Georgia Tech hosted a two-day Mothbox science workshop held on October 28-29, 2024. The workshop was sponsored by the Agile Systems Lab (run by Simon Sponberg in the School of Physics) through the Multidisciplinary Research Initiative with support from the Institute for People and Technology (IPaT). This hands-on workshop was spearheaded by Yash Sondhi, a postdoctoral researcher from the Agile Systems Lab at Georgia Tech.

IPaT’s lab spaces (the Craft Lab and Prototyping Lab) provided both space and technical assistance for the workshop participants. IPaT faculty member Tim Trent manages both labs and provided generous assistance throughout the workshop to build the traps.

The MothBox is an automated light trap that attracts and photographs moths and other nocturnal insects. A raspberry pi (mini-computer) controls a super high-resolution camera and lights, so that the MothBox can be deployed and programmed to collect data at a pre-defined schedule. A computer vision model then processes the images and automatically identifies the insects captured by the trap. Insect censuses are valuable tools for assessing the state of an ecosystem, especially insects’ vast numbers, short lifespan, and proximity to the base of the food chain. 

Mothbox was selected as a 2024 WILDLABS Awards winner.

A detailed review of the workshop was posted by WILDLABS.NET discussing the construction of the moth boxes where participants gained hands-on experience building and testing them.

Read the full workshop article here >>

Watch Andy Quitmeyer's Mothbox lecture >> he delivered as a keynote lecture at Georgia Tech on Oct. 29, 2024 in support of the workshop. Andy Quitmeyer, Ph.D., designs new ways to interact with the natural world. His transdisciplinary work spans scientific and design processes, from material exploration and natural experimentation to artistic outreach.

The Foley Scholar Awards recognize the achievements of top graduate students whose vision and research are shaping the future of how people interact with and value technology. 

Winners and finalists for the 2024 Foley Scholar Awards were celebrated at Georgia Tech's hotel and convention center on November 12, 2024. The event was hosted by the Institute for People and Technology with its executive director, Michael Best, serving as the master of ceremonies as each finalist was recognized for their innovative research. James Foley, professor emeritus and for whom the awards are named for, once again delivered inspiring and valuable insight at the conclusion of the evening's festivities celebrating the achievements of all finalists.

"Congratulations to the awardees and finalists who represent the finest that Georgia Tech has to offer," said Michael Best. "Our judges had a difficult task of selecting winners this year because each finalist was so outstanding," said Best.

Congratulations to the 2024 Foley Scholars who are:

• Momin Siddiqui, M.S. student in computer science was awarded $1,000.
• Vanessa Oguamanam, Ph.D. student in computer science was awarded $5,000.
• Charles Ramey, Ph.D student in computer science was awarded $5,000.
• Jiawei Zhou, Ph.D student in human centered computing was awarded $5,000.

The finalists in the master's category were Jordan Brown, Jared Lim, Da Hee (Stephanie) Kim, and Momin Siddiqui.

The finalists in the Ph.D. category were Beatriz Palacios Abad, Adam Coscia, Eric Greenlee, Alexandra Teixeira Riggs, Vishal Sharma, Vanessa Oguamanam, Charles Ramey, and Jiawei Zhou.

A short description of each finalists' unique research along with their Georgia Tech faculty advisor is listed below:

Jordan Brown is a master's student in human computer interaction advised by Andrea Parker. Her research vision is to design and innovate technology that empowers and promotes the emotional and physical wellbeing for underrepresented groups, specifically Black women.

Jared Lim is a master's student in computer science advised by Judith Uchidiuno. His primary research interest is providing computer science opportunities for children from low-resource communities through informal settings or settings outside the traditional classroom.

Da Hee (Stephanie) Kim is a master's student in human computer interaction advised by Mengyao Li. Her research is focused on leveraging robot-mediated intimacy to help couples in long-distance relationships maintain and deepen their emotional intimacy, using an interdisciplinary approach between philosophical, psychological, and human-robot interaction methods and theories.

Momin Siddiqui is a master's student in computer science advised by Chris MacLellan. His research wants to understand how to leverage artificial intelligence to build education technologies that foster a creative, adaptive, and constructionist learning experience for students.

Beatriz Palacios Abad is a Ph.D. student in computer science advised by Ellen Zegura. Her research work lies at the intersection of networking, policy, and human centered computing, focusing on mobile broadband mapping. Her overall research vision is to inform policy and technological efforts in the pursuit of digital inclusion. Specifically, with the goal of supporting localized, community organizing efforts around broadband.

Adam Coscia is a Ph.D. student in human centered computing advised by Alex Endert. His research vision is to develop and deploy responsible and trustworthy AI in education. The advent of generalizable and scalable AI models, namely large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, has catalyzed educational communities to begin integrating LLMs into novel adaptive learning tools, such as chatbots for answering questions about course material, or interactive conversational aids for learning and feedback. Yet LLMs have also been shown to introduce potential pedagogical risks and harms, such as responding with misinformation and discriminatory language and biasing scores when used for grading.

