- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

Google grant allows ��Vlog��ý Little Rock to provide free cloud-based cybersecurity labs for Arkansas students

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 28 Aug 2019 14:58:47 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock professor has received a $10,000 Google grant that will help provide free cloud-based cybersecurity labs for junior high and high school students in Arkansas. Philip Huff, assistant professor of computer science and research associate with the Emerging Analytics Center, received $10,000 in Google Cloud Platform credits from Google’s education grants team. The credits will be used to host online cybersecurity labs in development at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. Funded by a three-year from the National Science Foundation, the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Emerging Analytics Center is developing a free open-source, cybersecurity curriculum for students in Arkansas with assistance from the Arkansas Department of Higher Education. “Gov. Asa Hutchinson has expanded computer science education in Arkansas, and now the state wants to expand cybersecurity education as well. We want to play a central role in educating cybersecurity students and getting them ready for the workforce.” The new curriculum is part of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s effort to create a pipeline for students to fill cybersecurity positions in the workforce. Set to be launched later this fall, the curriculum will provide a variety of cybersecurity labs that teachers can provide to their students at no cost. The online lab environment, known as the Cyber Gym, will be placed on Google Cloud. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students who are developing the Cyber Gym workouts include Andrew Bombberger, Chance Melby, Ryan Ronquillio, and Verdin-Pol Gaétan. “The main benefit of the grant is that it enables us to run the Cyber Gym for middle and high school teachers for most of the 2019-20 school year,” Huff said. “With the $10,000, we have the ability to run 2,000 distinct classroom labs a month for six months. We are extremely grateful to Google for helping us provide these no-cost labs to students and their teachers.” In the upper right photo, Philip Huff (left), ��Vlog��ý Little Rock assistant professor and research fellow at Emerging Analytics Center, leads a cybersecurity workshop for high achool teachers from around the state. Photo by Ben Krain.

Computer Science Education experts visit Emerging Analytics Center

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 13:10:48 +0000

Attendees of the first-ever in Arkansas toured the Emerging Analytics Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock on June 10 to learn about the latest innovations in virtual reality and computer science. The summit included representatives from 26 states, including national and international leaders in the field of computer science education, who met to discuss issues such as academic standards, teacher training, budgets, and development of computer science education policy. “This group consists of leaders of computer science education from across the nation,” said Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira, director of the Emerging Analytics Center. “A lot of the work we do here is a good example of how to get students motivated to learn about computer science and see what they can create. The Emerging Analytics Center is a very high-end place in Little Rock where we are leading the development of these technologies.” From his first months in office, Gov. Asa Hutchinson has promoted the expansion of computer science education in Arkansas, starting with his signature on Arkansas Act 187, which required all the state’s public and charter high schools to offer a course in computer coding. As these students complete high school, state officials are at a juncture where a clear pathway is needed for these students to transition from high school to college and the workforce. “There are very few jobs today that don’t require advanced computer prowess. As we look at jobs that children will have in 10, 20, and 30 years in the future, you have to think about how these jobs will look in the future,” said Anthony Owen, state director of computer science and chief state STEM officer. “We are leading the nation in K-12 education in computer science. We want educators who are ready to teach these students. We want to create a seamless transition from K-12 education to higher education to the workforce to meet industry needs.” Researchers at the Emerging Analytics Center demonstrated multiple projects created with industry partners, representing how the computer science skills students are learning in the classroom can be used as a future career. One of the apps demonstrated is a virtual visit to Hytrol, an Arkansas-based company, where visitors can see working virtual models of the company’s latest products and appreciate Hytrol’s innovative technology for conveyor systems. “The real workforce at the Emerging Analytics Center is the students. Everything you see here is created by the students,” Cruz-Neira said. Emerging Analytics Center researchers also created an educational augmented reality application targeted to art museums. The app allows users to interact with the art work through their cell phones to learn more about the piece and the artist. Heather Lageman, a summit participant and executive director of leadership development at Baltimore County Public Schools, said she has read about this type of technology in the news and can see how beneficial it would be for students. “I love this app,” Lageman said. “It’s a game changer for students who might not have the opportunity to visit many museums. It allows students to interact with the art in a very personal way.” In the upper right photo, Heather Lageman, a summit participant and executive director of leadership development at Baltimore County Public Schools, uses an educational augmented reality application targeted to art museums.

