Graduate School Newsblog

Tag: Computer Science

First In Series of Federal Funding Workshops – Sept 15th and 16th.

Published

A federal fellowship/scholarship writing workshop will be held on Wednesday, September 15th  and Thursday, September 16th at 4:00 in Fisher 135.

You will only need to attend one of the workshops, as they are the same workshop, different days and time.

During the workshop we will review 3 samples of NSF GRFP personal statement essays. Tips will be given on how to organize your essay, utilize wording, and meet the merit criteria expected by reviewers

Prepare for the workshop by:

1. Understanding how NSF defines “broader impacts”

2. Brainstorming answers to NSF “personal statement” questions


    If you (or someone you know) plan on attending, please RSVP to Jodi Lehman (jglehman@mtu.edu).

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    Computer Science Doctoral Student Receives Best Paper Award

    Published

    Computer Science doctoral student Bryan Franklin and Professor Steven Seidel received the Best Paper Award for, “A Parallel Longest Common Subsequence Algorithm in UPC,” at the High Performance Computing Symposium, April 12-14, in Orlando, Fla. Franklin presented the paper at the conference. The paper describes the design, implementation, and performance of a parallel algorithm for the longest common subsequence problem, an important problem in bioinformatics. This is the second consecutive year that Michigan Tech authors have won the Best Paper Award at the HPC Symposium.

    Published in Tech Today

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    New Theses and Dissertations in the Library

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    By

    The Graduate School is pleased to announce the arrival of new theses and dissertations from our recent graduates in the J. R. Van Pelt Library and John and Ruanne Opie Library.  The names of our graduates, their degrees, advisors, and titles of their research are listed below.

    Brian Beachy
    Doctor of Philosophy in Forest Science
    Advisor: Andrew J Storer
    Dissertation title: Impacts of the Exotic Beech Bark Disease Complex in Michigan

    Jessica Beachy
    Doctor of Philosophy in Forest Science
    Advisor: Andrew John Storer
    Dissertation title: The Development of Trapping, Survey and Educational Tools for the Exotic Invasive Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilusplanipennis Fairmaire) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae)

    Luke Bowman
    Master of Science in Geology
    Advisor: William I Rose
    Thesis title: Community Perceptions of an NGO’s Impact on Disaster Preparedness in Los Planes de La Laguna, Santa Ana Volcano, El Salvador

    Venkat Donuru
    Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry
    Advisor: Haiying Liu
    Dissertation title: Design and Synthesis of Novel BODIPY Polymeric Dyes, and Redox-active Tetrathiafulvalene-Carbohydrate Conjugates for Potential Biosensing Applications

    Chad Fortin
    Master of Science in Applied Ecology
    Coadvisors: Christopher Raymond Webster and David James Flaspohler
    Thesis title: Floristic Quality as a Potential Driver of Vegetative Diversity-Productivity Relationships and Arthropod Habitat in Restored Grasslands

    Bryan Franklin
    Master of Science in Computer Science
    Advisor: Steven R Seidel
    Thesis title: Analysis and Performance of a UPC Implementation of a Parallel Longest Common Subsequence Algorithm

    Valerie Fuchs
    Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Engineering
    Coadvisors: John S Gierke and James R Mihelcic
    Dissertation title: Nitrogen Removal and Sustainability of Vertical Flow Constructed Wetlands for Small Scale Wastewater Treatment

    Alex Joseph Varghese
    Master of Science in Electrical Engineering
    Advisor: Paul L Bergstrom
    Thesis title: Fabrication of Piezo Resistive Strain Sensor for Orthopedic Fracture Implant System

    Jodi Lehman
    Doctor of Philosophy in Rhetoric and Technical Communication
    Advisor: Patricia J Sotirin
    Dissertation title: International Teachers in the American Classroom: Deposing the Myth of Monolingualism

    Ruben Otoniel Matias Gomez
    Master of Science in Geology
    Advisor: William I Rose
    Thesis title: Volcanological Map of the 1961-2009 Eruption of Volcande Pacaya, Guatemala

    Julian Mills-Beale
    Master of Science in Civil Engineering
    Advisor: Zhanping You
    Thesis title: New Test Procedures for Aggregate Specific Gravities and Absorption

