Building Interfacesfor Tomorrow’s Technology

Connecting Virginia Tech and Norfolk State through the A4RC Research Alliance

D. Scott McCrickard

mccricks@cs.vt.edu

Denis Gracanin

gracanin@vt.edu

Ashley Robinson

arrobin@cs.vt.edu

The National Science Foundation’s Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) Alliances“NSF is particularly interested in increasing the numbers

of women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities in research.”

• BPC Alliances seek to encourage people from underrepresented groups to pursue technical fields.

• Goal of A4RC—the Alliance for the Advancement of African American Researchers in Computing:

– To foster increased African American student awareness of and entry into computing research careers by promoting collaboration between Historically Black Colleges & Universities and Research-1 Universities.

A4RC Activities• Dual-feeder model: supports

resource and information exchange among HBCUs and research institutions—toward expanding undergraduate computing opportunities at both HBCUs and research institutions

• Course material repository: repository of student and faculty video profiles, professional interest panels, and in-class activities

• Research pods: Faculty and students in HBCU partnering institutions are paired with research faculty in the R1 partners for a year-round experience in

collaborative research A success story: Ashley Robinson, NSU Alum

Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech

Computer Science Department

• Approximately 190 graduate students

– Over half are PhD students.

• Over 85% of all students (over 95% of PhD students) are funded by CS Department or by other departments or companies

Computer Science Department• Significant recent growth — 40

tenure-track faculty in Blacksburg in Fall 2006, including:

– 20 new hires since 2002

– www.cs.vt.edu

• Particularly strong groups in

– Human Computer Interaction

– Systems & HPC

– Computational Biology & Bioinformatics

– Software Engineering

– Digital Libraries

– www.cs.vt.edu/research

What is HCI?

• How do humans and technology communicate with one another?

• How do humans communicate/collaborate with other humans through technological mediation?

• How can technology be used to understand human activities?

VT Center for HCI

• Multi-disciplinary university center

• Chartered in 1995, HCI research since 1979

• Director: Francis Quek (CS)

• Collaborators in architecture, bioinformatics, building construction, education, civil engineering, psychology…

• Funding: NSF, ONR, NIOSH, industry, …

• www.hci.vt.edu

VT HCI People

• Shawn Bohner

• Doug Bowman

• Dan Dunlap

• Roger Ehrich

• Ed Fox

• Joe Gabbard

• Denis Gracanin

• Steve Harrison

• Rex Hartson

• Debby Hix

• Andrea Kavanaugh

• Brian Kleiner

• Scott McCrickard

• Chris North

• Manuel Pérez-Quiñones

• Tonya Smith-Jackson

• Deborah Tatar

• Francis Quek

• Woodrow Winchester

Facilities – Research Labs and Groups

• Cutting edge facilities and equipment support research not possible elsewhere

• Top-notch faculty and grad students help guide students toward research goals

http://reu.hci.vt.edu

REU in HCI

Visualization research at Virginia Tech

High-resolution Visualization

Geospatial Visualization

Bioinformatics Data Visualization

Network Security Visualization

Rapid Construction with Snap

•How does visualization generate insight?

Visualization

•Cluster computing for DVEsinformation processing and computational steering using clusters integrated within DVEs.

•Information infrastructure visualizationeffective visualization of transportation,communication and other infrastructure data.

•Interactive visual analysis and explorationfrom modeling and simulation to visualization and exploration.

•Denis Gracanin

Virginia Tech’s REU Program• Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) focus

– acknowledgement in HCI of the importance of the diversity of skills and experiences from women and minorities

– diversity in race and gender in faculty mentors (one of two PIs and five of ten other mentors are women or minorities)

• Partner organizations NC A&T, Bennett College, Norfolk State, Hollins University

– local schools simplifies travel and relocation

– previous relationships through grants and projects

• Significant commitment from department and university

– understanding in administration of the value of diversity

– CS promise of an annual fellowship to the top student who returns to Virginia Tech for graduate school

http://reu.hci.vt.edu

REU in HCI

Just the facts…

• 12 undergrads for 8 weeks

• Weekly summer stipend of $350.00

• Housing, meal plan included

• Dates of program May 21-July 7

• Application available on the web site– Applications due March 31

– Notifications sent out April 7

http://reu.hci.vt.edu

REU in HCI

Building Interfacesfor Tomorrow’s Technology

Connecting Virginia Tech and Norfolk State through the A4RC Research Alliance

D. Scott McCrickard

mccricks@cs.vt.edu

Denis Gracanin

gracanin@vt.edu

Ashley Robinson

arrobin@cs.vt.edu

Questions and issues• Identifying unique skills of diverse populations that

assist faculty goals– publicize skills to faculty

– make clear how faculty can use skills

– connect skills to faculty goals

• Encouraging faculty to add/expand mentorship to their list of responsibilities– diversity is important because it helps other populations

but also because it also helps our research endeavors

• Presenting the unique benefits of diversity to faculty and administrators– anecdotal stories of success

– statistical data reflecting benefits

http://reu.hci.vt.edu

REU in HCI

http://reu.hci.vt.edu

REU in HCI

Broadening Participation in Computing through the

Research Experience for Undergrads Program

Building Interfaces for Tomorrow’s Technologythrough the Virginia Tech Undergraduate Research

in Human-Computer Interaction Program

D. Scott McCrickard

mccricks@cs.vt.edu

Woodrow W. Winchester

wwwinche@vt.edu

Program activities

• Orientation– Program & campus overview

– Survival skills boot camp

– Grad school overview

– Laboratories overview

• Creation of Research Prospectus – with faculty members/lab groups

• Mid-term evaluations/lunches

• Final presentations

• Connections with students beyond the program

http://reu.hci.vt.edu

REU in HCI

• Understand ways to approach hard problems with novel, structured techniques– specification of opportunities that will result in valued

solutions

– development of products that embodies innovation

• Provide a "hands-on" experience with processes and products of research– current domain areas & application platforms

– system classification and description procedures

– information and interaction design considerations

– development and evaluation methodologies

• Experience joys and frustrations of research

Why research? http://reu.hci.vt.edu

REU in HCI

Things to consider…

• Typical projects must extend well developed skill sets— examples:

– Build (programming), test, document

– Extensive literature review

• Many different models for sponsoring successful projects

– 1-to-1 mentorship by faculty

– Small research groups and seminar projects

– Graduate student involvement

• Questions to ask:

– Will my project lead to a publishable product?

– Will my project lead to grad school, internships, and jobs?

– Will there be continuation of my project over time?

– How will my project lead to broader collaborations: minority, multidisciplinary, inter-university, etc?

• Potential venues for research

– Academic, corporate, government, military opportunities

http://reu.hci.vt.edu

REU in HCI