University of Florida :: Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE)

CISE

The Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering is concerned with the theory, design, development and application of computer systems and information processing techniques. The mission of the CISE Department is to educate undergraduate and graduate majors as well as the broader campus community in the fundamental concepts of the computing discipline, to create and disseminate computing knowledge and technology, and to use our expertise in computing to help society solve problems.

Departmental News

Chen and Helal Receive IEEE/IPSJ SAINT 2009 Best Paper Award

CISE professor Sumi Helal and Ph.D. candidate Chao Chen received the prestigious best paper award for their research article entitled "Device Integration in SODA using the Device Description Language." SAINT 2009 - the 9th Annual International Symposium on Applications and the Internet is jointly sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society and the Information processing Society of Japan (IPSJ).

The paper describes a framework along with implementation and a proposed standard of a description language that revolutionizes the way sensors and devices are integrated, interconnected and deployed. The Device Description Language (DDL) enables a network of devices to autonomically and dynamically integrate and interconnect with one another without the need for engineers or system integrators. The framework enables programmers and developers to view the sensor network or the pervasive space as a collection of services, following the service-oriented device architecture. The paper contributes a re-distribution of roles and a clean separation of concerns among the sensor network owner, sensor and device manufacturers, system developers, middleware providers, and the run-time system supporting the entire life-cycle of the sensor network or the pervasive space.

DDL is based on the Atlas sensor platform archietcture and middleware developed by Dr. Helal and his students, and commercialized by Pervasa, Inc, a University of Florida start up founded in 2006.

Assistant Professor My T. Thai receives the prestigious DoD YIP Award

My T. Thai, an assistant professor in the CISE Department, received the DoD YIP Award for her research project, entitled "C-WMD: Models, Complexity, and Algorithms in Complex Dynamic and Evolving Networks." The Young Investigator research Program (YIP) recognizes and supports early career development of outstanding young investigators who show exceptional ability and promise for conducting basic research. In addition to this award, Dr. Thai's research group has been supported by two other NSF grants.

Dr. Thai's research group has been working on combinatorial optimization and its application in networks, including computer networks, online social networks, and biological networks. More specifically, her group research focuses on the designs and analyses of several new models and approximation algorithms for various practical problems, mostly optimization, arising from the networking fields mentioned above. These studies have led into many beautiful and challenging questions and results in theory, which enrich other computer science and mathematical areas, such as graph theory and advance the optimization theory. Besides seeking for theoretical solutions with a provable performance bound, the group is also concerned about their practical implementation in real life. More details about her research group can be found at http://www.cise.ufl.edu/AppliedOptimization. (Full Story Here)

Distinguished Professor and Chair Sartaj Sahni receives the Honorary Professor Award from Asia University, Taiwan

Distinguished Professor and Chair Sartaj Sahni received the Honorary Professor Award from Asia University, Taiwan on May 22, 2009. Other recent recipients of this award include Professors Lofti Zadeh (University of California, Berkeley) and Amir Pneuli (New York University).

Looking for past news about the CISE department?
Visit the CISE News Archive.

Assignment

First semester students

ontinuing graduate students

Roughly, FSS are appointed by recommendation from the Graduate Committee
while CGS are appointed according to instructor recommendation.

Every semester, the TA Committee assigns a number of TA slots reserved for FSS and CGSgs to particular courses. The number of slots is determined with input from the Graduate Committee, based on the need of the department to attract new, incoming students, and by the number of old commitments (fellowships, etc.). The distribution of slots to courses is determined by the TA Committee. Typically, the committee tries to distribute reserved slots equitably over lower level courses.

First semester students (FSS)
time := 1 week before reappointments are due (typically the last week of classes of the previous semester).

Until time, the Graduate Committee has the responsibility to select the pool of FSS eligible for the reserved slots.

At time, the Graduate Committee informs the TA Committee of the number of slots it has covered. The TA Committee places selected FSS in the reserved slots.

After time, instructors can recommend FSS for slots not covered. However, priority will be given to late Graduate Committee nominees.

Continuing graduate students (CGS)

All CGS wanting to be TA must apply for TA positions by filling out our on-line TA application form in the semester prior to employment. This includes CGS with guaranteed support. CGS are also advised to approach instructors of courses for which they are well qualified to solicit a recommendation for assignment to a particular course.

Instructors will be asked to recommend specific applicants from the TA database for unreserved slots of the courses they teach. Instructors are urged to interview candidates ahead of time to ensure their qualifications for, and interest in, a particular TA position. Instructors should let students know if a recommendation has been made.

Eligibility of applicants to hold TA positions will be certified both initially and when semester grades become available. GPA and score in SPEAK tests will be considered. To be eligible for a TAship after his/her 4th semester at CISE (not counting summer terms), a CGS must have taken the comprehensive PhD qualifying exam. The Graduate Committee can petition for an exception from the last rule on behalf of PhD students with demonstrably exceptional circumstances.

Where possible, eligible applicants who have been requested by just one instructor by the due date will be assigned to those courses. In all other cases, the TA Committee will try to assign according to the following guidelines.

If more than one request for a given applicant is received by the due date, the instructors involved will be notified of the conflict and asked to resolve it on their own. If resolution is not achieved within 3 days, the TA Committee will assign based on the following factors.

(1) The skills/background/interest of the student vis-a-vis the courses in question:
(2) The student's previous TA assignments; preference will normally be given to continuing course+instructor assignments;
(3) The student's academic progress and scores.
(4) Any committment the Dept. may have with regard to assigning the student a TA position;
(5) The number of instructor recommendations already acted upon favorably for the courses in question.

If an instructor recommends more than one student for a given position the following factors, in order, will be considered in determing which student is assigned:

The order in which the instructor ranked the students.
Factors (1) through (4).

If an instructor's request cannot be satisfied, the instructor will be asked to make another recommendation after interviewing suitable, unassigned candidates.
If an instructor chooses not to recommend, TAs will be assigned according to (1) through (4).

posted Apr 24 2002, J Peters

Computer and Information Science and Engineering