Emerging Analytics Center hosts teacher workshop to promote cybersecurity education

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 12:31:34 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Emerging Analytics Center hosted a three-day workshop for secondary education teachers who teach cybersecurity in Arkansas June 5-7. Funded by a from the National Science Foundation, the workshop is part of a program to promote cybersecurity education in Arkansas high schools. The 20 participating teachers learned about the fundamentals of cybersecurity, including spoofing, network protection, cryptography, cyberattacks, web application security, and password cracking. Additionally, the teachers evaluated an open-source cybersecurity curriculum currently in development by ��Vlog��ý Little Rock professors and graduate students. Members of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Cybersecurity Club are creating cybersecurity exercises through cloud technology that high school teachers will be able to provide to their students at no cost beginning in the fall. This is part of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s effort to create a pipeline for students to fill cybersecurity positions in the workforce. “This workshop meets a significant need since the state of Arkansas is very interested in utilizing cybersecurity in secondary education,” said Philip Huff, a research associate with the Emerging Analytics Center who ran the workshop. “Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s has expanded computer science education, and now they want to expand cybersecurity education. We want to play a central role in educating cybersecurity students and getting them ready for the workforce.”

Philip Huff (right), ��Vlog��ý Little Rock assistant professor and research fellow at the Emerging Analytics Center, leads a cybersecurity workshop for high school teachers from around the state. Photo by Ben Krain.

Workshop participant Scott Maddox just finished up his first year as a cybersecurity instructor at Vilonia High School. He was inspired to make the switch from band director to cybersecurity teacher after Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed Arkansas Act 187, which required all of the state’s public and charter high schools to offer a course in computer coding. “When Gov. Hutchinson came out with the computer science education initiative, I really jumped on it, took a lot of training courses, and learned as much as I could,” Maddox said. “It’s been a very rewarding transition.” Maddox said the most valuable part of the workshop has been gaining access to tools, programs, and activities that he can incorporate into his future classes. “Overall, the fact that we are getting some really good tools to use in the classroom is a great benefit,” Maddox said. “The big thing is the virtual lab environments that enables the students to utilize a lot of the techniques they are learning to defend against cyberattacks without negative consequences on our school’s network. That is very valuable for someone like me who doesn’t have a computer science background.”

International STEAM delegates to visit ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

Janea Snyder — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 14:46:21 +0000

An international delegation of eight women — all successful in their respective STEAM fields — will visit the University of Arkansas at Little Rock on Monday, Nov. 5, as part of a “Hidden No More: Advancing Women in STEAM Fields” program. A community forum and reception talk will take place from 5-7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 5, in the Windgate Center for Art + Design and is free and open to the public. The women will participate in a panel discussion beginning at 5 p.m., followed by networking with international and local leaders at 6 p.m. Light refreshments will be served. The woman are part of a program inspired by the movie “Hidden Figures,” about black female mathematicians who played a vital role in NASA’s mission to the moon. The movie led the U.S. Department of State to create the last year brings women leaders who represent “hidden talent” in their home countries to the United States to explore U.S. efforts to prepare women and girls for careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. The Hidden No More program, now in its second year, includes professionals in the arts as well. This year 48 female leaders from 48 different countries — all of whom work in the fields of science, technology, engineering, art, and math — were invited to the United States to network and explore policies promoting the interests of women in STEAM. The women first convened in Washington, D.C. and then split into smaller groups to visit six smaller cities, including Little Rock. The theme for their time here in Little Rock is “STEAM Education and Youth Engagement.” The visitors included the following:

Austria – Dr. Miriam Unterlass, group leader and lecturer, Institute Of Materials Chemistry, Technical University Vienna
Chile – Carolina Andrea Fuentes Pezoa, team lead, Big Data And Analytics, Equifax Inc.
Croatia – Maja Macinko Kovac, teacher, Eugen Kvaternik Elementary School
Honduras – Michelle Fontecha Sandoval, executive director, Honduras Stem Foundation
Kyrgyz Republic – Shirin Mukanbetova, executive director, Kyrgyz Software and Services Developers Association
Netherlands – Tamar Gans, founder And CEO, Robotwise
Portugal – Maria Lopes Goncalves De Brito Amorim, principal investigator, Cell Biology and Viral Infection Group, Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia
Sri Lanka – Amali Manori Ranasinghe, project scientist, coordinating secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry of Science, Technology and Research

