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

Winter Break Announcements
by Roxanne Paul 20 Dec '21

20 Dec '21

Dear CS grad students, This is just to let you know that Virginia Tech will be closed from Thursday, Dec. 23th through Sunday, January 2. This means that all staff are off during this time and we use our leave time for the non-holiday days. So, if you have something pressing you are hoping can get done before winter break, please email us today or tomorrow, so that we have time to act on your request. We will do our best to help you during our short week next week. We will not be checking our emails during our break time, so that we can start again refreshed on Monday, January 3. J Web Add/Drop for Spring 2022 is still ongoing. Instructions for registering for classes can be found at PowerPoint Presentation (vt.edu) <https://www.registrar.vt.edu/content/dam/registrar_vt_edu/documents/Updates…> . Please do not wait until the last minute to register. If you are planning to take a semester or two off, please be sure to submit a Leave of Absence request (see attached form). This can be submitted in January as well. You can take a Leave of Absence for up to a year and then return without having to apply for readmission. If you do not submit a Leave of Absence form and just don’t register, even after only one semester, you’ll have to apply for readmission. We wish you also a nice winter break and hope you find some time to relax, maybe even get to enjoy some outdoor time with friends or family. Happy New Year to all of you. And congratulations to all our Fall 2021 graduates! We are so proud of you and wish you well with your future endeavors. Sharon Kinder-Potter skpotter(a)vt.edu Blacksburg MS & PhD students Roxanne Paul roxpaul(a)vt.edu NCR MS & PhD students Samantha Pipkin samanthap(a)vt.edu All MEng students

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Email concerning students with Assistantship
by Sharon KinderPotter 20 Dec '21

20 Dec '21

This email is concerning all students that have received an assistantship. If you have not received an assistantship please disregard. I know you have received an email from the Bursar's Office regarding your tuition bill. I have received many emails and phone calls from students today concerning tuition bills and I am sorry that your tuition has not been posted yet. The Finance Department is the one that takes care of this matter but it was not going to be taken care of until after the Holiday break. So, I have taken on the task to post the tuition to students account that have their contract in payroll before I leave for the Holiday break. What I need all students to go ahead either pay your comprehensive fees or set up the comprehensive fee payment plan. This way you will not receive a late fee. If you do receive a late fee and you have paid your comprehensive fees or set up the payment plan then the department has not posted your tuition then the late fee will be waive by the department. Hope everyone has a great break and well deserve time off, Sharon -- Sharon Kinder-Potter Graduate Program Coordinator skpotter(a)cs.vt.edu 3210B Torgersen Hall 620 Drillfield Drive Blacksburg, VA 24061 540-231-6932

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data breach prevention talk
by Daphne Yao 19 Dec '21

19 Dec '21

In case you have time, I'm giving a talk on data breach prevention right now. Feel free to drop by! https://uwaterloo.ca/cybersecurity-privacy-institute/cpi-talk-data-breaches… Zoom link: https://uwaterloo.zoom.us/j/92528219922?pwd=ZHdTM1Q1ditjU0Y1NFo4VDd5UExBQT09 Best, Daphne Yao Professor Elizabeth and James E. Turner Jr. '56 Faculty Fellow CACI Faculty Fellow Department of computer science Virginia Tech http://yaogroup.cs.vt.edu/ https://twitter.com/yaogroup1

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CS|SOURCE - EMPLOYER JOB POSTINGS AND EVENTS
by juliapc7＠cs.vt.edu 15 Dec '21

