November 2021 - Gradstudents - mailman.cs.vt.edu

Lunchtime talk on Tuesday, Nov. 9 on Climate Change
by Roxanne Paul 05 Nov '21

05 Nov '21

Dear CS & ECE graduate students, Please excuse this shameless promotion of a talk I am giving next week in person and by Zoom. It has nothing to do with Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering! But, what can I say, I am always trying, in my own small way, to save the planet. Of course, attending this talk is completely optional! In light of the recent United Nations 26th Conference of the Parties in Glasgow, Scotland, climate change is on many people’s minds. It is widely believed in *scientific* circles, that our recent climate change is anthropogenic, or human-caused. As the founding member of our Sustainability Committee at the Northern Virginia Center, I decided to give a presentation on the diplomacy of climate change, past and present, and on individual actions that we can each take to make a difference. I have a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources from Cornell University and have worked for the National Park Service and the National Wildlife Federation. I graduated in May with a Master of Natural Resources from Virginia Tech (it took me 5 years to earn, as a part-time student!) with a certificate in Global Sustainability. Please see the attached flyer for more information with the Zoom link. For the NCR students, it would be great to see some friendly faces at the Northern Virginia Center, if you can make it. Our next Innovation Campus Social is at 4:00 that same day, so you can stick around and get some great food and company later in the day. Roxanne Nersesian Paul Administrative & Program Specialist Computer Science and Electrical & Computer Engineering Northern Virginia Center 7054 Haycock Road, Room 312A Falls Church, VA 22043 703-538-8370 roxpaul(a)vt.edu

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This week's graduate seminar: Peng Gao
by Cliff Shaffer 04 Nov '21

04 Nov '21

This week's Graduate Seminar Speaker will be by one of our new faculty, Peng Gao. This will be Friday at 2:30 in Torgersen 2150, and Zoom https://virginiatech.zoom.us/j/88134583118?pwd=ZlJCaXhYMm5XenB1bEgzOCtNdUY1… . *Title:* Building Trustworthy Systems for Fighting Modern Threats *Abstract: *The increased opaqueness in computing systems has made them vulnerable to sophisticated cyber attacks (e.g., Advanced Persistent Threats). Consequently, many businesses have been plagued with huge losses (e.g., Equifax, Target, Yahoo). How can we gain visibility into currently opaque computing systems and defend them from sophisticated attacks? How can we remain aware of the fast-evolving threat landscape and proactively gain insights into the most dangerous threats? In this talk, I will cover multiple systems our research group has built for addressing these pressing issues. I will primarily discuss the advanced threat protection (ATP) stack, which brings transparency into computing systems (via ubiquitous system auditing) and connects the dots across system activities in various ways (forensically vs. real-time, manually vs. semi-automatically vs. automatically) to fight advanced threats. The ATP stack is multi-disciplinary, using techniques from system security, operating system, database, compiler, machine learning, and natural language processing. It includes multiple research efforts and has had real-world impact. I will also discuss our recent line of research on using AI for automated threat intelligence management and analysis. *Bio: *Peng Gao is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Virginia Tech. He is a Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) Faculty Fellow. He was a Postdoctoral Researcher at UC Berkeley from 2019 to 2021. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 2019, and his B.E. from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2013. His research interest lies in security and privacy issues in systems and networks. His work centers on creating scalable, secure, and intelligent systems to solve real-world problems, with publications at multiple top-tier computer science conferences (e.g., USENIX Security, USENIX ATC, ACM CCS, ICDE, ICSE), patents, and industry adoption. He is the recipient of multiple honors and awards (e.g., 2018 CSAW Applied Research Finalist, 2020 Microsoft Security AI Research Award, 2020 Amazon Research Award, 2021 Cisco Research Award, 2021 CCI Cybersecurity Research Collaboration Award). -- Dr. Cliff Shaffer Professor and Associate Department Head for Graduate Studies Department of Computer Science Phone: (540) 231-4354 Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061 WWW: www.cs.vt.edu/~shaffer

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Resend with Corrected Date for Orientation - Registration for Spring 22 and Other Important Information
by Trey Mayo 04 Nov '21

