Recent News & Accomplishments
2024
The award recognizes his noteworthy contributions to the field of scalable computing.
Abhinav Bhatele , an associate professor of computer science at the University of Maryland with a joint appointment in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS) , has been awarded the IEEE Technical Committee on Scalable Computing (TCSC) Award for Excellence in Scalable Computing for Middle Career Researchers (MCR). The award is given to individuals who have demonstrated significant and influential contributions to the field of scalable computing, particularly those within 5 to 15 years of receiving their Ph.D. The committee recognizes up to three individuals... read more
James Purtilo discusses the role of AI in terms of national security.
Last month, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) announced that it had selected Scale AI to help test and evaluate generative artificial intelligence (AI) for military applications. Generative AI made headlines last year for its ability to create text, images and other data by utilizing algorithmic models in response to a user’s prompt. This has lead to concerns in what it means for content creators, as well as whether any photos and videos could be trusted as being “real” and not AI-generated. However, generative AI still offers the potential to streamline workflows and review... read more
UMD researchers have constructed a new mathematical shortcut for a wide range of calculations involving quantum systems.
Researchers in the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science (QuICS) and the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) have constructed a new mathematical shortcut for a wide range of calculations involving quantum systems. Their results, published in the February 8 issue of the journal Physical Review X , answered an open question about whether such a shortcut even existed. The authors add that their work could lead to more efficient benchmarking for quantum devices, as well as more efficient ways of representing quantum states on classical hardware. The new shortcut, known as a... read more
Over 1,000 students and 36 companies converged at the Stamp Student Union Ballroom for networking and recruitment opportunities.
The University of Maryland's Department of Computer Science hosted its bi-annual Career and Internship Fair on February 26, 2024, at the Stamp Student Union Ballroom. The event, designed to connect students with potential employers, featured 117 representatives from 36 companies, including eight corporate partners. It drew diverse organizations, including startups, government agencies, mid-size tech firms and large industry players, spanning sectors like finance, environmental services and security. Over 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students attended this year’s fair, each carrying... read more
Jennifer Golbeck discusses the sudden rise of AI services and its eventual impact on society.
It seems like every day another company announces a new generative AI product or service. From apps that summarize your meetings to platforms that help with photo editing and customer support bots, generative AI is all any tech firm wants to talk about. Still, not every piece of generative AI software is going to be a breakthrough like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the bot that helped kick off this new tech revolution. But don’t expect that to slow the seemingly endless parade of platforms and tools coming to market. Even if some of those products appear doomed from the outset. “I think we are in kind of... read more
Graduate student Shayan Chashm Jahan and undergraduate students Colin Galen and Cheng-Yuan Lee advance to the North American Championship.
A student team from the University of Maryland’s Department of Computer Science won the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) North American South Division championship on February 24, 2024, at John Hopkins University. The victory placed the group at the forefront of the competition, which saw participation from 138 teams across the Mid-Atlantic, South Central and Southeast regions, representing 55 universities. Representing UMD in the competition were graduate student Shayan Chashm Jahan and undergraduate students Colin Galen and Cheng-Yuan Lee. Guided by their coach, Professor... read more
New chatbot puts trusted health intel at new mothers’ fingertips.
Baby’s first bath, a 3 a.m. fever and technicolor spit-up can elicit a range of emotions from first-time mothers—and just as many questions. An AI-based chatbot in development by University of Maryland researchers is working to take some of the confusion and uncertainty out of parenting, particularly for women of color. Called “Rosie," the phone-based bot was developed with support from a $3 million grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. The system provides accurate, 24-hour health and wellness information for questions like medication dosages,... read more
New UMD study seeks to decipher ‘imagined speech’ in the brain.
“Tell me what you’re really thinking” rarely gets a straightforward response, even from the most candid individual. But for those trying to reach someone who’s unable to communicate, even a hint would be welcome as they wonder if the person is in pain or needs something. A new study into how we “imagine” speech by researchers at the University of Maryland may one day help reveal a person’s inner monologue by transforming the jagged blips of neuroactivity on a brain scan into words. “This capability could be transformative for people who are fully active in the mind, but unable to communicate... read more
They urge robot manufacturers to conduct additional safety research before integrating language and vision models into their hardware.
Computer scientists at the University of Maryland have asked robot makers to do further safety research before wiring language and vision models to their hardware. Given the constant stream of reports about error-prone, biased, opaque LLMs and VLMs over the past year, it might seem obvious that putting a chatbot in charge of a mechanical arm or free-roaming robot would be a risky move. Nonetheless, in its apparent eagerness to advance the field, the robotics community has pressed ahead with efforts to wed LLMs/VLMs with robots. Projects like Google's RT2 vision-action-language model, the... read more
Students displayed innovative tech projects and cultivated professional skills in a collaborative, industry-supported setting.
Break Through Tech DC at UMD held its second Career Launch Expo on January 23, 2024, at the Brendan Iribe Center for Computer Science and Engineering . At the event, students exhibited tech projects comprising mobile and web applications and refined their presentation skills. Under the umbrella of the Iribe Initiative for Inclusion and Diversity in Computing (I4C), Break Through Tech’s Career Launch program serves as a platform for women, nonbinary individuals and other underrepresented groups in the tech community to participate in active collaboration, networking, design thinking and... read more