15 Dec '21

CS|SOURCE - EMPLOYER JOB POSTINGS AND EVENTS View the following job opportunities and events. For other available positions, click <https://career.vt.edu/job-search/Handshake.html> Handshake. Click <https://cs.vt.edu/cs-source/cs-source-events.html> CS|Source for a list of current companies and events. OPPORTUNITY 1 OPPORTUNITY 2 Rescon AI, a student-founded tech startup initiated at Johns Hopkins University in partnership with Microsoft, aims to build data analytics products to track and store important research data sets across different fields. Current open positions for UG, MS, and PhDs are: ML Team Intern (6); ML Sub-Team Lead (2); Backend Sub-Team Lead (1); Frontend Sub-Team Lead (1); Frontend Team Intern (1). Details and application to apply at: <https://resconai.com/career/> https://resconai.com/career/. OPPORTUNITY 3 iD Tech hiring over 1,500 instructors and staff this summer for students ages 7 to 18. APPLY: <https://idtech-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/1k5zFTbCifhMk2YUrhFxtcFlzSHMzzYuT KPHmILphf51b1PW0fQHYefNzo6JKMPQTIW6DxCKJKMZ9z2qHhZobc13XcFMXSfBnptKxVXbpeeI1 Wksq8kqM3sumgmHACcrntznr> https://www.idtech.com/jobs. Hiring: <https://idtech-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/1ROZIhoEpLfiLI1bdui6G4Ll-OUcjEikp iAJHl_nwaHVW1PW0fQF3l8k3tSJJVLt7hF3YEjPqsAyTiQRuqUiYm9KT8Vby8Y1MkT6s1U3Cd9NE 4JON4rsN2h40Wu8mIc_f9y6t09o9IZNFCRQRWQZtgBwRAcdU_K23_XobFhI4WZCN8kooEiEZjK4Q ow> On-Campus & Online Instructors. Staff members receive competitive compensation, housing (overnight staff only), meals, custom-built apps supporting operations and curriculum. Flyer attached. OPPORTUNITY 4 VT Vice President for Finance rotational summer internship seeking rising juniors and seniors. 12-week program with competitive pay; work around summer class schedule (20-40 hours/ week). Program runs May to August, 2022 and includes hands-on data analytics and solutions. <https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvpfin.vt. edu%2Finternships-fellowships.html&data=04%7C01%7Cchenayeb%40vt.edu%7Ced3ba7 45d2ee4bda517408d9bf160dcc%7C6095688410ad40fa863d4f32c1e3a37a%7C0%7C0%7C6377 50923714899140%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiL CJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=kOcNpRc%2BRzFrZvwLyu9hJENBqVOWz3G c9QCox%2FSURpk%3D&reserved=0> Visit our website for info and <https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvirginiat ech.qualtrics.com%2Fjfe%2Fform%2FSV_2gFCzTJdxClzhVb&data=04%7C01%7Cchenayeb% 40vt.edu%7Ced3ba745d2ee4bda517408d9bf160dcc%7C6095688410ad40fa863d4f32c1e3a3 7a%7C0%7C0%7C637750923714909138%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAi LCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=IA%2FkYFed5nS%2B xSUe2H5xWi%2BbHkdYleSq%2Fy5Yp4MFaQM%3D&reserved=0> apply here by January 2, 2022. <mailto:vpfinfo@vt.edu> Contact us with questions. Flyer attached. Looking to build your network, obtain flash mentoring, and receive insight from alumni in the field? Join the <https://mentoring.career.vt.edu/hub/virginiatech/groups-v2/computer-science -information-technology/discussion> Computer Science and Information Technology group in Hokie Mentorship Connect! 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 | <https://cs.vt.edu/cs-source/cs-source-events.html> CS|Source Events 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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Yan Zhao MS defense tomorrow at 1pm
by Na Meng 14 Dec '21

