Institute of Computing and Cybersystems (ICC) Blog

Category: News

2021 Design Expo Continues As Virtual Event

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by Pavlis Honors College

The 21st Design Expo will continue virtually, but with a twist! Combining lessons learned from our first successful Virtual Design Expo and the desire to engage student teams synchronously, the Design Expo committee is excited to invite the Michigan Tech community, program friends and sponsors to register for this year’s Design Expo held via Gatherly, a platform used to simulate synchronous interactions and discussions, similar to a live MUB ballroom event.

Similar to last year’s Virtual Design Expo, more than 1,000 students in the Enterprise and Senior Design programs will come together to put on a virtual showcase of their work and compete for awards. This year, a panel of judges, made up of distinguished corporate representatives, alumni, community members, and Michigan Tech staff and faculty will critique videos of team projects, solutions, and results. We will kick-off and close the event via Zoom. At 11:30 AM participants will transition over to Gatherly, for the live two-hour synchronous showcase for student projects.

This event is free and open to the public. We encourage current and future students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni, families of students. etc to help us celebrate our students and their achievements—register today to virtually attend Design Expo.

2021 Schedule of Events:

Monday, April 12

  • Noon — Remote judging open

Thursday, April 15

  • 11 a.m.: Opening remarks via live webinar
  • 11:30 a.m.: Gatherly event opens
  • 1:30 p.m.: Gatherly event closes
  • 3 p.m.: Presentation of Awards via live webinar
  • 3:30 p.m.: 2021 Design Expo concludes

Interested in judging for the 21th annual Design Expo? This year, judges will have the flexibility to judge team videos anytime between noon on April 12 through 1:30 p.m. on April 15. In addition to video judging, judges will be asked to attend Design Expo between 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. during the Judging Hour on April 15 to visit assigned teams via Gatherly.

Judges will be selected based on the availability to attend Design Expo during the synchronous event starting at 11:30 a.m. Judges will be assigned three to five teams to view and evaluate team videos over a four-day period (April 12-15) using an electronic ballot sent out via email and/or text message.

Judges will then judge the same three to five teams during the synchronous events 11:30-1:30 p.m. There will be a designated judging hour 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. but judges may continue scoring teams until 1:30 p.m.

Please consider serving as a judge — we welcome all Michigan Tech faculty, staff, alumni, industry representatives, community members, and anyone interested in the great work of our students!.

Click here for more information on attending and judging Design Expo. Check out all of the details of Design Expo here. For questions, please reach out to Briana Tucker.

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GRC Registration Closes Soon

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by Graduate Student Government

Registration for this year’s virtual Graduate Research Colloquium (GRC) will close at 11:59 PM tomorrow (March 2). The event will be held on Thursday April 1, and Friday April 2.

GRC is a great opportunity to work on your presentation skills and prepare for upcoming conferences. Students are free to give an oral presentation, a poster talk, or both. All talks will be scored by judges from the same field as the presenter, who will give valuable insight and feedback on how you can improve your talk. Cash prizes are available for the top 3 places in both oral and poster presentations ( 1st – $300, 2nd – $200, and 3rd – $100). Registration closes Tuesday, March 2, at 11:59 PM. Only a research abstract is due at the time of registration. Register today.

Guidelines to record a video for the poster session and to compile slides for an oral presentation are available on the event website. The video and slide submission deadline for the event is 11:59 PM, Monday March 22, 2021. Full information on the event can be found on our website.

Feel free to contact Sarvada Chipkar if you have any questions or concerns.

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Biocomputing, Digital Health Focus of New Research Center

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The Institute of Computing and Cybersystems (ICC) and the Health Research Institute (HRI) have established the Joint Center of Biocomputing and Digital Health (BDH).

The new research institute was co-founded by HRI member Jingfeng Jiang (BME) and ICC member Jinshan Tang (CC).

The mission of Joint Center of Biocomputing and Digital Health (BDH) is to conduct research, develop innovative solutions, and provide educational opportunities in the area of biocomputing and digital health, thereby enhancing Michigan Tech’s ability to recruit and retain high-quality researchers and students, elevating Michigan Tech’s presence in developing technologies for healthcare delivery, and increasing knowledge sharing in the global community.

Jingfeng Jiang is a professor with the Department of Biomedical Engineering. His research interests are in biomechanics, automated control of ultrasound scanning including the use of 3D printing technology, image and signal processing, non-invasive assessment of biomechanical properties of soft tissues, and computer aided analyses of cardiovascular flow.

Jinshan Tang is a professor in the Department of Applied Computing. His research interests are in image processing and pattern recognition, biomedical imaging and medical image analysis, and medical informatics and intelligent medical diagnosis systems. Tang is a member of the ICC’s Center for Cyber-Physical Systems.

