July 2023 - Gradstudents - mailman.cs.vt.edu

Jie Bu's Ph.D. defense [Feb 9 at 4 pm]
by Anuj Karpatne 02 Dec '24

02 Dec '24

Hello everyone, You are cordially invited to the final defense of PhD student Jie Bu on Thursday, Feb 9 at 4 pm. Zoom Link: https://virginiatech.zoom.us/j/5142223333 Title: Achieving More with Less: Learning Generalizable Neural Networks With Less Labeled Data and Computational Overheads Committee: Dr. Anuj Karpatne (advisor) Dr. Adrian Sandu Dr. Ismini Lourentzou Dr. Naren Ramakrishnan Dr. Anish Arora (from Ohio State University) Abstract: Recent advancements in deep learning have demonstrated its incredible ability to learn generalizable patterns and relationships automatically from data in a number of mainstream applications. However, the generalization power of deep learning methods largely comes at the costs of working with very large datasets and using highly compute-intensive models. Many applications cannot afford these costs needed to ensure generalizability of deep learning models. For instance, obtaining labeled data can be costly in scientific applications, and using large models may not be feasible in resource-constrained environments involving portable devices. This thesis aims to improve efficiency in machine learning by exploring different ways to learn generalizable neural networks that require less labeled data and computational resources. We demonstrate that using physics supervision in scientific problems can reduce the need for labeled data, thereby improving data efficiency without compromising model generalizability. Additionally, we investigate the potential of transfer learning powered by transformers in scientific applications as a promising direction for further improving data efficiency through domain adaptation. On the computational efficiency side, we present two efforts for increasing parameter efficiency of neural networks through novel architectures and structured network pruning. Thanks, -Anuj ------------------- Anuj Karpatne Assistant Professor Computer Science, Virginia Tech https://people.cs.vt.edu/karpatne/

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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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Seeking Paid Participants for Mixed-Reality Study
by Mayo, Trey 27 Jul '23

27 Jul '23

The VIBEs and COGENT Labs at Virginia Tech are seeking participant for a user study experiment. The experiment will take place at the Murray Structures Lab and will take approximately 3 hours. Participants will use the Hololens 2 augmented reality device to document cracks. Participants will be compensated $10/hr for an expected $30. If interested, please contact Alan Smith (salan1(a)vt.edu<mailto:salan1@vt.edu>).

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Participants needed for Virtual Reality Research User Study
by Sungwon In 11 Jul '23

11 Jul '23

Hello everyone, I'm Sungwon In, a graduate student in the information visualization group at Virginia Tech. We are recruiting participants for a study to understand whether a computational notebook can be used in virtual reality using a VR headset (Oculus) and a bare-hand interaction. The research is aimed at people working in data science with a computational notebook environment (e.g., Jupyter Notebook). So, participants will be asked to modify the code and analyze it. Thus, a *simple and easy *quiz will be asked to pass. eight quizzes will be asked, and six quizzes need to be correct. It should take no more than 5 minutes. Also, participants must be at least 18 years old, Virginia Tech students or graduate students, and have perfect or corrected vision (with contacts or glasses). Participants would require a total duration of about 120 minutes at max for the entire study (expect to finish earlier). Participants will be compensated with a $20 Amazon gift card for their time. For more information, see the attached flyer or contact me at sungwoni(a)vt.edu, and I'll answer any questions you may have. Sincerely, Sungwon In

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Outstanding Paper Award at ACL
by Cal Ribbens 11 Jul '23

11 Jul '23

Congratulations to PhD students Zhiyang Xu and Ying Shen, and their advisor Lifu Huang, on receiving an Outstanding Paper Award at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL 2023), for their paper "MultiInstruct: Improving Multi-Modal Zero-Shot Learning via Instruction Tuning." 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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Student Research Study
by Colin Roberts 03 Jul '23

03 Jul '23

Hello! My name is Colin Roberts, and I am partnering with a graduate PhD student, Minhyuk Ko, as part of the Multicultural Academic Opportunities Program (MAOP) here at Virginia Tech. We are looking for individuals to take part in a user study on a debugging tool, AutoPrint. The goal of this research is to evaluate the usefulness of the debugging tool for finding bugs and collecting qualitative feedback. Eligibility requirements: - 1 or more years of experience in Java programming If you are interested in participating, please email me at colinroberts(a)vt.edu if you have any questions and for more information. Best, Colin -- Colin Kwabena Roberts (he/him) *President - 2024* *Director of Education - Theta Iota Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, inc.* Undergraduate Student | Psychology College of Science Virginia Tech Includer | Futuristic | Relator | Restorative | Positivity

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Some reminders about the GTA selection process for Fall
by Cliff Shaffer 01 Jul '23

01 Jul '23

We are now finally about to enter the phase where we start issuing contracts for Fall GTAs. This was heavily delayed this summer due to all the decision-making process involving the Board of Visitors and the COE about assistantship minimums. Here are several points that you should read very carefully if you are hoping to get a Fall GTA. 1) We only give out GTAs to people who explicitly tell us that they want a GTA. This is done by filling out the survey form at https://hosting.cs.vt.edu/gta/. It doesn't matter if you think you have a "GTA promise". Many people with funding promises are on GRA or other support, and we can't know who needs the GTA for a given semester if you don't tell us. That form is also necessary for us to know what you can be a GTA for. If you haven't yet filled out the form for Fall and need a GTA, submit the form ASAP. Please do not re-submit the form if you already submitted one for Fall. 2) The GTA pay rate for Fall is as follows: * Stipend for all GTAs is $2520, except as below. * Top of Step 13 ($2550) for PhD students who have completed the qualifier process. * Top of Step 14 ($2615) for PhD students who have completed the PhD prelim and are on candidacy status (tuition reduction) for the semester. For the purposes of pay rate, you get paid according to the status you have at the beginning of the semester. 3) We are going to be writing a large number of contracts over the next couple weeks, but we continue to hire GTAs throughout the summer, often right up until the start of Fall classes. Just because we don't give you a contract right now does not mean that you won't be hired. On the other hand, we still have about 100 people on the waitlist. 4) Both pay rates defined above and the ranking process for selecting GTAs include giving credit for passing milestones. When you pass a milestone (like submit your plan of study or your qualifier process paperwork), we update your ranking if you are on the waitlist. Whenever we are ready to make additional hires, we re-rank the waitlist and pull the people who are at the top at that time. So getting your paperwork in can raise your ranking, and change whether you get a GTA. -- 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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