    Srichand Pendyala
    Master of Science in Computer Science
    Advisor: Robert Louis Pastel
    Thesis title: Sketch Recognition through Shape Based Interaction

    Ratul Saha
    Doctor of Philosophy in Biological Sciences
    Advisor: Susan T Bagley
    Dissertation title: UV Disinfection of Metalworking Fluids: Analysis Using Molecular Tools

    Steven Vormwald
    Master of Science in Computer Science
    Advisor: Steven M Carr
    Thesis title: Predicting Remote Reuse Distance Patterns in Unified Parallel C Applications

    Fuyu Xu
    Doctor of Philosophy in Forest Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology
    Advisor: Chandrashekhar Pralhad Joshi
    Dissertation title: Molecular Mechanism of Cellulose Biosynthesis in Plants

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    Facebook Launches Fellowship Program to Promote Social Computing Research

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    Facebook Fellowship Program

    Every day Facebook confronts the most complex technical problems and we believe that close relationships with the academy will enable us to address many of these problems at a fundamental level and solve them. As part of our ongoing commitment to academic relations, we are pleased to announce the creation of the Facebook Fellowship program to support graduate students in the 2010-2011 school year.

    We are interested in a wide range of academic topics, including the following topical areas:

    • Internet Economics: auction theory and algorithmic game theory relevant to online advertising auctions.
    • Cloud Computing: storage, databases, and optimization for computing in a massively distributed environment.
    • Social Computing: models, algorithms and systems around social networks, social media, social search and collaborative environments.
    • Data Mining and Machine Learning: learning algorithms, feature generation, and evaluation methods to produce effective online and offline models of behavioral signals.
    • Systems: hardware, operating system, runtime, and language support for fast, scalable, efficient data centers.
    • Information Retrieval: search algorithms, information extraction, question answering, cross-lingual retrieval and multimedia retrieval

    Eligibility Criteria

    • Full-time Ph.D. students in topical areas represented by these fellowships who are currently involved in on-going research.
    • Students must be studying Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, System Architecture, or a related area.
    • Students must be enrolled during the academic year that the Fellowship is awarded.
    • Students must be nominated by a faculty member.

    For more information about application/faculty nomination process visit: http://www.facebook.com/careers/fellowship.php

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    AIAA Graduate Fellowships: Open to International Students

    Published

    AIAA

    The Foundation and the Technical Committees of AIAA present several funding opportunities.

    Martin Summerfield Graduate Award in Propellents and Combustion

    Eligible applicants will be actively participating in research endeavors in propellants and combustion as part of their graduate studies.

    Guidance, Navigation, and Control

    Eligible applicants will be participating in research endeavors that will impact one or more of the areas of guidance, navigation, and control as part of their graduate studies.

    Gordon C. Oates Air Breathing Propulsion Graduate Award

    Eligible applicants will be participating in research endeavors in air breathing propulsion as part of their graduate studies.

    Orville and Wilbur Wright

    Eligible applicants will be participating in research endeavors in engineering sciences.

    John Leland Atwood

    Eligible applicants will be participating in research endeavors in one of the 65 specialty areas represented by AIAA Technical Committees

    Open Topic Graduate Award

    Eligible applicants will be participating in research endeavors in one of the 65 specialty areas represented by AIAA Technical Committees

    Open to any nationality.

    Eligible applicants must have completed at least one academic year of full-time graduate work.  Applicant must have a grade point average of not less than 3.3 on a 4.0 scale.

    Deadline: Jan 31

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    Fusion Energy Sciences Fellowship Program

    Published

    Description: Offers talented students the opportunity to engage in the study and research of fusion energy sciences and technology, while fostering practical work experiences at recognized research facilities. Provides incentive and support to students as they continue their education in graduate school and prepare for careers in fusion energy.

    Discipline(s): physical sciences; engineering; mathematics; related scientific disciplines

    Eligibility: U.S. Citizens and Legal Permanent Residents. Undergraduate seniors; bachelor’s recipients; and first and second year graduate students at the time of application

    Location(s): Various locations across U. S. Participating universities with practicums at various U.S. Department of Energy research facilities

    Duration: Maximum 36 months with annual renewal

    Deadline(s): January 31

    Benefits: $24,000 annual stipend and full payment of tuition and fees; $750 per month practicum allowance; opportunity to attend professional meetings and to participate in long-term graduate research ad DOE fusion research facilities.

