FY25 Annual Report
IMPACT
SIEBEL SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND DATA SCIENCE
Transformative discoveries and meaningful progress
Annual Report FY25
Dear Computer Science Community,
We are pleased to share highlights of the school's top achievements from 2025—a year marked by transformative discoveries and meaningful progress. Our community drove innovation across technology, business, education and society through pioneering research, creative teaching and the exceptional accomplishments of our alumni, faculty and students.
Federal agencies and private partners provided significant support for research initiatives to enhance the security of AI-powered wireless networks, enable push-button testing for cloud computing systems and advance the development of intelligent, autonomous systems.
Through blended degree programs like CS + X and DS + X, the MCS professional master’s program in Chicago, and the Illinois Computing Accelerator for Non-Specialists (iCAN), we expanded access to computing and data science education for learners of all backgrounds and stages. Our faculty’s commitment to educational innovation ensures that students achieve their fullest potential.
In the 2024-2025 academic year, Siebel School of Computing and Data Science in The Grainger College of Engineering set the standard for inclusive excellence and will continue to lead in this area.
Siebel School welcomes sixteen new faculty members
They add wide-ranging areas of expertise—from quantum to bioinformatics, computational biology, audio coding and interactive computing.
Facts and Rankings
Heng Ji and Gang Wang launch the Illinois Capital One ASKS Center for Generative AI Safety, Knowledge Systems and Cyber Security
ASKS will be addressing the challenges and opportunities of Generative Artificial Intelligence Models in today’s rapidly evolving world
Sarita Adve and Shenlong Wang collaborate with Meta research to improve XR graphics
Creating rich, immersive experiences on all-day-wear extended reality devices
Space
Communications
Technology
Deepak Vasisht is taking satellites to the edge, showing us the best ways to quickly get sensitive data
Illinois leads pioneering UAS-mounted canopy penetrating radar technology with NASA funding
Elahe Soltanaghai is developing a system to sense understory fuel to more accurately assess fire risk and predict wildfire spread
CS-led team pioneers improvement of microservice-based applications
Brighten Godfrey, Radhika Mittal and Rayadurgam Srikant's NSF-funded project will significantly improve cloud-hosted applications
$1.2M NSF grant to improve perception for small robots and drones
Deepak Vasisht, Shenlong Wang and Elahe Soltanagha to establish millimeter wave radar as a first-class control tool
Kaiyu Guan is one of six Illinois scientists ranked among the world's most influential
Guan is leading research on sustainable food production and solutions to environmental challenges in agriculture
An Illinois CS team is giving robots a sense of touch
Enabling robots to better perceive and interact with the physical world
Groundbreaking Illinois Chemical Engineering + Data Science program launched
This new degree uniquely prepares graduates to leverage big data in the chemical engineering field.
Siebel School welcomes sixteen new faculty members
They add wide-ranging areas of expertise—from quantum to bioinformatics, computational biology, audio coding and interactive computing.
Siebel School Stories
Margie Ruffin finds success in the unknown
One of the first African American women to earn a PhD in computer science from the University of Illinois, she urges us to embrace discomfort. “I had to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.”
New Engineering Access Alliance with City Colleges of Chicago continues Grainger Engineering's efforts to expand educational accessibility
Offering prospective transfer students a streamlined entry process into Grainger Engineering.
Steve Chen visits campus
Steve Chen asked his audience, “Did you use YouTube today as a dating site? That's what we thought YouTube was going to be.” And he would know.
Tom Siebel: I am very much a product of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
“I am very much a product of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. To the extent that I learned to read and understand history, I learned that at Illinois. To the extent that I learned to write effectively, think creatively, work diligently to question everything, and think out of the box, I learned that at Illinois. To the extent that I learned to overcome adversity, to be doggedly persistent, to strive for excellence every day, and to try to attain the unattainable, I learned that at Illinois.”
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program recognizes thirteen CS students for 2025
Dean E. Alvarez, Dai Hung Che, Daniel Feng, Alexi Gladstone, Ayush Khot, Benjamin Kim, Jasper Lee, Jeffrey Liu, Maria Lusardi, Javier Nieto, Alan L. Wang, John Wu and Andy Zhou
Five CS graduate students namedto 2025 Siebel Scholars class
Tanay Dixit
Hao-Yu (Max)
Hsu, Baoyu Li
Ashutosh Sharma
Alan Wang
Annual Celebration of Excellence honors the bounty of Siebel School talent
Spotlighting the school's generous donors, successful alums, exceptional faculty, outstanding students, exemplary staff, and global impact.
Two CS alumni receive Grainger Engineering Alumni Awards for Distinguished Service
Conferred upon exceptional alumni for professional distinction through outstanding leadership, contributions to engineering, creativity, entrepreneurship, and service.
CS trio recognized for collective six decades at Illinois
Three school staff members were recognized and honored by Chancellor Robert Jones for their years of service at Illinois.
Donald L. Bitzer
A giant in engineering whose inventions were world-changing. Known as the "father of PLATO" for creating the groundbreaking computer-based education system at Illinois. Co-inventor of the flat-screen plasma display panel; he shares an Emmy with Gene Slottow and Robert Willson for developing plasma-screen technology used in the PLATO system. His research led to intelligent modems for telephone lines and cable systems, and he holds 50 patents, including a high-quality modem and new satellite communication techniques.
Duncan H. Lawrie, Jr.
Emeritus professor
CS department chair (1990-1996)
Lawrie's research interests were in supercomputer software and architecture, and he published extensively in this area. An integral part of the ILLIAC IV project, he worked on a parallel language called GLYPNIR and contributed to the design of the Burroughs Scientific Processor and Cedar.