Graduate Student Stories

PhD candidate receives scholarship for academia research

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 18:40:28 +0000

PhD candidate receives scholarship for academia research Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 06/03/2024 - 12:40

Katie Spoon, a PhD candidate in the Department of Computer Science and co-advised by professor Aaron Clauset and associate professor Dan Larremore, has received an Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) scholarship.

This unrestricted $7,500 award will allow Spoon to focus on her research for the final year of her PhD.

What does it mean to have received this scholarship?

I had been seeking additional funding for the final year of PhD to allow me to focus on my research full-time, and this scholarship will help me to do that, which I am very grateful for. I have been funded by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship the past 3 years but my funding is up in August, so I had been searching for funding opportunities for my final year of my PhD in order to free up as much time as possible to finish my dissertation research.

What will this funding allow you to pursue?

In the final year of my PhD, I will complete two projects relying on restricted-use government data.

The first project encompasses in part the thesis for my master’s degree in education policy, which I have been working on concurrently during my PhD in computer science. I am leading a data linkage project with restricted-use data from the U.S. Census Bureau and college and careers data from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics to measure how access to STEM careers differs for students from different geographic and demographic backgrounds, and for those who took different educational pathways to their jobs.

The second project is a collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau Center for Economic Studies to link faculty employment records with detailed restricted-use demographic and earnings information over time to study earnings gaps in academia across gender, race, and institution.

I will also be helping with several collaborative projects in my lab group given my expertise in running large surveys of faculty through prior work.

What is the process like to receive this scholarship?

The scholarship had a nomination process, but we could self-nominate, which is what I did. We wrote short answers about our research experiences, career plans, and motivations for applying for the scholarship.

Katie Spoon has received an Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) scholarship.

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PhD student receives fellowship from Apple Scholars program

Anonymous — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 17:43:26 +0000

PhD student receives fellowship from Apple Scholars program Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 04/11/2024 - 11:43

Grace Wilson

Nataliya Nechyporenko, a computer science Ph.D. student advised by Alessandro Roncone in the Human Interaction and Robotics (HIRO) group, has received a PhD fellowship in AI and Machine Learning (AIML) through the Apple Scholars program. The program was created by Apple to recognize the contributions of emerging leaders in computer science and engineering at the graduate and postgraduate level.

The fellowship provides Nechyporenko support for her research and academic travel for two years, internship opportunities and a two-year mentorship with an Apple researcher.

Let's learn more about Nechyporenko's research aims and her perspective on the future of robotics research:

What research do you hope to accomplish through this fellowship?

Think about how you might manually feel around an object to understand its shape, weight, and texture. Or if something is in your way, you'd just push it aside without overthinking it. If you drop something, you'll persistently keep trying to pick it up from different angles until you get it. As you're doing these everyday tasks, you're constantly building up an intuitive sense of your surroundings through trial-and-error. That's the kind of resourceful, flexible, multi-sensory approach I want robots to have when manipulating things – rather than just blindly following a fixed routine.

The goal is for robotic arms to move and behave with that same kind of curious, improvisational, problem-solving spirit we take for granted as humans. As an Apple AIML scholar, I hope to gain insights into this problem with the help of a fresh network of mentors and collaborators.

Is this an extension of work you are already doing in your lab? If so, how?

Driven to establish contact-rich planning as a dominant feature in robotics, I focused the first two years of my PhD on analyzing the methods used by state-of-the-art planners and solving the shortcomings leading to the lack of physical robot interaction.

I have started to extend this work by integrating the empirical formulation of machine learning with model-based algorithmic approaches. I believe this is the path to making robots more adaptable to chaotic human environments. I will continue this work as an Apple scholar.

What do you think of the current hype around AI and ML? What do you wish people understood about this research area?

The AI and machine learning hype trains have been barreling full steam ahead lately. But robotics? That's an entirely different beast that doesn't follow the overnight disruption narratives. It's a synergy of achievements in areas like materials, manufacturing, sensing, controls theory, and others aligning to reshape the physical world.

