Saturday, October 20, 2018
5 – 9 pm

Hilton University of Houston
Conrad Hilton Ballroom (second floor)
4450 University Drive
Houston, Texas, 77204

UH Computer Science alumni, faculty, staff, industry partners, and the community are invited to celebrate the department’s rich history and promising future. This once in a lifetime celebration will honor notable alumni and take a peek at our history and future with technology.

Attire

Dress as you wish. Business casual suggested.

Parking and Directions

Parking validations will be provided only for the Hilton Garage. We cannot provide validations for the UH Welcome Center Garage.

Hilton University of Houston
4450 University Drive
Houston, Texas, 77204

Driving North on I-45 (from Galveston), Exit (Elgin/Lockwood/Cullen) exit# 44A. Turn left on Cullen and drive towards Wheeler. Left on Wheeler, left at Calhoun Rd (Entrance #4), left at University. Then, turn left after the vistors booth. Hilton Parking Garage is on the right located underneath the hotel.

Driving South on I-45 (from downtown), Exit Spur 5 exit# 44B follow to UH University Drive and make a right. Go Past Calhoun and turn left after the visitors booth. Hilton Parking Garage is on your right located underneath the hotel.

Schedule^*

*Check back often for more details and updates as the event date approaches

• 5:00 pm - Happy Hour (bring your ID in case of carding)
  Networking and mingling, historical perspective on computing.
• 5:30 pm - Societal Benefits of Computing
  Presentations and discussion on societal benefits and costs of emerging technologies (speaker list below).
• 7:00 pm - Dinner
  A snapshot of CS Department achievements over 50 years and recognition of key contributors and distinguished alumni.
• 8:45 pm - Closing Remarks

Autonomous Vehicles are Here: Are We Ready?

Kara M. Kockelman

Self-driving or “autonomous” vehicles (AVs) represent a potentially disruptive & beneficial change to the way in which we travel. This new technology will impact roadway safety & congestion, air quality & traveler choices. But easier “driving” means more traffic, more emissions, and more energy use. This presentation shares key results of local and long-distance models of travel choice, and agent-based simulations of shared AV fleet operations, with and without real-time ride-sharing, using both hybrid and all-electric drivetrains to anticipate the traffic, emissions, and cost impacts of AV technologies.

Kara M. Kockelman is the Dewitt Greer Professor of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Kockelman is a registered professional engineer and holds a PhD, MS, and BS in Civil Engineering, and a Master of City Planning from the University of California at Berkeley. She was named one of the world’s Top 100 young Innovators by MIT’s Technology Review Magazine in 2002. Dr. Kockelman has published over 150 papers across a variety of subjects, all of which involve transportation-related data analysis.

Technology is Driving the Future, But Who Is Steering?

Moshe Y. Vardi

The benefits of computing are intuitive. Computing yields tremendous societal benefits; for example, the life-saving potential of driverless cars is enormous. However, computing is not a game—it is real—and it brings with it not only societal benefits, but also significant societal costs, such as labor polarization, disinformation, and smart-phone addiction. The common reaction to this crisis is to label it as an “ethical crisis” and the proposed response is to add courses in ethics to the academic computing curriculum. This lecture will argue that the ethical lense is too narrow. The real issue is how to deal with technology’s impact on society. Technology is driving the future, but who is doing the steering?

Moshe Y. Vardi is the George Distinguished Service Professor in Computational Engineering and Director of the Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology at Rice University. Dr. Vardi is the author and co-author of over 500 papers, as well as two books: Reasoning about Knowledge and Finite Model Theory and Its Applications. He is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Science, the European Academy of Science, and Academia Europaea. He is currently a Senior Editor of the Communications of the ACM, after having served for a decade as Editor-in-Chief.

Registration

The registration cost is $100 per person.

Registration Closed

Preferred Registration by Friday, October 12, 2018
Final Registration by Tuesday, October 16, 2018 (11:59pm CST)
There is no on-site registration. Contact CSevents@uh.edu for inquiries.

Share Your Memories and Photos

Do you have any fun, interesting or noteworthy memories? Share them with us at CSevents@uh.edu, or you can include them in the comments section of your registration.

We’re also looking for photos! Share them with us at CSevents@uh.edu.

Questions

Contact CSevents@uh.edu if you have any questions.