November 2022 - Gradstudents - mailman.cs.vt.edu

Room Available in Torgersen Hall for CS Graduate Students
by Mayo, Trey 29 Aug '23

29 Aug '23

A reminder for all that in spring 2022 we opened a room in Torgersen Hall available exclusively for CS Graduate Students. Torgersen Hall 3200 (TORG 3200) is located directly across from the CS Office of Graduate Programs (TORG 3210). Photos are attached. It provides space for students to meet as a group to work on projects or individuals who just need to a quiet place to study or hang out between classes. The room should not be used for personal/group meetings/parties or classes/tutoring sessions. It is not a reservable space. Access is available to any currently enrolled CS graduate student regardless of degree program or campus. Access to the room is controlled with your Hokie Passport (Student ID card). The room is available 24/7 as long as Torgersen Hall is open. If you have trouble accessing the room with your Hokie Passport, please visit the CS Office of Graduate Programs in TORG 3210 and we'll research the matter. (We believe we've resolved all previous access issues reported). Please note that this room is only for CS Graduate Students. If we find an abuse of the facilities, we will investigate and remove access. Please do your part as a responsible Hokie and help us keep the room clean and in good shape. We hope you enjoy. ============================================================== Trey Mayo, Ed.D. Director of Graduate Programs Virginia Tech | Department of Computer Science Torgersen Hall Suite 3210 620 Drillfield Drive (MC 0106) | Blacksburg, VA 24061 (540) 231-0780 | treymayo(a)vt.edu<mailto:treymayo@vt.edu> | http://cs.vt.edu<http://cs.vt.edu/>

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CRA Annual Student Survey
by Mayo, Trey 24 Jan '23

24 Jan '23

Dear Student, The Computing Research Association (CRA) is interested in career development among students in computing fields. To that end, I encourage you to complete their survey, which will take about 25 minutes to complete. Your contribution to this research helps us understand factors related to academic retention and persistence. In exchange for your time, you will be given the opportunity to enter a raffle to win one of ten $20.00(USD) Amazon gift cards! * If you are interested in completing the survey, please follow the link below: https://cerp.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_81cgEL39xCZ8Ap8/?id=vt_cs Note that if you completed a survey for CRA in the past, you may have been contacted directly by CRA. If you have already completed this survey, please disregard this message. Many thanks! ============================================================== Trey Mayo, Ed.D. Director of Graduate Programs Virginia Tech | Department of Computer Science Torgersen Hall Suite 3210 620 Drillfield Drive (MC 0106) | Blacksburg, VA 24061 (540) 231-0780 | treymayo(a)vt.edu<mailto:treymayo@vt.edu> | http://cs.vt.edu<http://cs.vt.edu/>

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GRA position for a PhD student
by Jin-Hee Cho 02 Dec '22

02 Dec '22

Hello CS Ph.D. students, I am looking for a *Ph.D. student* who is interested in working on the research of *defenses and privacy-preserving incentive mechanisms in federated learning under my dissertation supervision*. This GRA position will last for a year (Spring 2023-Fall 2023). Depending on funding availability, continuous funding will be provided. Please send me your latest CV if you are interested in this position. I will be in touch with you for an interview based on background relevance. Thanks! Best, Jin-Hee ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jin-Hee Cho, Ph.D., IEEE Senior Member Associate Professor | Department of Computer Science Faculty Fellow | College of Engineering Affiliate Faculty | National Security Institute Virginia Tech 7054 Haycock Road Falls Church, VA 22043-2368 Email: jicho(a)vt.edu Phone: (703) 538-8302 Fax: (703) 538-8348 Homepage: http://people.cs.vt.edu/~jicho/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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This week's graduate seminar: Chris Thomas
by Cliff Shaffer 30 Nov '22

30 Nov '22

This Friday's seminar will be "Diving Deep into Disinformation: From Sample-level Detection to Fine-grained Explanation" Dr. Chris Thomas Friday, December 2, 2022 at 2:30. 2150 Torgersen Hall This will be our last presentation for the semester. For more information, see: https://cs.vt.edu/News/Seminars/Graduate-Seminar-12-02-22.html. -- 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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Hemayet Ahmed Chowdhury's MS Thesis Defense (Wednesday, Nov. 30, 3pm)
by Na Meng 29 Nov '22

29 Nov '22

Hi all, I would like to invite you to attend Hemayet Ahmed Chowdhury's MS Thesis Defense. Details are shown below. *Title:* An Empirical Study of API Breaking Changes in BioconductorAn Empirical Study of API Breaking Changes in Bioconductor *Date:* Wednesday, November 30 *Time:* 3:00-4:00pm *Zoom:* https://virginiatech.zoom.us/j/87217273238?pwd=OGVNMFVkeHRhY05pYnNTMnZBM1ly… *Committee members:* Na Meng (Chair), Song Li, Muhammad Ali Gulzar Abstract: Bioconductor is the second largest R software package repository that is primarily used for the analysis of genomic and biological data. With downloads exceeding millions in recent years, the widespread growth of the repository's adoption can be attributed to its diverse selection of community-created packages, written in the programming language R, that allow statistical methodologies for analysis and modelling of data. However, as these packages evolve, their APIs go through changes that can break existing user code. Fixing these API breaking changes whenever a package is updated can be frustrating and time consuming, especially since a large fraction of the user community are researchers who do not necessarily have software engineering background. In that context, we first present a tool that can detect syntactic API breaking changes between two release versions of a library written in R through static analysis of the package source code. This tool can be of utility to R package developers, so that they can more comprehensively report or handle the breaking changes in their releases, and to R package users, who want to be aware of the API differences that may exist between two releases before upgrading the libraries in their code. Through the use of this tool and manual inspection, we also conduct an empirical study of the breaking changes and backward incompatibility in Bioconductor packages. We study the 100 most downloaded packages in the repository and find that 28\% of all packages released are backward incompatible. We also find that 55\% of these breaking changes go undocumented and developers don't maintain semantic versioning for 22\% of the releases. Finally, we manually inspect 10 library releases that consisted of breaking changes and discuss the findings from 31 client projects affected by them. Cheers, Na -- *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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HCI research internship opportunities at Microsoft
by Jin-Hee Cho 28 Nov '22

