Computer Science undergrad Daniel Stubbs was selected for the Computing Research Association's (CRA) 2014 Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award and also honored as 2013-2014 UMass Amherst Rising Researcher.
Each year the CRA, a group of more than 200 North American academic departments of computer science and related fields, recognizes one male and one female student for this award, in addition to recognizing about thirty undergraduates for their research contributions as runner-ups, finalists, and honorable mentions. Daniel, this year's winner, received honorable mention last year. Assistant Professor Andrew McGregor is Daniel's advisor.
The CRA national honor recognizes Stubbs' "exemplary record of research in theoretical computer science, specifically in algorithms for data stream processing," the award states. Stubbs, a senior CS and mathematics major and Commonwealth Honors College student, is co-teaching a one-credit undergraduate computer science course for honors students.
The CRA award selection committee noted, "This year's nominees were a very impressive group. A number of them were commended for making significant contributions to more than one research project, several were authors or coauthors on multiple papers, others had made presentations at major conferences, and some had produced software artifacts that were in widespread use. Many of our nominees had been involved in successful summer research or internship programs, many had been teaching assistants, tutors, or mentors, and a number had significant involvement in community volunteer efforts. It is quite an honor to be selected as a winner."
Stubbs said that he is very excited about this award. "It's great to have this recognition for the work I have been doing, and the mentorship and support provided by Prof. Andrew McGregor and the UMass School of Computer Science. Hopefully this award will help me as I apply to Ph.D. programs so I can be a professor myself someday."
The Rising Researcher Award was established last year as a way to bring to the forefront outstanding young researchers who have demonstrated leadership and impact in their chosen area of study. Stubbs is one of four to receive the award this year.
(story from ResearchNEXT)
"Dan is an exceptional researcher who is already making significant contributions in theoretical computer science," says Stubbs' advisor, Andrew McGregor.
Undergraduate research does not go unnoticed at UMass Amherst. The Rising Researcher Award was launched last year as a way to bring to the forefront outstanding young researchers--undergraduate students who have demonstrated leadership and impact in their chosen area of study. Stubbs is one of four students selected this fall to receive this honor.
Daniel Stubbs '14, a Computer Science major and Commonwealth Honors College student, is working on big data problems. His research focuses on the design and analysis of "data stream" algorithms that allow massive amounts of data to be processed quickly and efficiently. Over the last two years he has been working on multiple problems and has yielded new results with algorithms summarizing streams of numerical data, estimating the "earth-mover distance" used to measure how geometric data changes over time, and analyzing graphs and networks where links decay over time. Stubbs explains that the streaming of algorithms is critically important to the future of technology, which is what inspired him to get involved at a young age.
"Dan is an exceptional researcher who is already making significant contributions in theoretical computer science," says Stubbs' advisor, Andrew McGregor. "His uncanny knack of finding the right approach to a problem and his impressive mathematical skills have already led to two publications at international conferences, and I'm confident that more are on the way."
Stubbs will be honored along with the other Rising Researchers during a reception with Chancellor Subbaswamy in the spring.
Full Rising Researcher story at: https://www.umass.edu/researchnext/rise