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Department of Computing and Information Sciences Ph.D.

Ph.D. student Saad Hassan believes that accessibility should be a primary focus of technological innovation, not an afterthought. He recently received a grant from language-learning company Duolingo to fund his doctoral thesis on look-up systems for unfamiliar signs in languages like American Sign Language.

Matt Huenerfauth has been named dean of the Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences. Huenerfauth, who is an expert in computing accessibility and served as chair of RIT’s School of Information (iSchool) for the past two years, was chosen after an international search.

The Microsoft Accessibility Blog features a project led by computing and information sciences Ph.D. candidate Abraham Glasser that looks at improving common interactions with smart assistants for people who use sign language.

WatersTechnology interviews Yu Kong, assistant professor in the Department of Computing and Information Sciences Ph.D., about the capabilities of current facial recognition technology. (This content requires a subscription to view.)

From robot waiters to river otters, RIT’s Graduate Showcase will cover a wide variety of topics representing graduate scholarship from the university’s Henrietta and global campuses. The symposium, held April 7, will feature oral presentations in the morning and poster presentations, demonstrations, and visual exhibitions in the afternoon.

Computing researchers at RIT are teaming up with Sappi, the leading global provider of sustainable woodfibre products and bio-based solutions, to improve innovation processes. Sappi is funding research to establish the Sappi–RIT Digital Innovation Lab in RIT’s Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences. 

Three faculty members who chose to start their research careers at RIT received prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER Awards in 2021. Their research aims to advance the foundations of machine intelligence, artificial intelligence, and clean energy.

New machine learning techniques developed by scientists at Rochester Institute of Technology are revealing important information about how pulsars—rapidly rotating neutron stars—behave. In a new study published by Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the researchers outlined their new techniques and how they applied to study Vela, the brightest radio pulsar in the sky.

In 2001, the dot-com bubble was bursting and investors had lost confidence in internet companies. Twenty years later, data has become a new currency, and people can access just about anything from their smartphones. Throughout all these changes, Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences has evolved into the largest college at RIT, with more than 4,600 students this year. Since its creation 20 years ago, GCCIS has awarded more than 14,000 degrees—in a growing number of computing disciplines.

Rui Li, an assistant professor in RIT’s Ph.D. program in computing and information sciences, received a NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award and grant to develop machine intelligence that can actually grow when given new information.

More than 50 students are expected to earn their Ph.D. degrees by the end of June. The hooding ceremony, which will also include Ph.D. recipients in the class of 2020, is May 15.

With more than $4 million in support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and other organizations, Associate Professor Mehdi Mirakhorli and his student team are developing tools and techniques to help coders take an architectural approach to software design.