Cal Poly Computer Science & Software Engineering Newsletter 2020

CSSE News

Computer Science & Software Engineering • Cal Poly College of Engineering • Fall 2020

Inside: • Computer Science Student Writes Software for CubeSats • CSSE Grad to Explore Inequities in Tech with Rensselaer Fellowship • Foaad Khosmood Receives Distinguished Scholarship Award

CRIME FIGHTER

Computer science major developing a virtual reality simulation to help train law enforcement See Page 6 Please see OCEAN MONITORING, Page 2

CSSE News Department Adapts to the New Normal

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Chris Lupo

Since on-campus graduation ceremonies were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students and faculty in the Computer Science and Software Engineering Department recreated Cal Poly’s Spanos Stadium with Minecraft and held a virtual ceremony, where graduates could attend with their avatars.

On the Cover Computer science student Zahnae Aquino works at the California Cybersecurity Institute, developing a virtual reality simulation to help train law enforcement. (Photo by Joe Johnston | Cal Poly).

hen we learned last spring that there would be no public commencement ceremonies due to the pandemic, we knew those who earned the right to celebrate their achievements with friends, family, and faculty would be disappointed — as were we. But as engineers and computer scientists, we are trained to adapt to changing situations, so faculty and students combined resources to create a detailed virtual Cal Poly campus with Minecraft, and many of our graduates — in avatar form, anyway — were still able to accept their diplomas at the Spanos Stadium.

It was a really fun project that made the best of a bad situation and demonstrated how creative our students and faculty can be. And I can attest that recreating Cal Poly with blocks is definitely a Learn by Doing experience!

As you know, some classes are being held in person this fall, but most are still being taught online. Considering many employees across the country were shifting toward remote working situations even before the pandemic, this isn’t a completely foreign concept. And I’m impressed daily by how our faculty have quickly adapted to this challenge.

Of course, our faculty are always innovating. And in this newsletter, you’ll learn that Foaad Khosmood was recently honored as a Distinguished Scholar.

You’ll read more about Dr. Khosmood in the next issue of Engineering Advantage, but his creative ideas have included the Global Game Jam, a game creation event enjoyed by people around the world.

In recent years, space exploration has experienced a revitalization, and John Bellardo has been a major part of Cal Poly’s contribution. Since our last publication, Dr. Bellardo has also been honored as a Distinguished Scholar, and he was part of a team recognized for an amazing Mars project that broke new ground for NASA. But the bulk of this newsletter features students.

While we have many amazing students, here we spotlight five, whose achievements encompass cybersecurity, space, artificial intelligence and art.

When you read their stories, you’ll understand why Cal Poly’s College of Engineering was recently ranked in the top ten nationally by the U.S. News & World Report.

Speaking of student success, a team of five students in the Software for Social Good club recently participated in the Requirements Engineering for Social Good’s annual RE Cares event.

During the event, the Cal Poly team, working with students from Kentucky, built software to raise awareness of cybersecurity issues affecting small businesses that don’t have IT staff.

The team members — leaders Michelle Jakab and Greg Bisbjerg; Gwinnie Kidd; Armin Rafian; and Suhas Panthari — developed a prototype server where both the front end and back end communicate with each other. This project, guided by faculty mentor Alexander Dekhtyar, was met well at the conference, where Jakab offered a presentation to around 100 people.

The project’s target audience was Switzerland, but the results are relevant for the U.S. as well.

Donor support has always given our students an edge, and during this pandemic, we will likely rely on that support even more. In particular, we are seeking support for our student tutors, who are employed as instructional student assistants. In this virtual environment, our student tutors are offering private, one-on-one sessions with students who need assistance. As you can imagine, this is really important with the new virtual modality, and we’re seeing increased demand.

Every gift of $1,500 supports about 10 hours a week of tutoring for one quarter. As we always say, an investment in our students is an investment in our future. And we hope this newsletter shows how important our graduates will be in that future.

