The Ultimate Software Lab was officially dedicated in a ceremony on Tuesday, Aug. 28., at the University of Florida Department of Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE).
“Our department strives to innovate, and this lab will help our faculty and students make a difference in the field of human-centered computing,” said Juan E. Gilbert, Ph.D., The Banks Family Preeminence Endowed Professor and CISE department chair. “We greatly appreciate Ultimate Software’s commitment to the growth and education of our students.”
The lab will be used as a research space for Lisa Anthony, Ph.D., an assistant professor, and Jaime Ruiz, Ph.D., an assistant professor, along with their undergraduate and Ph.D. students. The primary focus of research will be human-centered computing, specifically multimodal computer interfaces, intelligent user interfaces, natural user interaction and child-computer interaction.
The lab was made possible thanks to a generous gift from Ultimate Software, a leading provider of cloud-based human capital management solutions. The renovated space is a unique opportunity within the department as undergraduate students will work with Ph.D. students to collaborate on research.
A team from Ultimate Software was in attendance including Adam Rogers, chief technology officer; Joseph Cutrono (MS’07), manager of growth strategy; Alton Gaines (BS’10), university relations manager; and Logan Middleton (BA ’14), manager of strategic projects for the CTO.
“UF played a pivotal role in preparing me for a challenging and exciting career in tech, so when we started our TechSTARS internship program in 2006 we knew we wanted to focus recruiting efforts here,” Rogers said. “As we’ve scaled our engineering team, we’ve scaled up our hiring at UF, and it’s an honor to continue our partnership with the university while supporting the next generation of technologists and grad students.”
Allison Logan
Marketing & Communications Specialist
Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering