2018 Winners

"Investigating tools that use artificial intelligence and deep machine learning neural networks to identify malicious behaviors on servers and networks"
According to Lucian, “our competitive business advantage, national infrastructure, and democracy are at risk from malicious actors in cyberspace.” Lucian explains how he is developing new methods in Artificial Intelligence (AI) rather than traditional pattern matching in order to identify threats. His methods form a deep learning neural network that are smarter and better able to identify unknown risks from viruses and malware.

2nd Place: Melissa Masterson
Psychology

"Beyond the bucket list: unfinished business among advanced cancer patients"

"The friend in the machine"
Computers recognizing emotions to feel more like friends might be the future of human interaction with technology in our everyday lives. Trevor explains how his research seeks to build a system to make this engagement possible. He argues that situational context and individualized approaches are necessary to understand how individuals react to situations and show emotion differently. Over time, the model will learn and be able to process the complex range of emotions so that computers can better support their users.