ACM ByteCast

Anima Anandkumar - Episode 42

In this episode of ACM ByteCast, Rashmi Mohan hosts Anima Anandkumar, a Bren Professor of Computing at California Institute of Technology (the youngest named chair professor at Caltech) and the Senior Director of AI Research at NVIDIA, where she leads a group developing the next generation of AI algorithms. Her work has spanned healthcare, robotics, and climate change modeling. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and an NSF Career Award, and was most recently named an ACM Fellow, among many other prestigious honors and recognitions. Her work has been extensively covered on PBS, in Wired magazine, MIT Tech Review, YourStory, and Forbes, with a focus on using AI for good.

Anima talks about her journey, growing up in a house where computer science was a way of life and family members who served as strong role models. She shares her path in education and research at the highly selective IIT-Madras, the importance of a strong background in math in her computing work, and some of the breakthrough moments in her career, including work on using tensor algorithms to process large datasets. Anima spends some time discussing topic modeling and reinforcement learning, what drives her interests, the possibilities of interdisciplinary collaboration, and the promise and challenges brought about by the age of generative AI.

Mor Peleg - Episode 41

In this episode, part of a special collaboration between ACM ByteCast and the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA)’s For Your Informatics podcast, hosts Sabrina Hsueh and Adela Grando welcome Mor Peleg, Professor of Information Systems at the University of Haifa and Founding Director and Head of its Data Science Research Center. She is Editor in Chief of the Journal of Biomedical Informatics and an international fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI). She received AMIA's New Investigator Award for work on the GLIF3 guideline modeling language. Mor is a renowned researcher in clinical guideline-based decision support.

Initially fascinated by biomedical engineering, Mor shares how she arrived at the intersection of information systems and medicine, after working in IT and completing her postdoctoral research at Stanford. She mentions her recent project, MobiGuide, which aims to narrow the gap between clinical guidance and patient needs by providing 24/7 decision support to patients and providers. Its current focus is on improving the mental wellbeing of cancer patients through evidence-based practices such as exercise, yoga, and positive psychology. Mor also shares advice for people (especially women) looking to work in interdisciplinary fields. She emphasizes the importance of health equity and how AI can be employed in the service of detecting unfairness.

Robert Metcalfe - Episode 40

In this episode of ACM ByteCast, our special guest host Scott Hanselman (of The Hanselminutes Podcast) welcomes 2022 ACM A.M. Turing Award Laureate Robert Metcalfe, Emeritus Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin and Research Affiliate in Computational Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). Metcalfe received his Turing Award for the invention, standardization, and commercialization of Ethernet, the foundational technology of the Internet, which supports more than 5 billion users and enables much of modern life. His other honors include the National Medal of Technology, IEEE Medal of Honor, Marconi Prize, Japan Computer & Communications Prize, ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award, and IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal. He is a Fellow of the US National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Inventors, Consumer Electronics, and Internet Halls of Fame.

In a wide-ranging interview, Bob reflects on his “Ethernet paper” with David Boggs from 1976, and how the interoperability and backward compatibility baked into the Ethernet allows the technology to hold up today, in the age of Netflix and Zoom. Bob also describes his most recent project, modeling geothermal wells as a computational engineer at MIT, with the aim of harnessing geothermal energy as an alternative to fossil fuels. Along the way, they touch on “stretch goals,” GPUs, and how far down “the stack” one needs to go to fully appreciate and understand a piece of technology. 

Link: "Ethernet: Distributed Packet Switching for Local Computer Networks" (Metcalfe and Boggs' classic 1976 article in Communications of the ACM)

H.-S. Philip Wong - Episode 39

In this episode of ACMByteCast, Bruke Kifle hosts H.-S. Philip Wong, the Willard R. and Inez Kerr Bell Professor of Electrical Engineering in the School of Engineering at Stanford University. He is also Chief Scientist of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), where he was previously Vice President of Corporate Research. His works have contributed to advancements in nanoscale science and technology, semiconductor technology, solid-state devices, and electronic imaging. Philip’s current research covers a broad range of topics including carbon electronics, 2D layered materials, wireless implantable biosensors, directed self-assembly, device modeling, brain-inspired computing, non-volatile memory, and 3D system integration. He is an IEEE Fellow and has received numerous awards, including the J.J. Ebers Award, the IEEE Electron Devices Society’s highest honor recognizing outstanding technical contributions to the field of electron devices that have made a lasting impact.

