Department of Computer Science
Dr. Susan Athey, PhD, a Duke Economics/Mathematics/Computer Science alumna and professor of economics at Stanford Graduate School of Business, was elected president of the American Economic Association. Athey previously served as Microsoft's chief economist, and also previously taught economics at MIT, Stanford, and Harvard. Professor Athey received her PhD at Stanford, and also holds an honorary doctorate from Duke. read more about Duke CS-Econ-Math Alumna Named 2023 American Economic Assn. President »
Duke CS PhD students Haiyang Huang and Yingfan Wang won the John M. Chambers Software Award from the Statistical Computing and Statistical Graphics section of the American Statistical Association (ASA) for their Python package PaCMAP, based on a project with Duke Professor Cynthia Rudin and Assistant Professor Yaron Shaposhnik from University of Rochester's Simon School. The tool's code performs dimension reduction for data visualization, allowing us to see inside high-dimensional datasets by… read more about Duke CS PhD Students Win ASA Chambers Software Award »
Three Duke Computer Science students received awards from the Computing Research Association (CRA) for Outstanding Undergraduate Research in 2023. Selected as a Finalist, Zeyu Shen works on the intersection of algorithms, machine learning, and social science with Kamesh Munagala and Brandon Fain. Also selected as a Finalist, Rui Xin works on interpretable machine learning with an emphasis on sparse models with Cynthia Rudin and Margo Seltzer. Awarded an Honorable Mention, William He works on circuit complexity with Ben… read more about Duke CS Students Win 2023 CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Research Awards »
By Brian Hayes How many passengers can the nation’s airlines carry between all the pairs of cities they connect? How many gigabits of data can pass through the optical fibers that make up the backbone of the Internet? How much electricity can the power grid transmit from generating stations to customers? From the point of view of theoretical computer science, these questions can all be seen as variations on a single problem known as all-pairs max-flow, or APMF. The computational challenge of APMF… read more about Go with the Flow: Panigrahi and Colleagues Break Through a 60-Year-Old Bottleneck in Max-Flow Problems »
Duke CS faculty (including Kartik Nayak, Xiaowei Yang, and Fan Zhang) and students had 5 research papers at the recent flagship ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security (CCS) Nov. 7-11. Michael Reiter and collaborators won the 2012 Test-of-Time Paper Award, and Bruce Maggs and collaborators won the Best Paper Honorable Mention. Ashwin Machanavajjhala and Neil Gong served as Program Committee… read more about Duke CS at ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security (CCS) »
Duke CS-Economics double major Qi Xuan Koo won a Rhodes Scholarship, based on high academic achievement, personal integrity, and leadership potential. A Karsh International Scholar from Malaysia, Khoo researched developing ML predictive models for COVID infection based on wearables data, assisted professors investigating US Medicare fraud, analyzed county COVID-19 policies, and built an NC data pipeline for domestic violence shelters while at Duke. He's also a Woodman Scholar at Duke Economic Analytics Lab and an Arete… read more about Duke CS-Economics Major Qi Xuan Koo Wins a Rhodes Scholarship »
By Glenn McDonald Duke Computer Science assistant professor Pardis Emami-Naeini has a straightforward mission in her professional life – straightforward but not easy. She’s dedicated her career to making meaningful improvements in privacy and security for everyday computer users. That is to say, for pretty much everyone on the planet. “My research area is at the intersection of human computer interaction and security and privacy,” Emami-Naeini says. “I… read more about Pardis Emami-Naeini: Dedicated to the Human Aspect of Privacy and Security »
Bruce Donald, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and professor in biochemistry and colleagues developed RESISTOR, an algorithm that uses protein structure-based computational design to predict how mutations in enzymes will affect a drug’s efficacy, especially when treating cancer. Cancer tumors often develop resistance to treatment, but this algorithm can predict those resistance mutations in advance, which could lead to better drug development and treatment plans. read more about Bruce Donald: Fighting Cancer with Algorithms »
By Glenn McDonald Data is everywhere. In the modern digitized world, data powers virtually every endeavor and transaction — from car loans to medical diagnoses to interstellar imaging. Data science, as such, is necessarily a deep and interdisciplinary field of study. Dr. Jian Pei, Professor and now chair of Duke's department of Computer Science in 2023, has dedicated his professional life to advancing the science of data… read more about Jian Pei: Working to Bring Equity and Efficiency to the Practical Applications of Data Science »
