News
SCI Celebrates Three Years of Accomplishments
Since launching on July 1, 2017, the School of Computing and Information (SCI) at Pitt has made a number of significant accomplishments thanks to the constant dedication and work of our students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners. As we reflect on these many exciting achievements, we also look to the future of the school and all that we will achieve.
SCI Professors Included in Guide2Research's Top 1000 Computer Scientists in the World
SCI professors Peter Brusilovsky and Rami Melhem were recently included in Guide2Research’s 2020 6th edition of Top Scientists Ranking for Computer Science & Electronics.
SCI Receives Grant from the R. K. Mellon Foundation to Study Machine Translated Professions
The Richard King Mellon Foundation recently awarded a COVID-19-Economic Impact and Recovery Grant to support SCI Professors Jacob Biehl and Lingfei Wu. Their proposal, “Machine Translated Professions,” will create information systems to match the supply and demand for the middle-skill health care labor force. The research team will build artificial neural networks to translate skill taxonomies between professions and help inactive workers identify employment opportunities based on their past job histories.
SCI Teaching Assistant Professor's Work Included in Library Instruction Round Table's Top 20 Articles of 2019
An article by SCI Teaching Assistant Professor Marcia Rapchak has been recognized by the American Library Association’s Library Instruction Round Table (LIRT) as one of the top 20 articles of 2019. The article, titled “When Online Instruction Doesn’t Measure Up: How Can You Tell, and What Should You Do?”, was published in the Journal of Library & Information Services in Distance Learning. It details Duquesne University’s process in transitioning a face-to-face introduction to information literacy course to a fully online version. Rapchak offers practical advice on online
SCI Ph.D. Student and Professor Author Paper on Radio Spectrum Sharing
SCI Ph.D. student Pedro Bustamante and professor Martin Weiss recently contributed to a research article titled “Spectrum anarchy: why self-governance of the radio spectrum works better than we think.” The article was featured in the Journal of Institutional Economics, a multi-disciplinary journal published by Cambridge University Press that includes contributions from academics working in the social sciences, management, and law. Bustamante and Weiss co-authored the paper with Marcela M.
Alumnus Appointed as Director of Communication Technologies School
Julio Arauz (Ph.D. Information Science, ’04) has been appointed as the new director of the J. Warren McClure School of Emerging Communication Technologies at Ohio University. Housed within the university’s Scripps College of Communication, the school offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in information and telecommunication systems. The McClure School recently merged with Ohio University’s Game Research and Immersive Design (GRID) Lab and has begun including augmented and virtual reality and game design in its curriculum.
SCI Ph.D. Student and Professor Author Paper on Dynamic Spectrum Access
SCI Ph.D. student Pedro Bustamante and professor Martin Weiss contributed to a research article titled “Federal Communications Commission’s experimental radio service as a vehicle for dynamic spectrum access: An analysis of 10 years of experimental licenses data.” The article was recently published in Data & Policy, a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Cambridge University Press, and was co-authored with Douglas Sicker and Marcela M.
Associate Professor Featured in Pittwire Article About Educational Video Games
Even before the pandemic, people with cystic fibrosis (CF) were advised to keep at least 6 feet from each other. The danger of cross-infection has been a threat they’ve had to keep in mind throughout their lives. That mandated distancing has impeded commiseration and played into the high rates of depression and anxiety experienced by teens with CF. (Their parents are affected, as well.)
Computer Science Undergraduate Student Selected for Brackenridge
Current SCI Computer Science student Evan Kozierok was recently chosen for the University Honors College’s Brackenridge Fellowship. This fellowship offers $4,000 to students to conduct an independent research or creative project over the course of the summer. Fellows complete the project under the guidance of a faculty or graduate student mentor and deliver a presentation about their work once the fellowship has concluded.
MLIS Alumna Honored with 2020 University Libraries Award
Emily L. Mross (MLIS ’14) was recently honored with Penn State University’s University Libraries Teaching Award. This annual award is given to a Penn State librarian who has excelled in teaching and introduced innovative instruction into the university’s library programs over the past year. Mross is currently the Business Reference Librarian at Penn State Harrisburg. She received a Master of Library and Information Science degree in 2014 and has previously worked in library settings at Duquesne University and Northampton Community College.
DINS Chair and Professor Featured on Pittwire Panel About Protecting Computers from Viruses
The recent surge in remote instruction and working from home has brought new threats to computers. In fact, a chaotic event like the COVID-19 pandemic can create a perfect storm for bad actors to attack vulnerable devices.
A Message from Dean Cohen to the SCI Community
Dear SCI Community,
As the nation continues to respond to the senseless killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and the many other African Americans whose lives have been lost to hate and injustice, we at SCI want to acknowledge the impact that this has on our community.
To our African American students, faculty, and staff who must carry this constant burden, know that we stand with you.
MLIS Student Selected for National Library of Medicine's Associate Fellowship Program
Current MLIS student Amanda Sawyer was recently chosen to be part of the 2020-2021 class of the National Library of Medicine (NLM)’s Associate Fellowship Program, which is the world’s largest biomedical library and part of the National Institutes of Health. The Associate Fellowship is a residency program for recent library science graduates who are interested in a career in health sciences librarianship.
Two SCI Faculty Receive Grant to Form AI System to Debunk False COVID-19 Information
Yu-Ru Lin, associate professor, and Adriana Kovashka, assistant professor, as well as Wen-Ting Chung, research assistant professor in the School of Education, have been awarded a RAPID Grant from the National Science Foundation for their project titled, “Countering COVID-19 Misinformation via Situation-Aware Visually Informed Treatment,” which aims to develop a debunking system for COVID-19 related misinformation.
SCI Film Festival Winners Announced
We are excited to announce the winners of the first SCI Film Festival. All eight submissions were incredibly well-done and insightful, and we are proud of the work and creativity that each student put into their video.
First place winner: "Homebound" by Caela Go