We hope the future will soon see everyone back on campus, healthy and safe. Until then, we will continue to adapt and learn from this experience. And while this fall’s commencement will also be remote, we expect there will be a virtual football stadium filled with proud avatars. n

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Ask NIMBUS: A.I. Project Will Answer Your Cal Poly Questions

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ake room, Alexa and Siri – NIMBUS is poised to become the talk of campus.

Like Alexa and Siri, NIMBUS is a virtual assistant artificial intelligence technology. But NIMBUS, currently in development, is being specifically designed to help students, faculty and staff on the Cal Poly campus.

Want to know how many units are in a class? Ask NIMBUS. Looking for a building on campus? NIMBUS will guide you. Need a contact for the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Club (CSAI)? It’s Franz Kurfess, according to NIMBUS, who can provide you an email address.

NIMBUS is the brainchild of the CSAI, which started working on the project in the spring of 2019. Funded by a Cal Poly CPConnect grant, NIMBUS has provided students with skills that include machine learning, database management, data analytics and software, hardware, mobile and web development. CSAI is planning on a soft release of NIMBUS to test performance this fall.

We asked Project Lead Chidi Ewenike about the project.

How did the idea for this come about?

When we formed the club last year, we wanted to bring together the AI community at Cal Poly for those new to AI and those with experience in the field. We wanted CSAI to be both a professional/social club and project-based club as well.

We thought it would be cool to create a general voice assistant like Alexa or Siri as a flagship project.

Our project advisor, Dr. Foaad Khosmood, provided the project with some scope and insisted that we focus on Cal Poly and answering questions about the university. Dr. Khosmood gave us data to work with and, along with Dr. Kurfess, continuous guidance and support for its implementation.

How would it work?

NIMBUS is available on two platforms: a hardware device (like Alexa Echo Dot) and a web application.

For the hardware device, users say “NIMBUS” to activate the assistant, ask it a question, and NIMBUS responds with the answer. The web application has a text interface on the web site. Users type in their question and NIMBUS responds with the appropriate answer that is displayed in the chat box. We are proud recipients of the Cal Poly College of Engineering CPConnect grant and Google Cloud Platform Educational Credit grant which provided us the resources to create NIMBUS. What sort of information can users get?

Regarding the entire campus, users can get club information and building information. For the Computer Science and Computer Engineering departments, users can get course information (prerequisites, descriptions, units, etc), faculty information (office location, office hours, courses taught, etc), and department information. In the future, we would like to expand to all departments on campus and add events and campus history.

Who is the intended audience?

NIMBUS is meant to help anyone who needs information about Cal Poly. This could be students, faculty, staff, administrators, parents, visitors, potential students, etc. The purpose is to provide users with information they may need at a moment’s notice.

What does NIMBUS stand for?

NIMBUS does not stand for anything. When the project started, we nominated and voted for a name that was appealing, somewhat uncommon, and did not rhyme with other words. This is similar to how Apple chose “Siri” as the name for their assistant.

How much work had the group done on this before the shelter at home orders?

Our project team was formed the spring quarter of 2019 and our goal was to complete an initial pro-

The NIMBUS team started working on the project in 2019.

To learn more about Cal Poly CSAI and NIMBUS, visit: https://www.calpolycsai.com/

totype by March of 2020. Our team met every Sunday from 12 - 3 PM in Bonderson since the start of the project and we were able to get a lot done during that time by being together in one place. Each quarter, there were goals to complete certain modules of the project and the team put everything together in time to meet our goal.

How has the team had to adapt since then?

The shelter order has been difficult for everyone.

