Bowers news you should know

A color photo of a man smiling for a photo

Dear Bowers community,

Welcome back! As we embark on this semester's journey together, I want to take a moment to introduce myself. I've been a proud member of this community since 2001 and have enjoyed seeing our college grow and become a model for how to lead in computer science, information science, and statistics and data science.

As you know, Provost Bala has left a remarkable legacy of excellence and innovation that we are all proud of. Her leadership has set a high standard, and my goal is to build on these successes while also ensuring a smooth transition to the new dean, who will be appointed this summer.

I also want to recognize that many of you are concerned about how the new executive orders, federal agency directives, and policy announcements may affect your work and your studies. A good starting point for questions is this new website, which is updated as the situation develops. This is a challenging time for many members of our community. In times such as these, it is important that we show kindness and support each other. I encourage you to prioritize self-care, seek support from our community, and take advantage of Cornell resources.

Cheers,

Thorsten Joachims

Interim Dean

Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science

dean@cis.cornell.edu

Fireaid.info is an interactive map created by Johan Michalove, a doctoral student in the field of information science, that helps connect displaced residents in the greater Los Angeles area with needed resources. Here, a screengrab of the map shows where

Student spins spreadsheet into online hub for wildfire relief

Johan Michalove, a doctoral student in the field of information science, is nearly 3,000 miles from the Los Angeles wildfires, but that didn’t stop him from pitching in. He developed an interactive map at fireaid.info that has become an online hub for thousands of people in the greater L.A. area who need provisions, are looking to donate supplies, or want to get involved.

Media coverage: Bowers student creates online resource hub for those impacted by LA wildfires

CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher awards

Honorable Mention (CS):

Deniz Boloni-Turgut ‘26
James Kim ‘25
Jason Klein ‘26
Benny Rubin ‘24

Honorable Mention (IS):

Muhammad Jee ‘25
Maaya Kanvar ‘25
Luis Miguel Sy Malenab ‘25
Manru (Mary) Zhang ‘24

Bowers’ December graduates reflect on life-changing experiences

From conducting research to joining project teams and serving as teaching staff in Bowers classes, our students have accomplished remarkable things.

A photo collage showing 7 students at Cornell Bowers

Cornell team wins $50K in AI puzzle-solving challenge contest

A team from Cornell led by Kevin Ellis, assistant professor of computer science, has developed a set of AI models that together, solve about 56% of the problem set – scoring within 4 percentage points of the average human.

An example problem from the ARC-AGI set. Credit: ARC Prize

Hans Sung, MPS ‘24, on working hard and working smart

Hans Sung, MPS ’24, was drawn to Cornell’s Master of Professional Studies program in information science because he wanted to work with great students and learn from leading faculty at a prestigious university.

Forbes features Okolo, Ph.D. ‘23, in their ‘30 Under 30 - AI’

Chinasa T. Okolo, Ph.D. ’23 is currently a fellow in the Center for Technology Innovation at The Brookings Institution, where she explores the promise of human-centered AI in the Global South.

A color photo of a woman smiling for a photo

Nirmal Srinivasan, MPS ‘23, on the advice that helped him land a job in data science

“If you’re looking for jobs, that’s the roadmap: talk to as many people as you can."

-Nirmal Srinivasan, MPS ’23

Daniela Rus, M.S. '90, Ph.D. '93 received the 2024 John Scott Award for her robotics research.

Foster named 2024 ACM Fellow

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has named Nate Foster, professor of computer science, a 2024 Fellow for his "contributions to applications of programming languages to networking."

Gomes named Schmidt AI2050 Senior Fellow

Schmidt Sciences has named Carla Gomes, the Ronald and Antonia Nielsen Professor, an AI2050 Senior Fellow for her work on innovative artificial intelligence approaches to advance scientific discovery, focusing on significant sustainability challenges facing humanity.

Kato named editor-in-chief of Bernoulli

Kengo Kato, professor of statistics and data science, has been named editor-in-chief of Bernoulli, a flagship publication by the Bernoulli Society for Mathematical Statistics and Probability.

A color photo of a woman smiling for a photo in front of a lake.

Schmidt Sciences named Dean an AI2050 Fellow

Sarah Dean, assistant professor of computer science, has received an AI2050 Early Career Fellowship from Schmidt Sciences.

Singh to study energy efficiency in large-scale computing with 2030 Project Fast Grant awards

Rachee Singh, assistant professor of computer science, and Emaad Manzoor, assistant professor of marketing, will design light-based, optical network fabrics that enable faster communication between GPUs and bypass bottlenecks caused by slower electrical connections.

Simplifying computer vision and graphics: Hadar Averbuch-Elor

New Cornell Tech assistant professor of computer science Hadar Averbuch-Elor, is exploring whether sound symbolism manifests in the context of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Erin Pyrek presented at the National Council of University Research Administrators Region II meeting.

Nate Foster's group was awarded a $350,000 unrestricted gift from VMware/Broadcom to support their work.

Selin Toker ’26, Dina Shlufman ’27, and Nicole Cheung ’25, present their app prototype, “Slang Central,” during a joint poster session for two human-computer interaction courses in the Physical Sciences Building on Tuesday, Dec. 10. (Photo by Luke Stewart

Human-Computer Interaction Design poster session showcases students’ apps

“Human-Computer Interaction Design was one of my favorite classes at Cornell because it allowed me to challenge myself creatively through a semester-long project that I really enjoyed.” - Selin Toker ’26

AI Innovation Lab Demo Day features university projects

In a fast-paced stream of presentations, Cornell faculty, staff, and students showcased their use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) to solve unique challenges they face in their courses and work.

A color photo of a man giving a presentation. by Luke Stewart - Cornell Bowers

The Grace Hopper Celebration grants insights and opportunities to up-and-coming women in tech

Students and faculty from the college connected with leading tech organizations online and in person at the Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC), a global conference that serves as a vibrant hub for celebrating and empowering women and nonbinary professionals in tech.

A color photo showing a group of people smiling for a photo

‘Migrant Commons’ explores underrepresented communities and public spaces

Cornell Tech in New York City hosted Migrant Commons: Community, Heritage & Technology, a two-day, hybrid symposium and workshop that brought together global experts across disciplines – landscape architecture, urban design, technology, policy, public sector, and governance.

On December 8 and 9, Cornell Tech hosted “Migrant Commons: Community, Heritage & Technology,” a two-day, hybrid symposium and workshop at its New York City campus.

Welcome new community members:

Franklin Castle, Systems Administrator, ITSG
Derrick Clarke Jr., IT Support Associate, ITSG
Paul Kagaya, Systems Administrator, ITSG

A color photo showing construction being started on a new building with a red 'play' icon

New building update

An animated gif showing a feather changing color

Researchers put the shine on digitally rendered feathers

Steve Marschner

Yunchen Yu

A graphic illustration showing a stack of books with a futuristic background

In American fiction, it’s a small world after all

Matthew Wilkens

A color graphic showing a man using 'MeCapture'

App creates time-lapse videos of the body for telemedicine

Abe Davis

Angelique Taylor

Nhan Tran

Ethan Yang

National Tutoring Observatory to accelerate the science of teaching

Rene Kizilcec

the text "social standout" with YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, X, and Linkedin logos

Xiaoying Gan ’25, a biometry and statistics and plant science double major, is using her Cornell Bowers education to improve agriculture and tackle food insecurity—advancing humanity and society through tech.