March 2025 - Sanghani-faculty - mailman.cs.vt.edu

Innovation Campus: CS Seminar Announcement (Friday, February 21 11:15am-12:15pm, ICAB 4110)
by Lu, Chang-Tien 01 May '25

01 May '25

Learning, introspection, and anticipation for effective and reliable task planning under uncertainty Speaker: Prof. Gregory J. Stein George Mason University Friday, February 21, 2025 11:15AM- 12:15PM, ICAB 4110 Abstract The next generation of service and assistive robots will need to operate under uncertainty, expected to complete tasks and perform well despite missing information about the state of the world or the future needs of itself and other agents. In this talk, I will present a number of recent and ongoing projects that improve long-horizon navigation and task planning in uncertain home-like environments. First, I will discuss our recent developments that improve performance and reliability in unfamiliar environments-environments potentially dissimilar from any seen during training-with a technique that enables fast and reliable deployment-time policy selection despite uncertainty. Second, I will discuss anticipatory planning, by which our robot anticipates and avoids side effects of its actions on undetermined future tasks it may later be assigned; our approach guides the robot towards behaviors that encourage preparation and organization, improving its performance over lengthy deployments. Biography [cid:image001.jpg@01DB83BB.F2C5BD90] Prof. Gregory J. Stein is an Assistant Professor of CS at George Mason University, where he runs the Robotic Anticipatory Intelligence & Learning Group and is the director of the GMU Autonomous Robotics Lab. His research at the intersection of robotics, planning, and learning, develops approaches for planning and learning that allow robots to better understand the impact of their actions, so that they may plan quickly, intelligently, and reliably in a dynamic and uncertain world. Before joining Mason, he received his PhD in 2020 from MIT's EECS Department and previously graduated summa cum laude from Cornell University with a B.S. in Engineering Physics. His work was a finalist for Best Paper at the 2018 Conference on Robot Learning, at which he was additionally awarded Best Oral Presentation.

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Amazon - VT Initiative: Call for Research Proposals and Ph.D. Fellowship Nominations!
by Shalaby, Wanawsha 17 Apr '25

17 Apr '25

Hello, In 2022, Virginia Tech and Amazon announced their partnership to advance research and innovation in artificial intelligence and machine learning. The Amazon - Virginia Tech Initiative for Efficient and Robust Machine Learning<https://amazon.cs.vt.edu/> includes machine learning-focused research projects, doctoral student fellowships, community outreach, and an establishment of a shared advisory board. The third set of awards for fellowships and research projects were announced in Fall 2024, you can learn more about the awardees (link to this page: https://news.vt.edu/articles/2024/10/amazon-virginia-tech-initiative-announ…) The Amazon-Virginia Tech Initiative for Efficient and Robust Machine Learning (ML) is soliciting proposals<https://amazon.cs.vt.edu/content/dam/amazon_cs_vt_edu/year-4/Amazon%20-%20V…> from Virginia Tech faculty in the College of Engineering for research projects with anticipated support beginning Fall Semester 2025 (FY 2026). The objective of this initiative is to advance research and innovation in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and ML, specifically in the areas of efficient and robust machine learning. Virginia Tech faculty members are invited to submit proposals for research projects that work to revolutionize the way ML is developed, evaluated, and embedded in everyday contexts, devices, and applications. Please note, as instructed in the Call for Research Projects<https://amazon.cs.vt.edu/content/dam/amazon_cs_vt_edu/year-4/Amazon%20-%20V…>, abstracts are due February 20, 2025. If you have any questions regarding the submission process, please review our FAQ<https://amazon.cs.vt.edu/content/dam/amazon_cs_vt_edu/year-4/Amazon%20-%20V…>. Additionally, the program invites nominations<https://amazon.cs.vt.edu/content/dam/amazon_cs_vt_edu/year-4/Amazon%20-%20V…> for doctoral student fellows with anticipated support beginning Fall Semester 2025. Fellowships will be awarded to Virginia Tech doctoral students that includes one academic year of funding, tuition, travel support to conferences, and an invitation to interview for an Amazon internship intended to provide students a greater understanding of industry and use-inspired research. Students selected for fellowships will be known as Amazon Fellows. The fellowship enables students during the academic year to pursue independent research projects in the areas of machine learning and artificial intelligence and the optional paid summer internship at Amazon will enable them to gain valuable industry insight and experience through direct engagement with Amazon researchers. Please note, as instructed in the Call for Fellowship Nominations<https://amazon.cs.vt.edu/content/dam/amazon_cs_vt_edu/year-4/Amazon%20-%20V…>, nomination packets are due April 18, 2025. If you have any questions regarding the submission process, please review our FAQ<https://amazon.cs.vt.edu/content/dam/amazon_cs_vt_edu/year-4/Amazon%20-%20V…>. Thanks, Wanawsha Wanawsha Shalaby Manager of Operations UrbComp Program Coordinator Sanghani Center for AI and Data Analytics - Virginia Tech 900 N. Glebe Road, Arlington, VA 22203 Phone: (571) 858-3361 E-Mail: wanah92(a)vt.edu<mailto:wanah92@vt.edu>