Although we continued those meetings every Sunday via Zoom, it certainly has not been the same. Regardless, the team has done a great job adapting since our methods of communication and collaboration, such as Slack/GroupMe and GitHub, were established well before the pandemic. We have incredible advisors, leads, and developers whose unrelenting efforts has made this transition seamless. n NIMBUS leads include Miles Aikens (Cloud Infrastructure), Jason Ku (Software/Test), Michael Fekadu (Data), John Waidhofer (Web Development), Richa Gadgil (Natural Language Processing), Cameron Toy (Software), Tyler Herzog (Hardware), Austin Silveria (Information Infrastructure), and Charles Schnelz (General). Advisors include Foaad Khosmood, Franz Kurfess, and Wayne Pilkington. Developers included Ethan Ahlquist, Jay Ahn, Micah Briney, Steven Bradley, Jacob Burghgraef, Tyler Campanile, Rachel Castellino, Ben Dahlgren, Daniel DeFoe, Allen Deng, Kalen Goo, Karshin Gupta, Harumi Hokari, Grant Holland, Yale Hone, Eden Hoover, Simon Ibssa, Sid Khillon, Mason McElvain, Max Mohammadi, Brett Nelson, Taylor Nguyen, Viet Nguyen, Kevin Nottberg, Sai Pamidi, Adam Perlin, Storm Randolph, Samuel Sachnoff, Kush Upadhyay, Henry Yin. csc.calpoly.edu | 3

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Cracking the CubeSat Code

Computer science and math student Bailey Wickham writes key software for Cal Poly’s tiny satellites

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ven as a child, Bailey Wickham loved to think about the stars, physics, and math.

“My grandpa had a background in physics, so I talked with him a lot about it as a kid,” Wickham said.

Once he began studying math and computer science at Cal Poly, Wickham would learn more about space after hearing about the CubeSat lab from a classmate wearing a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory shirt. And eventually Wickham became project manager during the building and testing phase for one of three PolySat club projects currently in the works.

CubeSats are small satellites but they can be sophisticated, with elements of electrical, mechanical and software engineering. Wickham’s duties for the ExoCube 2 project included writing software for the satellite.

“The software is a huge component of the satellite,” Wickham said. “You can’t do anything without software on your satellite.”

Coming from the Portland area, Wickham was clearly influenced by his family. His grandfather, who had a degree in physics, was a computer scientist. Wickham’s mother is a middle school science teacher, and his father has a custom software company.

Wickham eventually plans to pursue a Ph.D. in math. But the PolySat club (which works out of the CubeSat lab) gave him an opportunity to explore an interest in space at Cal Poly, where the CubeSat was co-created by former aerospace engineering professor Jordi Puig-Suari.

“We were the first to do it, and we’re continuing to do it,” Wickham said. “I’m really proud to be part of something that has such a long legacy.”

ExoCube 2 will include a custom mass spectrometer, allowing researchers to

collect data on the mass and densities of ions located in the exosphere, the uppermost part of our atmosphere (approximately 370 miles above sea level).

“We haven’t had data on what the upper atmosphere is composed of since the 70s,” Wickham said. “This will give us more accurate measurements. It’s interesting because we’re curious about what the upper atmosphere is composed of, but it’s hard to study.”

ExoCube 2 also has an advanced Attitude Determination Control System (ADCS), for which Bailey performed code work.

“As we’re spinning around the planet, we want to know where we’re pointing,” he said. “And once we know where we’re pointing, that’s the determination point of it.”

The ExoCube 2 project – which is expected to be launched into space via Virgin Orbit – is a collaboration between Cal Poly, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Illinois. While other universities are involved, Wickham said there is no competition.

“The CubeSat community in general is very friendly,” he said. “Everyone is willing to share research and work with each other. I think the academic background is, ‘We’re doing this for everyone.’”

Wickham passed project manager duties on to Grace Guarraia, a physics major, as he phased out his PolySat work to focus on other projects. He is currently utilizing his math background to participate in the Frost Summer Undergraduate Research program, studying algebraic geometry and category theory.