Three of the women will participate in a panel discussion on Monday, along with Dr. Mary Good, founding dean of the George W. Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology; Dr. Mariya Khodakovskya, interim associate dean for research and graduate studies in University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s College of Arts, Letters and Sciences; and Dr. Yang Luo-Branch, digital marketing and GIS manager at the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. The event is hosted by Global Ties Arkansas, a nonprofit which contracts with the federal government to bring international delegates to Little Rock for professional training. The group will return to campus on Tuesday, Nov. 6, to meet with Vernard Henley, assistant dean of the College of Engineering and Information Technology, and Thomas Wallace, senior instructor of information science and web design, who teaches the Girls Coding Camp at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock each summer. On Wednesday, Nov. 7, they will tour the George W. Donaghey Emerging Analytics Center where faculty and students perform innovative research in technology, infrastructure and applications for virtual reality, visualization, and interactive technologies. Thomas Coffin, senior operating manager, will provide the tour of the virtual reality cave invented by Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira, who was recently elected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Anyone interested in attending the community forum is asked to RSVP to Heidi Whitman, heidi@globaltiesark.org.

Mainstream Technologies sponsors upgrade of computer forensics lab

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 17 Oct 2018 19:31:49 +0000

is making an investment in the future by donating funds to upgrade a computer forensics lab at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock that will teach students invaluable skills for their future careers. “This is a great day for the Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology,” Dean Lawrence Whitman said. “A key part of our mission is to produce career-ready graduates for the workforce. Mainstream Technologies has generously donated to restructure the lab.” ��Vlog��ý Little Rock named its computer forensics lab in honor of Mainstream Technologies during an Oct. 12 ceremony showcasing the lab, which is housed in the Engineering Technology and Applied Science building. Mainstream Technologies’ sponsorship of the lab will cover upgrades to the lab technology, including separating the computer lab’s network from the campus network. This will prevent the university’s network from receiving security alerts while students at the lab are practicing computer forensics, cyber security, and hacking skills. John Burgess, president and CEO of Mainstream Technologies, said that ��Vlog��ý Little Rock and the Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology are important community partners, since ��Vlog��ý Little Rock graduates fill 20 percent of Mainstream’s workforce. “��Vlog��ý Little Rock graduates make up the largest segment of our workforce,” said Burgess, a 1988 alumnus of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock who also serves as chair of the Engineering and Information Technology Leadership Council. “We depend on the quality graduates we’ve come to expect from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock and EIT. We need them to hit the ground running when they arrive on the job. We’re proud to be associated with this computer forensics lab where students can hone their skills and prepare for their future careers.” Burgess was joined by Steve Althoff, director of software development, Holt McConnell, director of marketing, and his daughter, Ally Burgess, while celebrating the lab dedication. Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira, interim chair of the Department of Computer Science and director of the Emerging Analytics Center, is grateful for the donation that represents a new focus on industry and business partnerships for the department. “I think this is wonderful. The computer science department is evolving into a fresh new department that is more connected to industry and business partners who need our graduates,” Cruz-Neira said. “Mainstream Technologies is showing confidence that this new evolution is moving in the right direction. We are tremendously appreciative of this vote of confidence. Many students will benefit from this lab.” In the upper right photo, John Burgess, president and CEO of Mainstream Technologies, shakes hands with Dr. Lawrence Whitman (right), dean of the College of Engineering and Information Technology. Photo by Ben Krain.

Cruz-Neira selected as speaker at SIGGRAPH 2018

Ajani Oyindamola — Tue, 07 Aug 2018 14:27:41 +0000

Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira, director of the and interim chair of the at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, is one of the featured speakers at the 45th annual (SIGGRAPH) 2018. The conference, to be held Aug. 12-16 in Vancouver, is the world’s leading annual interdisciplinary educational event showcasing the latest in computer graphics and interactive techniques. The event’s business symposium is designed for executives and top creative experts from the project creation industry, will present 22 speakers, and expects to welcome close to 200 executives from over a dozen countries, including Korea, India, Japan, China, France, Russia, and Cameroon. With attendees spanning every specialty from business and technical management to software development and film production, the program will analyze and discuss trends in computer graphics, exploring the responsibility that comes with launching new technologies and fostering opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration. The two-day event will explore the intersection of creativity, technology, and business. Symposium topics include: the social and human implications of technology that impact the way we design prototypes; how artificial intelligence is programmed; and how technology is creating rapid convergence of business models and design interfaces. Earlier this year, Cruz-Neira, world-renowned inventor of the CAVE virtual environment, was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for her contributions to immersive visualization. She holds a bachelor’s degree in systems engineering, cum laude, from the Universidad Metropolitana as well as a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science, both from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she specialized in virtual reality, visual analytics, and computations steering research.

