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Yoonjin Kim --- final PhD defense, 2:00 PM, Wednesday, November 19
by Lenwood S. Heath 19 Nov '25

19 Nov '25

Good morning, I am pleased to invite you to Yoonjin Kim's final PhD defense at 2:00 PM on Wednesday, November 19, in 1210 Torgersen. The Zoom link is https://virginiatech.zoom.us/my/lennyheath Title Computational Analysis and Network-based Modeling of Cross-Species Transmissions Abstract Zoonotic spillover of pathogens is the dominant cause of emerging infectious diseases, including the 2019 global pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2. Cross-species transmission (CST) risks are accelerated by climate change, which alters animal habitats and aggregates new combinations of host species at high population density and elevations. Modeling CST dynamics is essential in ecology and computational epidemiology to enhance preparedness and resilience against future outbreaks. However, accurate prediction remains challenging due to biased pathogen sampling in existing CST databases and complex interactions among viral host range. This dissertation addresses three main challenges: (1) optimizing CST testing set selection through graph entropy frameworks; (2) modeling infectious pathways and biodiversity shifts with climate change scenarios; and (3) developing an accessible knowledge-based question and answering (QA) framework using Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) technology. Current viral databases consist mostly of pathogens in humans and domesticated animals, while the remaining vertebrate genera account for a mere 9%. Testing resources are limited for assessing indeterminate 800,000 to 1.5 million mammalian viruses with zoonotic potential. Furthermore, climate changes will expose host species to novel ecological interactions and complicate efforts to identify infectious pathways. I leveraged information theory and graph entropy to guide testing set selection, aiming to maximize the entropy and improve diversity of CST database. A graph representation constructed based on animal habitats, climate classification, and future climate scenarios,identifies biodiversity patterns in climate classifications and vulnerable hosts and viruses. Lastly, this dissertation introduces a knowledge graph-based CST information system for question answering (QA) using RAG, comparing multiple external database architectures, including Knowledge graphs, node embeddings, and vector databases. The evaluation framework integrates reasoning, summarization, and hallucination detection using curate unanswerable queries. Through computational modeling and graph based analysis of CSTs, it identifies potential missing links and delivers an accessible and accurate CST information framework, facilitating early detection of CST risks and improving preparedness for future emerging infectious diseases. -- Lenwood S. Heath Professor 2160J Torgersen Hall https://people.cs.vt.edu/~heath/ Department of Computer Science Cell phone: (540) 392-6672 Virginia Tech FAX: (540) 231-6075 Blacksburg, VA 24061-0106 Email: heath(a)vt.edu -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Message and signature (c)2025 Lenwood S. Heath All rights reserved --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Master's Thesis Defense: Jharana Sapkota
by Farghally, Mohammed 18 Nov '25

18 Nov '25

Greetings everyone, You are all cordially invited to attend Jharana Sapkota's final Master's defense. Title: Categorizing and Comparing Students' Interactions in eTextbooks Date: Tuesday, November 25, 2025 Time: 1:00 PM EST Room: Gilbert Place 3211 Zoom link: https://virginiatech.zoom.us/j/88379477990?pwd=Lx4hsKqksMaaQX1xbzX3Y6V5YPeY… Committee members: * Mohammed Farghally (Chair), * Clifford A. Shaffer, and * Mostafa Mohammed (University at Buffalo) Abstract: The rise of interactive eTextbooks opens new opportunities for enhancing student engagement and learning outcomes. However, analyzing student interactions within these digital platforms remains challenging. This study examines student engagement profiles in OpenDSA, an interactive eTextbook for data structures and algorithms courses. Using session-level interaction data, we categorize engagement into four distinct engagement states, defined as types of student activities: Reading, Visualization, Proficiency Exercises, and Multiple-Choice Exercises. We then apply clustering techniques to identify distinct engagement profiles, characterized by the frequency of transitions and total engagement time spent in each engagement state. Our research addresses two key questions: (1) What engagement profiles can be identified from students’ interactions across these four engagement states? (2) How do these engagement profiles correlate with students’ academic performance? Our findings reveal four distinct engagement profiles: Highly Engaged Learners, exhibiting frequent transitions and high engagement across all engagement states; Moderately Engaged Learners, characterized by sporadic interactions and below-average overall engagement; Balanced Learners, maintaining consistent and moderate engagement across engagement states, and Minimally Engaged Learners, demonstrating limited engagement and infrequent state transitions. Statistical analysis confirms that students in profiles with frequent and diverse engagement significantly outperform minimally engaged learners academically. These results underline the critical role of active, varied engagement in student success and underline the potential of session-level data for monitoring and optimizing student engagement. We believe our findings will be valuable to eTextbook developers, providing actionable insights to guide the design of digital content and targeted interventions that improve student engagement and performance. -- _____________________________________ Mohammed F. Farghally, Ph.D. Collegiate Assistant Professor Virginia Tech | Department of Computer Science 1220B Torgersen Hall, Blacksburg, VA, 24061 mfseddik(a)vt.edu<mailto:mfseddik@vt.edu> | (540) 231 - 6044 http://people.cs.vt.edu/mfseddik [https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/mail-sig/AIorK4xqud6nkWyvhmhp7aVBEgn5o8KH…]