“I’m interested in space, and I’m interested in physics, but I like studying the more theoretical stuff – the ‘why these things happen.’” n csc.calpoly.edu | 5

COVER STORY

Eyes on Crime

Computer science major Zahnae Aquino works at the California Cybersecurity Institute, developing a virtual reality simulation to help train law enforcement

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ahnae Aquino’s high school in suburban Seattle not only had an aviation and aerospace theme, it was actually located near a flight museum and an airport.

“During my senior year, my parking spot was stolen by a 747,” Aquino said. “I came up one day and there was literally a plane in my parking spot.”

While the Raisbeck Aviation High School acted as a feeder for the aviation industry, Aquino chose to pursue a computer science degree at Cal Poly instead of aerospace engineering.

At Cal Poly, she has dedicated her time to advocacy, which has included combatting human trafficking, serving as a Cal Poly ambassador and tour guide — known as a Poly Rep — and delivering a TEDx Talk stressing the importance of practicing empathy.

Initial credit for her success, she said, goes to her parents, who grew up in the Philippines. After attending college in their native country, Aquino’s parents moved to the United States in 1997 to pave the way for a better life for their future family, which now consists of Aquino and her younger sister.

“They came here knowing it was going to be hard,” she said.

While they had degrees from the Philippines, they had to take jobs performing manual labor in the U.S. “We lived in a 1-bedroom apartment, and they worked in the hotel industry, folding towels,” Aquino said.

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Eventually, they both earned additional degrees in the United States, her father finding work as an electrical engineer and her mother in accounting.

“I understand the value of hard work through what my parents were able to do,” Aquino said. “And knowing that I was a motivation for them to do a lot is humbling for me.”

Inspired by her parents’ socioeconomic advancement and hard work, Aquino went on to attend the competitive Raisbeck Aviation High School, designated by the Washington State legislature as a “lighthouse model of STEM education.” The school, named after aeronautical engineer and donor James Raisbeck, connects high school curriculum with aviation.

“My very first science class was Physical Science & the Physics of Flight,” she said. “For my introductory English class, we didn’t read the standard high school books -- they were all novels about airplanes or autobiographies about aviators.”

While there, her love for logic grew in two ways: She took a programming class from a teacher who had formerly worked on the Microsoft Excel project and learned how to develop argumentation through forensics.

“I’ve always been a math geek, and finally I was able to develop my love for logic in different forms.” she said.

At Cal Poly, she said, her passions became even more apparent. The former speech and debate team member honed her

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communication skills as a university ambassador, promoting the university to prospective students, parents, alumni, and donors while also introducing inclusivity into the practice of giving tours—allowing her be recognized as the “Poly Rep of the Year.” And in February, she presented a TEDx talk in San Luis Obispo, where she discussed some of her work using mixed reality tools to combat human trafficking as a student employee with the California Cybersecurity Institute.

At the CCI, she has created virtual worlds to train law enforcement who arrive at human trafficking crime scenes.

“Her skillset in programming, VR, and creativity has really allowed the CCI to go to the next level in offering competitions and trainings on a large scale and to a wider audience,” said Danielle Borrelli, operations coordinator at the CCI. “Her VR projects are top-notch. Highly detailed, thought through, and always makes sure to add a very human and tangible element to it.”

A big part of the human trafficking project, Aquino said, helps law enforcement spot signs of the crime and express empathy toward victims.

“I think the people in these scenarios need to be approached very delicately,” she said. “The people who find themselves in these circumstances do not want to be there, and have been coerced using fear. So they’re afraid of being criminalized or

hurt even further.”

Aquino intentionally programmed characters into the training modules that invoke powerful storytelling, Borrelli said.

“Her intention with this is to engage the heart and head and help those see, as realistically as possible, the suffering and trauma that is more often than not occurring for these individuals,” Borrelli said.

During her TEDx talk, Aquino shared that she is a sexual assault survivor. Her own experience, she says, helps her understand the importance of empathy.

“When people showed empathy to me, I was able to recognize the power of it,” she said. “At the end of the day, what empathy comes down to is being recognized and valued for being the person you are, no matter what your circumstances may be.”

