CSU Department of Computer Science celebrates 50th anniversary

2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the Department of Computer Science at CSU. Five decades have seen exponential growth in computing. Amid waves of transformation, the department has been, and remains, guided by CSU’s land grant mission – how can computing be harnessed to improve people’s lives and shape the future of technology?

Virtual reality may offer path to access benefits of nature for older adults

Stepping out on a nature trail in the mountains can be invigorating for both the mind and body, but not everyone can make it to a trailhead or the peak. Our Natural User Interaction (NUI) Lab, led by Assistant Professor Francisco Ortega, is excited to be part of a research team using virtual reality to help bring the healing powers of nature to folks who can’t access it.

Albert Lionelle recognized for computing education research

Computer science alumnus Albert Lionelle (B.S., ’02; M.S., ’05; Ph.D., ’21) won a best paper award for his computing education research at the SIGCSE 2024 conference. Albert is also affiliated with the CSU Computer Science Education Group. He is currently an associate teaching professor and the director of Align Online at the Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University.

NSF grant bolsters community science, novel AI and pollinator conservation

Researchers Sarath Sreedharan, Nikhil Krishnaswamy and Nate Blanchard, in partnership with the CSU School of Education and Extension’s Native Bee Watch program, are harnessing the power of AI to help community scientists monitor pollinator species across Colorado.

Abhimanyu Chawla awarded for outstanding achievement

Systems Administrator Abhimanyu Chawla received the Distinguished Administrative Professional Award at this year’s Celebrate! Colorado State awards ceremony. Abhi’s award recognizes continuous meritorious and outstanding achievement in the areas of operational efficiency, leadership and mentoring, innovation, and the Principles of Community.

Augusta Irechukwu featured in CSU alumni magazine

Computer science alumna Augusta Irechukwu (B.S., ’20) is highlighted in the summer 2024 edition of the Alumni Association magazine Around the Oval. In “Building Better Government through Data Science,” Augusta discusses how her undergraduate participation in MURALS sparked a career that combines data science and public policy.

AI helping to unravel complexity of climate, weather and land use, find solutions to climate change

How can we predict severe storms a week in advance? What will the climate will be like in 50 years? How can we lessen the impacts of climate change? CSU computer science researchers are collaborating with others around the country to find these answers. And they’re using a powerful tool – artificial intelligence.

Chuck Anderson recognized for inspiring and supporting online students

Professor Chuck Anderson has been honored with the Outstanding Distance Educator Award from CSU Online. The award recognizes practitioners who have demonstrated outstanding leadership, innovation, support, and impact in the field of distance education within CSU Online. Chuck was nominated by two of his online master’s students.

CRA-E Spotlight: Rachel Masters

The Computing Research Association (CRA) recently highlighted graduate student Rachel Masters in CRA-E SPARC. In this Q&A Rachel discusses her undergraduate research journey, work-life balance, and her research on the health applications of virtual reality.

Francisco Ortega recognized for supporting students’ career development

The CSU Career Center recognized Assistant Professor Francisco R. Ortega with the Career Impact Award for his extraordinary support of students’ career development. Francisco is the Director of the CSU Natural User Interaction (NUI) Lab that primarily researches 3D user interfaces, including augmented and virtual reality.

The Future is Now: Understanding and Harnessing Artificial Intelligence

A match can light a campfire or burn down a forest. Like the match, AI is a tool that can either help or harm. How do we responsibly use the power of AI? The North Forty News recently asked CSU experts Nikhil Krishnaswamy (computer science) and Paul DiRado (philosophy), and Rocky Mountain AI Interest Group founder Dan Murray.

Student teams win four awards for creative AI solutions at USDA hackathon

Can AI accurately grade your ribeye steak? At the USDA 24-hour hackathon, over 60 CSU students across 18 teams were challenged to develop two predictive models using images of a ribeye steak on a conveyor belt. Four teams of computer science students took home awards for Overall Second Place, Simplicity Award, Ingenuity Award, and Honorable Mention.

Ramadan Abdunabi awarded for commitment to students

Computer science alumnus Ramadan Abdunabi (M.C.S., ’10; Ph.D., ’13) received the 2024 CSU Best Teacher Award. This award recognizes his passion for teaching and unwavering commitment to students. Ramadan is currently a senior clinical professor in the CSU College of Business Computer Information Systems Department.

Leticia Cardenas awarded for poster on racial bias in AI

Undergraduate Leticia Cardenas won the Ram’s Choice Poster Award in the STEMM category at the CSU MURALS Symposium. Her research poster was titled, “Uncovering the Racial Bias in Artificial Intelligence within Chat GPT.” MURALS is an undergraduate research and artistry symposium that showcases the scholarly work of students with marginalized identities.

Jake Jepson’s research uncovers cybersecurity threat to the nation’s supply chain

Computer science alumnus Jake Jepson (B.S., ’22), now a graduate student in CSU’s systems engineering department, researches heavy vehicle cybersecurity and forensics. Jake recently discovered a security gap in commercial trucks’ electronic logging devices (ELDs) that exposes millions of trucks at the core of the U.S. shipping industry to cyberattack. His research is now garnering national attention and awards.

Researchers win two awards at premier big data conference

Two author teams received Best Paper Awards at the IEEE/ACM International Conference on Big Data Computing, Applications and Technologies (BDCAT). The winning research papers are “A Framework for Profiling Spatial Variability in the Performance of Classification Models” and “Rubiks: Rapid Explorations and Summarization over High Dimensional Spatiotemporal Datasets.”

Natural User Interaction Lab researchers awarded for collaborative work on healthy aging

The CSU Natural User Interaction (NUI) Lab research team won a Best Poster Award at the IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (IEEE VR 2024). Their poster, “Aging Naturally: Virtual reality nature vs real-world nature’s effects on executive functioning and stress recovery in older adults,” showcased the collaborative work of faculty and student researchers across disciplines and institutions.

Online masters program ranked top 5 in the nation

For the second year, Fortune Magazine has ranked our online master’s degree program among the nation’s best. This year we are #5, jumping up 4 places from 2022. Fortune’s ranking methodology was a combination of selectivity, success, and demand factors.

Sudeep Pasricha awarded three patents related to security in computing systems

In addition to his new patents, Professor Pasricha was selected by students for the Best ECE Professor Award and is featured in the latest episode of the Applied Podcast by the CSU Office of Engagement and Extension. Sudeep is a joint professor in computer science, electrical and computer engineering, and systems engineering and directs the Embedded, High Performance, and Intelligent Computing (EPIC) Lab.

Jake Kirkwood
Administrative Assistant

Troy Osborn
Academic Success Coordinator

Laura Daniels
Academic Success Coordinator

As we work together to explore, invent, and achieve at the lightening-fast pace our field requires, we encourage you to stay connected with the Department of Computer Science. Thank you and enjoy!

Send your Computer Science news, events, and story ideas to lisa.knebl@colostate.edu