Archive for 2023

The Grace Series honors the contributions of real-life women in science with the goal of inspiring and encouraging more of them to pursue STEM careers. The Grace Series introduced its second speaker, Chief Technology Officer & SVP for Catalyst Corporate Credit Union, Diana Hennel. Ms. Hennel currently serves as Chief Technology Officer for Catalyst Corporate Credit Union.  She prides herself on building strong teams and delivering innovative, industry-changing software.  Over the course of her thirty-year career, her teams have modernized the check processing industry, streamlined financial operations for the National Bank of Singapore, and experimented with cryptocurrency for credit unions.  She was recently recognized as one of Dallas’ leading women in technology for her innovative work in bringing digital products to market.  Outside of work, she lives in Frisco with her husband of twenty years and her identical twin boys.  Diana is heavily involved in her community, including serving as a board member of High Tech High Heels, an organization dedicated to growing women in STEM.  

This August, Dr. Xiaohu Guo, his PhD student Ms. Ningna Wang, and a team of collaborators received the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Special Interest Group on Computer GRAPHics and Interactive Techniques (SIGGRAPH)’s Technical Papers Best Paper Award for the paper titled “Globally Consistent Normal Orientation for Point Clouds by Regularizing the Winding Number Field.” ACM SIGGRAPH is a special interest group within ACM, and SIGGRAPH 2023 is the premier conference for computer graphics and interactive techniques worldwide. The ACM SIGGRAPH community is a global nonprofit organization serving the evolution of computer graphics and interactive techniques. With thousands of members across the world, the researchers, artists, developers, filmmakers, scientists, and business professionals of ACM SIGGRAPH are building the future of digital art and interactive design.

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

Hello, I’m Chao Li , I completed my PhD in the Computer Science Department at The University of Texas at Dallas, specializing in Computer Graphics and Vision under the guidance of Professor Xiaohu Guo. Prior to earning my PhD, I received my bachelor’s degree at Beijing Jiaotong University, China, and my master’s degree at Peking University, China. After graduating from UT Dallas, I joined Reality Labs Research, Meta (formerly known as Facebook). Currently, I hold the position of Senior Research Scientist, engaged in cutting-edge research in the realms of the metaverse and augmented reality (AR) glasses.

Tom Vazhekatt, a 4th-year Computer Science major, is the Co-Founder and CEO of Routora, a route planning tool that finds the fastest and most efficient route when you have multiple stops. Tom was a Dallas native attending high school in Coppell, where he was first introduced to Computer Science. During quarantine, Tom used the time to enhance skill sets that enabled him to build several personal projects to help him with daily needs. He came to realize that if he could build solutions for himself, he could also do so for other people.

PhDs are an essential part of the knowledge economy. Completing a PhD is all about creating fresh knowledge, discovering new concepts, and developing new skills. It is a degree meant for those who seek a greater depth of knowledge in a specific area. With the following interview series, we hope to engage students who want to learn more about the PhD program by learning about those who have gone through it. We recently spoke with 2023 CS PhD graduate Ka Yaw Teo. Below is our conversation.

After years of diligent hard work many PhD graduates go on to accept jobs at top companies, research facilities, government positions, and tenure-track positions at various Universities and other forms of academia. With the following interview series, we hope to engage students who want to learn more about the PhD program by learning about those who have gone through it. Below is our interview with PhD CS Alumni Dr. Kinjal Basu. Below is our conversation with him.

The University of Texas at Dallas continues its rise among the best universities in the United States, according to Forbes America’s Top Colleges 2023 rankings.

UT Dallas made the Top 100 in the Forbes list for the first time, ranking 97th overall, up 24 spots from last year. UTD also moved up to 43rd among public U.S. universities, an improvement of eight places from last year.

A PhD or related research degree helps you start or continue your research in a field you’re truly passionate about. You can decide what you work on, how you work on it and how you get there, with support and guidance from a supervisory team. You can make a world-first discovery, create innovations with lasting impacts and even shine a new light on important topics in various fields. Whether you’ve just finished your postgraduate degree, in the workforce or returning to college after a break, a research degree gives you a lot of options. Earning a PhD is a significant undertaking that comes with lots of responsibility and rewards. With the following interview series, we hope to engage students who want to learn more about the PhD program by learning about those who have gone through it. Below is our interview with CS PhD Alumni Dr. Mehmet Kuzu.

After years of diligent hard work, many PhD graduates go on to accept jobs at top companies, research facilities, government positions, and tenure-track positions at various Universities and other forms of academia. According to the most recent Census Bureau figures done in 2018, fewer than a 35 percent of United States residents have a bachelor’s degree. Fewer than 13 percent have a master’s degree and just over 3.5 percent have completed a doctoral degree. Simply stated, by earning a doctoral degree you’ll be joining a group of highly knowledgeable people in a specific field. You’ll have the opportunity to achieve goals in your chosen field that may not be available to others. And whether you choose to be an author; an educator; or an innovator adding knowledge, training, and research to your field; you will be considered an expert. With the following interview series, we hope to engage students who want to learn more about the PhD program by learning about those who have gone through it. We recently spoke to Dongcheng Li, a recent 2023 PhD graduate. Below is our conversation.

For over eight years, the Grace Series has provided a platform for sharing experiences, knowledge, and inspiration. The Grace Series recognizes accomplishments of a diverse group of people from the computing field through empowering talks that aim to foster a sense of community, with a special focus on women in technology. These talks are intended to offer fresh perspectives and different approaches for women to navigate the technology field, whether in academia or industry. Since its inception, 41 speakers have given talks.