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Sanghani Faculty Meeting - Friday, April 4 at 12:00 - 1:30 pm
by Shalaby, Wanawsha 02 Apr '25

02 Apr '25

Hi All, Our next Sanghani Center Faculty meeting is scheduled for Friday, April 4 at 12:00 - 1:30 pm. I will be out of the office March 27 - April 11; therefore, I will be missing next week's meeting. If you have any recent news or updates since our last faculty meeting, please send them to Brian Mayer (bmayer(a)cs.vt.edu) so that he can add them to our meeting slides. Updates include awards, proposals, grants, conference presentations, events, etc. Please send all updates by Wednesday, April 2. Those of you in Blacksburg will be meeting in D&DS 337 and those of us in the D.C. area will be meeting in IC 5740. Below is the Zoom information for anyone who needs to join remotely. Please note that it's the same link for all our Sanghani Faculty meetings this semester. Join Zoom Meeting Https://virginiatech.zoom.us/j/89087118458 Meeting ID: 890 8711 8458 --- One tap mobile +16469313860,,89087118458# US +19294362866,,89087118458# US (New York) --- Dial by your location • +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) Thanks, Wanawsha Wanawsha Shalaby Manager of Operations Sanghani Center for AI and Data Analytics - Virginia Tech 3625 Potomac Ave., Alexandria, VA 22305 E-Mail: wanah92(a)vt.edu<mailto:wanah92@vt.edu>

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Participation at the SIAM International Conference on Data Mining (SDM25), May 1-3
by blmicale＠vt.edu 19 Mar '25

19 Mar '25

I've invited you to fill out the following form: Participation at the SIAM International Conference on Data Mining (SDM25), May 1-3 To fill it out, visit: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScxghfMMx_1Z8cxqgnXKzAEnohdXvkg0VX… I've invited you to fill out a form: Google Forms: Create and analyze surveys.

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FW: March 2025 Newsletter - LDC
by Brian Mayer 17 Mar '25