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FW: Biosensors course for Spring 2026
by Dr. Eli Tilevich 18 Nov '25

18 Nov '25

I hope this message finds you well. I’m pleased to share that I will be teaching a course on Biosensors in the upcoming Spring 2026 semester. The course will cover both the fundamentals and emerging applications of biosensors, with a focus on animal/human diagnostics, precision agriculture, and environmental sensing. It would be wonderful if you could please share this information with all graduate students who might be interested. Please let me know if there’s someone else I should contact regarding the course advertisement. Thank you for your time and support. Best regards, Azahar -- Azahar Ali Assistant Professor School of Animal Sciences | Virginia Tech Food Science and Technology Building, Room 103 360 Duck Pond Drive Blacksburg, VA 24061 Email: azahar(a)vt.edu <mailto:azahar@vt.edu> Phone: +1-540-231-5253 Website: https://sas.vt.edu/facilities/labs/biosensor-engineering-lab.html -- Liqing Zhang, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech Professor of Health Sciences, Virginia Tech Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, Virginia Tech FBRI Cancer Research Center, Washington, DC Cell: 540-230-5141

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Fw: Participants needed for the VISTA TA Training Study
by Coulson, Sara 17 Nov '25

17 Nov '25

Sara Coulson Director of Graduate Programs | Computer Science Torgersen 1180B 620 Drillfield Drive Blacksburg, VA 24061 ________________________________ From: Sarshartehrani, Arezoo <fatemehst(a)vt.edu> Sent: Monday, November 17, 2025 3:22 PM To: Coulson, Sara <sara83(a)vt.edu> Subject: Participants needed for the VISTA TA Training Study Hello, Can you please share the following information with current and former Undergraduate and Graduate Teaching Assistants? Dear current and former CS TAs, DVE Lab at Virginia Tech is seeking participants for a research study (IRB # VT-IRB-# 25-544). The purpose is to evaluate an XR/AI training tool to enhance your teaching skills. You may qualify if you are a current or prior CS TA and aged 18+. Eligible participants will attend two 1:15-hour sessions. Each session includes a tutorial, interaction with AI personas, and surveys. Total duration is approximately 2.5 hours. For more information, contact Fatemeh Sarshartehrani at [fatemehst(a)vt.edu<mailto:fatemehst@vt.edu>]. Undergraduate TAs are allowed to clock in during the study at the current rate they are paid. Other individuals that are not paid an undergraduate wage will not be compensated. Interested? For more information or to schedule a session, please sign up <https://forms.office.com/r/GXn2ugEBLh> here<https://forms.office.com/r/GXn2ugEBLh>. This study is supervised by Dr. Denis Gracanin in the Department of Computer Science. It has been approved by the Virginia Tech Institutional Review Board under protocol number 25-544. Thank you for considering this opportunity! Best regards, Fatemeh Sarshartehrani Virginia Tech

