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New Technique Overcomes Spurious Correlations Problem in AI

Research

Gregg Rothermel, a man with glasses and a light brown suit jacket walks on a path between a bright red art installation and a few small trees with white blossoms. The man is looking slightly to his left and has a calm expression. In the background are more trees and a modern building.

May 12, 2025

Dr. Gregg Rothermel to Retire as Department Head

Department Head Gregg Rothermel will retire in August 2025 after leading the department through a period of significant growth, expanded national prominence in research, and increased number of degrees granted to CS scholars and practitioners.
Will Enck, a smiling man with short reddish-brown hair and blue eyes is looking directly at the camera. He is wearing a light purple collared shirt with a subtle pattern. His arms are crossed, but only his shoulders and a small portion of his arms are visible. The background is blurred, showing what appears to be an indoor setting with architectural elements and light, possibly from windows or a glass structure.

May 8, 2025

William Enck Named Goodnight Distinguished Professor in Security Sciences

William Enck has been named the Goodnight Distinguished Professor in Security Sciences at NC State's College of Engineering. Enck has been a faculty member in the Department of Computer Science since 2011.
A young man with dark hair and a beard, wearing a black collared shirt and a wristwatch, stands with his arms crossed, smiling slightly at the camera. He is in a modern computer lab or office with numerous computer monitors and towers displaying colorful lights in the background.

Apr 28, 2025

Grad Student Profile: Raj Madhu

For as long as he can remember, Raj Madhu has been captivated by the inner workings of technology, always eager to explore new innovations and understand what happens behind the…
A young man with dark hair and glasses, wearing a light blue collared shirt and khaki pants, stands in front of a monitor displaying a graph and text. He is gesturing with his right arm towards a large poster board to his right, which has a title "DEMO 11" and includes text and what appear to be graphs or charts. Two young women, seen from behind, are facing him and looking at the poster. The woman closest to the viewer has long dark hair and is wearing a light-colored hooded sweatshirt. The other woman, slightly further away, has her hair in a ponytail and is wearing a light blue puffer jacket. The setting appears to be an indoor event, possibly a conference or exhibition, with blue curtains in the background on the left.

Apr 10, 2025

MerryQuery Wins Prestigious AAAI-2025 Demonstration Award for Advancing AI in Education

MerryQuerry, an AI-powered educational platform developed by NC State CS researchers, was honored with the Best Technical Demonstration Award at the 39th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence.
Three individuals are standing around a white poster board that displays charts and text. Two of the individuals, a light-skinned person with dark hair and a beard on the left, and a light-skinned person with dark hair and no beard on the right, are wearing black t-shirts that say "SENIOR DESIGN PROJECT" in pink and white text. The person in the middle is partially obscured, facing away from the camera. The background is a vibrant red, with white text overlaid that reads: "Senior Design Center Posters & Pies + Panel 30th Anniversary Celebration April 23, 2025 from 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. McKimmon Center, Raleigh, NC" and "NC STATE UNIVERSITY Computer Science" in the bottom left corner.

Apr 2, 2025

Senior Design Center’s ‘Posters & Pies’ 30th Anniversary Celebration Set for April 23

Join the Department of Computer Science for the Senior Design Center's "Posters & Pies" 30th Anniversary Celebration on Wednesday, April 23, 2025 from 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. at the McKimmon Center in Raleigh.
Gregg Rothermel, a smiling man with light skin, wears a brown jacket on the left of the image. Tim Menzies smiles on the right wearing a red shirt in front of a whiteboard.

Apr 2, 2025

Rothermel, Menzies Recognized by IEEE’s TSE for Best Papers of the Past Four Decades

Seminal papers from CS Head Gregg Rothermel and Professor Tim Menzies have been recognized in the 50th anniversary edition of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Transactions on Software Engineering (TSE) journal.
A screenshot from a 3D animated game shows a character named Jasmine, with dark skin and dark hair pulled back, wearing a purple and white shirt. She is speaking, and a text box at the bottom displays her dialogue: "Great. I've been pretty busy at the other farms, so I haven't had a lot of time to just do research on why the tilapia might be sick." The background is an indoor facility with rows of blue and white tanks, red support beams, and brick walls, suggesting a fish farm.

Mar 20, 2025

Mining Data to Boost Collaborative Learning in Educational Games

Researchers from #NCStateCS have demonstrated a new suite of software tools that analyzes student behavior in an educational game in real time. These assessments can be used to modify the game in order to improve student learning.
A person with light skin and dark hair, wearing glasses, stands at the front of a classroom, gesturing with their right hand as they speak to an audience of four people. They are wearing a light blue jacket over a light green shirt, and dark pants. Behind them is a red wall with black hexagonal patterns and the words "Computer Science" in white text at the top. To their right, a dark wooden podium has "NC STATE UNIVERSITY Computer Science" written on it. The audience members are seated at tables, with the backs of their heads visible. The person on the far left has blonde hair, and the person in the middle has gray hair and is wearing a dark suit jacket. The two people on the right have dark hair and are wearing light-colored shirts.

Mar 20, 2025

Computer Science Research Day a Success

Thanks to everyone who attended the first Computer Science Research Day! Corporate and industry leaders joined #NCStateCS faculty for a day of learning, networking and collaboration.
Tim Menzies, a smiling older man with a white beard, holds up a sign that says “Want Data!”

Mar 18, 2025

Tim Menzies Featured in ‘People of ACM’

Tim Menzies, professor of computer science, was recently featured in the Association for Computing Machinery's 'People of ACM' newsletter. Menzies was recognized for his work in SE, AI and improving methods for open access science.
A digital rendering of a deep blue circuit board with numerous glowing connection points and traces, featuring a prominent, slightly raised square processor with a translucent blue glow emanating from underneath.

Mar 10, 2025

New Technique Overcomes Spurious Correlations Problem in AI

AI models often rely on “spurious correlations,” making decisions based on unimportant and potentially misleading information. NC State CS researchers have traced these correlations and have demonstrated a technique that overcomes this problem.