May 2024

I want to start by acknowledging how hard the last couple weeks have been. The events in Dunn Meadow shook our community to its core. And it was made all the worse that it came at a time that is inherently stressful already. I want to thank each of you for your flexibility, collaboration, and resilience to help our students complete the semester. If you have neglected your own wellbeing to focus on your students, I would encourage you to take some time to regroup, reflect, and recharge.

I know many of you are dealing with a range of emotions, but I suggest, for at least a brief moment as you read this, that you focus on the student lives that you have impacted. We’ve just celebrated our graduating class, and this letter includes many wonderful highlights from students, staff, and faculty. Let’s set aside this moment to collectively celebrate Luddy’s successes.

Graduation celebration

I love getting to celebrate graduation. For many students, this event is a highlight in their lives, the culmination of years of hard work, a celebration of where they’ve been and where they’re going. More than 1,200 students in Bloomington and 650 in Indianapolis received a Luddy degree.

Both campuses held celebration ceremonies for graduating students. You can relive these special moments.

Bloomington: photo gallery and livestream
Indianapolis: livestream

Thank you to all our faculty and staff who helped these students, the many hours of mentoring, grading assignments, advising students, preparing events, and more. You are the heroes that created experiences students will remember for the rest of their lives.

Staff highlight

For our staff highlight this month, I want to recognize the incredible work of the people who lead the graduation event planning.

Tiana Iruoje, director of student engagement and success, leads the Bloomington graduation celebration committee.

In Indianapolis, Jill Mathews, recorder, and Elizabeth Cassell, director of graduate affairs, lead the committee, with help this year from Holley Rubenstein, newly hired events coordinator.

These individuals have worked tirelessly, most for many years, to plan and coordinate these large-scale events. I appreciate all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to make the events a seamless, wonderful experience for our students. This year was no different. Thank you!

Luddy in the news

Ming Jiang, associate professor of data science in Luddy Indy recently won a Google Research Scholar Award. Her work will focus on embedding cultural awareness on natural language processing models.
Karl MacDorman, associate professor in HCI and associate dean for academic affairs at Luddy Indy, published an article discussing the uncanny valley and the future of AI, and has been picked up by several news outlets.
Those on the Indy campus saw the lead in IUPUI Today on Friday highlighted the great work of Soo Hyeon Kim, who is studying how to support parents in developing early childhood STEM learning.
Lisa DesNoyers, director of the Health Information Management program at Luddy Indy, received the Indiana Health Information Management Association’s highest award, the Distinguished Member Award. It is given to a member who has demonstrated exceptional service and leadership to the association.
Olgun Sadik, ISE lecturer in Luddy Bloomington, has hosted workshops near and far, including partnering with Türkiye’s Ministry of Education, discussing how educators need AI literacy to be prepared for the future.
Luddy Bloomington’s computer science department achieved a new ranking in the Programming Languages specialization from U.S. News and World Report, coming in at #19 nationally.
Daniel Loveless, ISE associate professor in Luddy Bloomington, is part of a NASA workforce development grant to get students involved in the real-world, cutting-edge science of spacecraft design.
Luddy Bloomington has been selected to host the 2025 iConference, the premiere conference for the 120+ member iSchool association.

Student highlights

This month there are so many incredible student stories to highlight, that I wanted to devote a section to them.

Luddy Bloomington students participated in some exciting end-of-the-year activities that showcased their creativity and talent. The Informatics department hosted their annual Capstone Fair, with 212 students highlighting what they can do. And then the undergraduate poster symposium with students from several classes taking over three floors in Luddy showing their work.
Colin LeFevre, Luddy Bloomington informatics student, received a prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship award to investigate mental health stigmas and how people use digital mental health tools.
Matt Gacek, a Luddy Bloomington sophomore who earlier this year sold his AI-based therapy app, won the Mira Student Entrepreneur of the Year. The Mira Awards, hosted by TechPoint, celebrate the best in technology in Indiana.
The IUI Admissions office partnered with the Media Arts and Science program to develop a game that could be sent to admitted students. The goal is to get students engaged with Indy landmarks through a gamified experience.
Several Luddy Indy students have received important awards recognizing the incredible work they have done.
- Sahiti Somalraju, Ibrahim Ahmad, Roman Moreno, Miranda Prowse, and Folajimi Joseph Anifowose received the IUI Top 100 Award, which honors undergraduate students who demonstrate excellence in academics, campus leadership, and community engagement.
- Sai Varsha Koya, Megha Moncy, and Rohini Vemparala received an Elite 50 Award, which is awarded to graduate and professional students who excel in campus leadership, scholarly work, and community engagement.
- Kavin Thakkar received the Plater Civic Engagement Medallion, which is awarded by the IUI Center for Service & Learning to students demonstrating exemplary commitment to their communities.
- Summer Law was named a Chancellor’s Scholar. The scholars demonstrate excellent academic achievement and are the top undergraduate students on the IUI campus.

And that wraps the first academic year of the Luddy Letter! I hope these emails are helpful and show the breadth of the incredible things happening in our school. We will be back with the next Luddy Letter in September. I hope you’re able to take some well-deserved time away from work this summer.

Until next time,

Joanna Millunchick
Dean
Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering

May 2024

May 2024

Graduation celebration

Staff highlight

Luddy in the news

Student highlights

Faculty and Staff Intranet resources and social media channels