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Sifat M. Abdullah's final PhD defense
by Viswanath, Bimal 17 Nov '25

17 Nov '25

Hi everyone, You are all invited to attend Sifat M. Abdullah’s final PhD defense. Title: Investigating Multimodal Foundation Models through the Lens of Safety and Security Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2025 Time: 2:00 PM EST Room: Gilbert Place 4307 Zoom link: https://virginiatech.zoom.us/j/88365297664 Committee members: Bimal Viswanath (Chair), Danfeng (Daphne) Yao, Taejoong (Tijay) Chung, Peng Gao, and Murtuza Jadliwala (The University of Texas at San Antonio). Abstract: Generative AI plays a crucial role in processing and interpreting information, making its reliability more important than ever. Multimodal Foundation Models (MFM), which drive the latest innovations in generative AI, have a significant impact on our daily lives. While MFMs enable powerful cross-modal capabilities, for instance from Text-to-image (T2I) models like DALL-E and Stable Diffusion to Multimodal LLMs (MLLM) like LLaMA and ChatGPT, they are often exploited to generate highly realistic deepfake images and are also vulnerable to adversarial attacks that degrade their performance. We investigate MFMs through the lens of security on the following 2 principal threats: (1) Understanding the threat from misuse of MFMs & developing methods for their mitigation. T2I models can generate highly convincing deepfake media which can be misused to spread misinformation. This raises concerns about the authenticity of digital content and the potential for large-scale manipulation. To address this, it is crucial to develop robust detection methods that can accurately identify and mitigate the risks posed by such synthetic media. (2) Attackers violating the integrity of MFMs. Adversarially perturbed images can significantly deteriorate the performance of MLLMs causing them to miscaption images and elicit toxic responses. Mitigating such adversarial threats is essential to ensure safety and security. The following dissertation addresses the above 2 threat directions: (1) Assessing the real-world applicability of state-of-the-art (SOTA) deepfake defenses and developing robust and generalizable detection methods. (2) Defend MFMs against perturbation-based adversarial attacks with advances in off-the-shelf Generative AI (GenAI) image translation models & their test-time reasoning capabilities. We will conclude by outlining future research directions that the security community can leverage to develop more secure and robust Multimodal Foundation Models. thanks, Bimal

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FW: Event Announcements
by Kinder, Sharon 14 Nov '25

14 Nov '25

From: Graduate and Professional Student Senate <gpss-resc(a)vt.edu> Sent: Friday, November 14, 2025 11:33 AM Subject: Event Announcements Dear Graduate Program Administrators, Happy Friday! We hope you're doing well. Could you please share the following event announcements with the graduate students in your department? Thank you! 1. Sing Your Heart Out Karaoke Session (And stay to watch the away football game with us afterward!) November 15 (Tomorrow) @ 6PM GLC Lounge, Free refreshments! Karaoke Session - Fill out form<https://forms.office.com/r/2Gh76Ak8RV> 1. Thanksgiving Lunches on Campus - Open to all Grad Students! Various dates - [cid:c7a7bbce-9818-4a7f-8084-2737d6f4be34] GPSS Executive Board President | Pooja Bhagawat Vice President | Gyang Chung Director of Advocacy | Mohammed El Kilad Director of Events | Brian Chan Director of Programs | Megan Grey Director of Finance | Kelsey Jennings Director of Communications | Taylor Peele Advisor | Lauren Surface www.gpss.vt.edu<http://www.gpss.vt.edu/> | gpss(a)vt.edu<mailto:gpss@vt.edu> | Instagram: @VTGPSS<https://www.instagram.com/vtgpss/>

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Time Sensitive! CS|Source Events, Announcements, and Opportunities
by Hodge, Julie 14 Nov '25