The robotics future will reshape industries and labor concepts, but it will be catalyzed through the patient advancement of many disciplines.

How did you come to study at CU Boulder?

I spent a couple years in the trenches, getting my hands dirty actually building and deploying robots in industry. But after a while, I got this craving -- like there was so much more potential waiting to be unlocked if I could really dive into the deep scientific questions around robotics. That's why I decided to take the plunge back into academia.

What is one of your plans or hopes for the future, either professionally or personally?

I hope to be an expert, a leader, a thinker and a builder. Outside of research endeavors, I aim to be a leader and educator for the robotics and the AI community. Previously, I’ve led volunteering activities, mentored students, and co-organized events that foster discussions around AI. I hope to continue to do so in the future at a larger scale.

Nataliya Nechyporenko has been recognized as an emerging leader in computer science at the graduate level.

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A delicate touch: teaching robots to handle the unknown

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Apr 2024 19:39:31 +0000

A delicate touch: teaching robots to handle the unknown Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/02/2024 - 13:39

Grace Wilson

William Xie, a first-year PhD student in computer science, is teaching a robot to reason how gently it should grasp previously unknown objects by using large language models (LLMs).

DeliGrasp, Xie's project, is an intriguing step beyond the custom, piecemeal solutions currently used to avoid pinching or crushing novel objects.

In addition, Deligrasp helps the robot translate what it can 'touch' into meaningful information for people.

"William has gotten some neat results by leveraging common sense information from large language models. For example, the robot can estimate and explain the ripeness of various fruits after touching them." Said his advisor, Professor Nikolaus Correll.

Let's learn more about DeliGrasp, Xie's journey to robotics, and his plans for the conference Japan and beyond.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMzTgY1gxLw]

How would you describe this research?

As humans, we’re able to quickly intuit how exactly we need to pick up a variety of objects, including delicate produce or unwieldy, heavy objects. We’re informed by the visual appearance of an object, what prior knowledge we may have about it, and most importantly, how it feels to the touch when we initially grasp it.

Robots don’t have this all-encompassing intuition though, and they don’t have end-effectors (grippers/hands) as effective as human hands. So solutions are piecemeal: the community has researched “hands” across the spectrum of mechanical construction, sensing capabilities (tactile, force, vibration, velocity), material (soft, rigid, hybrid, woven, etc…). And then the corresponding machine learning models and/or control methods to enable “appropriately forceful” gripping are bespoke for each of these architectures.

Embedded in LLMs, which are trained on an internet’s worth of data, is common sense physical-reasoning that crudely approximates a human’s (as the saying goes: “all models are wrong, some are useful”). We use the LLM-estimated mass and friction to simplify the grasp controller and deploy it on a two-finger gripper, a prevalent and relatively simple architecture. Key to the controller working is the force feedback sensed by the gripper as it grasps an object, and knowing at what force threshold to stop—the LLM-estimated values directly determine this threshold for any arbitrary object, and our initial results are quite promising.

How did you get inspired to pursue this research?

I wouldn’t say that I was inspired to pursue this specific project. I think, like a lot of robotics research, I had been working away at a big problem for a while, and stumbled into a solution for a much smaller problem. My goal since I arrived here has been to research techniques for assistive robots and devices that restore agency for the elderly and/or mobility-impaired in their everyday lives. I’m particularly interested in shopping (but eventually generalist) robots—one problem we found is that it is really hard to determine, let alone pick ripe fruits and produce with a typical robot gripper and just a camera. In early February, I took a day to try out picking up variably sized objects via hand-tuning our MAGPIE gripper’s force sensing (an affordable, open-source gripper developed by the Correll Lab). It worked well; I let ChatGPT calibrate the gripper which worked even better, and it evolved very quickly into DeliGrasp.

What would you say is one of your most interesting findings so far?

LLMs do a reasonable job of estimating an arbitrary object’s mass (friction, not as well) from just a text description. This isn’t in the paper, but when paired with a picture, they can extend this reasoning for oddballs—gigantic paper airplanes, or miniature (plastic) fruits and vegetables.

