ACM New York Celebration of Women in Computing
Promoting the Academic, Social, and Professional Growth of Technical Women and Their Allies in New York State
April 11-12, 2024
Poughkeepsie, NY
Posters: Vote Here
Saturday, April 12th
10:20-11:20 am
Terrace Ballroom
1. Implementing EDGE technology in space communication for enhanced Quality of services
Pooja Rani (Clemson University, SC, USA)
Pallavi Joshi (Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, India)
Satellite edge computing via low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites extends ground-based systems to provide global coverage, solving communication challenges in remote areas. However, LEO satellites’ limited computing power and fast movement make efficient computation offloading complex. Integrating LEO satellites with ground systems improves quality of service (QoS) for IoT devices by optimizing energy use, delay, and resource limits. Extended reality-enabled IoT (XRI) uses 6G technology and combines LEO satellites, UAVs, and ground devices to handle demanding tasks, enhancing QoS through specialized data offloading processes.
2. Shaping Student Research: Exploring the Impact of AI-Driven Discovery Systems on Information Literacy through the Lens of the Technology Acceptance Model
Sierra Pasquale (University at Albany - SUNY)
This poster explores how AI-driven discovery systems impact university students' information literacy, employing the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as a theoretical framework. The proposed study examines students' adoption of AI-enhanced search tools versus traditional methods, utilizing the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy. Through pre- and post-instruction surveys, practical research tasks, and structured interviews, the research assesses changes in students’ self-efficacy and critical evaluation skills. Results are expected to reveal how AI tools influence research behaviors and inform the integration of AI into library services to enhance academic research and learning.
3. A Smarter Kitchen Companion for Managing Allergies and Reducing Food Waste
Bertha Shipper (Vassar College)
Yuqi Liao (Vassar College)
PantryPal, a student-built Android app, streamlines pantry tracking, recipe suggestions, and grocery planning, showcasing Java programming, Android development, and user-focused design inspired by managing food allergies and reducing food waste.
4. Benchmarking Variations of RAG for Real-World Applications
Christian Sarmiento (Marist University)
Eitel J. M. Lauría (Marist University)
5. Threat-Based Vulnerability Prioritization Through Prompt Engineering
Jankarlo Villanueva (Marist University)
Tristan Barboni (Marist University)
Hannah Gidos (Marist University)
Kyle Courounis (Marist University)
Dominick Foti (Marist University)
Brief presentation on the usage of prompt engineering for vulnerability prioritization using MITRE tools and frameworks combining with machine learning models.
6. Enterprise Computer Research Lab (ECRL) As A Service - Cloud in a Rack
Frederick Berberich (Marist University)
Josef Maselek (Marist University)
Ryan Rosenkranse (Marist University)
Created an IaaS like-solution using a Ceph Cloud composed of 20 servers, offering 400TB of storage. Configured RBD images to provide scalable, persistent storage for VMs that utilize the compute resources of other servers. Developed a web app for faculty and staff to request VMs, which are provisioned, configured, and made accessible over the network.
8. Trainfo: Accessibility in the New York City Subway System
Areebah Aziz (Vassar College)
Filippos Sakellariou (Vassar College)
Trainfo is an Android app that helps users find accessible stations near them and accessible routes to their final destination within New York City.
7. Mac Malware Detection
Daniella Boulos (Marist University)
Christopher Drisdelle (Marist University)
Julianna Russo (Marist University)
Fredrick Berberich (Marist University)
Cybersecurity Capstone Project that focuses on creating a Machine Learning model that is able to detect if Trojan viruses are executing on an Apple computer.
9. Assessing the Economic Impact of Phishing Attacks on Small Businesses: A Risk Analysis Framework
Barak Hussein (University at Albany - SUNY)
Philip Akekudaga (University at Albany - SUNY)
This work analyzes the economic impact of phishing attacks on small businesses, and provides a risk analysis framework to reduce exposure to such attacks.
10. Peril Park
Jasmatie Lutawan (SUNY Schenectady County Community College)
Deviyani Singh (SUNY Schenectady County Community College)
Keion Clinton (SUNY Schenectady County Community College)
Lorena Harris (SUNY Schenectady County Community College)
Richard Simmons (SUNY Schenectady County Community College)
Peril Park Programmers aims to create a program to identifying trends in population dynamics and ecosystem health. This project will be developed using Visual C# and will allow users to input the number of invasive species
11. Outfit Generator App: Your Virtual Stylist
Rabiah Aziz (Vassar College)
Ahmed Hashim (Vassar College)
Outfit Generator is an app that lets you generate outfits, save outfits you like, and manage your closet by adding, deleting, editing and filtering clothing.
