing them a little bit farther than they think they can go.

“In an honors class, you certainly have students who are very overly confident. But you’re still pushing them,” she said. “They have their style of learning. And, I teach very differently than most people do, so I definitely push them a little bit out of their comfort zones. I feel like I can do that with students at different levels.”

Randall also enjoys the puzzle of trying to figure out what the students are missing and what will help them understand.

“As a teacher, you have to not be pre-programmed,” she said. “You have to think on your feet and be reactive. I have a good ability to know — when students have their hand up — who is right and who is wrong, and I use that to help teach the class.”

When Randall senses that her students don’t understand what she’s talking about, she repeats herself.

“Yesterday, I had a day like that. It just wasn’t as smooth as it usually is,” she said.

“When I see that they’re amiss, I back up and say ‘let me remind you of the salient points.’ And I think that helps.”

Advice for New Faculty

Randall said one of her biggest assets as a teacher is talking straight to students and having a conversation. That’s one of her recommendations to new faculty.

“Have a real conversation with students, as though you’re having coffee with them,” she said. “The more you get away from this persona of teacher, I think that helps.”

Randall said the demands on a new faculty member’s time are overwhelming.

“You do have to put less time into absolutely everything than you wish you could,” she said.

“When teaching, the place not to skimp is the energy you put into the classroom. It’s worth engaging the students and enjoying that hour or hour-and-a-half that you’re standing in front of them.”

Randall suggests being clear about expectations for the class, but new faculty don’t have to polish every piece of material they bring to the class.

“You don’t have to practice your presentations 20 times before you come in,” she said.

“Making mistakes is okay as long as you’re honest and you own up, think quickly, and recover.”

Article by Victor Rogers, Institute Communications

“Leading this school is one of the most gratifying experiences in my career,” Fortnow said. “Over the past five years, SCS has empowered computing, developed remarkable computer scientists, and produced truly impactful research. I am excited to continue this growth and discovery!”

Appointed in 2012, Fortnow was selected after a national search conducted by the Georgia Tech College of Computing. Since then, Fortnow has seen the school through significant growth including the creation of a new research center and research institute. Furthermore, Fortnow has seen four SCS faculty members appointed to director or co-director roles within the college. He also recruited several notable faculty members during his tenure, bolstering the school’s faculty with experts in such area as computer architecture, cybersecurity, and network systems, to name a few.

“Lance has proven himself as an effective chair and leader for the School of Computer Science,” Georgia Tech’s College of Computing Dean Zvi Galil said. “The school maintains a strong level of research productivity and funding in the foundational areas of computing while launching substantial efforts in areas like computer architecture, cybersecurity, and data science. It has been a pleasure working with Lance during his first five years, and I look forward to working with him during his second term.”

Among his many activities, Fortnow was the founding editor-in-chief of the ACM Transactions on Computation Theory, served as chair of the ACM Special Interest Group on Algorithms and Computation Theory, and held a position on the Computing Research Association Board of Directors. Since 2002, Fortnow has co-authored the Computational Complexity blog, the first major theoretical computer science blog. Also, Fortnow has written a popular science book “The Golden Ticket: P, NP and the Search for the Impossible.”

Fortnow received his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1989. Before joining Georgia Tech, Fortnow was a professor at Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, a senior research scientist at the NEC Research Institute, and a one-year visiting professor at Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica and the University of Amsterdam.

Fortnow begins his second term as chair in July 2017.

The event featured presentations from inaugural School Chair Ellen Zegura and current School Chair Lance Fortnow. The celebration also included written remarks from College of Computing leadership, such as former Dean Rich DeMillo.

“With the creation of the School of Computer Science, Georgia Tech reconfirmed its commitment to the core concepts of the field,” Zegura said. “By bringing together theoreticians and system builders, the School of Computer Science contributes to the near and future advances that impact our everyday lives.”

Established in February 2007, the College of Computing founded SCS to combine forward-looking research and deliver a student-centric, computer science-focused education. Since then, the school has quietly forged a Top 10 U.S. News and World Report-ranked CS program with highly sought after specialties, like cybersecurity, computing systems, and theory. What started with a handful of inquisitive students, dedicated faculty, and enthusiastic staff has evolved into an institution with more than 1,700 graduates and a revered body of research.

SCS is home to a group of professors and researchers with breadth and strength in all aspects of the computational process. From the Institute for Information Security & Privacy’s cybersecurity research to the Center for Research into Novel Computing Hierarchies’ efforts to expand computing beyond Moore’s Law, the school has supported several innovations to make computers better, faster, smarter, and more secure. It achieved this while encouraging the maturing minds of its students and having faculty work at the frontline of computer science. With seven endowed chairs, multiple accolades from top scientific societies, and more than 120 active projects, SCS celebrated its 10th Anniversary poised to face tomorrow’s computing challenges.

“While 10 years is not a long time when compared to our peers, the scope and depth of our research, students, and faculty keep us at the top,” said Fortnow. “The school has cemented a commanding foundation, and we eagerly step into our next decade ready to push forward the 50-plus year legacy of computing at Tech.”

Funded by a National Science Foundation workforce grant, IMPACT is led by School of Mathematics Professor Christine Heitsch. “Our primary goal is to address the critical transition from graduate student to tenure-track faculty in terms of research expectations, teaching responsibilities, and professional commitments,” she said. IMPACT also includes an REU component, she added, because “one way that faculty expectations differ significantly from graduate school is in engaging students in research projects.”

For the REU participants, the summer program was an opportunity to gain valuable research experience and learn about mathematics not often covered in undergraduate courses. 

For the graduate assistants – School of Mathematics Ph.D. students Anna Kirkpatrick, Thomas Prag, and Peter Ralli – it was a way to gain new experiences in research and teaching. 

And for the IMPACT postdoctoral fellows – Megan Bernstein, Torin Greenwood, and Heather C. Smith – it was a chance to practice the mentoring skills that are essential for a successful academic career.

In keeping with IMPACT’s interdisciplinary emphasis, the REU projects focused on the interface of discrete mathematics with molecular biology, particularly on the interaction of probabilistic and algebraic combinatorics with the folding of RNA molecules.  Although the biological connections were new to all participants, Heitsch said, “everyone really rose to the challenge, and that made it a wonderful experience for all of us.”

The six undergraduates came from five Atlanta-area institutions and worked on four projects:

Ibrahim Apata, a junior from Morehouse College, examined a theoretical model of RNA folding using plane trees, a mathematical structure from the field of combinatorics.