17 Mar '25

FYI From: Ldc-customers1 <ldc-customers1-bounces(a)ldc.upenn.edu> On Behalf Of Penn LDC Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 12:30 PM To: Penn LDC <ldc(a)ldc.upenn.edu> Subject: March 2025 Newsletter - LDC In this newsletter: LDC data and commercial technology development New publications: 2015 NIST Language Recognition Evaluation Test Set <https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcatalog.l dc.upenn.edu%2FLDC2025S02&data=05%7C02%7Cmayer2%40vt.edu%7C79e256b68607416d7 5a208dd6571a132%7C6095688410ad40fa863d4f32c1e3a37a%7C0%7C0%7C638778260907730 395%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAi OiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=%2FmRIb%2FyQ EvTJWfVKhnrREgTwTxLmwSw7NvG3PYzG08g%3D&reserved=0> The Xi <https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcatalog.l dc.upenn.edu%2FLDC2025T03&data=05%7C02%7Cmayer2%40vt.edu%7C79e256b68607416d7 5a208dd6571a132%7C6095688410ad40fa863d4f32c1e3a37a%7C0%7C0%7C638778260907749 246%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAi OiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=PeFxzB28Rc%2 F%2BPbCwm7KmUx6k70kY3coGYcjvJqgtS%2BY%3D&reserved=0> 'an Multi-Language Learner Corpus _____ LDC data and commercial technology development For-profit organizations are reminded that an LDC membership is a pre-requisite for obtaining a commercial license to almost all LDC databases. Non-member organizations, including non-member for-profit organizations, cannot use LDC data to develop or test products for commercialization, nor can they use LDC data in any commercial product or for any commercial purpose. LDC data users should consult corpus-specific license agreements for limitations on the use of certain corpora. Visit the Licensing <https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ldc.u penn.edu%2Fdata-management%2Fusing%2Flicensing&data=05%7C02%7Cmayer2%40vt.ed u%7C79e256b68607416d75a208dd6571a132%7C6095688410ad40fa863d4f32c1e3a37a%7C0% 7C0%7C638778260907766179%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlY iOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C% 7C&sdata=KiW7XVIBUKJzy77hDsvuyefB1bnWJ7L%2BftO91tSDcAs%3D&reserved=0> page for further information. _____ New publications: <https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcatalog.l dc.upenn.edu%2FLDC2025S02&data=05%7C02%7Cmayer2%40vt.edu%7C79e256b68607416d7 5a208dd6571a132%7C6095688410ad40fa863d4f32c1e3a37a%7C0%7C0%7C638778260907782 117%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAi OiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=WitBC2J9jq%2 F54u2jT%2FvQWnpdfZ5H%2FJBRuusxJVHZxuA%3D&reserved=0> 2015 NIST Language Recognition Evaluation Test Set was developed by LDC and NIST. It contains the evaluation test set for the 2015 NIST Language Recognition Evaluation (LRE), approximately 867 hours of conversational telephone speech (CTS) and broadcast narrowband speech (BNBS) collected by LDC in 20 languages over 6 clusters of related languages: Arabic (Egyptian, Iraqi, Levantine, Maghrebi, Modern Standard Arabic); Spanish (Caribbean, European, Latin American, Brazilian Portuguese); English (British, Indian, General American English); Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin, Min Nan, Wu); Slavic (Polish, Russian); and French (West African, Haitian Creole). The CTS data includes calls between individuals in the same social networks lasting 8-15 minutes and telephone speech from the IARPA Babel series collected in 2012-2013 from speakers using a range of phone types in diverse settings with varying noise conditions. The BNBS data was collected by LDC from streaming and satellite radio programming, focusing on programs that included narrowband speech (e.g., call-ins to a talk show). The goal of NIST's LRE evaluations is to establish the baseline of current performance capability for CTS language recognition and to lay the groundwork for further research efforts. LRE15 expanded the range of test segment durations and added a test condition that allowed systems to make use of unrestricted training data when developing models 2025 members can access this corpus through their LDC accounts. Non-members may license this data for $750. * <https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcatalog.l dc.upenn.edu%2FLDC2025T03&data=05%7C02%7Cmayer2%40vt.edu%7C79e256b68607416d7 5a208dd6571a132%7C6095688410ad40fa863d4f32c1e3a37a%7C0%7C0%7C638778260907797 932%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAi OiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=9qQRv6Wkd12F vrgdqx4bAgLuT99aPev06009zO7tRgs%3D&reserved=0> The Xi'an Multi-Language Learner Corpus was developed by <https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.xisu.e du.cn%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cmayer2%40vt.edu%7C79e256b68607416d75a208dd6571a132%7 C6095688410ad40fa863d4f32c1e3a37a%7C0%7C0%7C638778260907812469%7CUnknown%7CT WFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOI joiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=CNaAKr%2F7zLo%2FZGZ1wD%2FQ94T 6OxRNHZabPPyuhDPH%2BOQ%3D&reserved=0> Xi'an International Studies University (XISU) and is comprised of 526 argumentative essays in 15 languages by Chinese L1 university students studying second languages, along with student metadata and writing prompts. It was developed to support second language learner research and to provide a database for cross-linguistic comparison of second languages. Data was collected in 2023 and 2024 from students at XISU and Yunnan Minzu University (YMU) who were linguistic majors or studying one of the foreign languages available at XISU and YMU. Off-topic essays and incomplete texts were excluded. 2025 members can access this corpus through their LDC accounts. Non-members may license this data for $250. To unsubscribe from this newsletter, log in to your <https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcatalog.l dc.upenn.edu%2Flogin&data=05%7C02%7Cmayer2%40vt.edu%7C79e256b68607416d75a208 dd6571a132%7C6095688410ad40fa863d4f32c1e3a37a%7C0%7C0%7C638778260907826943%7 CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXa W4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=8pMnxw%2BYvgnHNfC zPzIAvVW%2B%2F3BxY8fd3Bbl%2FOjAPIw%3D&reserved=0> LDC account and uncheck the box next to "Receive Newsletter" under Account Options or contact LDC for assistance. Membership Coordinator <https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fldc.upenn. edu%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cmayer2%40vt.edu%7C79e256b68607416d75a208dd6571a132%7C6 095688410ad40fa863d4f32c1e3a37a%7C0%7C0%7C638778260907841884%7CUnknown%7CTWF pbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjo iTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=y1KQYeqheK%2Brside6dDXT4gIecgVr Q36FangKhpdiDE%3D&reserved=0> Linguistic Data Consortium University of Pennsylvania T: +1-215-573-1275 E: <mailto:ldc@ldc.upenn.edu> ldc(a)ldc.upenn.edu M: 3600 Market St. Suite 810 Philadelphia, PA 19104