Duke CS and Biochemistry Associate Professor Alberto Bartesaghi and a research team including partners from the Duke Human Vaccine Institute (DHVI) received a federal grant of >$27M over 5 years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Dr. Bartesaghi co-directs the Structural Biology Core at the newly formed Duke Center for HIV Structural Biology (DCHSB), leading the development of computational techniques to enable the visualization of dynamic HIV-antibody… read more about Alberto Bartesaghi and Research Team Awarded Federal Grant to Build Structural Models of HIV »
Merrell Patrick, who helped establish the Department of Computer Science at Duke, passed away recently. Duke University flags will be lowered today in his honor. read more about In Memoriam: Duke CS Founder, Merrell Patrick »
Duke CS Associate Professor Sudeepa Roy has won the 2022 VLDB Early Career Research Contribution Award for her work on helping users to understand query results, and on generating explanations for the underlying computations. This award specifically recognizes a researcher who has demonstrated database research impact through a specific technical contribution of high significance since completing their PhD degree. The VLDB endowment awards ceremony and presentations will be held on Sept. 8, 2022 at the 48th… read more about Sudeepa Roy Wins 2022 Very Large Databases (VLDB) Early Career Award »
Duke CS undergrads Jenny Huang, Gaurav Parikh, and Albert Sun won the American Statistical Association (ASA) Data Challenge Expo this year! Coached by Cynthia Rudin and Lesia Semenova, the students' paper on Public Transit Policies to Promote Equitable Urban Mobility suggested that urban mobility and unequal commute data can guide policymakers to enact appropriate policies that enhance the accessibility of public transportation for everyone. Huang and Parikh presented their research at the Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM)… read more about Duke CS Undergrad Team Wins ASA Data Challenge Expo 2022 »
Duke CS Assistant Professor Kartik Nayak and Yale CS Assistant Professor Fan Zhang received several grants from the Ethereum Foundation, a non-profit organization supporting the open-source blockchain technology that powers Ethereum. These grants will fund research to advance the Ethereum ecosystem: Disentangling Transaction Privacy and Consensus in Ethereum (Nayak and Zhang); Catching the ephemeral: Understanding blockchains through mempool data (Zhang and Nayak); and Improving Ethereum… read more about Duke CS Awarded Several Grants from the Ethereum Foundation »
CS+, our popular 10-week summer research program exclusively for Duke undergrads, recently concluded with an in-person symposium. CS+, Data+, Code+ and Climate+ Program participants also presented their creative and innovative research projects in a poster session. Over 100 students participated in the 2022 + programs, 49 posters were displayed and > 2/3 of students participating in + programs study CS. read more about 2022 Undergraduate Summer Research Programs Conclude with a Symposium and Poster Session »
NSF awarded Duke a $1.5 M grant to advance cybersecurity efforts as part of the $25.4 M Secure and Trustworthy Computing (SaTC) "Frontier" research program. With Indiana University as the lead institution, James B. Duke CS/ECE Distinguished Professor Mike Reiter is PI and Yale's Fan Zhang is Co-PI of the multi-institution and multi-disciplinary Center for Distributed Confidential Computing (CDCC) project at Duke. Researchers' goal is to provide solutions for protecting data-in-use, like… read more about NSF Awards $1.5M Grant to Duke for Secure and Trustworthy Computing (SaTC) Research »
NSF awarded a new STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowship $1M+ grant over three years to The Alliance for Identity-Inclusive Computing Education. Duke Professor of the Practice of CS and Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies Dr. Nicki Washington is the PI, and co-PIs are Dr. Shani Daily, Professor of the Practice of ECE and CS and Dr. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, James B. Duke Distinguished Sociology Professor. With three postdocs supporting Duke-related activities,… read more about NSF Awards STEM Education Postdoc Research Fellowship Grant »
Duke Computer Science Associate Professor Ashwin Machanavajjhala and PhD student Yuchao Tao, together with their collaborators at HKUST (including Duke CS PhD graduate Ke Yi), won the Best Paper Award in Data Management at SIGMOD 2022. Professor Pankaj Agarwal and collaborators won Test-of-Time PODS Paper Award for Mergeable Summaries. Duke Computer Science faculty and PhD students presented seven (7) research papers at the conference. SIGMOD PODS is a prestigious annual… read more about Duke Computer Science Wins Best Paper and Test-of-Time Awards at SIGMOD PODS 2022 »
Dr. Cynthia Rudin was nominated as a 2021-22 Chron15 Pioneer. Duke Chronicle readers identified leaders, pioneers and icons that make positive change in the community. Rudin, also the director of Duke's Interpretable ML Lab, was selected for her innovative research and design of interpretable forms of AI, and her approach to ML which has generated breakthrough results. Rudin's national recognition includes the 2021 AAAI Squirrel AI Award and a 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship. read more about Rudin Selected as 2021-22 Chron15 Pioneer »