14 Nov '25

[cid:image001.png@01DC54E9.895CDD70] Information Session & Networking Night Eager to learn about career paths at Toyota North America<https://careers.toyota.com/us/en/>? Join their information session & networking night Wednesday, November 19 from 5:30-7 PM in Surge 108A. Register today<https://forms.office.com/r/bXQEq5qgUS>! Toyota will have 3 engineers on campus to share about their career paths, current + future job opportunities, and networking with VT Engineering alumni Jade Hill<https://www.linkedin.com/in/jade-hill-6129ba40/> <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jade-hill-6129ba40/> (ME '12) and James Baker<https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-baker-39728183/> (ECE 13'). Registration<https://forms.office.com/r/bXQEq5qgUS> <https://forms.office.com/r/bXQEq5qgUS> is required and space is limited to the first 75 to register; please confirm your availability & commitment before registering. While this event is open to all engineering students, this team is focused on cybersecurity and is most interested in: ME, CS, and ECE. Pizza will be provided to those attending in person, a Zoom option is available as needed. Please see attached bios. Questions about this event can be directed to the Mechanical Engineering Industry Relations Manager at alyssarametta(a)vt.edu<mailto:alyssarametta@vt.edu>. Internship Opportunities at Deutsche Bank The Internship Program in Technology, Data and Innovation (TDI) at Deutsche Bank is a great opportunity for college bachelor and master's students in their penultimate year of study (graduating between December 2026 to June 2027). The 10-week summer program is designed to give students the opportunity to contribute on a financial technology team while developing skills through formal training and continuous support. In our New York, NY and Cary, NC offices, interns join a cohort of fellow TDI interns to work alongside tech teams, connect with buddies and mentors, and participate in a team case study project. Highlights of the summer include regional orientations and technical training opportunities, volunteering and social events, senior speaker series, and DB events such as Bank on Tech and our Global Hackathon. Watch these videos that highlight our Internship programs: US Summer Intern Video Recap<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1wvopPPiLU> and National Intern Day 2024<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EVcY_GoSe8> Look out for events this Winter The TDI intern and grad position allows students to use their hands-on coding experience while learning new coding languages and working with global teams to create platforms used in our investment banking and corporate banking divisions. Review the job description for position details and eligibility requirements. We encourage you to visit our career page<https://careers.db.com/students-graduates/#/graduate/> for the 2026 TDI Graduate and 2026 TDI Internship programs in Cary, NC and NYC offices! Good To Know Our TDI interns complete a team case study project that has historically been on the topic of sustainability at DB. Learn more about our sustainability pillars here: Approach to Sustainability<https://www.db.com/what-we-do/responsibility/sustainability/> More Opportunities at Deutsche Bank * This is DB - Deutsche Bank Careers<https://careers.db.com/this-is-db/> * Cary - Deutsche Bank Careers (db.com)<https://careers.db.com/explore-the-bank/locations/americas/cary> * Cary Overview Video<https://vimeo.com/832369333/6526cd98f9?share=copy> * DB Careers Search<https://careers.db.com/professionals/search-roles/#/professional/> * Follow us on LinkedIn: Deutsche Bank Technology, Data & Innovation * Share this Newsletter<https://tinyurl.com/2bp836av> ____________ Julie Hodge, Strategic Relationships Manager Virginia Tech | Department of Computer Science (0106) 1180E Torgersen Hall, 620 Drillfield Drive Blacksburg, VA 24061 540 231 1666 | jdhodge(a)vt.edu<mailto:jdhodge@vt.edu> [cid:image002.jpg@01DC54E9.895CDD70]

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Entrepreneurship and Computing Seminar Series: Tim Gorski: Nov 21st, 10:30am.
by Kantarcioglu, Murat 13 Nov '25