04 Nov '21

As you get ready to either start or continue your graduate studies at VT, here are some important dates and information about course registration for Spring 2022. Admitted Students Day (Online): Wednesday, November 17th, 2021, 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET. Zoom Link: https://virginiatech.zoom.us/j/83622729845?pwd=OWlNV0hvZ3dlN1R3TUlOMHRWVE80… ID: 836 2272 9845 passcode: csgrad Join us to learn more about the graduate programs in CS and ask questions about next steps you should take before registering for your spring classes (i.e. accepting your offer, creating your PID, choosing your first semester courses, etc.) Spring 2022 New Student Orientation: Wednesday, January 12th 2022, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET. via Zoom. (Corrected from earlier email). The link will be provided at a later date. When do Spring 2022 classes begin? Spring 2022 classes will begin on Tuesday, January 18th. Spring 2022 Registration: The Web Add/Drop Period for the Spring 2022 semester is scheduled (per the Academic Calendar <https://www.registrar.vt.edu/dates-deadlines/academic-calendar/2021-2022.ht…>) to open Friday, November 26th at 8 p.m. ET and runs through Friday, January 24th in HokieSpa <http://hokiespa.vt.edu>. The points below will help you with navigating this process. What does this mean? It means that you will have the opportunity to register for your spring 2022 courses. We encourage you to register as early as possible in this window, to improve your chances of getting the classes that you want for the spring term. What other registration-related deadlines (e.g., last day to add or drop and to avoid tuition penalties) should I know about the fall term? Please see the Academic Calendar <https://www.registrar.vt.edu/dates-deadlines/academic-calendar/2021-2022.ht…> on the Office of the University Registrar’s page for all important registration-related deadlines. You will also find the tuition and fee schedule for spring 2022 on the Bursar’s website <http://bursar.vt.edu>. Please also be sure to check the Academic Calendar <https://www.registrar.vt.edu/dates-deadlines/academic-calendar/2021-2022.ht…> and the Bursar’s website <https://www.bursar.vt.edu/> for the last day to drop a class without tuition penalty. What about billing for tuition and fees? Please direct all questions concerning billing for tuition and fees to the Bursar’s Office <http://bursar.vt.edu>. As a general guide, bills for spring 2022 will be generated on December 17, 2021 and have a due date of January 10, 2022. Students who register after December bills go out will receive their bill in January with a TBD due date in February. Please contact the Bursar’s Office <http://bursar.vt.edu> for details. I see there are sections of the same course offered at Blacksburg and the National Capital Region. Does it matter which one I sign up for since they’re all VT? Yes, it very much does matter, even if they are often the same course offering given by the same instructor. You should sign up for sections associated with the campus that you enrolled at. Please be sure to review the Timetable of Classes <https://onecampus.vt.edu/launch-task/all/timetable?terms=timetable> closely when registering for classes. Make sure that you select the right campus on the top menu when you are looking at the schedule. Do not choose Falls Church campus. Northern Virginia students must select NCR. For in-person (face to face) or hybrid classes: Blacksburg students should sign up for classes listed for the Blacksburg campus. National Capital Region (NCR) students should sign up for classes listed for the National Capital Region (NCR). Often the same exact course is available at both campuses but there are TWO separate CRNs (Course Registration Number). You MUST register for the CRN corresponding to your home campus. Depending on the location of the instructor, the actual course is offered at one campus and is broadcast via Zoom to the other campus. Please do not try to register for a CRN at a campus that you do not attend, as you will get a campus restriction error. For online classes (synchronous or asynchronous): Any student may sign up for a virtual campus course, however, please do not make that the first class you submit for registration as it may cause additional challenges when registering for courses either on the Blacksburg campus or the NCR campus. What do I do if a class I want/need is already full? Please review our new Force Add website <https://cs.vt.edu/Graduate/grforceadd.html> for more information on the Force Add process and *possibly* getting into a closed class. The Force Add form will open at 12 noon ET on Monday, November 29th. What if I am an accelerated undergraduate student? Unfortunately, you will not be able to register for graduate level classes on your own in HokieSpa during this window. To register for graduate level classes, please visit our Force Add website <https://cs.vt.edu/Graduate/grforceadd.html> to have your registration processed. The Force Add form will open at 12 noon ET on Monday, November 29th. What if I get a major restriction error? Then you must have the course force-added for you <https://cs.vt.edu/Graduate/grforceadd.html>. If it is not a CS course, then you must ask the department that is offering the class, we cannot add you. What if I get a campus restriction error? Are you sure you are registering for the right campus and the right CRN? Remember, you MUST register for the CRN corresponding to your home campus. What if I [still] get a campus restriction error, even if I am trying to register for a course on my campus? Then it could be that there is some problem with your records that you need to get fixed. Please check Hokie Spa and contact your respective Graduate Program Coordinator (see the very bottom of this email) for assistance.. What if I want to register for a 4000 level course? CS undergraduate courses must be force-added using the undergraduate force-add process <https://cs.vt.edu/Undergraduate/ForceAdd.html>. What if I want to register for a cognate course? CS does not own these courses, so any force-add requests must go to the home department. What if the course has a prerequisite listed on the timetable? You should ask the instructor of the course if your background prepares you to take it. Please note that if the prerequisite is CS5044, then all CSA majors already have this prerequisite. What if there is a hold on my account? Then we can’t add you to the course either. You have to get the hold removed. You can view your active holds through this One Campus portal deep link <https://onecampus.vt.edu/launch-task/all/holds-062033?terms=holds>. As always, should you need assistance or have any questions, please contact your respective Graduate Coordinator below: - M.Eng. - all students - Samantha Pipkin (samanthap(a)vt.edu) - M.S./Ph.D. students - NCR campus - Roxanne Paul (roxpaul(a)vt.edu) M.S./Ph.D. students - Blacksburg campus - Sharon Kinder-Potter ( skpotter(a)vt.edu)

