The strength of the College of IST is demonstrated through the successes and accomplishments of its students, faculty, alumni, and programs. Read more about how the college and its people are driving innovative change and taking on the challenges of the Information Age.
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College of IST announces six seed grant recipients
September 27, 2021
The Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology recently announced six projects that will receive funding from the college’s seed grant program. The program provides preliminary funding for IST researchers and collaborators to initiate new projects.
S. Shyam Sundar named director of the Center for Socially Responsible AI
September 24, 2021
S. Shyam Sundar, James P. Jimirro Professor of Media Effects in the Donald P.
Increasing linguistic diversity to advance human-technology interaction
September 22, 2021
People are becoming increasingly dependent on human technologies such as smart voice assistants and computer-based tutoring for access to governmental, community, health, and educational services. However, the technology is largely based on standard American English.
IST intern updates military wargame for National Strategic Research Institute
September 21, 2021
Not many college students have the opportunity to directly impact national security.
Alumna-led nonprofit aims to empower female emergency dispatchers
September 20, 2021
Nearly a quarter of emergency dispatch personnel experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, and the national turnover rate of 911 dispatchers is more than 17%.
Institute sponsors four co-funded faculty positions in AI and data science
September 20, 2021
The Institute for Computational and Data Sciences (ICDS), in partnership with four academic colleges will sponsor four co-funded faculty positions focused on the development of novel methods or advanced applications in data science.
Data Science Community announces fall 2021 talk series
September 15, 2021
The talks, which are open to the Penn State community, will cover topics including art history, big data and the U.S. Constitution, architectural knitted textiles, cryosphere studies, imaging genomics, radio telescope images, and more.
IST Alumni Identity Talks series Sept. 15, 'Celebrating Hispanic Heritage'
September 10, 2021
Members of the Penn State community are invited to join alumni of the College of Information Sciences and Technology for IST Alumni Identity Talks — Celebrating Hispanic Heritage, to be held virtually from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 15.
IST alumnus and Latinx workers in tech advocate lands dream job at Twitter
September 10, 2021
Growing up in Philadelphia, Noel Claudio never thought that it was possible to work for a big social media tech company unless he lived in California or New York.
Overcoming homelessness and hardships to earn a Penn State degree
September 9, 2021
On his 18th birthday, Joel Seidel became emancipated from his parents and, in turn, homeless. He said Penn State equipped him with the tools and resources he needed to succeed, including support from scholarships.
COVID-19 study aims to make local policy announcements more culturally dependent
September 8, 2021
Researchers from the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology recently studied a new form of crisis information exchange that has emerged between geographically dispersed areas to facilitate local crisis responses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
IST intern conducts analytical research, informs public for U.S. Air Force
September 2, 2021
Given the security around many military and government organizations, students and graduates of the College of Information Sciences and Technology's security and risk analysis program often can't share much about the work they do.
On the Bridge - August 2021
August 31, 2021
A compilation of recent news, highlights and achievements from the College of Information Sciences and Technology community.
Alumni sisters experience IST 10 years apart, advocate for diversity in tech
August 31, 2021
Many alumni can say that the Penn State legacy runs in their family, but few can say that they graduated from the same college as their sibling.
Surprisingly popular voting algorithm developed to recover ranked choices
August 25, 2021
Imagine you are asked to rank the counties in Pennsylvania in terms of number of COVID-19 infections. Or you may be asked to rank cities in Pennsylvania based on their populations.
Andrea Tapia named associate dean for research in the College of IST
August 25, 2021
Andrea Tapia, professor in the College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST), has been named IST’s associate dean for research, effective Sept. 1.
New tool could help authors bust writer's block in novel-length works
August 24, 2021
Authors experiencing writer’s block could soon have a new way to help develop the next section of their story. Researchers at the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology recently introduced a new technology that forecasts the future development of an ongoing written story.
Honor code established at College of IST
August 20, 2021
The College of Information Sciences and Technology, in collaboration with IST student government, announced the launch of the IST Honor Code.
IST intern provides end-user IT support for USDA Agricultural Research Service
August 20, 2021
Thanks to established capabilities with IT from personal experiences, previous internships, and things learned in the classroom at the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology, rising senior Bailey Rumford landed a summer internship providing end-user IT support at the Agricultur
Penn State Berks takes first place in the Anthem AI hackathon
August 19, 2021
The Penn State Berks Data Lions team recently took first place in the Anthem AI ‘Substance Use Disorder and Whole Health of the Person’ Hackathon, a competition to identify risk factors related to substance use, and conditions indicative of underlying substance abuse.
New framework could help teachers personalize their professional learning
August 18, 2021
Digital badges used as emblems to indicate an accomplishment or skill is a concept familiar to online learners seeking advanced knowledge in their profession.
College of IST welcomes eight new faculty for fall 2021
August 17, 2021
Eight new faculty members will join the College of Information Sciences and Technology this fall, strengthening the college’s research portfolio and enhancing IST’s growing number of academic programs — including a residential master’s degree in cybersecurity analytics and operations and bachelor
Block by block: Researchers use Minecraft to advance artificial intelligence
August 10, 2021
Researchers received a $900,000 grant to create artificial intelligence that can plan for and solve future problems. They will test the new software on the video game Minecraft.
Counting pandemic behaviors to inform public health decisions
August 10, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many significant changes to people's lives, but one of the most visible signals of this has been the proliferation of masks and other face-coverings in public spaces.