Eric Greenlee is a Ph.D. student in computer science advised by Josiah Hester and Ellen Zegure. His research aims to build relationships with historically marginalized communities and to co-design environmental sensing systems that promote their sovereignty and self-advocacy. He also develops novel electronic cyberinfrastructure that provides information about the environment in both a socially and environmentally sustainable manner.

Alexandra Teixeira Riggs is a Ph.D. student in digital media advised by Anne Sullivan. Their overarching research vision is to develop a set of design recommendations and approaches for queering, or critically reorienting, the design of tangible embodied interactive experiences that explore queer history. They are drawing from several prior projects to conceptualize a body of work, looking to how they have each involved archival ephemera, critical human computer interaction, and tangible making, towards reframing histories and empowering queer communities today.

Vishal Sharma is a Ph.D. student in human centered computing advised by Neha Kumar. As a sociotechnical researcher, he studies the design and use of digital technologies in supporting climate justice. He aims to expand the human-computer interaction scholarship on climate justice, paving the way for a future where technology actively supports sustainable development for all. 

Vanessa Oguamanam is a Ph.D. student in computer science advised by Andrea Parker. Her research contributes to the fields of human-computer interaction, digital health equity, and mobile and ubiquitous computing. She conducts empirical research examining the utilization and perceptions of consumer digital health technologies to support mental health among perinatal Black women, assessing the extent to which these tools satisfy their needs. Her insights underscore the importance of nuanced approaches to digital interventions that can accommodate women's unique needs and perspectives with particular intersectional experiences and identities. 

Charles Ramey is a Ph.D. student in computer science advised by Thad Starner and Melody Jackson. His research utilizes wearable and embedded computers, along with AI, to enable humans to communicate with, better care for, and work with non-human animals. He believes that advances gained in understanding the sensory, cognitive, and communicative abilities of non-human animals will create a world more empathetic to all species with whom we share our planet.

Jiawei Zhou is a Ph.D. student in human centered computing advised by Munmun DeChoudhury. According to Zhou, information is integral to every aspect of our lives, from personal decisions to professional activities. Careful and mindful approaches to meeting informational needs are vital to navigating the abundance of available information, critically consuming content, and protecting ourselves from misinformation and manipulation. Her goal is to pursue a research agenda on the role of technologies in shaping individual wellbeing and social ecologies, as well as responsible communication and public education of technological capabilities and limitations.

About the James D. Foley Endowment
The James D. Foley Endowment, established in 2007, is named for James D. Foley, professor and founder of the GVU Center (now integrated with IPaT as of January, 2023) at Georgia Tech. The award was established by Foley's colleagues and IPaT/GVU alumni to honor his significant contributions in the field of computing, his influence on the work of others, and his dedication to the development of new research directions.

Funds from the Foley Endowment are used to support the students and research activities of the Institute for People and Technology (IPaT), including the Foley Scholars Fellowships, awarded annually to two graduate students on the basis of personal vision, brilliance, and potential impact. Foley Scholars are selected by an advisory board comprised of alumni, current faculty, and industry partners during the fall semester.

This month, the future of artificial intelligence (AI) was spotlighted as more than 120 academic and industry researchers participated in the Georgia Tech School of Interactive Computing’s inaugural Summit on Responsible Computing, AI, and Society.

With looming questions about AI's growing roles and consequences in nearly every facet of modern life, School of IC organizers felt the time was right to diverge from traditional conferences that focus on past work and published research.

“Presenting papers is about disseminating work that has already been completed. Who gets to be in the room is determined by whose paper gets accepted,” said Mark Riedl, School of IC professor.

“Instead, we wanted the summit talks to speculate on future directions and what challenges we as a community should be thinking about going forward.”

The two-day summit, held at Tech’s Global Learning Center Oct. 28-30, convened to discuss consequential questions like:

• Is society ready to accept more responsibility as greater advancements in technologies like AI are made?
• Should society stop to think about potential consequences before these advancements are implemented on its behalf, and what could those consequences be?
• What policies should be enacted for these technologies to mitigate harms and augment societal benefits?

A highlight of the summit’s opening day was Meredith Ringel Morris's keynote address. As director of human-AI interaction research at Google DeepMind, she presented a possible future in which humans could use AI to create a digital afterlife.

In her remarks, Morris discussed AI clones, which are AI avatars of specific human beings with high autonomy and task-performing capabilities. Someone could leave such an agent behind as a memory for loved ones to enjoy once they are gone, and future generations could access it to learn more about an ancestor.

On the other hand, it could easily lead to loved ones experiencing extended grief because they have trouble moving on from losing a family member.