Bolt researching how to create virtual computer monitoring system

Ajani Oyindamola — Tue, 17 Jul 2018 13:36:41 +0000

For those who have seen Tony Stark effortlessly controlling virtual computer screens in the “Iron Man” and “Avengers” movies, you have seen Zack Bolt’s vision for his research. Bolt, a graduate student in computer science at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, has developed a virtual computer monitor system that he hopes can eventually replace its physical counterparts. Student researchers at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Emerging Analytics Center are often tasked with discovering the possibilities of newly released virtual and augmented reality technologies. Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira, director of the Emerging Analytics Center, challenged Bolt to come up with a unique application using an augmented reality helmet. “Dr. Cruz told me to do something interesting … so I started out with the idea of a holophone and then it moved on to a holodesktop,” Bolt said. Bolt used a mount designed and printed on a 3D printer to secure a device that detects hand movements onto the augmented reality helmet. People can see virtual screens through the augmented reality helmet and use simple hand gestures to perform functions like moving and resizing the screens as well as clicking and drawing. A virtual computer monitor system allows for an infinite virtual work space in which users no longer have to worry about limited monitor space, since they can open as many screens as they choose and strategically place them in easily accessible virtual space. “The whole point of EAC is visualizing big data more easily,” Bolt said. “This technology could be used to see and interact with more data at once. Instead of tabbing through different charts, you can just turn your head to the side or above or below to see more information. You can achieve much more than just a normal sphere of office.” The device can connect with wireless networks, which would allow multiple users to easily share and access the virtual screens, thereby making it much easier to work remotely while easily sharing information with co-workers. “Think of the computer monitor replacement systems shown in ‘Minority Report’ or Tony Stark in the ‘Avengers’ movies,” Bolt said. “In the future, it could be like that. There are no cords. You could walk around freely, and the technology would replace the monitor completely in a freeform system.” For those who are dreaming of handling technology with the finesse and ease of Tony Stark, Bolt warned the technology, while promising, isn’t quite ready to completely replace the desktop. “The device is currently not accurate enough,” he said. “In the future, I would like to make the holodesktop more intuitive and easier to control. I would also want to get more headsets to have the ability to connect the device with more computers.” Bolt’s created his demo after three months of research. He is hoping an industry partner will see his demo and fund the project for further research.

French interns at Emerging Analytics Center create 3D virtual tour of campus, games for Arkansas Children’s Hospital

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 11 Jul 2018 14:35:46 +0000

Five college students from France who interned at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Emerging Analytics Center have created a 3D virtual tour of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock campus as well as augmented reality games to entertain children at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. The Emerging Analytics Center, led by Director Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira, has an internship exchange program with the University of Poitiers in France. The five students interned at the Emerging Analytics Center from March 27 to June 17. “We had the opportunity to do our internship abroad, so we can discover visualization, virtual reality, and learn more about English,” said intern Sebastien Four. “We have a chance to see new technologies that aren’t on the markets yet. We have learned lots, and we discovered a new culture and new people. This is a great opportunity for us to work here for three months.” Four and Lea Poignant spent their internship creating a 3D virtual tour of campus that can be viewed via Google Cardboard, a low-cost virtual reality viewer for smartphones. “We had to think about a way for students to visit the campus from just a map and how students can really experience this campus from a 3D map,” Four said. “Hopefully, one day it will be an app on the app store and prospective students can use it. The skills that we learned here will be great for our resume for future jobs and school.”

Julie Couture, left, and Pauline Rouillon, two of several students from France interning at the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Emerging Analytics Center during the summer, demonstrate an augmented reality game they developed for Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Photo by Ben Krain/��Vlog��ý Little Rock Communications.