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Registration for Spring 22 and Other Important Information
by Trey Mayo 04 Nov '21

04 Nov '21

As you get ready to either start or continue your graduate studies at VT, here are some important dates and information about course registration for Spring 2022. *Upcoming Holiday Breaks* Please note that VT will close at 12 noon on Wednesday, November 24th in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday break. We will remain closed until Monday, November 29th. This is important to keep in mind as you read the rest of the information below; particularly with the registration add/drop window. Admitted Students Day (Online): Wednesday, November 17th, 2021, 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET. Zoom Link: https://virginiatech.zoom.us/j/83622729845?pwd=OWlNV0hvZ3dlN1R3TUlOMHRWVE80… ID: 836 2272 9845 passcode: csgrad Join us to learn more about the graduate programs in CS and ask questions about next steps you should take before registering for your spring classes (i.e. accepting your offer, creating your PID, choosing your first semester courses, etc.) Spring 2022 New Student Orientation: Wednesday, January 22nd 2022, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET. via Zoom. The link will be provided at a later date. When do Spring 2022 classes begin? Spring 2022 classes will begin on Tuesday, January 18th. Spring 2022 Registration: The Web Add/Drop Period for the Spring 2022 semester is scheduled (per the Academic Calendar <https://www.registrar.vt.edu/dates-deadlines/academic-calendar/2021-2022.ht…>) to open Friday, November 26th at 8 p.m. ET and runs through Friday, January 24th in HokieSpa <http://hokiespa.vt.edu>. The points below will help you with navigating this process. Please note VT's closing reminder for the Thanksgiving holiday listed above. What does this mean? It means that you will have the opportunity to register for your spring 2022 courses. We encourage you to register as early as possible in this window, to improve your chances of getting the classes that you want for the spring term. What other registration-related deadlines (e.g., last day to add or drop and to avoid tuition penalties) should I know about the fall term? Please see the Academic Calendar <https://www.registrar.vt.edu/dates-deadlines/academic-calendar/2021-2022.ht…> on the Office of the University Registrar’s page for all important registration-related deadlines. You will also find the tuition and fee schedule for spring 2022 on the Bursar’s website <http://bursar.vt.edu>. Please also be sure to check the Academic Calendar <https://www.registrar.vt.edu/dates-deadlines/academic-calendar/2021-2022.ht…> and the Bursar’s website <https://www.bursar.vt.edu/> for the last day to drop a class without tuition penalty. What about billing for tuition and fees? Please direct all questions concerning billing for tuition and fees to the Bursar’s Office <http://bursar.vt.edu>. As a general guide, bills for spring 2022 will be generated on December 17, 2021 and have a due date of January 10, 2022. Students who register after December bills go out will receive their bill in January with a TBD due date in February. Please contact the Bursar’s Office <http://bursar.vt.edu> for details. I see there are sections of the same course offered at Blacksburg and the National Capital Region. Does it matter which one I sign up for since they’re all VT? Yes, it very much does matter, even if they are often the same course offering given by the same instructor. You should sign up for sections associated with the campus that you enrolled at. Please be sure to review the Timetable of Classes <https://onecampus.vt.edu/launch-task/all/timetable?terms=timetable> closely when registering for classes. Make sure that you select the right campus on the top menu when you are looking at the schedule. Do not choose Falls Church campus. Northern Virginia students must select NCR. For in-person (face to face) or hybrid classes: Blacksburg students should sign up for classes listed for the Blacksburg campus. National Capital Region (NCR) students should sign up for classes listed for the National