14 Dec '21

Hi all, Yan Zhao will defend her MS thesis, "A Lightweight Approach of Human-Like Playtest for Android Apps", at 1pm on Wednesday 12/15/21. You are warmly welcomed to attend Yan's defense tomorrow via Zoom. Zoom link: https://virginiatech.zoom.us/j/4663375260 Abstract: Testing is recognized as a key and challenging factor that can either boost or halt the game development in the mobile game industry. On one hand, manual testing is expensive and time-consuming, especially the wide spectrum of device hardware and software, so called fragmentation, significantly increases the cost to test applications on devices manually. On the other hand, automated testing is also very difficult due to more inherent technical issues to test games as compared to other mobile applications, such as non-native widgets, non determinism , complex game strategies and so on. Current testing frameworks (e.g., Android Monkey, Record & Replay) are limited because they adopt no domain knowledge to test games. Learning-based tools (e.g., Wuji) require tremendous resources and manual efforts to train a model before testing any game. The high cost of manual testing and lack of efficient testing tools for mobile games motivated the work presented in this thesis which aims to explore easy and efficient approaches to test mobile games efficiently and effectively. A new Android mobile game testing tool, called LIT, has been developed. LIT is a lightweight approach to generalize playtest tactics from manual testing, and to adopt the tactics for automatic game testing. LIT has two phases: tactic generalization and tactic concretization. In Phase I, when a human tester plays an Android game *G* for a while (e.g., eight minutes), LIT records the tester's inputs and related scenes. Based on the collected data, LIT infers a set of *context-aware, abstract playtest* tactics that describe under what circumstances, what actions can be taken. In Phase II, LIT tests G based on the generalized tactics. Namely, given a randomly generated game scene, LIT tentatively matches that scene with the abstractcontext of any inferred tactic; if the match succeeds, LIT customizes the tactic to generate an action for playtest. Our evaluation with nine games shows LIT to outperform two state-of-the-art tools and a reinforcement learning (RL)-based tool, by covering more code and triggering more errors. This implies that LIT complements existing tools and helps developers better test certain games (e.g., match3). Cheers, -- *Na Meng, Associate Professor* Virginia Tech | Computer Science (0902) Knowledge Works II, Suite 2226 2202 Kraft Drive, Blacksburg, VA 24060 (540) 231-5492 | nm8247(a)vt.edu

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Final defense for You Lu, Friday 12/17 10am
by Bert Huang 13 Dec '21

13 Dec '21

Everyone, I hope you all are doing well. I’m pleased to announce that You Lu, one of my VT@CS PhD advisees, will present his thesis defense this Friday at 10am. The defense will be virtual, and everyone is welcome to attend the first part where You will present his research. I’ve pasted the talk title and abstract below. I hope to see you there. Bert Title: Modeling Structured Data with Invertible Generative Models Zoom: https://virginiatech.zoom.us/j/7183115897 <https://virginiatech.zoom.us/j/7183115897> Abstract: Data is now more affordable and accessible. At the same time, datasets are more and more complicated. Modeling data is a key problem in modern artificial intelligence and data analysis. Deep generative models combine deep learning and probability theory, and are now a major way to model complex datasets. In this dissertation, we focus on a novel class of deep generative model--normalizing flows. They are becoming popular because of their abilities to efficiently compute exact likelihood, infer exact latent variables, and draw samples. We develop flow-based generative models for different types of data, i.e., unlabeled data, labeled data, and weakly labeled data. First, we develop Woodbury transformations for normalizing flows, which improve the flexibility and expressiveness of flow based models. We apply Woodbury flows to model unsupervised datasets. Second, we develop conditional generative flows for an advanced supervised learning problem -- structured output learning, which removes the need of approximations, and surrogate objectives in traditional (deep) structured prediction models. Third, we develop label learning flows, which is a general framework for weakly supervised learning problems. Our research improves the performance of normalizing flows, and extends the applications of them to many supervised and weakly supervised problems.