Ida De Vierno, a junior from Georgia Tech, and Isabella Nang, a senior from Georgia State University, studied the connectivity of meanders, another combinatorial structure that can be viewed as pairs of RNA foldings.

Chelsea Huston, a senior from Spelman College, explored the charactertistics of random plane trees using samples from a Markov chain under certain ‘biological’ probability distributions and then compared the results with known RNA foldings.

Jason Kolbush, a senior from Georgia Tech, and Taylor Strickland, a junior from Agnes Scott College, built  and trained a hidden Markov model to parse experimental data that can be used to improve predictions of RNA-folding patterns.

The experience was exciting and eye-opening for the IMPACT postdocs. The undergraduate students “showed an amazing amount of curiosity and creativity in approaching the problems,” Bernstein said.

For Greenwood, “the most exciting thing is watching the students themselves get excited about these projects. They come up with their own ideas of how to solve these open questions.”

The students “helped me see the project in a new light,” Smith said. “The approach that they took was a little bit different; they noticed patterns that I hadn't seen before.”

Despite their inexperience with the material, the students accomplished much during eight weeks. “I was very impressed,” said School of Mathematics Interim Chair Prasad V. Tetali. “Some of the research done this summer is substantial enough to lead to interesting publications.”

Summer research programs such as Georgia Tech’s IMPACT REU are valuable for undergraduates, said Duane Cooper, an associate professor and the chair of the Department of Mathematics at Morehouse College, as well as a Georgia Tech alumnus. They enable students “to appreciate the foundation we try to instill in them and to see the many ways that the mathematics they’re learning can be useful,” he explained.

Organizers hope the IMPACT REU will spark future collaborations between Georgia Tech and surrounding schools, especially those with students who are underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) communities.

“One of the most impactful byproducts of the program is setting up contacts with Morehouse, Spelman, and Agnes Scott,” Tetali said.

“This exchange of research interest even at the faculty level is valuable,” Cooper said, adding that “it’s good for our students, our ‘Men of Morehouse’.”

Figure Caption:

At the 2016 IMPACT REU poster session were (from left to right) Prasad Tetali, Peter Ralli, Heather Smith, Isabella Nang, Ibrahim Apata, Ida De Vierno, Christine Heitsch, Anna Kirkpatrick, Torin Greenwood, Megan Bernstein, Jason Kolbush, Chelsea Huston, Taylor Strickland, and Thomas Prag. Photo courtesy of Heather Smith. 

Scott Smith

Student Assistant, College of Sciences

Dana Randall, the ADVANCE Professor of Computing who also directs the Algorithms & Randomness Center, is the co-chair of the scientific organizing committee for this week’s SIAM Conference on Discrete Mathematics. This bi-annual conference spans topics including combinatorics, graph theory and connections to related fields, and is one of the largest and most prominent conferences in discrete mathematics. 

“This is a very exciting time for discrete mathematics,” Randall said. This year’s conference has heavy Georgia Tech involvement; several faculty members and current and former students have organized workshops or will present results. Lutz Warnke, an incoming Georgia Tech faculty member, will be awarded the Dénes König Prize at the conference.

After the SIAM Conference, Professor Ling Liu will serve as the co-general chair for the 40th Annual IEEE Computer Society International Conference on Computers, Software and Applications (COMPSAC), where College of Computing Dean Zvi Galil will present opening remarks on June 11.

“We are entering a world in which billions of devices are globally connected,” said Liu. “The gap between the cyber and physical world is rapidly shrinking, which poses many new challenges and opportunities in computer science.”

Following both Atlanta events, Professor Calton Pu will serve as co-program chair for the 5th Annual IEEE International Congress on Big Data, a flagship global forum for Big Data research and development.

Hosted at Georgia State University in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, June 6-10, the SIAM Conference on Discrete Mathematics is the second major SIAM conference Randall has organized. She previously chaired the program committee of the SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms in 2011. 

IEEE COMPSAC and IEEE International Congress on Big Data will take place respectively in Atlanta, June 10-14, and in San Francisco, June 27-July 2.

For additional information about these events, please use the links provided.

SIAM Conference on Discrete Mathematics 

IEEE COMPSAC 

IEEE International Congress on Big Data

Randall, the Advance Professor of Computing in the School of Computer Science, will succeed Professor Prasad Tetali as ARC director. Her appointment becomes effective May 15.

The center is charged with identifying problems with natural connections to algorithms and randomness. As part of this think tank, professors, researchers and students not only devise, extend and solidify theories of algorithms, they create practical solutions for scientists here at Georgia Tech and around the world. 

“ARC has transformed research in algorithms and randomness at Georgia Tech by building bridges across units and centers, engaging in new industrial collaborations, providing alternative perspectives on projects across the campus, and engaging students and postdoctoral researchers in novel and impactful ways,” Randall said. “There are many opportunities for strengthening these connections, both internally and externally, as we move forward.” 

Randall is a professor of theoretical computer science at Georgia Tech who studies randomized algorithms with her primary research focused on Markov chains. She also holds an adjunct appointment with the School of Mathematics.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Harvard and her doctorate in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. She was a Sloan fellow and gave the 2009 AMS Arnold Ross Lecture at the Augusta National Science Center. In 2012, she became an inaugural fellow of the American Mathematical Society.

“We are extremely excited that Dana has agreed to lead the Algorithms and Randomness Center,” said Lance Fortnow, chair of the School of Computer Science. “Not only is Dana an excellent computer scientist and mathematician, she is an outstanding mentor through her work as the Advance Professor of Computing. We are lucky to have her take this new role. 

“Dana is a recognized leader in the field of randomized algorithms where she has pioneered work in fast polynomial time algorithms with rigorous and provable performance guarantees,” said Zvi Galil, the dean of the College of Computing. “I am confident that she will effectively lead ARC in exciting and innovative directions.”

Randall expressed excitement about her new appointment but noted that past and continued successes at the center rests upon many people.

 “We owe much gratitude to the founding ARC directors, Santosh Vempala and Prasad Tetali, for their excellent leadership and boundless energy, as well as the countless faculty and students who continue to contribute to the center's success,” she said.

Hosted annually by the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of ICT and Future Planning, the Open Source Software World Challenge promotes software development and the expansion of international exchanges amongst developers. Georgia Tech’s Computing for Good Basic Laboratory Information System (C4G BLIS) received the Gold Prize and $5,000 in prize money.

C4G BLIS is open-source software used to track patient specimens and laboratory results. It replaces paper records, resulting in a sustainable, more efficient and more accountable process that also tracks workflow and generates customizable reports. More than 60 healthcare facilities or hospitals use it in Africa today.