Capital Region (NCR). Often the same exact course is available at both campuses but there are TWO separate CRNs (Course Registration Number). You MUST register for the CRN corresponding to your home campus. Depending on the location of the instructor, the actual course is offered at one campus and is broadcast via Zoom to the other campus. Please do not try to register for a CRN at a campus that you do not attend, as you will get a campus restriction error. For online classes (synchronous or asynchronous): Any student may sign up for a virtual campus course, however, please do not make that the first class you submit for registration as it may cause additional challenges when registering for courses either on the Blacksburg campus or the NCR campus. What do I do if a class I want/need is already full? Please review our new Force Add website <https://cs.vt.edu/Graduate/grforceadd.html> for more information on the Force Add process and *possibly* getting into a closed class. The Force Add form will open at 12 noon ET on Monday, November 29th. What if I am an accelerated undergraduate student? Unfortunately, you will not be able to register for graduate level classes on your own in HokieSpa during this window. To register for graduate level classes, please visit our Force Add website <https://cs.vt.edu/Graduate/grforceadd.html> to have your registration processed. The Force Add form will open at 12 noon ET on Monday, November 29th. What if I get a major restriction error? Then you must have the course force-added for you <https://cs.vt.edu/Graduate/grforceadd.html>. If it is not a CS course, then you must ask the department that is offering the class, we cannot add you. What if I get a campus restriction error? Are you sure you are registering for the right campus and the right CRN? Remember, you MUST register for the CRN corresponding to your home campus. What if I [still] get a campus restriction error, even if I am trying to register for a course on my campus? Then it could be that there is some problem with your records that you need to get fixed. Please check Hokie Spa and contact your respective Graduate Program Coordinator (see the very bottom of this email) for assistance.. What if I want to register for a 4000 level course? CS undergraduate courses must be force-added using the undergraduate force-add process <https://cs.vt.edu/Undergraduate/ForceAdd.html>. What if I want to register for a cognate course? CS does not own these courses, so any force-add requests must go to the home department. What if the course has a prerequisite listed on the timetable? You should ask the instructor of the course if your background prepares you to take it. Please note that if the prerequisite is CS5044, then all CSA majors already have this prerequisite. What if there is a hold on my account? Then we can’t add you to the course either. You have to get the hold removed. You can view your active holds through this One Campus portal deep link <https://onecampus.vt.edu/launch-task/all/holds-062033?terms=holds>. As always, should you need assistance or have any questions, please contact your respective Graduate Coordinator below: - M.Eng. - all students - Samantha Pipkin (samanthap(a)vt.edu) - M.S./Ph.D. students - NCR campus - Roxanne Paul (roxpaul(a)vt.edu) - M.S./Ph.D. students - Blacksburg campus - Sharon Kinder-Potter ( skpotter(a)vt.edu)

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Virginia Tech Talent Graduate Scholarship
by Cliff Shaffer 03 Nov '21

03 Nov '21

Master's students (both MEng and MS) who can claim Virginia residency and who are not already on an assistantship (such as GTA or GRA) should consider applying for the Virginia Tech Talent Graduate Scholarship. For details, see https://vt.academicworks.com/opportunities/35298. -- Dr. Cliff Shaffer Professor and Associate Department Head for Graduate Studies Department of Computer Science Phone: (540) 231-4354 Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061 WWW: www.cs.vt.edu/~shaffer

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Re: [Gradstudents] FW: E4C Fellowship for Global Development - Applications open in December
by Cliff Shaffer 03 Nov '21