13 Nov '25

Dear All, As part of the CS/Root, the hub for computer science entrepreneurship at Virginia Tech, Entrepreneurship and Computing Seminar Series, we are hosting a talk from Tim Gorski (an alumni of VT CS). We invite you to attend this talk if you are interested in startups and/or in learning how research can be successfully transitioned into practice. Please see the details below, along with the attached seminar announcement. Seminar Title: Entrepreneurship: Building a bootstrapped defense firm from 0 to 300 Date and Time: November 21, 2025, Friday, 10:30am. Location: 1100 Torgersen Speaker Bio: Tim Gorski is a founder, investor, and philanthropist with a proven track record of building and leading large scale software engineering and IT enterprises. He is the founder of Omynon, which he bootstrapped into a 300-person defense contracting firm serving mission-critical government and industry clients. A VT–trained software engineer and an entrepreneur at heart, he is recognized for guiding teams and organizations toward excellence through a blend of technical innovation, strategic insight, and purposeful leadership. Best Regards, Murat ==================================== Murat Kantarcioglu, Ph.D. Professor, and CCI Faculty Fellow Virginia Tech, Department of Computer Science www.kantarcioglu.net ====================================

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Join Us Tomorrow for the CS Industry Panel: Meet Industry Leaders at 1 PM!
by Madabushi, Sindhuja 13 Nov '25

13 Nov '25

Hello CS graduate students! We have a virtual industry panel scheduled for tomorrow November 14 at 1:00 PM, featuring professionals from companies such as CoStar Group and Parsons Corporation, to help you understand how to position yourselves in a competitive job market. You will hear directly from them about what they look for in new graduates and what their organizations have to offer. This is a great chance to get honest, practical insights from people who have been exactly where you are now, so don’t miss it! Do RSVP if you are interested: https://forms.gle/VfQ4h6gRqUw9zPH16 Best, — Sindhuja Madabushi, Secretary, Computer Science Graduate Council PhD Student in CS@VT (505) 457-7721 msindhuja(a)vt.edu<mailto:msindhuja@vt.edu> | Website<https://sindhujamadabushi.github.io/>

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Seminar Talk: Friday, November 14, 2:30-3:45pm, Classroom Building, Room 260
by Zier, Debbie 13 Nov '25

13 Nov '25

Mohammed Seyam Collegiate Associate Professor Computer Science, Virginia Tech Friday, November 14 2:30 - 3:45pm Classroom Building, Room 260 Seminar: Bridging Disciplines and Borders: Exploring the Intersection of Software Engineering, HCI, and CS Education in a Global Context Abstract: Software Engineering, Human–Computer Interaction (HCI), and CS Education are three vibrant research domains, each with its own traditions, methodologies, and practices. While these fields share common themes – such as usability, collaboration, and learning – it's not very common for them to converge in sustained research efforts. In this presentation, Dr. Mohammed Seyam explores what it means to work at the intersection of these domains, highlighting both the benefits and challenges of being a “bridge builder” across disciplinary boundaries. His recent work investigates how industry-inspired practices, machine learning (ML), and generative AI (GenAI) can enhance both the software development process and the learning experience in computing education. Drawing on examples from ongoing projects, Seyam illustrates how integrating insights from software engineering, HCI, and CS education can produce research that crosses geographical boundaries and disciplinary divides, fostering more effective, reflective, and globally connected computing practices. Bio: Mohammed Seyam is a Collegiate Associate Professor in the Computer Science Department at Virginia Tech. He is a researcher and educator in the fields of Software and Usability Engineering, Machine Learning, and Computer Science Education. Additionally, he is the CS Department Director of Experiential Learning, where he leads several initiatives to enhance students’ learning through out-of-classroom experiences, including internships, undergrad research, and the CS Study Abroad program which he designed and leads. Mohammed is passionate about bridging global divides in technology education, as he strives to empower students with both the technical capabilities and cultural competencies required in modern software engineering. Bringing different usability perspectives from around the world is a core component of his teaching philosophy, and a developing direction of his research. With over 20 years of university teaching experience, he has conducted numerous talks and workshops internationally. His teaching portfolio includes courses such as Software Engineering in a Global Context, Database Systems, Usability Engineering, and Software Project Management. Dr. Seyam’s publications appear in leading venues including ASEE, SIGCSE, ITiCSE, FIE, VL/HCC, and AIED. ________________________ Debbie Zier Administrative Assistant and Office Manager Department of Computer Science (0106) 3160E Torgersen Hall 620 Drillfield Drive Blacksburg, VA 24061 541-231-1369

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