READ.ME: D-INFK newsletter July 2019

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A department on the move

Ladies and gentlemen,

Just like the field of computer science, our department has evolved significantly over the past few years. It has expanded and developed in new directions. Moreover, our international standing is excellent and many consider ETH Zurich to be one of the world's best places to study and carry out research in computer science. For this joint achievement, I would like to thank every single one of you.
Our current growth brings many opportunities, but also some challenges. One is adequate space to accommodate all staff in our current locations. Hence we are actively investigating alternatives such as acquiring additional space in the Andreasturm in Zurich Oerlikon. As the department grows and geographically spreads, smooth communication and regular exchange between our units is more important than ever.
The goal of this monthly newsletter is to keep you posted about the goings-on at our department, such as new faculty and staff, the department in the media and various events. In a time of growth and change, this newsletter will help us stay connected.

Enjoy your first edition of READ.ME!

Best regards,

David Basin
Department Head

Contents

•	WELCOME – meet your new colleagues
•	SSRF – Student Summer Research Fellowship
•	CONGRATS – our latest prizes and awards
•	HIGHLIGHTS – stories of the month
•	EVENTS – two parties, a taster week and a hackathon
•	HOT – D-INFK in the news
•	PLEASE MEET – Josua Cantieni

New faculty and staff

Three new faculty members and many doctoral students, senior researchers and admin staff have recently joined our department. Welcome on board! We wish you a smooth settling in and look forward to working with you. Our new staff

Prof. Kenny Paterson

Kenneth (Kenny) Paterson joined the Department of Computer Science of ETH Zurich at the beginning of April 2019. He leads the Applied Cryptography Group.
Read interview

Prof. Julia Vogt

Julia Vogt joined the Department of Computer Science of ETH Zurich at the beginning of May 2019 as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Medical Data Science. Read interview

Prof. Valentina Boeva

Valentina Boeva joined the Department of Computer Science of ETH Zurich at the beginning of June 2019 as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics. Read interview

Welcome, SSRF 2019 students!

20 students from over 17 countries have started their Student Summer Research Fellowship (SSRF) at the department. During two months, they get to take a deep dive into their favourite research areas working within the respective research teams at our deparment. We wish our fellows an exciting summer stay!

Learn more about SSRF

Prizes and awards

Congratulations to our faculty, researchers and students who have won prizes, awards and fellowships for their work. We are proud of you and thank you for asserting our reputation.

Prof. Martin Vechev receives ACM SIGPLAN Robin Milner Young Researcher Award

For his contributions in the field of programming languages, Professor Martin Vechev is honoured with this year's ACM SIGPLAN Robin Milner Young Researcher Award. The award committee describes the computer scientist as a "prolific researcher who has made major contributions to many areas of programming languages." Read more

Prof. Onur Mutlu wins the ACM SIGARCH Maurice Wilkes Award

Professor Onur Mutlu wins the 2019 ACM SIGARCH Maurice Wilkes Award. The notable award is given out each year to a mid-career researcher to recognise "outstanding contributions to computer architecture" – this year to Onur Mutlu for his "innovative contributions in efficient and secure DRAM systems." Read more

TUM-IAS Hans-Fischer Fellowship for Dr. Barbara Solenthaler

Barbara Solenthaler from the Computer Graphics Laboratory is honoured with the prestigious TUM-IAS Hans-Fischer Fellowship. The three-year fellowship aims to support the exchange between early-career scientists as well as sustainable projects in groundbreaking research fields. Read more

Eurographics PhD Award for Dr. Pascal Bérard

Pascal Bérard receives the Eurographics PhD Award for his doctoral thesis, which focuses on reconstruction, modeling, and rigging of human eyes for computer animation and tracking applications and sets the tone for high-quality eye modeling for digital human avatars of the future. Read more

Stories of the month

Building a stream processor for the future

Dr. Vasiliki Kalavri
Dr. Vasiliki Kalavri and her team in the Systems Group are building Strymon, a fast, autonomous and flexible next-generation stream processing system that can be put to many different uses.
Read more

"I'm not a typical nerd"

Dr. Anna Maria Feit
As a doctoral student, Anna Maria Feit used algorithms to optimise the French keyboard. Today she is exploring how the user, the computer and the algorithm can work together to improve text entry.
Read more

SDSC: empowering data-driven science

Prof. Andreas Krause
Dr. Olivier Verscheure
Two years after the founding of the Swiss Data Science Center (SDSC), it is already successfully fostering the adoption of data-driven science within academia and industry.
Read more

Upcoming events

9-13 September – Schnupperstudium
The percentage of women studying at our department is still too low. To change that, CSNOW (Network of Women in Computer Science) organises a "Schnupperstudium" twice a year. The taster week gives female highschool students a chance to dive into the world of computer science and get a first impression of CS studies at our department. Please spread the word.
Read more

11-13 October – VIScon
Our student association is doing amazing things. Their latest success is VIScon, a unique combination of a one-day computer science symposium and a three-day hackaton. After its first round last year, VIScon is now ready for its second edition. So mark your calendar and join in for talks, workshops and lots of coding in the CAB building.
Register and read more

Past events

21 May 2019 – Staff Party

For one May evening there was a hint of Hollywood in our CAB building. While the invited guests strode over the red carpet, the paparazzi took pictures. The memorable night included a tricky popcorn guessing game, a Hollywood quiz, a movie-themed pictionary competition, a few brave guests in fancy costumes and even an Oscars ceremony. Thanks for celebrating with us!
View impressions | View photobooth images

7 June 2019 – Master's Degree Celebration

95 out of more than 130 invited Master's graduates could personally attend the official ceremony night. Seeing our students graduate and carry their hard-earned knowledge and skills out into the world warms our hearts. We wish you all the best of luck on your career paths!
View impressions

D-INFK in the news

•	Dr. Hoda Heidari ETH Podcast: Which is fairer – human or machine? Listen to podcast
•	Dr. Vlad Coroama SRF: Warum Streaming viel Strom braucht Read article
•	Prof. Andreas Krause ETH Globe: "Can we still turn off the computer?" (page 14) Read article
•	New professors: Ana Klimovic, Rasmus Kyng, Mrinmaya Sachan and Siyu Tang ETH News: Thirteen new professors appointed Read article

More media coverage

Please meet...

Josua Cantieni, president of our student association VIS (Verein der Informatik Studierenden).

Describe what you do in exactly six words.
Managing the board and representing VIS.

What is your favourite part about what you do?
Getting to see what's happening at ETH behind the scenes and working with all those awesome people from different student associations.

What is the best advice you ever got?
Celebrate the little victories. Don't compare yourself to people who have had years of training. (Advice from Scott Bradlee from Postmodern Jukebox in a livestream.)

What do you do if you have a few minutes to spare?
On those occasions, I play one of the games I still want to complete, practice the piano, try to learn to draw, work on a private coding project or learn Japanese. There are a lot of things on the backlog.

What is your favourite place at or around ETH to spend time in?
I like spending time in the VIS office, also known as oVIS, and the student lounge in the CAB. It's a great place to meet friends and take a break – and the coffee machine is there too.

D-INFK on social media

Contact

ETH Zurich
Department of Computer Science
Communication & Marketing Group
Stampfenbachstrasse 114
8092 Zurich

www.inf.ethz.ch

communications@inf.ethz.ch