The second intern team, Pauline Rouillon and Julie Couture, worked on the creation of three virtual and augmented reality games in development for use at. The plan is for the individual/multiplayer games to be available on a cell phone app that can be accessed from waiting rooms and patient rooms, so that kids in the hospital can play games together virtually, even if they cannot meet physically. The fifth and final intern, Antoine Guillard, used the game development platform Unity to develop ways to more easily visualize big data. He created a 3D visualization of the factors involved in the World Happiness Report, an annual publication of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network that contains rankings of national happiness. In the upper right photo, intern Lea Poignant demonstrates a 360-degree virtual tour of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock campus. Photo by Ben Krain/��Vlog��ý Little Rock Communications.

Emerging Analytics Center helps create virtual reality exhibit on the Doomsday Clock

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 09 May 2018 16:20:33 +0000

Ever since its debut in 1947 to convey the urgent need to avoid nuclear war, the Doomsday Clock has remained a powerful reminder of the destructive forces mankind faces. The clock is currently set at two minutes to midnight, the closest it has been to midnight since 1953, which has inspired a virtual reality tour and art exhibit of the history of the Doomsday Clock. The exhibit, will be on display at the Weinberg/Newton Gallery in Chicago May 11-19. The exhibit transverses a geopolitical landscape of nuclear risk, climate change, and disruptive technologies starting in 1947 through today. In partnership with the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the exhibit presents a unique virtual reality experience by Ellen Sandor and artists Diana Torres, Azadeh Gholizadeh, and Chris Kemp. Student researchers from the Emerging Analytics Center, Jaimes Krutz and Tanner Marshall, at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock helped create the virtual reality experience made in honor of Martyl Langsdorf, the Chicago artist who designed the Doomsday Clock. The exhibit’s opening reception on May 11 will also double as a book release for “New Media Futures: The Rise of Women in the Digital Arts.” Co-edited by Sandor, Donna Cox, and Janine Fron, the book features a chapter about Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira, director of the Emerging Analytics Center and interim chair of the Department of Computer Science. Student researchers at the Emerging Analytics Center worked in conjunction with students from the Art Institute of Chicago and the company ART(n). The exhibit will feature a new product, CAVE-in-a-BOX, currently in development at the Emerging Analytics Center.

Volunteers are helping bring virtual cadaver training program to life

Ajani Oyindamola — Mon, 09 Apr 2018 13:10:05 +0000

Marisa Perry did not expect to spend part of her day dissecting a virtual cadaver, but the opportunity to help test a virtual reality medical training program intrigued her. Perry, a freshman mass communication major at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, was one of dozens of volunteers who helped test the, an interactive cadaver program in which users can dissect a life-size cadaver using simple pinch gestures, at the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Emerging Analytics Center between March 26 and April 6. “I think that it’s really cool, especially here in Arkansas, that we are moving up in the virtual reality world,” said Perry. “It’s very cool to learn about the human body in a virtual environment.” This virtual cadaver allows users, both medical professionals in training and non-medical experts, to get a better understanding of the structure and components of a human body by replacing the experience of dissecting an actual human body with a virtual reality counterpart. “You can use Anatomic Eyes to explore different parts of the body. It’s also much more versatile and cost effective to use Anatomic Eyes than to use real cadavers for medical training,” said Ramiro Serrano, a doctoral student in computer science who conducted the experiment. “You can also use it to explain a variety of public health issues by showing people what is happening to the body if you, for example, smoke or drink too much.” Volunteers participated in an experiment where they performed two timed tasks utilizing Anatomic Eyes on two different devices: the VR-Table, a precision tool that enables forensic examiners to acquire data from mobile and GPS-enabled devices and other electronic units, and the Microsoft HoloLens, a mixed reality headset that allows people to engage with digital content by interacting with holograms. The experiment is helping Serrano to make improvements in the usability of Anatomic Eyes and to discover which device is best equipped to run Anatomic Eyes. Serrano said the next phase of Anatomic Eyes is to improve the level of detail so the program may be used to help medical professionals plan complicated surgeries. In the upper right photo, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock student Pauline Rouillon (left) conducts an experiment overseen by Ramiro Serrano (right) at the Emerging Analytics Center. Photo by Ben Krain.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock student Lea Poignant dissects a virtual life-sized cadaver using augmented reality and virtual reality equipment. Photo by Ben Krain.

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

Google grant allows ����Vlog��ý Little Rock to provide free cloud-based cybersecurity labs for Arkansas students