Philip starts by sharing how he entered the field of electrical engineering, fueled by an interest in science and physics. He talks about the key challenges of scaling down technologies and what he believes will be the next major technological breakthrough, which will create exciting opportunities for those just joining the industry. He discusses the potential of drawing inspiration from biological systems in designing better computing systems and developments in non-volatile memory. Philip also talks about exploring the practical applications of technology in his roles as Faculty Director for Stanford’s NanoFab Lab and Stanford SystemX Alliance, as well as at TSMC. Finally, he offers advice for aspiring engineers and touches on the ethical and environmental implications of some of the biggest emerging trends.

Pattie Maes - Episode 38

In this episode of ACM ByteCast, Rashmi Mohan hosts Pattie Maes, a professor at MIT's Program in Media Arts and Sciences. Pattie runs MIT Media Lab's Fluid Interfaces research group, which does research at the intersection of Human Computer Interaction and Artificial Intelligence with a focus on applications in health, wellbeing, and learning. She is also a faculty member in MIT's center for Neuro-Biological Engineering. She has been a researcher, a serial entrepreneur and mentor, a book and journal editor, and a recipient of numerous awards, including recognitions from Newsweek, TIME, AAAI, Fast Company, the World Economic Forum, and Ars Electronica. In addition to her academic endeavors, Pattie co-founded several venture-backed companies, including Firefly Networks, Open Ratings, and Tulip. She is also an advisor to several early-stage companies, including Earable and Spatial.

Pattie recounts her path to computing as one of the first people to major in computer science in Belgium and, later, as the only woman in the AI lab at MIT. She provides historical perspective on the cyclical nature of the field of AI and explains her passion for building systems that make people, rather than machines, more intelligent. She also recalls some of the designs and applied technologies she has worked on throughout her celebrated career, including recommender systems (before web browsers) and wearable devices (before cell phones). Finally, Pattie offers her thoughts on building diverse teams and what she’s most excited about in the field of AI.

Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman- Episode 37

In this episode of ACM ByteCast, Rashmi Mohan hosts 2015 ACM A.M. Turing Award laureates Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman. As joint creators of the Diffie-Hellman key exchange, they introduced the world to the transformative idea of public key cryptography, the underpinning of every secure transaction on the internet today. Whitfield has spent a large portion of his career as a security practitioner, including roles at Northern Telecom and Sun Microsystems. He is an elected Foreign Member of the Royal Society and a recipient of numerous other awards and accolades in computing. He's currently a consulting scholar at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. Martin is a Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. He's also a recipient of the RSA Lifetime Achievement Award, among many other recognitions. Both have received the Marconi Prize and have been inducted into the National Cybersecurity Hall of Fame and the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Whitfield and Martin share their individual journeys to computer science and cryptography, which were shaped both by personal interests and the geopolitical realities of the time. They also describe how they met and developed a rapport with each other as researchers. They share their “aha moment” in public key cryptography and how the internet  catapulted commercial cryptography in the 1990s. They also share their thoughts on computing privacy, national security, and quantum computing and its implications for both Diffie-Hellman and RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) cryptosystems. They touch on end-to-end encryption and the field of technology in the next five years. Along the way, they share colorful details from their early years and share advice for young people aspiring to get into computing

Holly Urban - Episode 36

In this episode, part of a special collaboration between ACM ByteCast and the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA)’s For Your Informatics podcast, hosts Sabrina Hsueh and Sullafa Kadura welcome Holly Urban, a pediatrician and clinical informaticist. After working for several years as a practicing pediatrician, Holly transitioned to working in product management roles for Healthcare IT vendors, including product leadership roles at McKesson and Hearst Health. Most recently, Holly was Chief Medical Informatics Officer (CMIO) at Oracle Cerner before recently starting a new role as VP of Clinical Product Design at CliniComp.