CCI, which partners with Cal Poly to combat cyber threats, has helped Aquino combine her computer science skills with her desire to be an activist – and a realization that the two things don’t have to be separate.

“CCI has taught me that it’s possible to be someone that cares about the world and to use that care in the work you do as a developer.” n

csc.calpoly.edu | 7

Social Justice and Computing

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or Gabriel Medina-Kim, advances in computer technology are both exciting and concerning.

On the one hand, he has been intrigued with computers since he started playing with Microsoft Word 97 as a young child. At the same time, he said, members of the Latinx community have had complicated relationships with science and technology – and he shares a degree of distrust.

“While I am excited about applications of artificial intelligence, I am also worried about its weaponization, especially

as surveillance technologies to target and dehumanize Latinx people along the U.S.Mexican border,” he said.

Such concerns helped prompt his interest in undergraduate research that explores computer technology’s inequities. Those efforts were recently rewarded with a fellowship to the oldest technological research university in the nation — Rensselaer Polytechnic University in New York. Medina-Kim was also selected to receive support from the Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program (CDIP), which aims to increase the number

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CSSE grad will explore inequities in technology with Rensselaer Fellowship of faculty with the qualifications, motivation, and skills needed to teach the diverse students of the CSU. CDIP, the largest program of its kind nationwide, prepares promising doctoral students for CSU faculty positions by providing financial support, mentorship by CSU faculty and professional development and grant resources.

“I plan to make a career in exploring the intersections of social justice and computing, which would inform my teaching,” said Medina-Kim, who recently graduated from

“I believed it was important for me to find frameworks to help me reconcile my trajectory within computer science amidst news headlines about the injustices of computer science. I found that the fields of feminist science and technology studies and gender studies provided compelling ways to orient my work and understand the world in ways that prioritize equity and social justice.”

— Gabriel Medina-Kim

Cal Poly computer science graduate Gabriel Medina-Kim is now on a fellowship at the Rensselaer Polytechnic University in New York.

Cal Poly with a degree in computer science and minors in Women’s & Gender Studies and Gender, Race, Culture, Science & Technology.

Originally from San Francisco, MedinaKim’s family background was more centered around social work, art and immigration law than computers, though his mother did lead the initial integration of computers in her office and built her team’s first database.

After learning about computer science while taking the PSAT exam in high school, Medina-Kim was persuaded by friends to

attend Cal Poly. While Cal Poly’s reputation for successful computer science grads was a draw, seeing CSSE students during a campus tour sealed the deal.

“I remember seeing them goofing around and thought to myself, ‘I can be that kind of nerd.’”

While he was skeptical of attending a largely white school, Poly Cultural Weekend led him to believe he could succeed.

“I did not know about the Science, Technology, and Society program or the connections between computer science and gender and queer studies before I got to Cal Poly,” he said. “That was a welcome surprise.”

His interest in the topics would deepen when he collaborated with Jane Lehr, professor of Ethnic Studies and Women’s Gender & Queer Studies (and affiliate faculty of computer science & software engineering), to conduct research and teach as an undergraduate teaching assistant.

“Gabriel is one of the most exciting scholars I have worked with during my 13 years at Cal Poly,” Lehr said. “His fellowship at RPI is phenomenal – a 5-year funding commitment on their part speaks to both his accomplishments and future as a teacherscholar-activist.”

While Medina-Kim’s interest in feminist science studies began with a course in professional responsibilities/computer ethics, working with Lehr helped him confront some of those complicated relationships that Latinx people have had with science.

“I believed it was important for me to find frameworks to help me reconcile my trajectory within computer science amidst news headlines about the injustices of computer science,” he said. “I found that the fields of feminist science and technology studies and gender studies provided compelling ways to orient my work and understand the world in ways that prioritize equity and social justice.”

Even as he excelled in studies at Cal Poly,

a history of inequity in the field led to feelings of imposter syndrome. But research, particularly in interdisciplinary teams, helped mold his confidence.