03 Nov '21

On Wed, Nov 3, 2021 at 2:42 PM Akers, Nicole <snakers(a)vt.edu> wrote: > Please share with your department and students. > > > > The Engineering For Change (E4C) Fellowship > <https://www.engineeringforchange.org/e4c-fellowship/> is designed for > early career engineers and architects who are interested in working at the > intersection of engineering/technology and international sustainable > development. Individuals trained in the sciences and other technical fields > are also eligible. This program is designed for early career engineers > (undergrads, grad student, PhD, and working engineers with no more than 5 > years work experience in this space) to advance their careers in this path > of engineering for global development. Applicants are encouraged, but not > required, to have had some field experience with implementation of > technology for development via academic programs, social entrepreneurship, > or significant volunteering (e.g. EWB or SWB) or project work. > > > > E4C Fellowships typically begin in May and end in September, with a > part-time commitment of 20-25 hours per week during that time. Fellows > receipt a stipend for the duration of the fellowship, with amount depending > on E4C’s partners and sponsors, number of fellows selected and region and > expertise of the applicants. > > > > To express your interest in this opportunity and receive information on > how to apply, please fill out this *E4C Fellowship Interest form* > <https://forms.gle/s1twBQ1UDNWx4zfdA>. > > > > Questions may be directed to: fellows(a)engineeringforchange.org. > -- Dr. Cliff Shaffer Professor and Associate Department Head for Graduate Studies Department of Computer Science Phone: (540) 231-4354 Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061 WWW: www.cs.vt.edu/~shaffer

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Re: [Gradstudents] CS opportunities at CGIT
by Samantha Pipkin 03 Nov '21

03 Nov '21

The Center for Geospatial Information Technology is no longer accepting applicants for the geospatial applications of computer science position. The Center for Geospatial Information Technology is looking to support several graduate students interested in geospatial applications of computer science. These new positions would include full tuition and stipend support for the SP22 semester and possibly future support depending on performance and future funding availability. If you are interested, please contact: Dr. Brandon Herndon, Director Center for Geospatial Information Technology Office: (540) 231-8490 Email: bherndon(a)vt.edu <mailto:bherndon@vt.edu>

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CS opportunities at CGIT
by Samantha Pipkin 02 Nov '21

02 Nov '21

The Center for Geospatial Information Technology is looking to support several graduate students interested in geospatial applications of computer science. These new positions would include full tuition and stipend support for the SP22 semester and possibly future support depending on performance and future funding availability. If you are interested, please contact: Dr. Brandon Herndon, Director Center for Geospatial Information Technology Office: (540) 231-8490 Email: bherndon(a)vt.edu <mailto:bherndon@vt.edu>

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[Blacksburg] Signup for biannual Hike at Pandapas Pond
by Lee Lisle 02 Nov '21

02 Nov '21

Hi everyone! On behalf of the Grad Council of CS, we would like to invite you to our biannual hike at Pandapas Pond. This semester it will be held on November 14th at 1:30 pm, meeting at the first parking lot (the one at the entrance to the park). Once there, we will split into 2 groups - one group will do a fairly easy 4-5 mile hike, the other will do a harder 6-7 mile hike. Please RSVP here <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeYPIwO4nkLa5xPY8S_VV0gGR2pD11WXC_…> Donuts & limited drinks will be provided! Please remember to bring anything you might need for hiking. We hope to see you there! -- Lee Lisle PhD Candidate, CS@VT

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CS|SOURCE | RECRUITMENT FOR GRAD STUDY
by juliapc7＠cs.vt.edu 01 Nov '21

01 Nov '21

CS|SOURCE - GRAD STUDY The CS Distributed Virtual Environments Lab (DVE Lab) is looking for participants to complete a study on presence and engagement in virtual environments and video conferencing systems. Contact Mark Manuel at <mailto:mmark95@vt.edu> mmark95(a)vt.edu with any questions. Flyer attached. Julia Costello Strategic Partnership Coordinator Virginia Tech | College of Engineering | Department of Computer Science 2202 Kraft Drive | Blacksburg, VA 24060 Email: <mailto:juliapc7@cs.vt.edu> juliapc7(a)cs.vt.edu Stay up-to-date on CS|Source job and event opportunities <https://cs.vt.edu/cs-source.html> CS|Source Website | <https://www.cs-source.cs.vt.edu/> CS|Source Portal | <https://twitter.com/vt_CS_Source> CS|Source on Twitter

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