The Institute of Computing and Cybersystems (ICC) creates and supports an arena in which faculty and students work collaboratively across organizational boundaries in an environment that mirrors contemporary technological innovation.

The Health Research Institute (HRI) aims to establish and maintain a thriving environment that promotes translational, interdisciplinary, and increasingly convergent health-related research and inspires education and outreach activities.

Please contact Jingfeng Jiang (jjiang1@mtu.edu) with questions.

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Meryl Spencer to Present Lecture, Feb. 26, 3 pm

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The Department of Computer Science will present a lecture by Meryl Spencer, Michigan Tech Research Institute, on Friday, February 26, 2021, at 3:00 p.m.

Spencer’s lecture is titled, “Advancing Robotics through competition.”

Join the virtual lecture here.

Meryl Spencer is a research scientist with the Michigan Tech Research Institute (MTRI). Her research interests include Multi-Agent Teaming, Robotics Simulation, Applications of Graph Theory, Biomimicry For Robotics, Emergent Behavior, Reinforcement Learning, and Camouflage Detection in Machine Learning.

Lecture Title

“Advancing Robotics through competition ”

Lecture Abstract

Michigan Tech is a top competitor in the DARPA Subterranean challenge, which pits teams of fully autonomous vehicles against difficult underground environments to find artifacts hidden in caves and mines. In this talk, Dr. Spencer will give an explanation of the graph-based approach the Michigan Tech team is using to enable joint searching of gps-denied environments with a heterogeneous team of robots.

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Emily Zhang Is ME-EM Graduate Seminar Speaker

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by Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics

The next virtual Graduate Seminar Speaker will be held at 4 p.m. tomorrow (Feb. 25) via Zoom.

Lan (Emily) Zhang (ECE) will present “Augmenting Radio Environments for better Wireless Ecosystems.”

Zhang is a member of the Institute of Computing and Cybersystems’s (ICC) Center for Cyber-Physical Systems.

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Info Sessions for CyberCorps Scholarship Are March 22, March 30

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An exciting scholarship opportunity has been announced for Michigan Tech students who wish to pursue cybersecurity-related degrees and work for government agencies after graduation.

Two informational sessions will be presented, on March 22 and March 30, to help students complete the application process for the CyberCorps: Scholarship for Service (SFS) Program.

Both sessions will provide the same information. Prior registration is required. Following, you will receive a confirmation email and instructions for joining the session.

Recently funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the SFS Program provides full scholarships for two or three years of support for undergraduate and graduate students in selected cybersecurity-related degree programs.

In return, following graduation recipients must agree to work for for the U.S. government in a cybersecurity-related position for a period equal to the duration of the scholarship.

Applications are being accepted for the 2021-2022 cohort. The deadline to apply is June 1, 2021. View the list of eligible degree programs on the SFS website.

Session #1 is on Monday, March 22, 2021, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. EST. Register for Session #1 here.

Session #2 is on Tuesday, March 30, 2021, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. EST. Register for Session #2 here.

For more information, please visit the SFS website at https://www.mtu.edu/sfs/, or contact Professor Yu Cai (cai@mtu.edu).

Read a Michigan Tech press release about this new scholarship opportunity:
https://www.mtu.edu/news/stories/2021/february/cybercorps-offers-huskies-scholarship-for-service-opportunity.html

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Computing Programs Ranked Among Best in Nation

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Several Michigan Tech College of Computing degree programs have been ranked among the best in the nation by Intelligent.com. In addition, the research guide ranked the University number three among all colleges in Michigan.

Intelligent.com looked at nearly 2,300 accredited colleges and universities nationwide making evaluations based on curriculum quality, graduation rate, reputation and post-graduate employment. Programs were evaluated on a scale of 0 to 100 with Michigan Tech making it to the final list for 12 separate degree programs.

The four College of Computing programs and their national ranking as rated by Intelligent.com are:

Additional Michigan Tech degree programs included in the ranking are:

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Sidike Paheding Awarded MSGC Seed Grant

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Michigan Space Grant Consortium

Assistant Professor Sidike Paheding, Applied Computing, has been awarded a one-year MSGC Research Seed Grant for his project, “Monitoring Martian landslides using deep learning and data fusion.”

Professor Thomas Oommen, Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences, is Co-PI of the project. The grant will support part-time employment of two students during the award period.

This grant is supported in part by funding provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), under award number 80NSSC20M0124, Michigan Space Grant Consortium (MSGC).

