The 15th Annual Michael L. Gargano Student-Faculty Research Day

On May 5, 2017, members of the Pace community gathered for the 15th Michael L. Gargano Faculty-Student research day. This year’s conference was dedicated to the work of Frank Rosenblatt, an American psychologist notable in the field of artificial intelligence for the invention of perceptrons, a class of neural networks.

Rosenblatt is also considered the ‘father of Deep Learning,’ as his development of perceptrons has evolved into deep learning networks.

Dean Jonathan Hill makes his opening remarks at the Michael L Gargano Faculty Student Research DayThe Dean of the Seidenberg School, Dr. Jonathan Hill, kicked off the event. “I am delighted to see so many people here today,” he said. “This research day is a brilliant reflection of the doctoral work going on here, the master level research that is taking place, and the undergraduate research that is a hallmark of this School, and indeed the University.”

Dr. Hill spoke about the history of the day, including the decision to name it after Michael Gargano, who he described as “one of the forces of life.”

“He recruited many people [to our DPS program] and served as advisor to them. I think a lot of us have worked overtime to make up for Michael’s loss and to bring the energy that he had.

“The only way we can do that . . . is to be learned, to read widely, and to speak to each other about our work, and create an environment where people can come together and share their work.”

Dr. Hill then introduced Dr. Charles Tappert, who manages the DPS program and organized the day.

Dr. Tappert gave a presentation about Frank Rosenblatt, who had been his dissertation advisor, and deep learning. “Deep learning is now causing a revolution in artificial intelligence,” he said. He argued for Rosenblatt receiving the title of ‘father of deep learning’ – as there are quite a few people up for the name – and spoke about his significant contributions to the field.

Afterwards, the conference began in earnest! It was an extremely packed day, with many students and faculty presenting their papers on myriad topics. The day was split into four paper sessions: the first was about data analytics and the internet of things, the second was about mobile applications and miscellaneous information technology, the third, machine learning, and the final section focused on biometrics, security, optimizations, and knowledge representation. Each section included between nine and twelve papers, making for a busy day of learning.

Student Steven Porras with his research project PowerShell Forensics
Student Steven Porras with his research project PowerShell Forensics

The list of presentations is too long to include here, but you can check it out on Charles Tappert’s university page. Slideshows and papers are all available on the website, so be sure to check them out!

A hearty congratulations to all who presented this year – we look forward to seeing you again in 2018!

Read about last year’s record-breaking research day.

Student Carlo Clarke presented his research on Vulnerabilities within Wireless Protocols
Student Carlo Clarke presented his research on Vulnerabilities within Wireless Protocols

Record-setting success at Michael L. Gargano Research Day

The Seidenberg School opened its doors to the 14th edition of the Michael L. Gargano Research Day Conference on Friday, May 6th.

IMG_2775This student-faculty conference provides the Seidenberg community with an opportunity to share research.  This year’s event set a participation record: 42 papers published in the conference proceedings, including 60 doctoral, 84 masters, and 10 undergraduate student authors. Of these papers, over 25 were presented at the conference. From biometrics and security to knowledge representation and optimization, big data and the internet-of-things, the presentations covered problems in diverse domains including security, education and healthcare.

This signature Seidenberg School academic event could not be possible without the commitment and enthusiasm of computer science professor, and conference chair, Charles Tappert, PhD.

IMG_2783Dr. Tappert serves as research advisor to many doctoral students, and also runs undergraduate and graduate capstone courses on the Pleasantville campus.

Since this is an annual Seidenberg event, why not take part yourself next year? We will be looking for submissions in Spring ’17, so now is a good time to start!

The Michael L. Gargano Research Day is named after the late Seidenberg computer science professor,  Michael L. Gargano, a passionate researcher and valued research advisor, particularly to students in the doctoral program.

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