These AI capabilities are in development and will soon be publicly available. As industry and academic researchers continue to develop them, the public needs to learn about their eminent impacts.

“There’s a lot that needs to be done in educating people,” Morris said. “It’s hard for well-intentioned and thoughtful system designers to anticipate all the harm. We must be prepared some people are going to use AI in ways we don’t anticipate, and some of those ways are going to be undesirable. What legal and education structures can we create that will help?”

In addition to Morris’s keynote, the summit’s first day included 20 talks about future and emerging technologies in AI, sustainability, healthcare, and other fields. 

The second day featured eight talks on translating interventions and safeguards into policy.

Day-two speakers included: 

• Orly Lobel, Warren Distinguished Professor of Law and director of the Center for Employment and Labor Policy at the University of California-San Diego. Lobel worked on President Obama’s policy team on innovation and labor market competition, and she advises the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). 
• Sorelle Friedler, Shibulal Family Professor of Computer Science at Haverford College. She worked in the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) under the Biden-Harris Administration and helped draft the AI Bill of Rights. 
• Jake Metcalf, researcher and program director for AI on the Ground at the think tank Data & Society. The organization produces reports on data science and equity for the US Government. 
• Divyansh Kaushik, Vice President of Beacon Global Strategies, has given testimony to the US Senate on AI research and development.

Kaushik earned a Ph.D. in machine learning from Carnegie Mellon University before beginning his career in policy. He highlighted the importance of policymakers fostering relationships with academic researchers.

“Policymakers think about what could go wrong,” Kaushik said. “Academia can offer evidence-based answers.”

The summit also hosted a doctoral consortium, which allowed advanced Ph.D. students to present their research to experts and receive feedback and mentoring.

“Being an interdisciplinary researcher is challenging,” said Shaowen Bardzell, School of IC chair.

“We wanted the next generation to be in the room listening to the experts share their visions and also to provide our own experiences when possible on how to navigate the challenges and rewards of doing work in the intersection of AI, healthcare, sustainability, and policy.”

Pinar Keskinocak has been selected as the next leader of Georgia Tech’s H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE). She will serve as the H. Milton and Carolyn J. Stewart School Chair beginning January 1.

Keskinocak is the William W. George Chair and Professor and serves as ISyE’s associate chair for faculty development. 

She will be ISyE’s ninth permanent chair, leading a school renowned for its top-ranked graduate and undergraduate industrial engineering programs. U.S. News & World Report has consistently ranked ISyE as the nation's best since the mid-1990s.

“Pinar is a proven and respected leader both on campus and within her academic and research community,” said Raheem Beyah, dean of the College of Engineering and Southern Company Chair. “She is well-positioned to continue advancing ISyE’s national prominence and accelerate the School’s trajectory.” 

Keskinocak is the cofounder and director Georgia Tech’s Center for Health and Humanitarian Systems, an interdisciplinary research center focused on education, outreach, and developing innovative solutions via advanced modeling, analytics, and systems engineering.

Keskinocak’s research has had broad societal impact. This includes policies and practices for improved emergency preparedness and response, disease prevention and public health, healthcare access, resource allocation, and supply chain management. 

Beatriz Palacios Abad, a computer science doctoral student in Georgia Tech’s College of Computing, won both a best paper award and impact recognition award at the 2024 ACM SIGCHI conference on computer-supported cooperative work and social computing (CSCW 2024) held in San José, Costa Rica, November 9-13, 2024.

The ACM SIGCHI best paper awards honor exceptional papers published at the conference. The impact recognition award is given for strong examples of work that demonstrates or has clear potential to demonstrate real-world or practical impact. 

Her paper, “Mending the Fabric: the Contentious, Collaborative Work of Repairing Broadband Maps,” was co-authored by Elizabeth Belding at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Morgan Vigil-Hayes at Northern Arizona University, and Ellen Zegura, professor of computer science at Georgia Tech who also serves as Palacios Abad’s advisor.

Her research paper shows that the repair of broadband data maps in the U.S. involves a complex interplay between competition and collaboration among various stakeholders, mediated by the government. The process disproportionately burdens marginalized groups, who are often tasked with correcting the official records that misrepresent their communities. Accurate, repaired maps are crucial for guiding substantial investments in broadband infrastructure, emphasizing the need for better tools and support for long-term, community-driven efforts.

This study underscores the ongoing struggle for digital equity and the critical role of accurate data in shaping policy and infrastructure investments. The paper calls for a more inclusive approach to broadband map repair, recognizing the efforts and challenges faced by those working in digital inclusion.

CITATION: Beatriz Palacios Abad, Ellen Zegura, et. al. “Mending the Fabric: the Contentious, Collaborative Work of Repairing Broadband Maps” Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Vol. 8, CSCW2, Article 464 (November 2024). https://doi.org/10.1145/3687003