Distinguished Professor Santosh Vempala (CS) developed C4G BLIS in collaboration with the International Laboratory Branch of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to address persistent health care challenges in sub-Saharan Africa, partly as a research project in the College of Computing’s C4G course in 2010 and 2012. C4G BLIS launched in 2010 in Cameroon and has since expanded into Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kenya.

“User satisfaction is high, error rates are down, workloads are lower (hence more patients can be served) and hospital revenues are up,” Vempala said. 

C4G BLIS has undergone more than 70 revisions since its launch with students handling the updates, Vempala said. Alumnus Aishwarya Rajagopal, MS CS ’15, is still working on C4G BLIS and says it has been an extraordinary experience.

“The system is continuously evolving and there have been many challenging tasks in the last one year,” Rajagopal said. “Coming through these and having a release rolled out is a great feeling. The idea that something I do touches the lives of people in another continent thoroughly excites me.”

C4G BLIS continues to evolve based on user feedback, and other developers are joining in, from Kenya and Ghana most recently, as it is open-source software.

“To be sustainable in the long term, the development of a system like C4G BLIS has to be collaborative, involving all its stakeholder and local IT expertise,” Vempala said. “Open source is the only way to go.”

Challenges remain, but with expanding deployment throughout Africa and international recognition for C4G BLIS, the future is bright.

“Sustainable progress is hard to be certain of,” Vempala said. “But with a collaborative and ultra-configurable design, and a talent pool of inspired students, we appear to be meeting the diverse needs of hospital laboratories in Africa; so far, so good.”

They are:

• Professor Mostafa Anmar, School of Computer Science
• Professor Tom Conte, School of Computer Science
• Professor Ashok Goel, School of Interactive Computing
• Professor Dana Randall, School of Computer Science
• Lecturer Jay Summet, Division of Computing Instruction
• Professor Greg Turk, School of Interactive Computing

The Class of 1940 Award is given annually to honor teachers with exceptional response rates and scores on the Course-Instructor Opinion Survey (CIOS). Current award recipients were evaluated during the Fall 2013 and Spring 2014 semesters. Recipients must have had a class response rate of at least 85 percent along with near-perfect evaluation scores of teaching effectiveness. Fewer than 40 teachers across Georgia Tech receive the award annually.

All recipients will be formally honored in March at CETL’s annual Celebrating Teaching Day.

Hosted annually by the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of ICT and Future Planning, the Open Source Software World Challenge promotes software development and the expansion of international exchanges amongst developers. Georgia Tech’s Computing for Good Basic Laboratory Information System (C4G BLIS) received the Gold Prize and $5,000 in prize money.

C4G BLIS is open-source software used to track patient specimens and laboratory results. It replaces paper records, resulting in a sustainable, more efficient and more accountable process that also tracks workflow and generates customizable reports. More than 60 healthcare facilities or hospitals use it in Africa today.

Distinguished Professor Santosh Vempala (CS) developed C4G BLIS in collaboration with the International Laboratory Branch of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to address persistent health care challenges in sub-Saharan Africa, partly as a research project in the College of Computing’s C4G course in 2010 and 2012. C4G BLIS launched in 2010 in Cameroon and has since expanded into Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kenya.

“User satisfaction is high, error rates are down, workloads are lower (hence more patients can be served) and hospital revenues are up,” Vempala said. 

C4G BLIS has undergone more than 70 revisions since its launch with students handling the updates, Vempala said. Alumnus Aishwarya Rajagopal, MS CS ’15, is still working on C4G BLIS and says it has been an extraordinary experience.

“The system is continuously evolving and there have been many challenging tasks in the last one year,” Rajagopal said. “Coming through these and having a release rolled out is a great feeling. The idea that something I do touches the lives of people in another continent thoroughly excites me.”

C4G BLIS continues to evolve based on user feedback, and other developers are joining in, from Kenya and Ghana most recently, as it is open-source software.

“To be sustainable in the long term, the development of a system like C4G BLIS has to be collaborative, involving all its stakeholder and local IT expertise,” Vempala said. “Open source is the only way to go.”

Challenges remain, but with expanding deployment throughout Africa and international recognition for C4G BLIS, the future is bright.

“Sustainable progress is hard to be certain of,” Vempala said. “But with a collaborative and ultra-configurable design, and a talent pool of inspired students, we appear to be meeting the diverse needs of hospital laboratories in Africa; so far, so good.”

ACM, the world’s leading computing society, selected Professors Elizabeth Mynatt (IC) and Santosh Vempala (CS) as new Fellows for their significant contributions to the development and application of computing. Meanwhile, IEEE announced that it elevated Calton Pu (CS) as a 2016 Fellow in addition to its posthumous award to the late Distinguished Professor Karsten Schwan.

ACM Fellows

Achievements of the 2015 ACM Fellows drive economic growth and technological progress in areas such as data management and spoken-language processing to robotics and cryptography, and more.

Mynatt, who is executive director of IPaT (the Institute for People and Technology), was selected for contributions to human-centered computing and the development of health information technologies. Mynatt is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of ubiquitous computing and assistive technologies. She also has been one of the principal researchers in the Aware Home Research Initiative—investigating the design of future home technologies, especially those that enable older adults to continue living independently. She continues to serve as principal investigator in the MyJourney Compass program—a study, funded by the National Institute of Health, in collaboration with the Harbin Cancer Clinic in Rome, Ga., to help breast cancer patients navigate their treatment using personalized tablet computers.

"It is a distinct honor to be included as part of such as distinguished cohort of computing researchers, including many ACM Fellows here in the College of Computing," she said.

Vempala, a Distinguished Professor and theoretical computer scientist, was selected for contributions to algorithms for convex sets and probability distributions. Vempala's research consists of algorithms and algorithmic tools for high-dimensional and large data sets, for problems including sampling, optimization, integration and learning.

``I want to know how the brain works, so I can stop craving that next piece of chocolate, be less lazy, more considerate and strive to find insightful and useful solutions,” he said about what motivates his work.

Vempala—in joint work with Senior Research Scientist Rosa Arriaga (IC)—recently published a new finding about human cognition and a corresponding computational algorithm in the MIT Journal, Neural Computation, which demonstrated that humans and machines can make correct deductions when shown less than 1 percent of the total data. He also has been exploring human computation, especially usable and secure password generation methods. Vempala previously spearheaded the Algorithms and Randomness Center and ThinkTank at Georgia Tech, and served as its first director from 2006 until 2011. In 2008, he co-founded the College’s “Computing for Good” program.

