Media Coverage
A digest of Illinois Computer Science faculty, alumni, and students who are featured in the media.
University of Illinois Intros Online Foundation Courses To Prepare for Tech Master's
July 31, 2019Campus Technology -- The University of Illinois has launched a new set of courses through Coursera that will help prepare non-technical people prepare for technical master's degrees. Developed by CS Teaching Assistant Professor Wade Fagen-Ulmschneider, "Accelerated Computer Science Fundamentals" is open to all learners on Coursera's platform.
The Coming Mass Extinction of Fortune 500 Companies
July 22, 2019Axios -- Tom Siebel, founder of C3.ai, says that this is an existential moment for current Fortune 500 companies that don't move quickly to adapt to the new age of AI and robotics. "We are in a mass extinction event," says Siebel.
'I Kept My Multimillion Dollar Business Secret'
July 22, 2019BBC -- A lot of entrepreneurs have a moment that makes them realise they're on to something. For Marcin Kleczynski it came while he was discreetly working on his antivirus software business from his student digs. Marcin, then only 18, was just about managing to juggle his start-up with participating in student life at the University of Illinois when he hit a snag.
AI: An Extinction Event For The Corporate World?
July 21, 2019Forbes -- Back in 1973, Daniel Bell published a pioneering book, called The Coming of Post-Industrial Society. Among the many readers was a young Tom Siebel. It’s what inspired him to enroll at the graduate school of engineering at the University of Illinois and get a degree in Computer Science.
Kumar Talks Emoji Inclusivity and Bubble Tea
July 17, 2019The 21st -- Ranjitha Kumar, an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Illinois., talks with Illinois Public Media's statewide talk show about creating a bubble tea emoji.
An Illinois Professor Helped Develop a New Emoji — for Bubble Tea
July 17, 2019Chicago Tribune -- A University of Illinois professor helped win approval for a new emoji — a cup of bubble tea — as part of her research into how people communicate using the popular images. The bubble tea symbol is unique because it’s made up of coding for already existing symbols, said Ranjitha Kumar, assistant professor of computer science.
Tom Siebel: Inside the Digital Future
July 16, 2019KQED San Francisco/Commonwealth Club of California -- Tom Siebel speaks at the Commonwealth Club of California and its nationally broadcast public-radio show on digital transformation, the subject of his new book. Siebel is working on how big data, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and the internet of things can work in conjunction with each other to have a greater impact.
Meet Fortune 40 Under 40's Class of 2019
July 10, 2019Fortune -- When Parisa Tabriz joined Google full-time in 2007, she took the title “security princess” rather than the considerably more mundane “software engineer.” A 2016 promotion lent her a new one: “browser boss.” Tabriz is responsible for Google Chrome, a product that serves as a gateway to the web for billions of people. She's also part of Fortune's 40 Under 40.
An Algorithmic Approach to Drawing Electoral District Boundaries
July 9, 2019WTKF-FM -- The Coastal Daybreak show on WTKF in Morehead City, N.C., talks with Professor Sheldon Jacobson about his reserach on redistricting, a hot-button issue in North Carolina and the subject of an ongoing court case in the state.
'We Are at War with China' Over Cyber Technology, Says Tom Siebel
July 9, 2019Yahoo! Finance -- Investors’ eyes are pinned on the trade war between the United States and China. But according to billionaire CEO of artificial intelligence company C3.ai Tom Siebel, investors’ focus is in the entirely wrong place. He says they should be looking at AI.
Tech Vanguard is Dodging the Pentagon
July 9, 2019Roll Call/Congressional Quarterly -- The Pentagon’s cybersecurity mission is facing a classic supply and demand problem: There’s a nationwide shortage of tech talent and an oversupply of jobs. “It’s hard to beat the pay,” says Sibin Mohan, a professor of computer science at Illinois whose 2018 graduates – the talent the Pentagon struggles to recruit and retain – earned an average starting salary of $99,741.
Sydney Theatre Company Appoints Illinois CS Alum to Board
July 8, 2019Broadway World -- Australia's Sydney Theatre Company has appointed Illinois CS alum Michael Triguboff (MCS '02) to its board. Triguboff is the Managing Director at Triguboff Investments, and is the CEO of Pyrolyx AG. He also was the founder and managing director of the MIR Group of companies.
Billionaire Tech CEO Tom Siebel on Digital Transformation
July 8, 2019CNBC -- C3.ai CEO and Illinois CS alum Tom Siebel joins "Squawk Alley" to discuss his new book, "Digital Transformation: Survive and Thrive in an Era of Mass Extinction." "Fifty-two percent of the Fortune 500 companies have disappeared (from that list) in the last 18 years," he said.
Lucrative Technology Jobs Are Closer Than You Think
July 5, 2019Columbus Dispatch -- An opinion piece uses Illinois' engineering and CS prowess to help argue that the Midwest has real tech strength. "The Midwest is home to 25 percent of America’s computer science grads. Great schools like Ohio State University, University of Michigan, Indiana University, Miami University and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign pump huge classes of young engineers into the region’s innovation economy."
$100 M Grant Aims to Make U of I Leader in Quantum Engineering
July 4, 2019The News-Gazette -- A $100 million investment in a quantum engineering project designed to make Illinois a world leader in that emerging technology is among $3 billion in higher education allocations in the new Rebuild Illinois infrastructure plan. NCSA Director and Illinois CS Professor William Gropp said quantum computing won’t replace supercomputing but augment it. "It’s going to give us ways to do things that we haven’t been able to solve at all.”
Five Ways to Avoid Getting Duped by Bogus Charts & Graphics
June 30, 2019Poynter Institute -- Professor Karrie Karahalios provides the journalism think tank with advice for journalists and news consumers to help spot and avoid biased or misleading charts and graphics in media.
A 10-Step Plan for Digitally Transforming a Company
June 27, 2019CFO -- Most of us have a mental image of technology’s development curve as a progressively steep incline. That’s not the way Tom Siebel sees it. “We often think about Moore’s Law providing the foundation for constantly increasing change. ... But that’s not the way revolutionary evolution works,” Siebel writes in his new book, “Digital Transformation: Survive and Thrive in an Era of Mass Extinction.”
PNAS Studies Look at Lung Cancer LncRNA, Hi-C Clustering, and More
June 25, 2019Genome Web -- Genome Web highlights new research from Assistant Professor Jian Peng and colleagues at the University of California-San Diego that yielded scHiCluster, a single-cell clustering algorithm.
How I Built This: Yelp
June 24, 2019NPR -- NPR’s “How I Built This” podcast features Yelp co-founders Jeremy Stoppelman (BS Computer Engineering ’99) with a shoutout to fellow co-founder AND Illinois CS alum Russ Simmons (BS CS ’98). "In 2004, two former Paypal engineers, Jeremy Stoppelman and Russ Simmons, were spit-balling new internet ideas. Out of their brainstorm came a site where you would email your friends asking for local business recommendations."
Illinois Innovators: An Interview With Illinois Computer Science Department Head Nancy Amato
June 24, 2019Illinois Innovators Podcast -- The College of Engineering's podcast talks with first-year Department Head Nancy Amato about the upcoming Rising Stars conference, the success of the CS + X majors, and plans for the department's growing emphasis on security, robotics, and other areas.