With our grasping method, we can sense the contact forces on the gripper as it closes around an object—this is a really good measure of ripeness, it turns out. We can then further employ LLMs to reason about these contact forces to pick out ripe fruit and vegetables!

What does the day-to-day of this research look like?

Leading up to submission, I was running experiments on the robot and picking up different objects with different strategies pretty much every day. A little repetitive, but also exciting. Prior to that, and now that I’m trying to improve the project for the next conference, I spend most of my time reading papers, thinking/coming up with ideas, and setting up small, one-off experiments to try out those ideas.

How did you come to study at CU Boulder?

For a few years, I’ve known that I really wanted to build robots that could directly, immediately help my loved ones and community. I had a very positive first research experience in my last year of undergrad and learned what it felt like to have true personal agency in pursuing work that I cared about. At the same time I knew I’d be relocating to Boulder after graduation. I was very fortunate that Nikolaus accepted me and let me keep pursuing this goal of mine.

It’d be unfathomable if I could keep doing this research in academia or industry, though of course that would be ideal. But I’m biased toward academia, particularly teaching. I’ve been teaching high school robotics for 5 years now, and now teaching/mentoring undergrads at CU—each day is as fulfilling as the first. I have great mentors across the robotics faculty and senior PhD students we work in ECES 111, a giant, well-equipped space that 3 robotics labs share, and it’s great for collaboration and brainstorming.

What are your hopes for this international conference (and what conference is it?)

The venue is a workshop at the 2024 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2024), happening in Yokohama, Japan from May 13-17. The name of the workshop is a mouthful: Vision-Language Models for Navigation and Manipulation (VLMNM).

A workshop is detached from the main conference, and kind of is its own little bubble (like a big supermarket—the conference—hosting a pop-up food tasting event—the workshop). I'm really excited to meet other researchers and pick their brains. As a first-year, I’ve spent the past year reading papers from practically everyone on the workshop panel, and from their students. I’ll probably also spend half my time exploring (eating) around the Tokyo area.

William Xie, a first-year PhD student in computer science, is teaching a robot to reason how gently it should grasp previously unknown objects by using large language models (LLMs).

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Computer science students take on Amazon coding challenge

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 21:35:13 +0000

Computer science students take on Amazon coding challenge Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/01/2024 - 15:35

Grace Wilson

The Computer Science Graduate Professional Development Club recently organized a successful student coding challenge at the ATLAS institute, complete with prizes and networking opportunities.

Co-sponsored by the Society of Women Engineers, Women at Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the Association for Computing Machinery, the half-day long event featured team challenges to demonstrate how professionals use the cloud to solve problems in different industries.

Shakshi Parekh, a second-year computer science master's student at the event, said she appreciated the event's welcoming nature. "It's a good opportunity for newcomers to get to know more about AWS," she said.

Ramya Mikkilineni, a mentor for the event from AWS, said she enjoyed being able to share with the new generation. "It's really good to show them all that they can do with this new technology and how they can be a part of building with it," she said.

It was also an opportunity for students who attended to network, share resumes and get updates on internship and job opportunities.

Anirudh Kalghatkar, another computer science master's student, said he felt excited to learn new skills through the challenges, and make new connections through the event.

Events that involve industry partners, busy graduate students and multiple organizers require a great deal of planning and persistence to pull off. The Computer Science Graduate Professional Development Club (CSGPDC), which is student-run, put many hours into helping the coding challenge happen.

Sriranga Ramaswamy, a Technology, Cybersecurity and Policy Program master's student and the vice-chair of the organization, said it was fun to see the event come to life.

"It's very rewarding, seeing so many people here participating," he said. Over 50 people attended the event.

Amit Gupta, another mentor for the event from AWS said he appreciated seeing how students were approaching the challenges.

"We are here to help them out with the challenge, but we also want to learn from the next generation. They are the future. We are here for them, and they are here for us." he said.

The student-run Computer Science Graduate Professional Development Club and co-sponsors organized a student coding challenge with Amazon Web Services including prizes and networking opportunities.

