Category: Programs

Through our interview series, we aim to showcase the experiences of CS alumni, current students, and faculty, providing valuable insights to inspire and guide future researchers. In this interview, we feature Dr. Austin Mordahl, who earned his PhD this year under the mentorship of Dr. Shiyi Wei.

He is now shaping the next generation of scholars as an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago. Explore Austin’s journey for an in-depth view of his academic and professional experiences, where he reflects on his thesis, inspirations, and mental health.

Dr. B. Prabhakaran, a renowned computer science professor at UT Dallas, is recognized for his innovative contributions to multimedia systems, computer vision, and healthcare informatics.

His advanced research—encompassing multimedia data management, 3D medical imaging and video analytics—has been extensively published in leading journals and conferences, solidifying his status as a thought leader in these domains.

Virtual reality (VR) offers a captivating and immersive way to revolutionize learning and training, especially when it comes to safety-related concepts.

Despite its potential, the intricate development process has slowed its widespread use—until now. In an exciting breakthrough, the University of Texas at Dallas computer science professors Drs. Balakrishnan Prabhakaran, Shiyi Wei, Yu Xiang, and Jin Ryong Kim have secured an impressive $750,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for their groundbreaking Scan to Multi-sensorial Interactive Learning Environment (SMILE) project. This substantial funding highlights the innovation behind SMILE and marks a significant step forward in bringing cutting-edge VR learning experiences to life.

Recently, Dr. Zygmunt J. Haas, Distinguished Chair in computer science and professor in the Department of Computer Science in the Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, offered some remarks to help commemorate 30 years of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) MobiCom conference, which will be held in Nov. 2024 in Washington, DC. The annual conference serves as the premier international forum addressing networks, systems, algorithms, and applications that support the symbiosis of mobile computers and wireless networks. MobiCom also covers all areas of mobile computing and mobile and wireless networking.

Dr. Jin Ryong Kim and his innovative team at the Multimodal Interaction Lab (MI Lab) have recently garnered acclaim for their groundbreaking advancements in haptic and thermal technologies. Their exceptional contributions have been recognized with several prestigious awards, highlighting their transformative work in these dynamic fields.

At the IEEE Haptics Symposium 2024, Dr. Kim and his students were awarded the Best Demonstration honorable mention for their presentation on “Thermal Masking.” This phenomenon, also displayed at the 2024 ACM Conference on Computer Human Interaction (CHI) in Hawaii, showcases a novel thermal illusion where thermal referral completely masks the original thermal sensation, leaving only the tactile site to register thermal feedback.

What inspired you to pursue computer science for your college degree?

UT Dallas is renowned for its excellence in undergraduate Computer Science education. This rapidly growing field has abundant job opportunities now and in the future. Although I initially knew little about computer science when I chose it as my major, I have become confident that it will be a solid decision due to its high earning potential and the increasing demand in today’s digital world.

A UTDesign® Capstone team from The University of Texas at Dallas comprised of electrical and computer engineering and computer science students placed first in the spring 2024 Raytheon Technologies, Inc.’s Autonomous Unmanned Vehicle (AUV) competition held in North Texas. This is the second time the team has won the annual event — a UT Dallas team also placed first in 2022.

A University of Texas at Dallas student team won a third-place award at an international competition for building a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that can collect data on temperature, pressure and chemicals in the ocean.

The students demonstrated their vehicle, named VESPA, in an Olympic-sized pool in Kingsport, Tennessee, in June at the annual MATE ROV Competition, a program of the Marine Technology Society. The 2024 international collegiate competition focused on ocean-based solutions to climate change.

Dr. Bhavani Thuraisingham recently received the prestigious IEEE Computer Society’s Impact Award from the Technical Committee on Multimedia Computing (TCMC) for her groundbreaking research in secure multimedia data systems. This award is usually presented at the annual IEEE Computer Society  MIPR (Multimedia Information Processing and Retrieval) conference. This year, the conference took place in San Jose, CA, on Aug. 8, 2024. She is the first woman to receive this highest technical award from the TCMC.  

Dr. Yu Xiang leads the Intelligent Robotics and Vision Lab (IRVL) in the department of computer science in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Texas at Dallas.

The lab focuses on fundamental research in intelligent robotics and computer vision, and Dr. Xiang considers the scientific question: How can robots conduct tasks autonomously in the physical world to assist humans? For example, he is interested in building robots that can cook a meal or clean a kitchen table for people.