“Whether they work in leading universities, corporations, or research laboratories, these newly minted ACM Fellows are responsible for the breakthroughs and industrial innovations that are transforming society at every level,” said ACM President Alexander L. Wolf in a news release. “At times, the contributions of a Fellow may include enhancements to a device that immediately impacts our daily lives. At other times, new research discoveries lead to theoretical advances that, while perhaps not immediately perceptible, have substantial long-term impacts.”

ACM will formally recognize Mynatt and Vempala at its annual Awards Banquet, to be held in San Francisco in June.

IEEE Fellows

Pu—who is a computer science professor and the John P. Imlay, Jr., Chair in Software—was selected as an IEEE Fellow for contributions to system software specialization, information security, and services computing. Calton's research interests are in the areas of distributed computing, Internet data management, and operating systems. Past projects included research of deceptive and misleading information, change detection algorithms, and the survivability of large-scale systems. He is co-director of CERCS—the Center for Experimental Research in Computer Systems.

The achievement of Fellow is conferred upon those with an outstanding record of accomplishment in any field of interest represented by IEEE—a 52-year-old organization best known for developing standards for the computer and electronics industry. Its mission is to promote the development and application of electrotechnology “and allied sciences for the benefit of humanity” as well as the advancement of the profession and its members. A complete list of the newly elevated 2016 Fellows can be found here.

Additional information about the ACM Fellows and the 2015 honorees is available on the ACM Awards site.

The ACM's Federated Computing Research Conference occurs every four years and assembles a spectrum of 13 smaller, affiliated research conferences and workshops about computing that occur at the same time. Representatives from Georgia Tech’s School of Computational Science & Engineering and the School of Computer Science chaired conferences, led sessions and presented papers.

At HPDC ‘15 (High Performance Parallel and Distributed Computing), CS Professor Ling Liu, CS Professor Calton Pu, with CS students Yang Zhou and Kisung Lee, and Qi Zhang (MSE affiliate) presented “Fast Interactive Graph Computation with Resource Aware Graph Parallel Abstractions” about graphs and architectures.

At ISCA ‘15 (International Symposium on Computer Architecture), CS Associate Professor Milos Prvulovic and CS student Ching-Kai Liang presented “Minimalistic Synchronization Accelerator with Resource Overflow Management.” Prvulovic also presented his work about side-channel attacks, "FASE: Finding Amplitude-modulated Side-channel Emanations” with ECE Graduate Teaching Assistant Robert Callan and ECE Assistant Professor Alenka Zajic. CS and ECE student Jin Wang presented “Dynamic Thread Block Launch: A Lightweight Execution Mechanism to Support Irregular Applications on GPUs" with ECE Professor Sudhakar Yalamanchili. CS Regents' Professor Karsten Schwan and CS student Jian Huang presented “Unified Address Translation for Memory-Mapped SSDs with FlashMap” with ECE Associate Professor Moinuddin Qureshi and Microsoft Research. Yalamanchili and Qureshi also presented other work for a total of six papers by Georgia Tech at ISCA ‘15.

At STOC ‘15 (ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing), ACO student Ben Cousins and CS Distinguished Professor Santosh Vempala presented “Bypassing KLS: Gaussian Cooling and an O*(n^3) Volume Algorithm.” Vempala also presented “On the Complexity of Random Satisfiability Problems with Planted Solutions” with former post-doc Will Perkins. ACO student David Durfee presented “On the Complexity of Nash Equilibria in Anonymous Games” with a Columbia University student and professor.

At SPAA ‘15 (ACM Symposium on Parallelism in Algorithms and Architectures), CSE Associate Professor Rich Vuduc presented “Branch-Avoiding Graph Algorithms” with recent CSE PhD graduate Oded Green and CSE student Marat Dukan.

CS Professor Jim Xu served as general chair of SIGMETRICS ‘15 and session chair.

Tell us a little about your research.

Theoretical computer science strives to understand which computational problems  can be solved efficiently, and to develop the fastest algorithms possible with performance guarantees. Randomized algorithms are fantastic tools for designing algorithms that may run faster or give better guarantees when we allow the computer to “flip coins.” My research in this area develops methods for studying properties of very large sets through random sampling, spanning problems such as models of diatomic molecules or magnetization from statistical physics, segregation in housing models, and models of colloids where two types of molecules interact in a binary mixture.

What made you decide to work at Georgia Tech?

After completing a Ph.D. in Computer Science at U.C. Berkeley, I spent two years in Princeton in the School of Mathematics at the Institute for Advance Study and the Computer Science Department at Princeton University. I searched for academic jobs in both mathematics and computer science, so when Georgia Tech offered a joint position in both schools, each extremely highly rated in my research areas of theoretical computer science and discrete mathematics, it was an easy decision to accept. The main draws for me were the excellence and strengths of my colleagues in both departments, and a clear upward trajectory showing that Tech was quickly headed to the top 10 in theoretical computer science. I also was drawn by the openness to interdisciplinary research, in particular to the interdisciplinary Algorithms, Combinatorics and Optimization degree that has continuously attracted many of the brightest students in the field.

What are the top three reasons you’d recommend Georgia Tech to other faculty?

When I came to Georgia Tech nearly 20 years ago, the phrase I heard most was “up and coming” — the schools, the colleges, and even the city of Atlanta. While this was somewhat amusing to someone who grew up in New York City, the appeal of being part of something that was moving and growing, and yet had already achieved excellence, was very exciting. The Institute and the city have matured as predicted, and now there are new and exciting challenges and opportunities. Georgia Tech is forming new collaborations with industry in Midtown Atlanta and promises to change the tech industry in the South. There are many opportunities to be a part of this, especially now as a new multiuse High Performance Computing and Data Science Building is being constructed in Midtown that will jointly house industry and academia in groundbreaking and innovative ways. Georgia Tech is responsive to such opportunities across many other domains as well.

Second, the quality of research and education across the Institute is undeniably top-rate. I recently became co-director of a new strategic initiative in data engineering and science, and over the last year have interacted with faculty and administration from each of the 6 colleges and Georgia Tech Research Institute. This has solidified my impression of the breadth and depth represented across Georgia Tech, and it has been wonderful interacting with colleagues who are each leaders in their respective domains.  

Third, as a public university, Georgia Tech reaches students from all socio-economic backgrounds, and, in many cases, we open their eyes to completely new perspectives and expose them to remarkable opportunities when they graduate.   

What are a few things every faculty member should do while at Georgia Tech?