“I’m not often taken seriously for being a computer scientist,” he said. “Similarly, people tend to disregard what I say about my experiences or equity in computer science.

Research is a format where I can make a grounded case for the validity of those experiences while showing that I can contribute to computing knowledge.”

As a member of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Medina-Kim worked to remove obstacles for future Latinx students by helping form SHPE Jr. clubs at high schools in Santa Maria that serve predominantly Latinx students.

Black, Brown and Indigenous people are underrepresented in tech, he said, not due lack of interest or intelligence --it’s about access.

“We cannot reasonably call it a choice when there are many young people who are not told about the careers they can pursue, the associated career paths, and the impact of these professions when making decisions about what they want to do when they grow up,” he said. “Yet, this is the reality for many students who come from disproportionately underrepresented communities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.”

Medina-Kim will focus his doctorate studies on what he calls “imagining anti-oppressive futures in computing.”

“As a field, we must consider how we can be doing, teaching and thinking about computing so that we are centering justice and equity — so that the burdens of computing (socially, ecologically, politically, etc.) are not falling upon those who are already oppressed,” he said. “I do this work not just because I believe that computing can be equitable but because I believe that peoples’ lives depend on it.” n csc.calpoly.edu | 9

Adventures in Computer Science CSSE grad Jasmine Patel creates an inspired, colorful world where bytes meet bugs in children’s book ‘Runtime’

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omputer science isn’t just for “super geniuses who know computers,” said Jasmine Patel.

But, she added, some people have that perception.

Hoping to dispel such notions, the recent CSSE graduate wrote “Runtime,” a children’s book that highlights some of the fun and creative elements of computer science.

“Computer science is a great field to get into, and as there are more and more computer science jobs available, it is important to get young children exposed and interested,” she said. “Also, there are not enough girls in computer science, and if little girls read this book where the protagonist is a little girl, that might inspire them to get into computer science.”

Her book, which began as a senior project, was recently published by Puzzle Piece Publishing.

“Runtime” features a character named Char as she embarks on a colorful journey, solving puzzles and making friends along the way. Complimenting the book’s colorful images is an educational coda about computer science terms and concepts — such as bytes, bugs, and runtime — that connects to the storyline.

“I tried to design ‘Runtime’ so that people of any age could find value and entertainment in reading it,” said Patel, who graduated in March and now lives in Pukalani, Maui, Hawaii.

Her book combines more traditional media — watercolors, Sharpies, pens, and pencils — with software, such as Adobe Illustrator, PhotoShop and InDesign.

Growing up, Patel enjoyed children’s cooks, including “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” “The Quiltmaker’s Gift” and her favorite math-related

book, “Go Figure!” by Johnny Ball. “‘Go Figure!’ had so much detail and did a really good job of breaking down complicated concepts into simple and digestible pieces,” she said.

“Which is what I tried to do with ‘Runtime.’”

Patel, who has created drawings, paintings and other art since childhood, took a Web and Print Publishing course that helped the project, which was aided by faculty mentor Theresa Migler. Patel uses colorful images and characters based on computer science concepts to introduce young readers to the field.

Migler said her own children love the bold and bright illustrations and enjoy trying to find the bugs on each page.

“I love how Jasmine weaves very complex ideas into manageable images,” Migler said. “For example, greedy algorithms are a little tricky to understand, but ‘Gus the Greedy Goose’ opens up a wonderful avenue for conversation with children.

Her take on the dining philosophers problem is so fun and approachable. Even the name of the main character, ‘Char’ is so clever and witty.”

Patel also received input from an important demographic: young readers at the ASI Children’s Center and children of family friends.

“This was really valuable since kids are the main audience,” she said.

While she now works as a product engineer at Ridgeline, which offers investment management software in the cloud, Patel is considering more writing — though the next book might be targeted toward an older audience.