IST intern analyzes data to help inform operations at Bank of America
August 10, 2021
After starting a company whose proceeds benefited Venezuelans living in poverty and working in a number of startups in various industries, College of Information Sciences and Technology student Izaak Lustgarten landed a summer position with Bank of America as a global quantitative analytics inter
IST intern coordinates network infrastructure installation at U.S. hospitals
August 5, 2021
Like many interns over the past 16 months, Penn State senior Katie Byrd expected her internship with Universal Health Services Inc. to be entirely virtual.
Alayna Spriggle selected as IST college marshal for summer commencement
July 28, 2021
The College of Information Sciences and Technology will honor Alayna Spriggle as student marshal for its summer 2021 commencement, which will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 14, at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Honeypot security technique can also stop attacks in natural language processing
July 28, 2021
As online fake news detectors and spam filters become more sophisticated, so do attackers’ methods to trick them — including attacks through the “universal trigger.” In this learning-based method, an attacker uses a phrase or set of words to fool an indefinite number of inputs, which could lead t
Intern interprets big data and builds entrepreneurial skills
July 27, 2021
Shubham Mishra, a rising sophomore studying data sciences in the College of Information Sciences and Technology, believed that if he was hardworking and willing to find an internship, he could be hired even though he had only just completed his first year at Penn State.
On the Bridge – July 2021
July 22, 2021
A compilation of recent news, highlights and achievements from the College of Information Sciences and Technology community.
Six elected to Graduate School Alumni Society Board of Directors
July 21, 2021
The Graduate School announces the Penn State alumni who have been elected to serve a three-year term on the Graduate School Alumni Society Board of Directors beginning July 1.
Students use AI to support mental health, address unanswered calls for help
July 16, 2021
Penn State students Bill Chen and Howard Hong are working with a team of fellow students to make sure that during a crisis no one else feels alone by developing an active listening application called PsySpace while competing in the Nittany AI Challenge.
Networking and collaboration lead to best paper award for IST doctoral student
July 15, 2021
At the College of Information Sciences and Technology, doctoral student Jeongwon Jo has benefited from having access to an interdisciplinary network of experts and scholars to help advance her research.
IST instructor keeps students engaged remotely with interpretive discussions
July 14, 2021
How does modern digital technology shape our world and our perceptions? That is a question investigated by students in an emerging issues and technologies course this spring in the College of Information Sciences and Technology.
Penn State Security Center announces Fall 2021 Grant Program
July 14, 2021
The Penn State Center for Security Research and Education is announcing its Fall 2021 Grant Program to support security-related scholarship and educational programs at Penn State. University faculty and researchers are eligible to apply by Sept. 30.
World Campus IST graduate heads security engineering for Disney+
July 12, 2021
Jacob Meissner never imagined he’d work in technology after obtaining his bachelor’s degree in English from Penn State.
Busy student's patience leads to another valuable opportunity
July 8, 2021
Erica Mi, a rising junior at Penn State, is working for IBM this summer as part of a project management internship — the latest endeavor she’s exploring during an ambitious college career.
Women and lower-education users more likely to tweet personal information
July 7, 2021
When it comes to what users share on Twitter, women and users who never attended college voluntarily disclose more personal information than users from other socioeconomic and demographic backgrounds — potentially making these populations more susceptible to online privacy threats, according to a
IST intern leverages computer vision to inform PepsiCo manufacturing operations
July 7, 2021
When Nia Anderson started thinking of career paths as she nears graduation, she saw herself as a business analyst.
IST alumnus creates scholarship to honor family legacy
July 2, 2021
As a member of the College of Information Sciences and Technology’s first graduating class and a long-time alumni volunteer, Steve Pipino has established the Pipino Family Annually Funded Scholarship in the college to benefit first-generation students and students with demonstrated need.
Student creates software solutions to help users be more efficient
June 30, 2021
Penn State senior Jason Nucciarone is using the skills he gained through the human centered design and development program at the College of Information Sciences and Technology to make technology more efficient for users.
Presidential Leadership Academy announces new class
June 29, 2021
The Presidential Leadership Academy at Penn State recently announced its Class of 2021.
Susser awarded Haile Family Early Career Professorship at IST
June 25, 2021
Assistant Professor Daniel Susser has been awarded the Haile Family Early Career Professorship in Information Sciences and Technology.
IST faculty named executive VP of society on computer-human interaction
June 24, 2021
Shaowen Bardzell, professor of information sciences and technology, has been elected as executive vice-president for the Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (ACM SIGCHI), the premier international society for all professionals, academics and st
$1.2 million NSF grant to create search engine for online privacy research
June 23, 2021
A $1.2 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant will help researchers build a search engine and create other resources for scientists who need to scour billions of online documents to improve online privacy.
IST research well-represented at top Communities and Technologies conference
June 22, 2021
A research group from the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology is well-represented at the virtual 10th International Conference on Communities and Technology, which began June 21.
Clickbait headlines might not lure readers as much, may confuse AI
June 18, 2021
A Penn State team of researchers found that clickbait often did not perform any better and, in some cases, performed worse than traditional headlines. They also found that artificial intelligence systems designed to spot clickbait struggled with the task.
Parenting teens: Is there an app for that?
June 17, 2021
Penn State researchers, with funding from the Mental Research Institute, are developing a smartphone app to promote positive, engaged family relationships that support healthy development for adolescents.
Treating non-humans as stakeholders key to sustainable technologies
June 11, 2021
Researchers from the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology made a methodological contribution toward a potential answer to the challenging problem of how to operationalize posthuman concepts into practice for human-computer interaction through the art of noticing — specificall
Gamrat co-authors book chapter on state of microlearning in higher ed
June 11, 2021
Chris Gamrat, instructional designer at the College of Information Sciences and Technology, is co-author on a chapter in the new