Holly describes how she became interested in medical informatics, product design, and management and how that inspired her to serve in an ambassador role between clinical and technical teams. She talks about transitioning from her role as CMIO at Oracle Cerner where she focused on software implementation and deployment to designing a new electronic health record (EHR) system at CliniComp. She stresses the importance of data literacy to analyze the reams of data generated by EHR and the promise of AI and ML in measuring effectiveness of interventions such as medical procedures and medications—as well as the issue of bias with these tools. Lastly, Holly shares valuable advice for professionals who are thinking about switching job roles.

Pat Pataranutaporn - Episode 35

In this episode of ACM ByteCast, Bruke Kifle hosts Pat Pataranutaporn, technologist and researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). There, he explores the intersection of synthetic virtual humans and synthetic biology, specifically at the interface between biological and digital systems. He is currently a PhD candidate at the Fluid Interfaces Group at the MIT Media Lab and a KBTG Fellow. Pat's research has been published in Nature Machine Intelligence, Nature Biotechnology, IEEE, ACM SIGCHI, ACM SIGGRAPH, ACM ISWC, ACM Augmented Humans, Royal Society of Chemistry, among others. He also serves as a reviewer and editor for IEEE and ACM publications. Pat’s published research is recognized worldwide and has been featured in the United Nations AI for Good forum, Time magazine, Forbes, National Geographic, FastCompany, The Guardian, Disruptive Innovation Festival, and more.

In the interview, Pat describes how his early fascination with dinosaurs led him into the scientific realm, and later to the MIT Media Lab, where people are encouraged to think about future challenges rather than just focusing on solving current problems. He explains the research area of fluid interfaces and describes some of the innovative work his group has been doing on human-AI co-reasoning. Pat and Bruke also about the future potential of AI in education and wearable devices, as well as MIT’s recent space exploration initiative. Pat also offers his perspectives on art and innovation, identifies the exciting new directions currently holding his attention, and offers advice for young people interested in the field of computing.

Team V Bionic - Episode 34

In this episode of ACM ByteCast, Rashmi Mohan hosts members of team V Bionic, who won the Imagine Cup 2022 grand prize for ExoHeal, a modular exoskeletal hand rehabilitation device that utilizes neuroplasticity and Azure technology to provide adaptive and gamified rehabilitation exercises to people with hand paralysis. The team includes Zain A. Samdani, Founder and CEO, who initially came up with the idea for ExoHeal; Faria Zubair, Head of Design, who improved the design and transformed the prototype to make it feel like a second skin; Asfia Jabeen Zubair, Operations Manager, who provided her ability to deal with people and patients and secured the input and advice of a scientific society comprised of neuroscientists; and Ramin Udash, CTO and application developer, who contributed his expertise in building robotics and applications.

The guests describe their backgrounds and how they got involved in computing and robotics. They explain how ExoHeal works, the biggest challenges the team faced while building it, how it is powered, and, importantly, how they’ve been able to make it portable and affordable. They also discuss what the future holds for their company, including the product launch. Along the way, the discuss how each member was able to contribute their individual talents and experiences to the project and some of the highs and lows of creating ExoHeal.

Neil Trevett - Episode 33

In this episode of ACM ByteCast, Rashmi Mohan hosts Neil Trevett, Vice President of Developer Ecosystems at NVIDIA and the President of the Khronos Group, a nonprofit consortium publishing open standards in a variety of areas related to computer graphics. He has worked to bring about standardization in the graphics world, giving developers the ability to extend and expand the capabilities of their visual systems. His accomplishments include bringing interactive 3D graphics to the web, creation of the glTF format for 3D assets, and recently founding the Metaverse Standards Forum.

Neil talks about what drew him to computer science and how he became interested in the visual impact of 3D graphics, a field in which he has spent most of his career. He unpacks the evolution of computer graphics and discusses his role at NVIDIA, where his work focuses on helping developers make good use of GPUs. He also explains the benefits of standardization in industry and how open standards can enable innovation and interoperability. Neil also explains how 3D is changing the landscape of e-commerce and online shopping and gives his perspective on the Metaverse and how it can leverage other disruptive technologies.