“It would probably be a murder mystery with some computer science undertones,” she said. n

“Computer science is a great field to get into, and as there are more and more computer science jobs available, it is important to get young children exposed and interested.”

— Jasmine Patel 10 | COMPUTER SCIENCE & SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

Cal Poly computer science graduate Jasmine Patel checks out a copy of her new children’s book ‘Runtime,” while sitting in the Maui sun.

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Khosmood Recognized with Distinguished Scholarship Award F

oaad Khosmood, whose work has advanced gaming and a greater awareness of government activity, is one of three Cal Poly faculty members to receive Distinguished Scholarship Award for 2019-2020.

Each year, Cal Poly faculty, staff, students, and alumni nominate faculty for the recognition. From those nominations, the Academic Senate Distinguished Scholarship Award Committee chooses three honorees campus wide, based on achievement in scholarship and creative activity across the entire range of disciplines represented at Cal Poly.

Khosmood, who teaches in both the Computer Science & Software Engineering department and the Computer Engineering program, said the recognition is validating.

“It’s a huge honor for me to have been given this award, which tells me the campus and the committee really values the kind of scholarship that I’m involved in,” said Khosmood, who has involved students

extensively in his research.

Khosmood’s primary interests are artificial intelligence, Natural Language Processing, games and systems. As a graduate student, he co-founded the Global Game Jam, the largest game jam in the world, later incorporated as a 501(c)3 in San Luis Obispo. He has served as the CTO, president and board member for the organization. The most recent 48-hour jam featured 50,000 participants from 120 countries.

Over 900 jam sites worldwide were involved in 2020, including the Cal Poly Game Development club advised by Khosmood.

As research director for the Cal Poly Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy, Khosmood uses technology to help solve public policy challenges. His AI4Reporters project, a collaboration between Cal Poly and the University of Miami that is sponsored by the Knight Foundation, aims to create an AI-driven news wire service covering state legislatures. n

Foaad Khomood, who teaches in both the Computer Science & Software Engineering Department and the Computer Engineering program, received the Cal Poly Distinguished Scholarship Award for 2019-2020.

John Bellardo Recognized for CubeSat Contributions

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ess than a month after John Bellardo was honored for his role in the Small Satellite Mission of the Year, he was one of three Cal Poly faculty members to be recognized as an Academic Senate Distinguished Scholar for 2019.

Bellardo, a professor in the CSSE Department, directs Cal Poly’s CubeSat Lab, which played a key role in NASA’s Mars Cube One, or MarCO project. MarCO entailed creating two CubeSats (mini satellites roughly the size of a bread loaf), named WALL-E and EVE, which flew behind NASA’s InSight lander. InSight launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on May 5, 2018, en route to a well-publicized, dramatic Mars landing.

Both WALL-E and EVE, which were tested and packed for launch at Cal Poly, related information in real time from InSight to the mission control team and took stunning images of the Martian planet. InSight continues to gather information about Mars, showing a planet alive with quakes, dust devils and strange magnetic pulses.

The ceremony for the mission of the year award was held last summer in Logan, Utah. Glen Elliot, an engineer with NASA’s Deep Space Network, accepted the award.

Also in attendance were several students and faculty who gained first-hand experi-

Computer Science Professor John Bellardo, right, talks with students in the Cal Poly CubeSat lab in late 2019.

ence supporting the mission, including Bellardo and Cal Poly aerospace engineering student Kate Parkinson.

Shortly after attending that award ceremony, Bellardo was formally recognized with the Distinguished Scholarship Award, largely for his work with the CubeSat program during the 2019 fall convocation. Bellardo has brought in more than $3 million in funding to Cal Poly, which has expanded

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Learn by Doing opportunities for hundreds of students from a variety of majors.

Bellardo was also heavily involved with LightSail 2, the Planetary Society’s CubeSat, which proved the mini satellites could travel through space with solar sails.

This summer, Cal Poly announced a new partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory that is expected to enhance the university’s CubeSat program. n