Congratulations to all recipients of the 2022 undergraduate student awards. Alex Vasilos Memorial Award Awarded to a graduating senior who completes an outstanding research project whose results should be published or of publishable quality with the intent to publish. In addition, this senior should have done excellent work in all computer science courses with a recognized joy of and appreciation for computer science as a discipline of study. Three students received this award… read more about 2022 Undergraduate Awards »
Congratulations to all recipients of the 2022 undergraduate student awards. Alex Vasilos Memorial Award Awarded to a graduating senior who completes an outstanding research project whose results should be published or of publishable quality with the intent to publish. In addition, this senior should have done excellent work in all computer science courses with a recognized joy of and appreciation for computer science as a discipline of study. Three students received this award… read more about Undergraduate Awards 2022 »
Congratulations to Dr. Cynthia Rudin, Duke Earl D. McLean, Jr. Professor of CS, ECE, Statistics, Math, Biostats & Bioinformatics on being named a 2022 Bass Chair. One of only four Duke Professors selected for this honor, Rudin is recognized for demonstrating excellence in both teaching and research. read more about Cynthia Rudin selected as 2022 Bass Chair »
Duke CS Alum and DraftKings' CEO, Jason Robins was named #12 on Boston Globe's Top 50 Tech Power Players list in May 2022 for growing and leading one of the region's biggest consumer tech brands. DraftKings is the vertically integrated Boston sports-betting and online gaming company he cofounded in 2011, which became publicly traded in 2020 and now operates in 17 countries. Robins expanded DraftKings’ reach across numerous platforms with daily fantasy, regulated gaming and digital media products via strategic partnerships. read more about Duke CS Alum and DraftKings CEO Jason Robins is #12 on Boston Globe's Top 50 Tech Power Players »
Duke CS Alumna Mary McKee was nominated Blue Devil of the Week in May 2022. Now the Deputy Chief Information Security Officer, Senior Director of Identity Management and Security Services at Duke OIT, McKee helps users of Duke's many online services have a seamless and secure experience, among other activities. read more about Duke CS Alumna Mary McKee Named Blue Devil of the Week »
Professors Nicki Washington and Shani Daily were selected as 2021 co-recipients of the Dean’s Diversity Award, which recognizes how diversity drives excellence in research, teaching, advising, mentoring, and service. Their leadership of the Cultural Competence in Computing (3C) Fellows Program and the Alliance for Identity-Inclusive Computing Education (AIICE) is transforming participation and perspectives in computing. read more about Professors Shaundra Daily and Nicki Washington Receive Dean's Diversity Award »
Robert Calderbank, Ph.D., Charles S. Sydnor Distinguished Professor of Computer Science, Professor of Math, ECE, and Physics; Director of the Rhodes Information Initiative, and Associate of the Duke Initiative for Science and Society, was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Academy was founded in 1780 to honor excellence and national leadership in academia, the arts, industry, public policy and research. read more about Robert Calderbank Elected to American Academy of Arts & Sciences »
Duke CS-Poli Sci '20 graduate Justin Sherman's research on data brokers — the multibillion-dollar industry of buying and selling your data — is featured in an April 2022 episode of HBO's LastWeekTonight with John Oliver. Sherman is a data security expert and a cyber policy fellow at Duke. In this 2019 profile, Sherman shares how he became interested in cybersecurity. read more about Duke CS Grad Justin Sherman's research featured on HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver »
Three Duke CS students received NSF Graduate Research Fellowships: Jerry Liu, who also just received the DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship, worked with Dr. Cynthia Rudin and will pursue a PhD in computational mathematics at Stanford. ECE-CS student Alex Oesterling worked with Dr. David Smith and Dr. Guillermo Sapiro, and will pursue a PhD in computer science at Harvard, focusing on algorithmic fairness and trustworthy AI. Andy Zhang, whose CS mentor was Dr.… read more about 3 Duke CS Students Receive 2022 NSF Graduate Research Fellowships »
Aditya Paul, Duke Computer Science/ECE double major with a Math minor, won the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. This national award is based on academic merit and supports students who show promise of being part of the next generation of research leaders. Paul plans to earn a doctorate in electrical engineering, conduct research in quantum information systems and algorithms, and teach at a university. Congratulations! read more about Aditya Paul Named 2022 Goldwater Scholar »
Congratulations to Duke Computer Science, ECE, Statistics, Biostats and Math Professor Cynthia Rudin who was recently elected as a new Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) for groundbreaking and pioneering work on interpretable machine learning and trustworthy AI. New Fellows were honored at a special virtual ceremony during the AAAI 2022 Conference. Rudin also received the 2022 AAAI Squirrel AI Award for pioneering socially responsible AI and the prestigious… read more about Cynthia Rudin Named 2022 AAAI Fellow and Guggenheim Fellow »