Dear friends, faculty, alumni and students,
Thank you for powering the Department of Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE) through another remarkable semester. This department continues to achieve student and faculty success with groundbreaking, timely research that will help this world navigate a digital future.
In this newsletter, you’ll read about fascinating work from Associate Professor Eakta Jain, Ph.D. Funded in part by the National Science Foundation, the project is finding practical solutions for virtual reality designs by discussing how traditional eye-tracking methods overlook individuals with visual impairments.
We celebrate CISE Assistant Professor Kiley Graim, Ph.D., who recently accepted the Artificial Intelligence Research Excellence Early Career Award. This honor recognizes her contributions to artificial intelligence research, as well as her leadership in advancing biomedical and computational discovery.
Read about a collaborative research project led by CISE Assistant Professor Alexandre Gomes de Siqueira that explores the application of generative artificial intelligence in journalism. The collaboration earned top recognition at INTERCOM, the largest communication congress in Latin America.
Our student researchers are killing it, as well!
There’s Ashley Hart, a Ph.D. student who was awarded Mentor of the Year by the National Science and Technology Medals Foundation. A product of mentoring herself, Hart is thrilled to share her inspiring story.
Other student achievements highlighted here include the UF Student Infosec Team’s (UFSIT) first-place win at the Regional Collegiate Penetration Testing Competition that showcased elite cybersecurity skills. Additionally, a team composed of graduates from CISE and UF’s Department of Engineering Education won the 2025 Florida TaxWatch Government Productivity Award for creating Edugator, an AI-enabled tool for teaching engineering and computing education at universities.
We are so thrilled to share these stories and more. It has been a busy and productive semester, and I look forward to more great work and discoveries in 2026.
Go Gators!
Sincerely,
Patrick Traynor, Ph.D.
Interim chair, Department of Computer & Information Science & Engineering