Juan E. Gilbert to Lead Human-Centered Computing Division at Clemson
August 24, 2009
CLEMSON, SC – August 24, 2009 – Juan E. Gilbert has joined Clemson University as professor and chairman of the Human-Centered Computing Division in the School of Computing. The newly created division works across disciplines to apply computer solutions to real-world problems and to understand how computational technologies affect society.
image by: CLEMSON – Juan E. Gilbert has joined Clemson University as professor and chairman of the Human-Centered Computing Division in the School of Computing. The newly created division works across disciplines to apply computer solutions to real-world problems and to understand how computational technologies affect society.
“I’ve been doing this kind of work for years,” said Gilbert, who comes to Clemson from Auburn University. “Clemson has the foresight to give it the recognition it deserves as being a cutting-edge discipline, and students have flocked to this area because they see the connection between what they are doing in the lab and how it will impact the public. They get it immediately.”
Gilbert said students are drawn by the desire to see how technology helps the community.
“Juan Gilbert’s background in this field is tremendous as is his connection with students, said Esin Gulari, dean of the College of Engineering and Science. He has a keen interest in improving quality of life through computing. We welcome him to Clemson and the College of Engineering and Science.
“The new area of human-centered computing will interact with existing programs on campus, such as industrial engineering, electrical and computer engineering, engineering and science education, CU-ICAR and other disciplines, such as psychology and sociology, that study human behavior,” she said.
Gilbert’s research projects are in spoken-language systems, advanced-learning technologies, usability and accessibility, ethnocomputing (culturally relevant computing) and databases and data mining.
Two projects have been transferred successfully to businesses. The first is his research in electronic voting that was spawned by the hanging chad controversy in the 2000 presidential election. The result is a first-of-its-kind accessible-voting system called Prime III where votes are taken by touch and/or voice on the same machine, reducing the opportunity for error or security breeches. The technology allows all people, disabled or not, to vote on the same machine.
The second project is a data-mining and software-analysis tool called Applications Quest that allows education admissions officers to address diversity and capacity in admissions while maintaining academic standards and adhering to the law, all faster than using traditional methods.
A goal of Gilbert’s is to have students involved in research as soon as possible.
“They are vital at every level, undergraduate and graduate,” said Gilbert. “It is important to get our freshmen involved at the earliest possible time. The type of research we do is a tremendous recruiting factor. Students love, one, that they play a significant role, and two, that they can jump in early.”
Gilbert has been invited to give more than 120 speeches across the country in areas that include motivational talks, career development, technology policy and scientific research. He has published more than 80 articles and secured more than $10 million in external funding. In 2002, Gilbert was named one of the nation’s top African-American Scholars by Diverse Issues in Higher Education. He has been named a Master of Innovation by Black Enterprise Magazine, a Modern-Day Technology Leader by the Black Engineer of the Year Award Conference, the Pioneer of the Year by the National Society of Black Engineers and he received the Black Data Processing Association Epsilon Award for Outstanding Technical Contribution. He is a National Associate of the National Research Council of the National Academies and an Association for Computing Machinery Distinguished Speaker. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE Computer Society.
Gilbert received a systems analysis degree from Miami University of Ohio. He earned his master’s and Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Cincinnati.
