UMIACS

Congratulations to Ian Miers on his IEEE Security S&P Test of Time Award. A 2014 paper he coauthored, “Zerocash: Decentralized Payments from Bitcoin," pioneered blockchain security protocols that are now used in many cryptocurrencies. Learn more: go.umd.edu/1onv

Abhinav Bhatele, an associate professor of computer science with an appointment in UMIACS, is this year's recipient of Illinois Computer Science's Early Career Academic Achievement Alumni Award. The award honors alumni who have attained early milestones or showed strong promise toward long standing contributions to computer science education and research. Read more: https://lnkd.in/e2FmhgPk

Furong Huang (pictured center) has been selected to participate in a new federal AI initiative that will provide her with access to the powerful Delta supercomputer to develop and test novel technologies and protocols that will strengthen the ethical foundations of AI. Supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Huang's project is just one of 35 nationwide that's been chosen to jumpstart the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource program. Learn more: go.umd.edu/3QLSSrm

Abhinav Shrivastava (pictured left) has been selected to participate in a new federal AI initiative that will provide him with access to one of the world's fastest supercomputers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to improve AI-based visual recognition models. Supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Shrivastava's project is just one of 35 nationwide that's been chosen to jumpstart the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource program. Learn more: go.umd.edu/NAIRR1

Join us in congratulating our eight faculty members who have received academic promotions in recognition of their continued excellence in research, scholarship, and service to the University of Maryland campus community and beyond. Learn more: http://go.umd.edu/1p8w

Congrats to JQI Fellow, UMD Adjunct Professor, and Amazon Scholar Alexey Gorshkov, who supports our team at the AWS Center for Quantum Computing, for being honored with the IEEE Photonics Society Quantum Electronics Award for his research contributions in the areas of understanding, designing, and controlling interacting quantum systems. Learn more about the award: amzn.to/3z6UaHw Amazon Web Services (AWS), UMIACS, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Joint Quantum Institute #QuantumComputing #AWS

Congratulations to Amisha Bhaskar, Rui Liu, and Guangyao Shi on winning the best paper award at the Cooking Robotics workshop at #ICRA2024! Fantastic way to cap off the conference!

Excited to share our latest work on LAVA: Long-horizon Visual Action based Food Acquisition, in Robotic Assisted Feeding (RAF) technology- @RAAS lab UMIACS with my co-authors Rui Liu, Vishnu Dutt Sharma, Guangyao Shi and my advisor Pratap Tokekar. LAVA is a hierarchical policy framework that empowers robots to adeptly handle a wide array of food types, from liquids to semi-solids and deformable items, enhancing adaptability and decision-making based on visual cues. Our comprehensive experimental analysis showcases LAVA's superior performance in achieving remarkable efficiency, minimizing spillage and breakage, and ensuring adaptive scooping across various food configurations. With a success rate of 89±4%, LAVA consistently outperforms baseline models. Moreover, LAVA's ability to excel in zero-shot generalization demonstrates its robustness and versatility, successfully managing unseen food configurations and redefining the standards in RAF technology. This work not only advances our understanding and capabilities in robotic feeding but also opens new pathways for enhancing the quality of life for individuals with mobility impairments, offering them a greater degree of independence and autonomy. Stay tuned for more updates, including the release of open-source codes and datasets, as we continue to explore and expand the boundaries of what's possible in assistive robotics. Your feedback and contributions are invaluable as we strive to make a meaningful impact in the realm of robotic-assisted feeding. Paper: https://lnkd.in/eDwrUV4q Video demo: https://lnkd.in/epZrZ_UE Project website: https://lnkd.in/e_CG6CNS Twitter: https://lnkd.in/eap_KC53 #Robotics #MachineLearning #AssistiveTechnology #Innovation #Research

The countdown is on for the medVR Live Talk featuring the Center for Medical Innovations in Extended Reality (MIXR)! Meet our second esteemed speaker, Barbara Brawn, MS, Managing Director of MIXR. Ms. Brawn is leading the charge in #medical #AR & #VR innovation across #clinical practice, #education, and #regulatory standards. Here's what you can expect: - Discover MIXR's groundbreaking work in scene acquisition, predictive modeling, immersive telepresence, and more. - Learn how MIXR is shaping the future of medical training and patient care. - Network with a community of #healthcare pioneers. Register now to secure your spot! 👉 https://lnkd.in/e8ajdnZS  #medVR #webinar #innovation #healthcareIT #futureofmedicine #medxr #ar #vr #augmentedreality #virtualreality #extendedreality #innovation #innovationinhealthcare #digitalhealth #immersivetechnologies #mixr

The Center for Medical Innovations in Extended Reality (MIXR) will be discussing their work to improve public health through the use of XR technologies in a virtual panel, hosted by MedVR, on Wednesday, April 3. Learn more and register: https://go.umd.edu/4cvgrhb