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CS Alumnus, current grad student recognized for engagement

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 22:59:32 +0000

CS Alumnus, current grad student recognized for engagement Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 03/08/2024 - 15:59

Denzil Ekow Bilson's journey began back in 2019 as undergraduate BOLD Scholar where he immediately demonstrated student leadership.

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CS PhD student wins People's Choice award at Three Minute Thesis competition

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 22:20:41 +0000

CS PhD student wins People's Choice award at Three Minute Thesis competition Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 03/08/2024 - 15:20

Grace Wilson

Aaquib Tabrez, a 5th year PhD student in the Department of Computer Science advised by Assistant Professor Bradley Hayes, won the People's Choice award for the graduate school's Three Minute Thesis competition. The competition challenges students to describe their research within three minutes to a general audience after a few months of preparation.

To celebrate Tabrez's accomplishments, let's learn more about his research and experience with the competition and graduate school at CU Boulder.

[video:https://youtu.be/K9leE15xHZY?t=4055]

Please briefly summarize your thesis:

I design novel algorithms that enable robots and autonomous systems to more effectively explain their decision-making processes to human collaborators. This enhances the ability of individuals to place appropriate levels of trust in these systems. The aim is to make these systems more transparent, trustworthy, and reliable across various human-robot team settings, including manufacturing, autonomous driving, and search and rescue operations. By improving human-machine communication and collaboration, we can significantly enhance the effectiveness of these teams.

Specifically, my work involves teaching robots how to teach or coach humans during collaborative efforts. Additionally, I investigate situations where people may over-trust or under-trust the recommendations and guidance provided by robots. My research explores various methods and techniques to mitigate these mismatches in trust by offering suitable explanations from the robots.

How does it feel to be recognized as the People’s Choice for the Three Minute Thesis competition?

It feels absolutely incredible. Public speaking hasn't always been my strong suit, particularly with my Indian accent. Competing in such a big competition has been a significant confidence booster. It’s truly rewarding to see people acknowledging my research and the hard work I’ve put in here at CU Boulder.

What inspired you to submit to the competition?

My advisor has always stressed the importance of being able to articulate our research to those outside our field. Plus, as an expert, I believe that I am best suited to explain what is happening within my field and my work to make sure people don’t misunderstand it. Participating in this competition seemed like the perfect opportunity to hone those communication skills.

Tell me a bit about yourself. How did you come to study at CU Boulder?

Before joining CU Boulder, I was working a typical 9-5 job. I did not like the monotony and the lack of learning opportunities. So, I wanted to try something different which would be intellectually challenging. I also like philosophy and was interested in figuring out how people think. So, I thought, why not try to do the same for robots? That basically motivated me to apply here, specializing in robotics. Plus, I was a big H.G. Wells fan when I was a kid, so that kinda motivated me to consider robotics.

What goals do you have for the future?

Professionally, I would like to run my own research lab, working closely with those directly impacted by emerging technologies, such as healthcare workers and teachers. My goal is to explore how these advancements can bring about tangible improvements in their fields and their personal life. On a personal level, I love hiking, and I want to explore as many countries as possible and hiking trails around the world.

What advice would you give to a student considering graduate school?

One thing that has really helped me throughout my PhD is being physically active, whether it's going to the gym, running, or hiking. It gives me a sense of clarity and a rush of adrenaline that helps me think through any situation. Graduate school is both fun and challenging, filled with distractions, doubts, imposter syndrome, and deep bonding with the people around you. Surround yourself with supportive people who can help you overcome these challenges. Don't hesitate to ask for help when you're not in a good place; there are so many people ready to lend a hand when you ask for it.

Learn more about Aaquib Tabrez, a computer science PhD student who won the People's Choice award for his effective presentation on how he helps robots and autonomous systems more effectively explain their decision-making processes to human collaborators.

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Successful mock interview night hosted by CS graduate club

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 16:52:09 +0000

Successful mock interview night hosted by CS graduate club Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 10/27/2023 - 10:52

Grace Wilson

75 students were able to practice interviewing with industry professionals through the efforts of the Computer Science Graduate Professional Development Club (CS-GPDC) on October 20th.

