Robot turns to person entering the conversational group, even though she is not wearing a detectable hat like the other three members of the group.

ATLAS researchers' algorithm helps robots detect everyone in social gatherings

April 6, 2022

Imagine a world where robots flawlessly detect everyone in a conversation group and also greet the newcomers. Described in a paper published in the March proceedings of the prestigious International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI '22), Hooman Hedayati (PhD computer science '20) and Daniel Szafir, assistant professor of computer science at UNC Chapel Hill and former ATLAS faculty member, proposed a method to overcome situations when conversational group (F-formation) detection algorithms fail.

Winners of Femal Founder's Night on a stage.

Chembotix and Digital Wellness win awards at NVC Female Founders Prize Night

March 22, 2022

​​Kailey Shara, an ATLAS PhD student and a member of the Emergent Nanomaterials Lab, and her team, won third place and $1,000 for Chembotix robotic automation platform. Annie Margaret, teaching assistant professor with the ATLAS Institute, and her team, placed fourth with Digital Wellness x NoSo November.

Two T9 participants smile while looking at a laptop.

Confidence in coding: ATLAS PhD student recalls impact of T9Hacks

Feb. 1, 2022

T9Hacks kicks off this year at an in-person event on February 18 at 4:30 p.m. at the ATLAS Institute. The seventh-annual hackathon promotes interest in creative technologies, coding, design and making among college women, nonbinary individuals and other groups that are underrepresented in technical fields.

A Tinycade console with a hand gripping a "claw" controller

Tinycade empowers novices to design and build arcade-like games

Jan. 13, 2022

Limited by materials available at home during the pandemic, ATLAS PhD student Peter Gyory and a team of ACME Lab researchers developed Tinycade—a platform for DIY game controllers that anyone, including novices, can use to design and build arcade-like games using household materials such as cardboard, mirrors and hot glue.

Logo for ACORN

ATLAS students fill in community STEM gaps through new outreach team

Nov. 10, 2021

Shaz Zamore is the faculty director of ATLAS Community Outreach and Resource Network (ACORN), a new outreach group that connects ATLAS research and STEM education to those who can’t easily access it.

Chembotix machine on one side and Kailey's headshot on the other.

Kailey Shara, ATLAS PhD student, takes home top awards from both NVC 14 and New Venture Launch class, winning $17,500 for her startup, Chembotix

March 22, 2021

Kailey Shara, ATLAS PhD student and a member of the Emergent Nanomaterials Lab, won two top prizes within several days to fund her company, Chembotix, taking home a total of $17,500. Shara won first place at the NVC 14 Female Founder Pitch ($5000) and the NVC Finals Audience Choice Award ($1000), as well as two first-place wins with CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ's New Venture Launch program ($11,500).

Screenshots of Darren's presentation and his photo

ATLAS PhD Student Darren Sholes takes first place at NVC 14 Newcomer Prize Night, winning $5,000

March 18, 2021

Darren Sholes, an ATLAS PhD student and a member of the ACME Lab, won first place in NVC's newcomer competition and walking away with $5,000 for LoopSketch, a program that makes it possible for musicians to remotely collaborate.

Clement Zheng

Clement Zheng speaks about dissertation on KGNU's "How on Earth Science Show"

May 5, 2020

In an episode focused on students about to receive their PhDs in STEM-related fields, Clement Zheng speaks about his dissertation research, "Everyday Materials for Physical Interactive Systems," his graduate school experience and what he has planned next.

Katie Gach

Katie Gach's research informs Facebook's new legacy policies

April 10, 2019

On April 9 Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg announced new guidelines for memorial legacy accounts, and those changes were directly informed by research from ATLAS PhD candidate Katie Gach.

Nicole Johnson and Abigail Zimmermann-Niefeld

ATLAS PhD students honored by National Science Foundation

April 10, 2019

ATLAS PhD student Nicole Johnson and affiliated ATLAS PhD student Abby Zimmerman-Niefield have been selected as 2019 National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) fellows.

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