News

Computer Security Expert Named Simons Foundation Investigator

06/19/2019 - Marc G Airhart | College of Natural Sciences Computer scientist Brent Waters of The University of Texas at Austin has been selected as a 2019 Simons Investigator in Theoretical Computer Science by the Simons Foundation, for his work in cryptography and computer security. Read More

UT Partners with SparkCognition to Host Data Mining and Analytics Competition

06/18/2019 - Two hundred and forty Texas Computer Science students recently participated in a data mining and analytics competition hosted by SparkCognition, an Austin-based enterprise artificial intelligence company with software solutions that help clients analyze complex data, reveal actionable insights, and identify and automate optimal responses. The company awarded scholarship prizes to the first, second, and third place winners of $10,000, $3,000, and $2,000 respectively. Read More

Computer Scientist Honored for Exceptional Undergraduate Teaching

06/17/2019 - Calvin Lin, a Texas Computer Science Distinguished Teaching Professor, won the 2019-20 William David Blunk Memorial Professorship. The professorship recognizes a member of the faculty who has demonstrated an exceptional record in undergraduate teaching, and who shows special interest in and on behalf of undergraduate students. Read More

Texas Computer Science Welcomes Three Class of 2023 Forty Acres Scholars

06/14/2019 - Texas Computer Science is welcoming three Forty Acres Scholars this fall. More than 4,000 students applied for the elite scholarship program, which inspires and nurtures visionary leaders and helps them use their talents to benefit society. Back in February, 54 impressive finalists visited UT campus for a full weekend of in-person interviews and a glimpse at what life on the Forty Acres could be. Read More

New AI Sees Like a Human, Filling in the Blanks

Computer scientists at The University of Texas at Austin have taught an artificial intelligence agent how to do something that usually only humans can do—take a few quick glimpses around and infer its whole environment. Jenna Luecke/University of Texas at Austin.

Computer scientists at The University of Texas at Austin have taught an artificial intelligence agent how to do something that usually only humans can do—take a few quick glimpses around and infer its whole environment. Jenna Luecke/University of Texas at Austin.

05/16/2019 - Computer scientists at The University of Texas at Austin have taught an artificial intelligence agent how to do something that usually only humans can do—take a few quick glimpses around and infer its whole environment, a skill necessary for the development of effective search-and-rescue robots that one day can improve the effectiveness of dangerous missions. Read More

Programming for High Performance Launches First Online Course

05/10/2019 - Is my code fast? Can it be faster? Scientific computing, machine learning, and data science are about solving problems that are compute intensive. Choosing the right algorithm, extracting parallelism at various levels, and amortizing the cost of data movement are vital to achieving scalable speedup and high performance. Read More

Computer Scientist Honored for Teaching Excellence

05/06/2019 - Peter Stone, a professor of computer science at The University of Texas at Austin, has won the Minnie Stevens Piper Teaching Award, which celebrates outstanding postsecondary teaching. Since 1958, the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation, a non-profit, charitable corporation focused on postsecondary education in Texas, has selected excellent educators from four- and two-year institutions from across Texas to be named "Piper Professors" for their superior teaching at the college level. Read More

Exploring the Intersection of Computing, Law, and Ethics

TXCS wants students to consider the ways in which the laws are evolving to adapt to massive tech growth as well as examine the further ethical implications of their work.

TXCS wants students to consider the ways in which the laws are evolving to adapt to massive tech growth as well as examine the further ethical implications of their work.

04/30/2019 - There is a certain “grow fast or die slow” paradigm in the present-day computing industry. Software and technological innovations are in a period of massive growth and flux—change is so rapid that even today’s laws are lagging behind. Texas Computer Science and Texas Law professors argue that under current circumstances, it is also important to consider the ways in which the legal field is evolving to adapt to these technological changes as well as examine the further ethical implications of computing. Read More

UT Students Develop Software to Help Satellites Seek Objects

Illustration of the Seeker 1 satellite in space.

Photo Credit: Lauren Ibanez | Daily Texan Staff

04/19/2019 - Daily Texan | By: Rahi Dakwala A navigating software developed by UT students for a NASA satellite is launching today with a resupply mission to the International Space Station. Read More

Using Machine Learning to Revolutionize the Future of Food Production

Researchers in MIT’s Open Agriculture Initiative grow basil under controlled environmental conditions to study how taste and other features are affected.
Credit: Melanie Gonick

04/19/2019 - Water, sunlight, nutrients—these ingredients are essential for plant growth. However, these basic ingredients don’t always yield the ideal plant. In fact, optimizing these variables is complicated, causing some plants to fall flat on flavor. Machine learning can help. Read More

Liu, Krähenbühl, and Rossbach Receive NSF CAREER Award

Professors Philipp Krähenbühl (Left), Qiang Liu (middle), and Chris Rossbach (Right)

Professors Philipp Krähenbühl (Left), Qiang Liu (middle), and Chris Rossbach (Right)

04/16/2019 - Texas Computer Science assistant professors Qiang Liu, Philipp Krähenbühl, and Christopher Rossbach were selected for the National Science Foundation’s CAREER Award. This is the most prestigious award in support of early-career faculty. Read More

Working Toward a More Accessible Future: Teaching Computers to Imitate Human Perception

Alex Huth (left), assistant professor of Neuroscience and Computer Science at the University of Texas at Austin. Shailee Jain (right), a Computer Science PhD student at the Huth Lab.

Alex Huth (left), assistant professor of Neuroscience and Computer Science at the University of Texas at Austin. Shailee Jain (right), a Computer Science PhD student at the Huth Lab.