The MSGC Research Seed Grant Program supports junior faculty and research scientists at MSGC affiliate institutions. The program also helps mid-career and senior faculty develop new research programs. The objective of this program is to allow award recipients to develop the research expertise necessary to propose research activities in new areas to other federal or nonfederal sources.

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Leo Ureel Receives 2020-21 CTL Award for Innovative Teaching

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The 2020-2021 CTL Instructional Award for Innovative or Out of Class Teaching is being presented to two instructors, and Assistant Professor Leo Ureel, Computer Science, and Libby Meyer, senior lecturer, Visual and Performing Arts.

Ureel was nominated in recognition of his “student-centric efforts which have increased retention and diversified the cohort of first-year computing students.”

Ureel’s presentation, “Three course innovations to support communication,” will be presented at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 18, 2021, as part of the CTL Instructional Award Presentation Series.

Link here to register for the event.

Ureel is a member of the Institute of Computing and Cybersystems’s (ICC) Computing Education Center.

Meyer’s presentation, “Beyond Carrots and Sticks: Mastery Based Grading and Narrative Assessment” will also be presented on February 18.

During spring 2017, academic deans were asked to begin recognizing instructors making contributions in these areas as part of the Deans’ Teaching Showcase, effectively nominating them for instructional awards.

CTL and Provost’s office members along with previous awardees then select one individual in each category from a pool composed of the Showcase and those nominated to the Academy of Teaching Excellence.

Ureel Lecture Abstract

Three course innovations to support communication Introductory courses present many communication challenges between faculty and first year students. In this context, we discuss three innovations used in our introductory computer science courses.

The first is the use of Snap, a high-level, visual programming language, as a form of pseudocode during the first five weeks of the course to build student vocabulary and problem solving skills before tackling programming in Java.

The second is a Code Critiquer developed as a Canvas plugin to provide immediate guidance and feedback to students when they submit their programming assignments.

The third is a grade visualization tool that helps students understand their current performance in the course and project a range that will contain their final grade. While not everyone teaches introductory computer science, we discuss how these or similar innovations and tools might apply to your course.

Leo Ureel, Computer Science
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Michigan Tech Announces NSF CyberCorps: Scholarship for Service Program

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Michigan Technological University is one of six universities to join the National Science Foundation CyberCorps: Scholarship for Service (SFS) program, a nationwide program to recruit and train the next generation of information technology professionals, industrial control system security professionals and security managers.

The five-year, $3.3 million NSF grant provides up to three years of full scholarship support for 20 undergraduate and graduate students.

In return, following graduation, recipients must work in a cybersecurity-related job for federal, state, local or tribal government for a period equal to the length of the scholarship, among other requirements.

“The U.S. is facing a significant shortage of well-trained and well-prepared cybersecurity professionals,” said Yu Cai, professor of applied computing at Michigan Tech and the principal investigator of the grant. “Michigan Tech has developed a national and international reputation in cybersecurity education, research and outreach activities. We are thrilled to be part of the solution to the nation’s cybersecurity workforce challenge.”

Applications for Michigan Tech’s 2021-2022 cohort are now being accepted. Application guidelines and requirements can be found on the SFS website. The deadline to apply is June 1, 2021. Student informational sessions will be announced shortly. 

The degree programs included in the CyberCorps scholarship opportunity are listed below.

  1. BS in Cybersecurity (CyS)
  2. BS in Computer Network and System Administration (CNSA)
  3. BS in Computer Science (CS)
  4. BS in Software Engineering (SE)
  5. BS in Computer Engineering (CpE)
  6. BS in Electrical Engineering (EE)
  7. BS in Management Information Systems (MIS)
  8. MS in Cybersecurity

The SFS program at Michigan Tech involves multiple programs and departments, including the College of Computing and its Department of Applied Computing and Department of Computer Science, the College of Engineering’s Department of  Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the College of Business’s Management Information Systems B.S. program. 

The SFS program also partners with the Pavlis Honors College to engage SFS scholars in a blend of faculty mentoring, peer mentoring and customized pathways.

Michigan Tech joins 78 current CyberCorps: Scholarship for Service universities across the country. In its announcement, NSF noted that Michigan Tech has a long history of K-12 outreach, which it expects to leverage as part of its project.

The project PI is Professor Yu Cai, Applied Computing. Co-PIs and other important personnel include Professor Jean Mayo, Professor Todd O. Arney, Professor Bo Chen, Professor Chee-Wooi Ten, Professor Kedmon N. Hungwe, and Dr. Laura Kasson Fiss.

Michigan Technological University is a public research university, home to more than 7,000 students from 54 countries. Founded in 1885, the University offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, and social sciences. Our campus in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula overlooks the Keweenaw Waterway and is just a few miles from Lake Superior.

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