Recent News & Accomplishments
2021
Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science Receives Renewed Federal Funding from NIST
The Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science (QuICS)—a research powerhouse focused on quantum computation, quantum communication and quantum cryptography—recently received a renewal of federal funding from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The interdisciplinary center, launched in 2014 as a partnership between the University of Maryland and NIST, is expected to receive up to $12.2 million over the next five years. The funding will sustain and advance the mission of QuICS, with UMD faculty members in computer science and physics working side-by-side... read more
Leila De Floriani , an affiliate professor of computer science who also has an appointment in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies , has been elected to serve as an IEEE Division VIII Delegate/Director. Pending acceptance by the IEEE Board of Directors at the organization’s annual meeting in November, De Floriani will hold the leadership position for three years: a one-year term as director-elect, followed by a two-year term as division director. Division Delegate/Directors provide senior leadership for IEEE, which is the world’s largest professional association... read more
A University of Maryland-led team of researchers recently won an Internet Defense Prize for a paper that uncovered a unique form of distributed denial-of-service attack. The prize—funded by Facebook in partnership with the USENIX Association —celebrates security research contributions to the protection and defense of the internet. The researchers received the third-place prize—which amounts to $40K—for their work discussed in “ Weaponizing Middleboxes for TCP Reflected Amplification .” The paper details their discovery that firewalls and other kinds of network-based “middleboxes”—the... read more
The Mokhtarzada brothers’ startup success story comes home with a new student venture incubator at UMD
Idris Mokhtarzada (B.S. ’10, computer science) took his first computer science class at the University of Maryland before he even started high school. He and his older brother Haroon (B.A. ’01, economics) still get a kick out of telling the story. “In the summer after middle school, my mom actually put me into Computer Science 100 or 101 at Maryland,” Idris recalled. “She got permission from the dean who basically said, ‘He can audit the class as long as the professor is fine with it.’ The teacher said it was ok, so there I was, this little kid sitting in the class surrounded by older... read more
Michelle Mazurek, an associate professor of computer science and an expert in human-centered security and privacy, is the newest director of the Maryland Cybersecurity Center (MC2). She now leads numerous successful programs and partnerships established by the center’s prior directors— Charalampos “Babis” Papamanthou , Jonathan Katz and Michael Hicks —and is developing new ideas and initiatives of her own. “Our biggest strength has always been the diverse range of high-quality research conducted by our talented faculty, postdocs and graduate students. I would like to build on this to increase... read more
A University of Maryland expert on quantum computing is part of a multi-institutional team awarded $7.5 million by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to understand and create an efficient quantum random access memory (QRAM) architecture. Xiaodi Wu , an assistant professor of computer science with an appointment in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies , is collaborating with researchers from Yale University and the University of Chicago on the five-year project. Their work is funded by a grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) through the... read more
Amitabh Varshney , professor of computer science and dean of the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS), has been named interim vice president for research for the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) and University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), effective Monday, Oct. 11. In this role, Varshney will provide strategic leadership to support the continued growth of the University of Maryland's more than $1 billion research enterprise. He will also continue to serve as dean of CMNS. Varshney previously served as interim vice president for research from 2016–17. He... read more
The two emeritus faculty were recognized for their foundational work two decades ago that underlies modern treemap algorithms.
Two University of Maryland experts in visualization and visual analytics will be honored in October for academic papers they co-authored 20 years ago. Benjamin Bederson (left in photo), professor emeritus of computer science, and Ben Shneiderman (right), Distinguished University Professor emeritus of computer science, will be recognized with the IEEE VIS Test of Time Award at VIS2021 , considered the premier forum for advances in visualization and visual analytics. This prestigious award recognizes articles published at previous conferences whose contents are still vibrant and useful today... read more
He was recognized by the SMA for his longstanding work involving quadtrees and other multidimensional spatial data structures for sorting spatial information.
Hanan Samet , a Distinguished University Professor of computer science with an appointment in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS), has been recognized for his influential contributions to the field of solid modeling. The Solid Modeling Association (SMA) recently conferred “Pioneer” status upon Samet, an honor reserved for early contributors to solid modeling who have been influential in starting and expanding the field and its applications in academia or industry. To qualify, one must have contributed to research and scholarship focused on solid... read more
Blurring the boundary between digital and physical art, performance and gaming, students in the University of Maryland’s Immersive Media Design (IMD) program are showcasing their work this week at NextNOW Fest , UMD’s annual multi-medium arts festival. Called IMD@NextNOW, the showcase will be on display from September 16—17 in the Brendan Iribe Center for Computer Science and Engineering, and September 18 at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. The exhibits are diverse in medium and topic including a horror game in augmented reality (AR), a night food market in virtual reality (VR) and... read more