04/11/2019 - Imagine a world where accessing and interacting with technology doesn’t require keyboard or voice input—just a quick mental command. Imagine “speech prosthesis” technology that would allow people who are unable to communicate verbally to speak without expensive and highly customized interfaces. Imagine a device that could read a users’ mind, and automatically send a message, open a door, or buy a birthday present for a family member. Read More

UT Programming Team Claims Victory at ICPC World Finals

ICPC competitors from UT stand together as a group at the competition

04/10/2019 - On Thu, 4 Apr 2019, the UT Programming Contest (UTPC) team competed at the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) World Finals at the University of Porto in Porto, Portugal. The competition consisted of teams from 135 regions (approx. 405 students) trying to solve 11 problems in 5 hrs. The first-place team, Moscow State University, solved 10 problems. Read More

Changing the Future of Gene-Editing

Figure shows a merged multi-scale structurally valid visualization of the ribosome.

A merged multi-scale structurally valid visualization of the ribosome; the green volume occupying model and the tertiary and secondary structural model is obtained from reconstructed single particle cryo-electron microscopy, while the atomic-resolution structures is from X-ray crystallography resolved models.

03/06/2019 - Gene-editing or genome engineering is the altering of DNA within a living organism. Once believed to be far-fetched and unthinkable, it is becoming more and more common due to scientific breakthrough techniques like CRISPR. What most people don’t know though is the use of computing tools in conjunction with CRISPR make gene-editing as efficient and mistake-free as possible—making it a viable cure to deadly genetic diseases. Read More

Future Gaming Professionals Have New Academic Track at UT Austin

Illustration featuring a wooden, fantasy-building and natural landscape by Alex Iveroth

03/05/2019 - In response to the growing demand for video game designers throughout Texas, The University of Texas at Austin is launching a new gaming curriculum, The University of Texas Game Development and Design Program. The program is a partnership between the departments of Arts and Entertainment Technologies (AET) and Computer Science (CS) intended for undergraduates with career interests in the gaming industry. Texas is home to almost 20,000 video game specific jobs, second to California, with 10 percent growth expected during the next eight years. Read More

The Implications of Quantum Computing: Internet Security, Random Bits, and More

Doctor Scott Aaronson, Texas Computer Science, Quantum Computing

01/25/2019 - Quantum computers are sophisticated machines that harness the strange laws of quantum physics to solve particular kinds of problems. These machines have been “trending” for quite some time now with popular media calling them “supercomputers” or “supermachines” and implying that they have the power to basically answer any and all currently unsolvable problems. These is, however, a misconception. Read More

World's Largest General Scientific Society Selects Computer Scientist as Fellow

12/13/2018 - The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society, has named computer scientist Peter Stone and two other University of Texas at Austin faculty members as fellows. This year’s AAAS fellows – members of the College of Natural Sciences, the Cockrell School of Engineering and the College of Liberal Arts – will be inducted at a February ceremony during the AAAS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. Read More

Professor Lili Qiu Named ACM Fellow

Portrait of Lili Qui in the Gates Dell Complex

12/10/2018 - Lili Qiu, Texas Computer Science Professor, was recently named an Association for Computer Machinery (ACM) fellow. Each year the ACM recognizes the top one percent of ACM members for their accomplishments in computing and information technology, as well as their service to the computing community. Read More

Texas Computer Science Launches HornRaiser Campaign to Promote Diversity

12/05/2018 - In 2016, Google reported that only six out of ten schools (K-12) offered at least one computer science class. While there continues to be an upward trend in the number of schools offering these classes, many students still lack exposure to programming. Texas Computer Science is changing that. Read More

Changing the Texas Computer Science Experience: the Building-Wide Intelligence Project

12/04/2018 - When we think of robots, we envision the future. Intelligent mobile robots that can answer questions, give directions, complete tasks, and walk us through an ever-changing world—these robots could one day make more static technologies like Alexa, Siri, and GoogleHome look outdated. Read More

UT Programming Club Wins ICPC South Central USA Regionals

The UT Programming Club won the ICPC South Central USA Regional Competition at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

11/12/2018 - On Sat, 10 Nov 2018, the UT Programming Club won the ICPC South Central USA Regional Competition at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. The winning team, consisting of Ethan Arnold ('19), Ryan Rice ('19), and Supawit Chockchowwat ('20), will compete in the ICPC World Finals this coming April in Porto, Portugal. Read More

Alumni in the News: Farnam Jahanian Becomes New President of Carnegie Mellon

11/08/2018 - Texas alumnus Farnam Jahanian became Carnegie Mellon University’s new president this past month on October 26th. He is a nationally recognized computer scientist, successful entrepreneur, and leader in higher education. Jahanian received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin. He is currently a fellow of a number of prestigious academic groups including the Association for Computing Machinery, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Read More

Teaching Computers to Read with Machine Learning

Texas Computer Science Assistant Professor Greg Durrett

11/01/2018 - The internet is a vast network of knowledge, containing the sum of humanity’s greatest accomplishments, algorithms, and stories. However, accessing this information usually requires the critical eye of a human user. Greg Durrett, a Texas Computer Science Assistant Professor, is using statistical machine learning to change just that. Read More

Voting App “BeVote” Programmed by UT Students

10/18/2018 - Students at The University of Texas at Austin have a new tool to help them become better informed as voters. BeVote is a free cellphone app designed exclusively for UT students that provides accurate, nonpartisan information and was programmed by UT students. Read More

Computer Science to Launch Online Master's Degree

UT Tower and south mall with gradient overlay

10/09/2018 - The University of Texas at Austin is making plans to bring its top-ranked computer science graduate program to students and professionals beyond campus through a new online master’s degree program. Read More

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