Graduate Profiles

Damon Valenzona, Graduate Student

• Hometown: Renton, WA
• I speak English and am also conversational in Spanish.
• I played for the UCSB Club Soccer Team for 4 years

What got you interested in CS/CE? My major was undeclared when I started as a freshman at UCSB. My second quarter I tried a computer science class (cs 5ja) because I figured if I majored in CS then I could could get a good job after graduation. Luckily, as I made my way through the required CS courses for the major I became really interested in CS. Programming became like solving a puzzle, challenging and gratifying.

What area do you want to specialize in and why? I am not sure about which area of CS I would like to specialize in. I am still exploring all the fields. If I had to chose a field now it would computer security. I like computer security because it requires one to think about how someone who has malicious intentions could use a program to do something it was not designed to do.

What do you do when you need to relax? What is your "serenity spot?" I like to go on a run when I need to relax. Nothing clears my mind better than running next to the ocean.

What internships have you had? This summer I will be interning for the first time at Appfolio.

What would you like to do after you graduate? After I graduate I would like to enter industry.

What have you liked about coming to UCSB? I am very glad I came to UCSB for my education. I have been able to meet a ton of fantastic people. Also, I have been able to enjoy the beauty of Santa Barbara while getting a great education at the same time. In high school my goal was to go to Stanford for college. I never thought I'd say this, but I am glad I didn't get accepted there. UCSB is great.

Do you have any advice for graduate students to survive their first two years? Be as interactive with your professors as possible. There is so much to learn from professors and they offer great advice. Also, I recommend TAing. Being a TA is a very valuable experience. As a TA, you have a chance to interact closely with a professor and to get undergrads excited about CS.

Mohit Tiwari, Graduate Student

• Degree & Progress: 4th Year M.S. / Ph.D. Student in Computer Science
• Previous Degree: Bachelor of Technology in CS and Engineering from Indian Institute of Tech., Guwahati
• Hometown: Trivandrum, Kerala, India
• Hobbies / Interests: Computers, cricket, climbing, comics...

Tell Us About Your Research: The ability to track the flow of information through a processor opens the door to a host of novel program analyses, which in turn help to make computer systems secure, bug-free, and efficient. I work on architectures that enable such deep program analyses, either using FPGAs, custom hardware designs or through novel architectures that provide programmers with explicit control over all information flows (including covert timing channels).

How Did You Get Into Your Area of Research?
When I graduated from college, I was interested in Computer Science in general with a slight bent towards computer architecture, but I wanted more time to decide some area to focus on. Being computer architects, our work cuts across more than a few disciplines. Luckily, this means finding fun people to work with, learning new problems and tools, and visiting interesting places on the side.

More About Mohit's Research:

• Important Awards & Honors: Outstanding Teaching Assistant-Winter 2006, Best Paper Award-Parallel Architectures and Compilation Techniques (PACT) 2009
• Title Most Important Publication to Date: "Quantifying the Potential for Program Analysis Peripherals," Mohit Tiwari, S. Mysore, T, . Parallel Architecture and Compiler Techniques (PACT), Sept 2009, (Best Paper Award)
• Link to Mohit's Publication List: http://www.cs.ucsb.edu/~tiwari/pubs.html
• Important Conferences: Talks at MICRO '09, ASPLOS '09, and PACT '0. Attended ASPLOS '06/08 and ISCA'07/09
• Professional Memberships: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Architecture (SIGARCH)
• Financial Assistance Received: Graduate Student Researcher and Teaching Assistantship

Tell Us About Being a Teaching Assistant:

I TA-d the Introduction to Programming (CS5J) and the undergraduate Operating System (CS170) courses in my first year at UCSB. While the introductory course was a lark, leading discussion sections and labs for the OS course really nailed down the fundamentals of OSs in my own head. It was worth TA-ing just for that!

Have You Done Any Internships?

In 2007, I interned at NEC Laboratories in Princeton for a summer. This summer I had a chance to work with security researchers at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey and and with Professor Ryan Kastner's logic synthesis group at UC-San Diego.

What Was Your Favorite Course at UCSB?:

My favorite course was CS254, on Advanced Computer Architecture. It started with an abacus, and ended with a brain-machine match-up, and covered everything from out-of-order cores to CMPs to GPUs to network processors. Some of the techniques highlighted that the best solutions to problems are found when you understand what goes on underneath the hardware-software interface.

How Has Your Overall Academic Experience at UCSB Been?

At UCSB, I had the time and ample opportunity to try out a diverse set of projects and gradually settle on a theme. Professors I worked with were very amenable to even starting something new that would interest all of us.

Some Favorites Things About Being at UCSB:

• UCSB: There is a strong startup culture around the CS/CE department. Many ex-students and professors work in startups around UCSB, and there is always some related action around the department. The recreation center is sufficient to keep most evenings occupied.
• Computer Science Department: My lab and its members; they find very interesting problems to work on and keep the lab lively. Outside, some seriously wacky professors stalk the hallways. And finally, the CS staff is just amazing.
• Santa Barbara: The mountains right by the beach, and good weather to enjoy these whenever I have some free time.

LIfe as a Graduate Student:

Life as a grad student is pretty uncomplicated. I live close to school at the West Campus grad student apartments, and with the Recreation Center and the market close by, I rarely need to travel far for anything. I have friend at UCSB that I climb or play cricket with, and these account for most of my social life.

Any Advice to Prospective Graduate Students?

I suggest students consider UCSB even more strongly if there are multiple professors here they are interested in; chances are you could work with all of them.