Reach out and connect with people across the campus. This is probably better advice for after tenure, but regardless of the timing, look for networking opportunities. Academia is increasingly collaborative, and understanding the strengths of various units and individuals enables new opportunities in research, teaching, and service. In fact, please contact me if you have research you would like to discuss with the Algorithms and Randomness Center, or come present at one of our brainstorming “think tank” sessions!

They are:

• Professor Mostafa Anmar, School of Computer Science
• Professor Tom Conte, School of Computer Science
• Professor Ashok Goel, School of Interactive Computing
• Professor Dana Randall, School of Computer Science
• Lecturer Jay Summet, Division of Computing Instruction
• Professor Greg Turk, School of Interactive Computing

The Class of 1940 Award is given annually to honor teachers with exceptional response rates and scores on the Course-Instructor Opinion Survey (CIOS). Current award recipients were evaluated during the Fall 2013 and Spring 2014 semesters. Recipients must have had a class response rate of at least 85 percent along with near-perfect evaluation scores of teaching effectiveness. Fewer than 40 teachers across Georgia Tech receive the award annually.

All recipients will be formally honored in March at CETL’s annual Celebrating Teaching Day.

http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local/like-a-kardashian-only-for-geeks/njZL2/?icmp=ajc_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_ajcstubtomyajcpremium#9311f650.3901895.735596

These problems have proved nearly intractable, requiring weeks or even months of high performance processing to handle such data sets.

But not anymore.

Researchers at Georgia Tech’s School of Computer Science have discovered an algorithm – deemed “Gaussian Cooling” – to accurately compute the volume of convex bodies in a matter of minutes using off-the-shelf computers. 

“With this randomized algorithm, mathematicians and researchers can estimate the volume of high dimensional objects in real time,” said Santosh Vempala, a professor in the School of Computer Science (SCS) who developed the new algorithm with doctoral candidate, Ben Cousins. “It can handle bodies in 100 dimensions and greater, using a new, provably correct technique.”

The problem of estimating the volume of a set is ancient. It has spawned a stream of mathematical and algorithmic ideas throughout history, starting with the Egyptians and Greeks who developed formulas in only two or three dimensions.

However, in spite of rapid advances in computers and algorithms and intensive study over the past 25 years, sampling and volume computation for high-dimensional sets has evaded a practical and complete solution. Research has resulted in a suite of tools to address parts of the challenge, such as analyzing and manipulating high-dimensional objects, choosing representative samples, and learning useful properties.

With this latest advance, total volume computation is practical for the first time.

"Professor Vempala and his student, Ben Cousins, made significant and surprising improvements to take the theoretical algorithm for volume computation to where we can now solve volume problems on today's computers,” said Lance Fortnow, chair of SCS. “Their work brings a major tool to the algorithmic arsenal that should have applications across the sciences."

The algorithm can be used as a tool for high-dimensional data analysis. Such data involving great numbers of parameters abounds in many fields today, including biology, neuroscience, as well as applied areas such as medical research, which may involve numerous vital statistics across many patients, or in computer security, where the algorithm can be applied to a model of information flow to estimate number of instances where data might leak.

Ravi Kannan, a principal researcher at Microsoft Research India and a member of the first team to create algorithms in this field, calls the latest discovery a “tour de force.”

“It is the culmination of a decades-long effort by leading researchers to develop an efficient algorithm for the problem of estimating the volume of convex sets,” Kannan said. “I foresee many important consequences. Congratulations to Cousins and Vempala on their achievement.’’

Georgia Tech’s researchers have made their algorithm publicly available as a MATLAB implementation and report that the method has been downloaded  hundreds of times to date. More details of the research and the researchers’ paper are available here.

Randall, the Advance Professor of Computing in the School of Computer Science, will succeed Professor Prasad Tetali as ARC director. Her appointment becomes effective May 15.

The center is charged with identifying problems with natural connections to algorithms and randomness. As part of this think tank, professors, researchers and students not only devise, extend and solidify theories of algorithms, they create practical solutions for scientists here at Georgia Tech and around the world. 

“ARC has transformed research in algorithms and randomness at Georgia Tech by building bridges across units and centers, engaging in new industrial collaborations, providing alternative perspectives on projects across the campus, and engaging students and postdoctoral researchers in novel and impactful ways,” Randall said. “There are many opportunities for strengthening these connections, both internally and externally, as we move forward.” 

Randall is a professor of theoretical computer science at Georgia Tech who studies randomized algorithms with her primary research focused on Markov chains. She also holds an adjunct appointment with the School of Mathematics.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Harvard and her doctorate in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. She was a Sloan fellow and gave the 2009 AMS Arnold Ross Lecture at the Augusta National Science Center. In 2012, she became an inaugural fellow of the American Mathematical Society.

“We are extremely excited that Dana has agreed to lead the Algorithms and Randomness Center,” said Lance Fortnow, chair of the School of Computer Science. “Not only is Dana an excellent computer scientist and mathematician, she is an outstanding mentor through her work as the Advance Professor of Computing. We are lucky to have her take this new role. 

“Dana is a recognized leader in the field of randomized algorithms where she has pioneered work in fast polynomial time algorithms with rigorous and provable performance guarantees,” said Zvi Galil, the dean of the College of Computing. “I am confident that she will effectively lead ARC in exciting and innovative directions.”

Randall expressed excitement about her new appointment but noted that past and continued successes at the center rests upon many people.

 “We owe much gratitude to the founding ARC directors, Santosh Vempala and Prasad Tetali, for their excellent leadership and boundless energy, as well as the countless faculty and students who continue to contribute to the center's success,” she said.

Launched in 2011 to international acclaim, the Holiday Gift Guide is fast becoming a yuletide staple around the College’s halls, as faculty and students spend the year busily hammering together parallel algorithms and 50-amp servos in anticipation of the Big Day (i.e., the day of this press release). Now, with the days growing shorter and the sound of jingle bells in the air, all the gifts are wrapped, peer-reviewed and waiting for that next lucky computing aficionado.

“At Georgia Tech, we truly believe that computing is making the world a better place, so what better time of year to share some of our more exciting and beneficial research projects?” said Dean Zvi Galil. “When you take beloved holiday traditions and you add a layer of computation, they become so much more. In this case, they become a bit funnier. Or at least we hope so.”

