Dear colleagues, alumni and friends, 

It is my pleasure to welcome you to our latest newsletter. As we approach the end of the year, we want to celebrate our successes, share our ongoing work, and look ahead to the future of our department. The department has moved into our new home in the Malachowsky Hall for Data Science and Information Technology, and we are excited about the collaborative opportunities that this new space will bring. 

I would first like to highlight the outstanding contributions of our esteemed faculty who have been recognized for their exceptional research and teaching excellence. In response to the increased threat of ransomware attacks, Kevin Butler, Ph.D., broke down how researchers from the Florida Institute for Cybersecurity Research developed some of the first solutions for protecting against ransomware and continue to work on solutions as the attacks become more advanced. 

We are also proud to feature stories about our faculty receiving prestigious awards and grants. Recently, the University of Florida announced Laura Cruz Castro, Ph.D., would lead a team of researchers to develop a large language model-based software tool to leverage the computing-intensive capabilities of HiPerGator, collecting beneficial data for instructors and administrators about student performance. Zhe Jiang, Ph.D., along with their team received the best paper award at the 31st Association for Computer Machinery SIGSPATIAL International Conference on Advances in Geographic Information Systems (ACM SIGSPATIAL). Their groundbreaking research in spatial knowledge-infused deep learning for flood mapping on imagery has set a new direction in the field. 

We would also like to recognize the work that our faculty and students do abroad. Sanethia Thomas, Ph.D., created a new type of study abroad program that partnered with the Vygrond township, Youth in Transformation, and the Princess Vlei Forum in Cape Town, South Africa. The idea was to create an internship service project where students would build technology for community organizations that couldn’t otherwise afford it. The ability to work for these organizations and be active in the Cape Town community provided real-world work experience for the students and an immersive community-oriented cultural experience.  

I’d also like to highlight the exceptional achievements of our students who have distinguished themselves through their academic excellence, leadership, and community engagement. Firstly, Mohamed Sugal (BSCS ’21), a graduate of our UF Online computer science program, for his capstone project to create an educational resource for students in East Africa that are interested in learning computer science. The UF Student InfoSec Team (UFSIT) placed second in the regional penetration testing competition and will compete in the global competition in January.  

I would like to express my gratitude to all members of the CISE community for your contributions and commitment to our shared goals in our pursuit of academic excellence and community engagement. I encourage you to stay connected with each other and to continue supporting our department’s mission in the months and years ahead. Together, we can build a brighter future for our students, our department, and our society. 

Sincerely, 

Juan E. Gilbert, Ph.D.
The Banks Family Preeminence Endowed Professor
CISE Department Chair