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APRIL 2025
The Monthly Build
A newsletter for the alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends of the University of Maryland's Department of Computer Science.
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Features |
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UMD’s Computer Science Graduate Program Climbs in 2026 U.S. News Rankings
The program ranks No. 9 among the country’s public institutions and 16th overall, climbing a notch from last year. Read More » |
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Women Lead Student Robotics Club For the First Time
CS majors Grace Cai and Harshita Kalbhor reflect on leadership, mentorship and building a more inclusive community in STEM. Read More » |
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Charting Success: Jonathan Chen ’14 Talks Entrepreneurship
In a Q&A, Chen shares insights from his startup journey with FiscalNote and Nitra at the Mokhtarzada Hatchery Speaker Series. Read More » |
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Students |
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CS Major Vitthal Agarwal Dominates Hackathons
Agarwal finds success in competitive programming in cybersecurity and blockchain tracks. READ MORE » |
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CS Major Isabella Battish Named RSAC 2025 Security Scholar
Battish joins a global cohort of students selected to engage with cybersecurity professionals and industry leaders. READ MORE » |
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Redefining Digital Privacy by Outsmarting Wireless Tracking
CS Ph.D. student Erik Rye exposes the hidden global tracking risks buried in wireless networks and geolocation services. READ MORE » |
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Step Into a Thunderstorm and Learn About Lightning Safety
Damian Figueroa ’24 and CS and IMD double major Samuel Wiggins join a team using virtual and mixed reality to teach lightning safety through an interactive game that brings storms to life. READ MORE » |
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Faculty & Research
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Ming Lin Elected Treasurer of the CRA Board of Directors
Lin is the first Asian American woman to oversee the Computing Research Association’s financial affairs. READ MORE » |
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Kaiqing Zhang Wins NSF CAREER Award to Advance the Foundations of Multi-Agent Learning
Zhang explores how AI agents can collaborate and learn in uncertain, real-world environments. READ MORE » |
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Developing Advanced Tools to Improve Accuracy and Accessibility for Long-Read RNA Sequencing
Rob Patro leads a team that is boosting precision and usability in long-read RNA sequencing with new NIH-funded open-source tools. READ MORE » |
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USM Climbs in List of Nation’s Top 10 Patent-Producing Universities
The University of Maryland, College Park, was awarded 71 patents in 2024. READ MORE » |
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AlumS |
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Alum Brendan Iribe’s Next Act: AI Glasses that Carry a Conversation
Sesame is an interdisciplinary product and research team focused on making voice companions useful for daily life. READ MORE » |
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EVENTS |
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Maryland Day
The Department of Computer Science will organize events open to the public and the campus community as part of the annual celebration. Learn More » |
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Demo Day
Meet the four student startups in this year’s Mokhtarzada Hatchery cohort and connect with UMD’s entrepreneurial community during an afternoon of demos and networking. Learn More » |
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Immersive Media Design New Works Incubator
Applications are open for a free, nine-week summer program supporting students in creating immersive media experiences. Selected projects will be showcased at NextNOW Fest, Sept. 11-12, 2025. Learn More and Apply » |
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We are grateful to alumni and friends whose generosity supports current and future students. To learn more about how you can make a difference, please visit cs.umd.edu/giving. |
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