Projects include:

• Nerdherder: A motion-controlled, augmented-reality puzzle game for mobile devices. The action literally leaps from the game board to your phone or tablet in this game out of Professor Blair MacIntyre’s lab.
• C4G BLIS: Open-source software system to track medical records and samples, and one of the more widely implemented projects to emerge from the College’s Computing for Good (C4G) initiative, headed up by Professor Santosh Vempala.
• “Dream. Encode.”: Inspirational short film that tells the story of a young girl discovering how and where to pursue her computational dreams. Directed by 2012 graduate Connie Chen.
• Keeneland Supercomputing System: Now the National Science Foundation’s fastest dedicated supercomputer for scientific research. Built by Professor Jeffrey Vetter.
• MOOCs: All the rage this year, MOOCs are massively open online courses,and they are in the midst of transforming education delivery, with Georgia Tech helping to lead the way.
• Bobble: Chrome plugin that allows users to escape the “filter bubble” created by personalized search results. Created by Ph.D. student Xinyu Xing.
• BrailleTouch: Software that allows you to go eyes-free when typing on a smartphone. Just another revolutionary advance in HCI from the folks at the GVU Center.
• Flashpoint: A crash course in the scientific way to get startups off the ground, running—and funded. Conceived and run by Professor Merrick Furst.
• SonLab: Proof that the universe is filled with music, this Georgia Tech lab takes natural data points and turns them into song. Created by Professor Bruce Walker.
• Betweenness Centrality Algorithm: The fastest algorithm for determining the most popular point on a social graph, created by Professor David Bader.
• Computing Summer Camps: Fun summer camps that will get kids of all ages engaged and interested in learning about computing.
• MacGyver Bot: Humanoid robot, created by Professor Mike Stilman, that soon will be able to create tools from objects in its environment.

Visit the 2012 Holiday Gift Guide on the College of Computing website!

DISCLAIMER: The 2012 Holiday Gift Guide is a lighthearted way to call attention to the College’s research. Though some of the items described in the Gift Guide are indeed available for purchase or free download, it is not intended as a practical reference for consumers.

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About the Georgia Tech College of Computing

The Georgia Tech College of Computing is a national leader in the creation of real-world computing breakthroughs that drive social and scientific progress. With its graduate program ranked 10th nationally by U.S. News and World Report, the College’s unconventional approach to education is defining the new face of computing by expanding the horizons of traditional computer science students through interdisciplinary collaboration and a focus on human-centered solutions. For more information about the Georgia Tech College of Computing, its academic divisions and research centers, please visit http://www.cc.gatech.edu.

Contacts

Brendan Streich

Director of Communications

College of Computing at Georgia Tech

bstreich@cc.gatech.edu

404-894-7253

Lance Fortnow will become chair of the School of Computer Science on July 1. Fortnow is currently a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Northwestern University.

“I’m excited to join Georgia Tech, a leading center for computer science, at a time when computing is making such a great impact on science and society,” Fortnow said.

In addition to his primary faculty appointment at Northwestern, he also has a courtesy appointment at the Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences Department in the Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Fortnow’s research spans computational complexity and its applications, most recently to micro-economic theory.

Annie Antón will become chair of the School of Interactive Computing on July 1. She is currently a professor of computer science at North Carolina State University.

Antón earned three computing degrees from Georgia Tech, completing her bachelor’s in 1990, master’s in 1992 and PhD in 1997.

Her current research focuses on the specification of complete, correct behavior of software systems that must comply with privacy and security regulations. She is founder and director of ThePrivacyPlace.org.

“The School of Interactive Computing –– the only school of its kind in the nation –– is a unique resource for Georgia Tech and the country,” Antón said. “I am honored to return to ‘Ma Tech’ and to partner with Dean Galil and the entire Tech community in aspiring to and achieving new levels of excellence.”

James “Jim” O’Connor, who has served as interim vice president and chief information officer for the past 18 months, has been tapped to lead the Institute’s OIT on a permanent basis.

As vice president, O’Connor will oversee the services, initiatives and policies originating from the seven directorates — including information security, academic and research technologies, telecommunications, architecture and infrastructure, resource management, information technology services and enterprise information systems — that comprise OIT.

“Over the past 17 years, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside many exceptional colleagues, both within OIT and across the Institute,” O’Connor said. “I look forward to continuing those partnerships to provide our campus with technologies that foster education, scholarship, research, administration, communications and community.”

Fortnow, professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Northwestern University, and Antón, professor of computer science at North Carolina State University (NCSU), will become the second chairs ever to lead the two College of Computing units, which were elevated to school status in 2007. They replace current Computer Science (CS) chair Ellen Zegura and Interactive Computing (IC) chair Aaron Bobick, who will return to their faculty roles as professors in the two schools.

“We are thrilled that Professors Fortnow and Antón have agreed to come to Georgia Tech to lead our two original schools,” said Zvi Galil, John P. Imlay Jr. Dean of Computing. “The College of Computing is poised to expand the ranks of the very best computing programs in the world, and Annie and Lance are going to help us do it. Both of them share our ambitious vision for Georgia Tech to play a major role in setting the global agenda for this new digital era and continue pushing the boundaries of computing itself.”

Fortnow received his Ph.D. in applied mathematics from MIT in 1989, after earning his B.A. in mathematics and computer science from Cornell University in 1985. In addition to his primary faculty appointment at Northwestern, he also has a courtesy appointment at the Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences department in the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and an adjoint professorship at the Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago. Fortnow's research spans computational complexity and its applications, most recently to micro-economic theory.

“I’m excited to join Georgia Tech, a leading center for computer science, at a time when computing is making such a great impact in science and society,” Fortnow said. “I look forward to helping Georgia Tech forge the future of computer science.”

Antón earned three computing degrees from Georgia Tech, completing her B.S. in 1990, M.S. in 1992 and Ph.D. in 1997. Antón is vice-chair of the U.S. Association for Computing Machinery Public Policy Council and has served the national defense and intelligence communities in a number of roles since being selected for the IDA/DARPA Defense Science Study Group in 2005-2006. Her current research focuses on the specification of complete, correct behavior of software systems that must comply with privacy and security regulations. She is founder and director of ThePrivacyPlace.org.

“The School of Interactive Computing––the only school of its kind in the nation––is a unique resource for Georgia Tech and the country,” Antón said. “Computers today interact with the human and physical environments.  Advancing the state of the interactive art is a noble mission for the School.  I am honored to return to ‘Ma Tech’ and to partner with Dean Galil and the entire Georgia Tech community in aspiring to and achieving new levels of excellence.”

Georgia Tech’s schools of CS and IC, together with their sister School of Computational Science and Engineering, form the major academic units of the 21-year-old College of Computing. The School of CS represents foundational areas of computer science, such as networking, information security, software engineering, databases and others. The School of IC’s stated mission is to “redefine the human experience in computing” through education and research in such areas as human-computer interaction, robotics and intelligent systems, computing education, graphics and animation, social computing, augmented environments, and others.

