CSC News

April 2020 Carla Savage Award Winners Announced

Congratulations to Dr. Sarah Heckman, Teaching Professor, and Director of Undergraduate Programs, and Dr. Alessandra Scafuro, Assistant Professor, in the NC State Computer Science Department, on being named the April 2020 winners of “The Carla Savage Awards.”

Dr. Sarah Heckman, a three-time graduate of the department (BS CSC ’04, MS CSC ’05, PhD CSC ’09), is the department’s first teaching full professor, and serves as Director of Undergraduate Programs.  She was recognized with an NC State Outstanding Teacher Award in 2015, and is a member of the Academy of Outstanding Teachers at NC State.  In 2017 she was presented with an NC State Computer Science Outstanding Young Alumni Award, and in 2018 she was named an Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor.  She was recognized for her accomplishments as the winner of the Computer Science Person of Exceptional Performance for 2018-19.

Per her nomination: "She's a great teacher and it's evident she's passionate about her work and students. She goes out of her way to help all students.  She has tirelessly worked in her capacity as the Director of Undergraduate programs to keep it all happening as we transitioned to remote instruction. Dr. Heckman is awesome because of ALL THE THINGS. She does an amazing job mentoring other faculty, leading SIGCSE, designing classes and curricula, and protecting the interests of students and the quality of our CSC undergraduate program."

Dr. Alessandra Scafuro is an assistant professor in the NC State Computer Science Department where she is a member of the Wolfpack Security and Privacy Research Lab.  Her research interests are in theoretical and applied Cryptography.  Her goal is to design cryptographic protocols (e.g., zero-knowledge protocols, secure two-party computation) that are modular and composable; and to apply tools from cryptography to enhance the confidentiality in blockchain applications.  Prior to joining NC State, she was a post-doctoral researcher at UCLA, Boston University and Northeastern University. She received her PhD from University of Salerno, Italy.  Per her nomination, “She is an awesome assistant professor!”

A new intra-departmental initiative, The Carla Savage Awards were created by representatives in the Computer Science Department to recognize outstanding achievement and special people within the department, in the spirit of the incomparable department icon Dr. Carla Savage.

Each month nominations for The Carla Savage Awards will focus on one of the following groups:  PhD Students, Administrative Staff, Research Professors, Teaching Professors, Assistant Professors, Associate Professors, and Professors.  The Savage Awards committee is made up of representatives from the faculty, staff and graduate students.  The names of nominators for the awards are kept private, but the nomination text will be public so voters can access this information when voting.  Voting is open to everyone in the NC State Computer Science Department.  Two awards will be given each month, with a maximum of 14 winners (one person cannot win more than once every six months).  No awards will be given in January, June, July, August or December. 

Congratulations to the April 2020 Carla Savage Award Winners!

~coates~