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NSF Senior Personnel Document - COA (IMPORTANT)
by Newberry, Joyce 13 Mar '25

13 Mar '25

Hello everyone, Hope all is well with you. Please do not shoot the messenger (me), I just found out that NSF has updated the COA template. I have been advised by OSP to use the attached template moving forward. PLEASE UPDATE YOUR COA DOCUMENT WITH THE ATTACHED TEMPLATE. Thanks,

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Reminders
by Newberry, Joyce 03 Mar '25

03 Mar '25

Good morning, Just a friendly reminder that I will be out of the office starting 12 noon today for medical appointment. Also, for the new faculty members, there's an Introduction to VT Proposal Submission Process (see info below): Introduction to Virginia Tech's Proposal Submission Process · March 12, 2025 · 10:00 AM—Noon · Here is the event page: https://www.research.vt.edu/events/2025/introduction-to-virginia-tech-propo… · Register to attend via Zoom<https://virginiatech.zoom.us/meeting/register/O-CiZsv0TnecIUUJ5dRc0g>. · Register to attend in-person<https://forms.office.com/r/k11PzcRiUB>. Gilbert Place, Room 3003 (in-person registration is limited to the first 20 registrants). Office of Sponsored Programs pre-award associates will provide information about Virginia Tech’s process and requirements for funded research proposals. A wide range of audiences will benefit from the session, including experienced researchers new to the university, new faculty members, post docs, and staff members who assist with proposals. The pre-award experts will review the full proposal process, including proposal components, budgets, submission methods and deadlines, award transfer, individuals’ roles and responsibilities, and the university’s online platform—Summit. Attendees may submit their questions in advance to newpi(a)vt.edu<mailto:newpi@vt.edu>. There will be special guests available to answer questions at the end from VT Fast, OSP Contracts, OSP Post award. Joyce I. Newberry, MBA Grant Administrator Sanghani Center for AI & Data Analytics - Virginia Tech 3625 Potomac Avenue Alexandria, VA 22305 joyce15(a)vt.edu PLEASE NOTE: I will be out of office on March 3 after 12 noon and March 19 after 12:30pm. Proposal Submission Deadline Reminder OSP requires that you have all the administrative documents, including Accepted and final budget, in Approved routing status in Summit, and complete sponsor forms by 9:00 AM the day before your proposal is due. Please have your complete technical proposal ready to submit, no later than 9:00 AM the day the proposal is due or we cannot submit. Please see the OSP Procedure 20002 for more details on Proposal Submission. https://osp.vt.edu/content/dam/osp_vt_edu/policies/osp20002.pdf

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CANCELED: Sanghani Faculty Meeting - Friday March 7
by Shalaby, Wanawsha 03 Mar '25

03 Mar '25

Hi everyone, A big thank you to everyone who attended last week's festivities celebrating the grand opening of the Innovation Campus! Due to all the events, the Innovation Campus faculty meeting was rescheduled for the same time as our Sanghani faculty meeting this Friday. Considering several of our faculty will have to miss our meeting, we thought it would be best to cancel Friday's Sanghani Center faculty meeting and reconvene on Friday, April 4th. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks, Wanawsha

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