###

About the Georgia Tech College of Computing

The Georgia Tech College of Computing is a national leader in the creation of real-world computing breakthroughs that drive social and scientific progress. With its graduate program ranked 10th nationally by U.S. News and World Report, the College’s unconventional approach to education is defining the new face of computing by expanding the horizons of traditional computer science students through interdisciplinary collaboration and a focus on human-centered solutions. For more information about the Georgia Tech College of Computing, its academic divisions and research centers, please visit http://www.cc.gatech.edu.

Contacts

Brendan Streich

Director of Communications

College of Computing at Georgia Tech

bstreich@cc.gatech.edu

404-894-7253

Sub-Saharan Africa suffers from some of the greatest health challenges in the world, making the need for efficient healthcare delivery especially vital. However, most hospitals and labs in the region use paper logs and manual entries for tracking data, methods that take up valuable time and are prone to errors and loss of data. In an effort to increase efficiency and allow more patients to be tested accurately, a team led by Professor Santosh Vempala in the School of Computer Science developed the Basic Laboratory Information System (BLIS).

During a six-month pilot implementation in three hospital labs in Cameroon, BLIS accounted for a 66 percent decrease in errors and a 50 percent reduction in employee workload. This lead to significantly reduced waiting times and twice as many patients being tested daily compared to pre-BLIS operations. “BLIS is easy to use and intuitive,” Sidney Atah, BLIS project coordinator in Cameroon, says. “When configuring the software, you control the behavior and appearance of the system without modifying the program.”

Built from freely available and open-source components, BLIS digitizes the traditional data tracking system, resulting in a sustainable program that tracks specimens, results and workflow. Unlike similar software from commercial providers, BLIS is extremely cost-effective, works on limited resources, and requires virtually no training. Additionally, the system is designed to work effectively in countries with very little IT infrastructure and limited connectivity.

“Integrating data tracking software in these labs has been difficult in the past, mainly due to high costs and the failure of other system providers to incorporate the varying needs of labs and hospitals from different countries and cultures,” Vempala said. “We wanted to design an extremely configurable system that would adapt to fit the needs of its users in order to improve workflow and patient care.”

Instead of following a one-size-fits-all approach, BLIS was designed to enable each lab or country to customize and configure the system in a way that suits them best. The digital program seeks regular feedback from users and then incorporates this feedback through system updates, resulting in a program that evolves with the needs of the lab.

Over the past year, BLIS has been implemented in nine laboratories across three African countries: Cameroon, Tanzania, and Uganda. Vempala and his team have worked with local lab technicians, representatives from each country’s ministry of health, and local implementing partners to integrate BLIS into various labs across the three countries.

Dr. Maurice Mouladje, lab director for Buea Regional Hospital in Cameroon, says BLIS has had a positive impact on both patients and staff.  Physicians are able to attend to patients promptly, reducing their wait time, and BLIS provides flexibility in lab technician workload. Similarly, Atah notes that BLIS’s reach goes beyond increased efficiency and accuracy.

“BLIS has added confidence and hope in the quality of results and the ability of our institutions to provide quality care to patients,” Atah says. “It makes me feel like nothing is impossible to achieve; it is our African dream.”

By early 2012, Vempala and his team, Amol Shintre, Akshay Phalnikar and Anu Nair, all graduate students at Georgia Tech, plan to expand BLIS to labs in Ghana, in addition to incorporating the software in more clinics in Cameroon, Tanzania and Uganda. In the next year, he hopes to make BLIS available to any lab in the developing world, which will also include access to local technical support for a minimal fee.

BLIS is a part of Georgia Tech’s Computing for Good (C4G) initiative, which applies computing to social causes and improving quality of life around the world. For more information about BLIS, including user feedback and access to the software, visit http://blis.cc.gatech.edu.

###

About the Georgia Tech College of Computing

The Georgia Tech College of Computing is a national leader in the creation of real-world computing breakthroughs that drive social and scientific progress. With its graduate program ranked 9th nationally by U.S. News and World Report, the College’s unconventional approach to education is defining the new face of computing by expanding the horizons of traditional computer science students through interdisciplinary collaboration and a focus on human centered solutions. For more information about the Georgia Tech College of Computing, its academic divisions and research centers, please visit http://www.cc.gatech.edu.

For more information, contact:

Michaelanne Dye

Georgia Tech College of Computing

404.385.4015

mdye@cc.gatech.edu

Sub-SaharanAfrica suffers from some of the greatest health challenges in the world, makingthe need for efficient healthcare delivery especially vital. However, mosthospitals and labs in the region use paper logs and manual entries for trackingdata, methods that take up valuable time and are prone to errors and loss ofdata. In an effort to increase efficiency and allow more patients to be testedaccurately, a team led by Professor Santosh Vempala in the School of ComputerScience developed the Basic Laboratory Information System (BLIS).

During asix-month pilot implementation in three hospital labs in Cameroon, BLISaccounted for a 66 percent decrease in errors and a 50 percent reduction inemployee workload. This led to significantly reduced waiting times, allowing twice as many patients to get testeddaily as compared to pre-BLIS operations.

“BLIS iseasy to use and intuitive,” Sidney Atah, BLIS project coordinator in Cameroon, said.“When configuring the software, you control the behavior and appearance of thesystem without modifying the program.”

Built fromfreely available, open-source components, BLIS digitizes the traditional datatracking system, resulting in a sustainable program that tracks specimens,results and workflow. Unlike similar software from commercial providers, BLISis extremely cost-effective, works on limited resources, and requires virtuallyno training. Additionally, the system is designed to work effectively incountries with very little IT infrastructure and limited connectivity.

“Integratingdata tracking software in these labs has been difficult in the past, mainly dueto high costs and the failure of other system providers to incorporate thevarying needs of labs and hospitals from different countries and cultures,” saidVempala, a professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Computer Science. “We wantedto design an extremely configurable system that would adapt to fit the needs ofits users in order to improve workflow and patient care.”

Instead offollowing a one-size-fits-all approach, BLIS was designed to enable each lab orcountry to customize and configure the system in a way that suits them best. Thedigital program seeks regular feedback from users and then incorporates thisfeedback through system updates, resulting in a program that evolves with theneeds of the lab.

Over thepast year, BLIS has been implemented in nine laboratories across three Africancountries: Cameroon, Tanzania and Uganda. Vempala and his team have worked withlocal lab technicians, representatives from each country’s ministry of healthand local implementing partners to integrate BLIS into various labs across thethree countries.