    Funding source(s): U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences

    How to apply: Application materials available at http://www.orau.gov/fusion.

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    Predoctoral STEM Awards

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    The Association for Women in Science offers $1000 awards for women pursuing PhDs in the STEM fields.  Four categories of awards are available:

    • Predoctoral Award
      For a female graduate student who has advanced to PhD candidacy studying in any STEM field except Physics (
    • Schutzmeister Award
      For a female predoctoral student who has advanced to PhD candidacy studying Physics
      The Schutzmeister Award has a separate application process managed by Dr. Gerald Hardie at Western Michigan University. Do not use the materials on this site. To request application forms contact Dr. Hardie at gerald.hardie@wmich.edu.
    • Satter Award
      For a female predoctoral student who has interrupted her career for three or more years to raise a family
      The Satter Award application includes an additional document provided by the applicant’s graduate department certifying that you meet the Satter criterion.
    • Filner Award
      New this year, this award honors Barbara Filner, a long-time active AWIS member who served as President of National AWIS, and as President of the AWIS Educational Foundation for ten years. This award is given to a predoctoral student who has advanced to PhD candidacy and has participated in activities, such as mentoring and organizing workshops, that encourage women to pursue careers in science and related fields. The application process includes an additional document (up to 700 words) reviewing activities to help women achieve their career goals.
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    National Research Council Research Associateship Programs

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    NCR Research Associateship Programs

    The mission of the NRC Research Associateship Programs (RAP) is to promote excellence in scientific and technological research conducted by the U. S. government through the administration of programs offering graduate, postdoctoral, and senior level research opportunities at sponsoring federal laboratories and affiliated institutions.

    In these programs, prospective applicants select a research project or projects from among the large group of opportunities listed on this website.  Prior to completing an application, prospective applicants should contact the proposed Research Adviser to assure that funding will be available if their application is recommended by NRC panels.  Once mutual interest is established between a prospective applicant and a Research Adviser, an application is submitted through the NRC WebRap system.  Reviews are conducted four times each year and review results are available approximately 6-8 weeks following the application deadline.

    Prospective applicants should read carefully the details of the program to which they’re applying.  In particular, note eligibility details.  Some laboratories have citizenship restrictions (open only to U.S. citizens and permanent residents) and some laboratories have research opportunities that are not open to senior applicants (more than 5 years beyond the PhD).  When searching for research opportunities you may limit your search to only those laboratories which match your eligibility criteria.  In addition, note the application deadlines as not all laboratories participate in all reviews.

    How to Apply

    Contact Jodi Lehman (jglehman@mtu.edu) if interested in applying.

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    Funding Opportunities in STEM Graduate Programs

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    Funding Opportunities in STEM Graduate Programs

    • AGEP:

    programs offer minority students support in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.

    • GK-12:

    The NSF Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) Program supports fellowships and training for graduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

    • IGERT:

    fellowship programs offer a $30,000 stipend plus tuition and fees. Over 100 programs nationwide emphasize interdisciplinary studies in science, technology, mathematics, and engineering.

    • MSPHDS:

    The Minorities Striving and Pursuing Higher Degrees of Success (MSPHDS) in Earth System Science initiative was developed by and for underrepresented minorities with the overall purpose of facilitating increased participation in Earth system science.

    • NSF Grad Research Fellowships:

    provides students with three years of funding for research-focused Master’s and PhD degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields.

    For additional information please visit: http://www.pathwaystoscience.org/Grad.asp

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    DHS Summer Scholarship

    Published

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) realizes that the country’s strong science and technology community provides a critical advantage in the development and implementation of counter-terrorist measures and other DHS objectives. The DHS Scholarship and Fellowship Program is intended for students interested in pursuing the basic science and technology innovations that can be applied to the DHS mission. This education program is intended to ensure a highly talented science and technology community to achieve the DHS mission and objectives. Eligible students must be studying in a homeland security related science, technology, engineering and mathematics (HS-STEM) field with an interest, major, or concentration directly related to one of the homeland security research areas.

    For more information

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