28 Nov '22

Hello CS graduate students, If you are interested in this internship position, feel free to apply: https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/job/1486301/Research-Intern-Human-AI-Ex… Applications will be reviewed by Nov 30. Thanks! Best, JH

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GRA Opportunity at VT Arlington Research Center
by Mayo, Trey 28 Nov '22

28 Nov '22

Please see the opportunity below. Please direct any interest or questions to Dr. Eric Burger (ewburger(a)vt.edu<mailto:ewburger@vt.edu>) Obfuscated 5G We are developing a universal radio adapter that will enable seamless and secure operation through non-cooperative indigenous 5G networks. This is a multi-university project; our part is around data hiding, also known as obfuscation. We will be using stenographic technologies embedded in popular applications to blend in with local traffic. The obsfucator will be integrated in with a physical radio adapter that runs from HF through Ku bands for military users and UHF through EHF for 5G users. Job Description We are searching for research assistants, starting in Spring 2023, to work on a multi-year grant to build a obfuscation module for secure communications. Tasks include developing and enhancing techniques for obfuscating video, audio, large file, and low bit-rate data streams. We expect success as we will be building on techniques proven to out-wit AI/ML detection techniques developed by our prior DARPA RACE work. This position will require knowledge of Generative Artificial Intelligence analyzers and generators. You will help develop an architecture and implementation for popular IoT and mobile devices to provide difficult-to-detect data streams for stenographic obfuscation. Job Requirements You must have excellent research, writing, and analytical skills. CS or ECE students with a background in AI is essential. Knowledge of embedded programming would be helpful. Experience with TOR, obfs4, and Snowflake are preferred. Expertise in one of Go, Python, and C++ is essential and knowledge of them all is preferred. Knowledge of embedded system programming would be very helpful. Expertise in real-time protocols, such as RTP, RTSP, and control protocols such as SIP is a bonus. This job is at the Virginia Tech Arlington Research Center. Also, review what it takes to work for me. Find the description of that on my web site, which you can find through https://cyberinitiative.org/research/researcher-directory/burger-eric.html. If you cannot find the requirements, you are not likely qualified for the job.

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REMINDER - CS|SOURCE - EMPLOYER EVENT - Monday, November 28
by Julia Costello 28 Nov '22

28 Nov '22

REMINDER - Info session this evening - requires your registration by reply email. Details below. CS|SOURCE - EMPLOYER EVENT OPPORTUNITY 1 The CIA will host an information session tonight, Monday, November 28, 6-7pm, McBryde 209. Only US citizens and US dual citizens may attend. RSVP your intention to attend by emailing <mailto:juliapc7@cs.vt.edu> juliapc7(a)cs.vt.edu - "Yes, I'll attend". Bring your resume and casual attire is fine. Flyer attached. CORPORATE STAKEHOLDERS Julia Costello Strategic Partnership Coordinator Virginia Tech | College of Engineering | Department of Computer Science 2202 Kraft Drive | Blacksburg, VA 24060 540.250.6121 | <mailto:juliapc7@cs.vt.edu> juliapc7(a)cs.vt.edu CS|Source Website: <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcs.vt.edu %2Fcs-source.html&data=04%7C01%7Cgcaufman%40peraton.com%7C274bbb94bdea4a9c7b 0408d8e8aaee69%7C1c6258462b0a448383dde024820875b3%7C0%7C0%7C6375151681480464 16%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1ha WwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=VBHHIabAuZqQzfNpOVOGp0RpKf9LGzMs7qY3UNy3pm0%3 D&reserved=0> https://cs.vt.edu/cs-source.html 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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yet another best paper recognition, this time CT Lu and students
by Cal Ribbens 22 Nov '22

22 Nov '22

Congratulations to CT Lu and PhD students Shailik Sarkar, Abdulaziz Alhamadani, and Lulwah Alkulaib, whose paper received the best paper award at the IEEE/ACM International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining (ASONAM 2022) for their paper "Predicting Depression and Anxiety on Reddit: a Multi-task Learning Approach." Cal -- Head, Department of Computer Science Virginia Tech https://cs.vt.edu/people/faculty/cal-ribbens.html https://twitter.com/CalRibbens_VTCS

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Graduate Programs Office in Blacksburg - Closed starting Tuesday, November 22nd
by Mayo, Trey 21 Nov '22

21 Nov '22

This is just a friendly note that the CS Graduate Programs Office in Blacksburg will be closed for the Thanksgiving break starting Tuesday, November 22nd. We will reopen at 8 a.m. on Monday, November 28th. Another quick friendly reminder about the Spring 23 add/drop window and force adds can be found at: http://mailman.cs.vt.edu/pipermail/gradstudents/2022-November/001030.html Have a great break. ============================================================== Trey Mayo, Ed.D. Director of Graduate Programs Virginia Tech | Department of Computer Science Torgersen Hall Suite 3210 620 Drillfield Drive (MC 0106) | Blacksburg, VA 24061 (540) 231-0780 | treymayo(a)vt.edu<mailto:treymayo@vt.edu> | http://cs.vt.edu<http://cs.vt.edu/>

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