Dr.Maurice Mouladje, lab director for Buea Regional Hospital in Cameroon, saysBLIS has had a positive impact on both patients and staff. Physicians are ableto attend to patients promptly, and BLIS provides flexibility in lab technicianworkload. Similarly, Atah notes that BLIS’s reach goes beyond increasedefficiency and accuracy.

“BLIShas added confidence and hope in the quality of results and the ability of ourinstitutions to provide quality care to patients,” Atah says. “It makes me feellike nothing is impossible to achieve; it is our African dream.”

Byearly 2012, Vempala and his team of Georgia Tech graduate students, AmolShintre, Akshay Phalnikar and Anu Nair, plan to expand BLIS to labs in Ghana,in addition to incorporating the software in more clinics in Cameroon, Tanzaniaand Uganda. In the next year, he hopes to make BLIS available to any lab in thedeveloping world, which will also include access to local technical support fora minimal fee.

BLISis a part of Georgia Tech’s Computing for Good (C4G) initiative, which applies computingto social causes to improve quality of life around the world. For moreinformation about BLIS, including user feedback and access to the software,visit: http://blis.cc.gatech.edu.

Aboutthe Georgia Tech College of Computing

TheGeorgia Tech College of Computing is a national leader in the creation ofreal-world computing breakthroughs that drive social and scientific progress.With its graduate program ranked ninth nationally by U.S. News and World Report, the College’s unconventional approachto education is defining the new face of computing by expanding the horizons oftraditional computer science students through interdisciplinary collaborationand a focus on human-centered solutions. For more information about the GeorgiaTech College of Computing, its academic divisions and research centers, pleasevisit http://www.cc.gatech.edu.

Fortunately, Georgia Tech College of Computing researchers have developed a possible solution. It’s an innovative wireless system called LifeNet designed to help first responders communicate after disasters. LifeNet is a mobile ad-hoc network designed for use in highly transient environments that requires no infrastructure such as Internet, cell towers or traditional landlines. 

“It’s an independent network you can join,” said Santosh Vempala, Georgia Tech distinguished professor of computer science in the College of Computing.  
“It doesn’t need wires, antennas, cell towers and so on, and it works across platforms like laptops and smart phones. We imagine relief agencies would be able to set up a network right away and communicate about what’s needed.”

Vempala and his graduate student, Hrushikesh Mehendale, will demonstrate the LifeNet system at the ACM SIGCOM conference from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. today in Toronto, Canada.

The standard for post-disaster communications is the satellite phone, which, at $600 or more per unit, can be expensive to own and, at 50 cents per text, costly to use.

LifeNet, however, bridges connectivity between a satellite phone or other Internet gateway and a WiFi-based network on the ground. It extends the coverage of a satellite phone or a service such as SMS from one computer with access to the entire independent network in the field. Essentially, that means several people in the field who may not have satellite phones but have smart phones or laptops with WiFi capability can connect to the LifeNet network, communicate with each other with no other infrastructure and use the Internet as long as any one of them has access.

“Currently available options such as satellite communication are expensive and have limited functionality,” Mehendale said. “If you use LifeNet, the cost savings per text message is 100 times less than a satellite phone.”

LifeNet is also easy to set up. The network starts as soon as a node is put in place. Each LifeNet-enabled computer acts as both a host client and a router, able to directly route data to and from any other available wireless device.  Nodes can be moved from location to location as needed, and the network remains intact.The software developed by Vempala and Mehendale for LifeNet provides basic communications that are low bandwidth and reliable.  It doesn’t allow users to stream video, for example, but it can send text messages for basic communication needs.

“It’s a trade-off of performance for reliability,” Vempala said. “Reliability is really what you need the most in these situations.”

During the demo at SIGCOMM, conference attendees will be able to see the Atlanta-based LifeNet network via a web-based interface in Toronto. They will be able to log into the network, send messages, move nodes and see how communication is affected. 

Georgia Tech researchers are currently ready to deploy LifeNet for field testing and are looking to expand beyond crisis communications.

Vempala’s team recently partnered with Tata Institute of Social Sciences India, which has a disaster management center. Together, the researchers identified cyclone-affected areas without communications infrastructure that could benefit most from LifeNet. As a result, researchers will be deploying LifeNet in the Mohali region of India over the next several months.

“In an area without any other connectivity, we will establish a set up that could be used daily and could also be specifically helpful during a disaster,” Mehendale said. “We need to make the solution a part of their daily lives since people cannot afford costly equipment like satellite phones in third-world regions.”

The researchers also hope to pitch LifeNet as a package to FEMA, the Red Cross and other U.S. relief agencies soon.

“There are many recent situations, like the Mississippi floods this summer, where this would have been valuable,” Vempala said. “People were trapped. Cell phones were not working, the Internet is down and people don’t have a way to communicate. . . . LifeNet can be the solution.”

“The algorithmic way of thinking is one of the most profound contributions of modern computer science to the natural sciences and engineering—it can lead to fresh, new insights and progress of a fundamental nature on some of their most basic questions,” Vazirani said. “The reason is that many processes being studied in these fields are inherently computational in nature, whether it is a market converging to equilibrium prices or neural processes in the brain or protein production and folding in living cells.”

Vazirani, a professor in the School of Computer Science, will take a sabbatical during 2011-12 to work on his Guggenheim project, titled "Algorithms as a Lens on Economics." He has confirmed visits to Hebrew University, Stanford University, University of Chicago and CalTech.

Guggenheim Fellowships, awarded by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and its Board of Trustees, are given to researchers who have already demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts. The purpose of the Guggenheim Fellowship program is to provide fellows with blocks of time in which they can work with as much creative freedom as possible. Out of 3,000 applicants in 2011, just 180 fellows were chosen, and only two fellowships were given to computer scientists.

Vempala, Distinguished Professor in the School of Computer Science, said ARC’s mission is “to help develop the mathematical theory of algorithms by supporting research in this area, and via interactions with applications and with other sciences and engineering disciplines.” The center’s main activities have included hosting weekly colloquia, outreach research lunches to engage scientists from other disciplines, organizing workshops and other research events, as well as supporting postdocs and competitive student fellowships.

College of Computing Dean Zvi Galil named Tetali, professor with a joint appointment in the schools of Computer Science and Mathematics, as the new ARC director following a national search. Besides supporting the existing activities, Tetali said the center will focus on collaborative events with industrial research labs and hosting visitors in support of thematic special-year activities.

“The first of such thematic years, starting Fall 2011,” Tetali said, “will be devoted to topics in the intersection of optimization and computer science.”