The Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) just launched its latest professional graduate program, with 37 students starting their 15-month journey to earn a master of software engineering (MSWE) degree. Interest in the program, which received more than 200 applicants, was high. “It’s a very practical, hands-on program,” says Crista Lopes, professor of informatics and MSWE faculty director. “It gives the students the skills to be software engineers in a variety of fields.”
Continue readingMonthly Archives: September 2019
Developing an AR Platform to Better Train American Workers
September 27, 2019
The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently handed out 43 awards totaling $39 million through its Convergence Accelerator pilot. The program is “leveraging multidisciplinary research teams and laying the groundwork for public-private partnerships with Fortune 500 companies to apply Big Data to science and engineering and create technologies that can enhance the lives of American workers.” Informatics Professor Kylie Peppler is part of a multi-organizational team, led by Professor Karthik Ramani of Purdue University, that received a Convergence Accelerator award worth $1 million for its project, “Skill-LeARn: Affordable and Accessible Augmented Reality Platform for Scaling Up Manufacturing Workforce, Skilling, and Education.”
Professor Nardi and Informatics Grad Students Receive Best Paper Award
September 23, 2019
“Towards Safe Spaces Online: A Study of Indian Matrimonial Websites” is now an award-winning paper on designing for safety and inclusivity. At the 17th IFIP TC.13 International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (INTERACT 2019), lead author Vishal Sharma accepted the Interaction Design for International Development Award, which “recognizes the most outstanding contribution to the application of interactive systems for social and economic development of people in developing countries.”
Continue readingGraduate Student Spotlight: Ernest Garrison Finds Joy in Helping Others
September 19, 2019
One of the newest graduate students in the Department of Informatics is a familiar face in the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS). Prior to joining the Ph.D. program this fall, Ernest Garrison was assistant director of the Office of Access and Inclusion (OAI), working tirelessly to recruit and support students who are underrepresented in engineering and information and computer sciences. Now Garrison — himself a first-generation college student — is ready to transition from staff back to student. Here, he talks about his work for OAI, the journey from his hometown of Detroit to UCI, and how the Great Recession of 2008 and a summer algebra class in 2016 helped him find his calling.
The Conversation: “How Congress turns citizens’ voices into data points” by Informatics Ph.D. Candidate Samantha McDonald
September 17, 2019
Big technology companies like Amazon, Facebook and Google aren’t the only ones facing huge political concerns about using citizen data: So is Congress. Reports by congressional researchers over the last decade describe an outdated communication system that is struggling to address an overwhelming rise in citizen contact.
Read the full story at The Conversation.
Professor Gloria Mark Awarded Collaborative NSF Future of Work Grant
The future of teamwork will require the integration of technological advances to facilitate team performance, yet we are largely relying on tools and techniques from the 20th century for team facilitation. This is the problem to be addressed in a new National Science Foundation (NSF) collaborative grant awarded to Informatics Professor Gloria Mark in the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS). The Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier program, under which the grant is awarded, is one of the NSF’s 10 Big Ideas.
Continue readingJoin the Conversation on Inclusion in Live Streaming
September 4, 2019
This Friday, Sept. 6, the Inclusive Streaming Initiative is hosting a public panel discussion on diversity and inclusion in live streaming from 5-7 p.m. in Donald Bren Hall 6011. The panel is part of an intensive two-day workshop, “Video Game Live Streaming: Challenges and Possibilities for Diversity and Inclusion,” featuring leading scholars in areas ranging from game studies and esports to cultural anthropology.
Forbes: “‘Robots And Algorithms And AI, Oh My!’ Careers Scholar Gina Dokko’s Take On What They All Mean” (Melissa Mazmanian mentioned)
September 3, 2019
Gina Dokko is a University of California Davis, career scholar who chaired a panel titled “Robots And Algorithms And AI, Oh My!” at a recent meeting of the Academy of Management. The panel involved three more scholars, a business school dean, a writer on work and technology (UCI’s Melissa Mazmanian), and a job market analytics CEO. Their charge was to look beyond the short-term advice commonly available, and to ask a series of deeper questions: “What do these technologies mean for careers? What does a good career look like now? How can people starting their careers prepare for a lifetime of work? How do people in the middle of their careers proceed along career paths that are shifting or buckling?”
Read the full story at Forbes.