ALUMNI
Message from the CST Alumni Board president As the new president of the CST Alumni Board, I will have the opportunity to address graduating students at both the spring and fall CST graduation ceremonies. I can imagine standing before members of the graduating class and seeing the pride and excitement each of them feels as they celebrate success and begin a life’s journey. Though graduation is the end of one journey, it also marks the beginning of a new one.
Learn more about how you can get involved at cst.temple.edu/alumni or email cstalum@temple.edu
Part of the journey is continuing to learn and grow, whether with an employer or in graduate school. Equally important is acknowledging those who helped you along the way as you worked toward your goals. Parents, spouses and friends are all important parts of our continuing growth and evolution. For me (and many other CST graduates), Temple University was an intrinsic part of my career success. Supporting Temple students, either financially or by becoming an undergraduate mentor (or both!) are two incredible rewarding ways to give back to CST.
I want to thank the CST Alumni Board past president, Sina Adibi (BA ’84, CIS; FOX ’86) for his leadership. He is a wonderful example of committed Temple alumni willing to lend an ear or lend a hand to today’s students. When I speak to the next group of CST graduates, I, too, will urge them to stay connected to classmates, to reach out to new Temple people and to know that they will always be welcomed here, at their home on North Broad Street. It’s the same message—and challenge—for all of us, really. Sincerely,
Steven Szczepanski (BA ’80, PhD ’85, Chem) President CST Alumni Board
Liang Du (PhD ’15, CIS): Leading Microsoft’s workplace safety product Liang Du, a principal applied scientist manager with Microsoft, is leading a team of researchers that have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) product that utilizes surveillance cameras and computers to enhance workplace safety. According to Du, the product drew the praise of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. “He said, ’The work is amazing’,” recalls Du. “To work on something that you feel is important, and then to have the founder of this great company praise your work, was magical.” While earning his doctorate in computer science under his advisor, Associate Professor Haibin Ling, Du focused on computer vision. “Any artificial intelligence system needs computer vision to allow computers to make sense of the visual, physical world, to know what is happening there, who is there and what objects are there,” explains Du. Du credits his work with Ling for elevating his Temple experience. “The research we were doing was state of the art. We published our research on the best facial recognition system in the world at that time,” says Du. “That experience helped me get
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College of Science and Technology
my Microsoft job and gave me the foundation to succeed with the workplace safety project I’m still working on.” The AI project utilizes a new concept that combines the analytical power of both Microsoft’s Cloud and local computers to interpret, in real time, what surveillance cameras see. For example, if the cameras detect a top-heavy jackhammer precariously leaning against a workbench, the system can use facial recognition to immediately notify, via smartphone, a worker in the room. Similarly, if a heart surgery patient is detected walking too far in a hospital hallway, a nurse would be alerted, and informed where the nearest wheelchair for the patient is located. “We’re working on something that may change the way people work,” says Du. “Many disasters or accidents will be prevented, or at least be mitigated, with this kind of system, which can be installed anywhere.” —Bruce E. Beans