"Mock interviews are a powerful tool for candidates to refine their skills, gain confidence, and prepare for the real-life challenges of a job interview," said Rohit Taware, chair of the club.

Rohit worked with other members of the board, the club membership at large and the CS department to ensure there were plenty of industry professionals for the students.

29 industry members represented many companies including Oracle, Amazon, Google, Stateless, Arista, Lucid, LinkedIn, Accenture and Cisco.

Sriranga Kalkunte Ramaswamy, the club's vice chair, invited David Brown, a co-founder of startup incubator TechStars and one of his instructors, to give a keynote on networking. Brown explained the importance of breadth and depth in networking.

"You never know who might make an amazing connection. Keep getting out there to meet a wide range of people and focus on connecting deeply with a few of them," he said.

There was also a talk by Mike Mozer from Google talking about Google DeepMind, which works to research and build safe artificial intelligence systems through neural networks that can learn from large datasets.

The CSGPDC meets regularly, focusing on a variety of professional development activities to help students prepare for the job market.

The club's staff advisor, Bridget Dooney, said she admired the club leaders and industry partners.

"It's incredibly selfless what the club leaders are doing, gathering everyone together and organizing this," Dooney said. "We're also so grateful to folks from industry volunteering their time to help our students become better interviewers."

75 students were able to practice interviewing with industry professionals through the efforts of the Computer Science Graduate Professional Development Club (CS-GPDC) on October 20th.

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Harsh workplace climate is pushing women out of academia

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 16:17:15 +0000

Harsh workplace climate is pushing women out of academia Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/24/2023 - 10:17

Yvaine Ye

Women faculty are more likely to leave academia than men faculty throughout all career stages in U.S. universities found Katie Spoon, the paper’s first author and a doctoral student in the Department of Computer Science.

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See who's recruiting for Fall 2024!

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 21:22:23 +0000

See who's recruiting for Fall 2024! Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 08/04/2023 - 15:22

Explore opportunities in graduate computer science education and research at CU Boulder, and learn more about what student life is like in the department.

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Computer Science Graduate Research Expo

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Mar 2023 00:26:24 +0000

Computer Science Graduate Research Expo Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 02/28/2023 - 17:26

On Thursday, February 23, the Computer Science department held their graduate research expo where they presented on their projects, met with prospective students and were awarded prizes for their work. With fifty students who presented at the expo and five faculty judges, the vibrant and varied research projects drew a crowd.

See photos from the Spring 2023 Research Expo

The Computer Science department held their graduate research expo where graduate students from across the department presented on their projects, met with prospective students and were awarded prizes for their work.

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Graduate Student Stories

PhD candidate receives scholarship for academia research

What does it mean to have received this scholarship?

What will this funding allow you to pursue?

​What is the process like to receive this scholarship?

PhD student receives fellowship from Apple Scholars program

What research do you hope to accomplish through this fellowship?

Is this an extension of work you are already doing in your lab? If so, how?

What do you think of the current hype around AI and ML? What do you wish people understood about this research area?

How did you come to study at CU Boulder?

What is one of your plans or hopes for the future, either professionally or personally?

A delicate touch: teaching robots to handle the unknown

How would you describe this research?

How did you get inspired to pursue this research?

What would you say is one of your most interesting findings so far?

What does the day-to-day of this research look like?

How did you come to study at CU Boulder?

What are your hopes for this international conference (and what conference is it?)

Computer science students take on Amazon coding challenge

CS Alumnus, current grad student recognized for engagement

CS PhD student wins People's Choice award at Three Minute Thesis competition

Please briefly summarize your thesis:

How does it feel to be recognized as the People’s Choice for the Three Minute Thesis competition?

What inspired you to submit to the competition?

Tell me a bit about yourself. How did you come to study at CU Boulder?

What goals do you have for the future?

What advice would you give to a student considering graduate school?

Successful mock interview night hosted by CS graduate club

Harsh workplace climate is pushing women out of academia

See who's recruiting for Fall 2024!

Computer Science Graduate Research Expo

What is the process like to receive this scholarship?