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CS|SOURCE - EMPLOYER JOB POSTINGS AND EVENTS
by juliapc7＠cs.vt.edu 13 Dec '21

13 Dec '21

CS|SOURCE - EMPLOYER JOB POSTINGS AND EVENTS View the following job opportunity. For other available positions, click <https://career.vt.edu/job-search/Handshake.html> Handshake. Click <https://cs.vt.edu/cs-source/cs-source-events.html> CS|Source for a list of current companies and events. OPPORTUNITY 1 Tutor needed immediately today, this week and going forward for freshman engineering student. Contact his father, Mark Cooper, at <mailto:mhc1100@yahoo.com> mhc1100(a)yahoo.com. Payment to be negotiated. Looking to build your network, obtain flash mentoring, and receive insight from alumni in the field? Join the <https://mentoring.career.vt.edu/hub/virginiatech/groups-v2/computer-science -information-technology/discussion> Computer Science and Information Technology group in Hokie Mentorship Connect! 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 | <https://cs.vt.edu/cs-source/cs-source-events.html> CS|Source Events 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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Spring 2022 Graduate Assistant Opportunity in the Controller's Office
by Samantha Pipkin 13 Dec '21

13 Dec '21

Please share the attached graduate assistant opportunity with your students. Students may reach out to India Eanes, ieanes(a)vt.edu <mailto:ieanes@vt.edu> regarding questions. Thanks Kim KIM LINKOUS | Manager of Financial Policies & Analysis Virginia Tech | Controller's Office 300 Turner Street NW 3300 North End Center (MC 0312) Blacksburg, VA 24061 (540) 231-8560 | linkousk(a)vt.edu <mailto:linkousk@vt.edu>

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CS|SOURCE - EMPLOYER JOB POSTINGS AND EVENTS
by juliapc7＠cs.vt.edu 10 Dec '21

10 Dec '21

CS|SOURCE - EMPLOYER JOB POSTINGS AND EVENTS View the following job opportunities and events. For other available positions, click <https://career.vt.edu/job-search/Handshake.html> Handshake. Click <https://cs.vt.edu/cs-source/cs-source-events.html> CS|Source for a list of current companies and events. OPPORTUNITY 1 Ansys, Blacksburg, is seeking full-time, co-op and interns. Flyer attached with links and more info. OPPORTUNITY 2 Tata Consultancy Services has an internship and co-op program available. Flyer attached with links and more info. OPPORTUNITY 3 Freshman, sophomores and juniors, register for Accenture Innovation Challenge. Accenture is partnering with <https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.chall engedathletes.org%2F&data=04%7C01%7Csamantha.b.meason%40accenturefederal.com %7C262d5b968d06482002e008d9ba74b7f8%7C0ee6c63b4eab4748b74ad1dc22fc1a24%7C0%7 C0%7C637745832872066125%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoi V2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=rMe0vrX17FOojOCPIwHalnfK 5xDjTeHCS6AFz%2Fn6A5o%3D&reserved=0> Challenged Athletes Foundation, an organization that helps people with physical challenges pursue active lifestyles through fitness and competitive athletics. Through three rounds, undergraduate students work with a team to address one of Challenged Athlete's most pressing issues while learning what it's like to work at Accenture. Participating teams have the chance to win a cash prize and a Summer 2022 internship. Click here to learn more and apply before January 3rd! Team selections will be communicated in January 2022. Flyer attached. Looking to build your network, obtain flash mentoring, and receive insight from alumni in the field? Join the <https://mentoring.career.vt.edu/hub/virginiatech/groups-v2/computer-science -information-technology/discussion> Computer Science and Information Technology group in Hokie Mentorship Connect! 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 | <https://cs.vt.edu/cs-source/cs-source-events.html> CS|Source Events 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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showcasing student projects -- Ethics and Professionalism in CS (5024)
by Daphne Yao 09 Dec '21

09 Dec '21

Good evening, everyone! I'd like to enthusiastically invite you to check out the many interesting projects my CS5024 students did this fall that examine unconventional challenges that intersect technologies and society. The project list is attached. Their slides can be found on this Google drive <https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_uUKXmNU1Jow7tP9gqwDZclPhk-iZq3_?us…> . Best, Daphne Yao Professor Elizabeth and James E. Turner Jr. '56 Faculty Fellow CACI Faculty Fellow Department of computer science Virginia Tech http://yaogroup.cs.vt.edu/ https://twitter.com/yaogroup1

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