12. Madagascar Ecological Analysis using BNNs
Disha Ghoshal (Stony Brook University)
This study uses Bayesian Neural Networks (BNNs) to analyze bioacoustic datasets and find patterns with other ecological datasets from the same region. The data has been collected from Madagascar's Ranomafana National Park, over 20 years. Based on detailed records of lemur behavior (28,075 records, 30 variables) and Audiomoth bird vocalizations (30,000+ species, labeled and unlabeled), we wish to utilize BNNs to quantify uncertainty, addressing noise and data gaps which are inherent in ecological systems. For lemurs, we wish to model causal links between behavior and environmental drivers like climate. From bird audiomoth data, we wish to achieve better species classification and interpret uncertainty while dealing with data imbalance. By bridging ecological complexity with probabilistic AI, this work aims to uplift conservation strategies and understanding of species-environment dynamics amid rapid ecological shifts.
13. AI in Gaming: Past, Present, and Future
Cayleigh Goberman (Marist University)
This study aims to analyze the history of artificial intelligence (AI) in video games, as well as general player reception, in order to predict its potential future effects on both players and the games themselves.
14. High Level Design Documentation Quick Start Wizard
Griffin Carey (Marist University), Kevin Hayden (IBM Corporation)
Provides a wizard to help generate markdown documentation for software projects.
15. Investigation of Racial Bias in Vision-Language Assistants
Linh Tran (University of Rochester)
People often relies on Vision-Language Assistants (VLAs) without considering the bias that exists in these models. My research attempts to uncover this by comparing and contrasting racial bias related to job qualification and suitability in popular VLAs.
16. Predicting the Legitimacy of URLs
Nicholas Suchy (Marist University)
Phishing is one of the most pervasive cyber threats costing organizations millions of dollars each year.
17. Shining Light on Quantum Dots
Caitlin V. Hetherington (Stony Brook University)
Benjamin G. Levine (Stony Brook University)
We run chemistry calculations to see what happens when we shine light on a quantum dot.
18. Rink Records: A Hockey Database Management System
Vicky Zhao (Skidmore College)
Zach Lindewirth (Skidmore College)
Christine Reilly (Skidmore College)
Presents Rink Records, a database management system that aims to provide a structured and user friendly platform for hockey coaches, players and fans.
19. Women in Cybersecurity: Addressing the Gender Gap
Elizabeth Alden (SUNY Plattsburgh)
The goal of this poster is to raise awareness of the gender gap in technology with an emphasis in Cybersecurity. This poster highlights recent studies, people and organizations helping bridge the gap, as well as proposing ways to address this issue.
20. Using Machine Learning Models to Delineate Tree Crowns in Aerial Imagery of Forests in Siberia
Sophhia Goffe (Colgate University)
The project asks whether it is possible to train a machine learning model to annotate tree crowns in aerial imagery of forests in Siberia as well as a human, in order to hasten research on climate change.
21. Geometry-Preserving Biological Sequence Design
Elham Sadegh (University at Albany - SUNY)
Xianqi Deng (University at Albany - SUNY)
I-Hsin Lin (UC Irvine)
Stacy M. Copp (UC Irvine)
Petko Bogdanov (University at Albany - SUNY)
Machine learning is increasingly used to model complex natural science data, such as DNA-stabilized silver nanoclusters (Ag_N-DNAs), where DNA sequences dictate structural and optical properties. Previous studies overlooked multi-dimensional features by focusing only on single-peak spectra. To address this, a novel generative framework combining Variational Autoencoders (VAEs) and Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) is proposed to encode and generate data while preserving complex geometric features in the latent space. The model effectively organizes biological sequences by leveraging domain-specific metrics to build a similarity graph, ensuring sequences with similar properties remain close. Tested on DNA and peptide datasets, the framework shows high reconstruction accuracy and improved clustering of sequences with shared biological traits. Hyperparameter tuning with Optuna further optimizes performance, offering a robust tool for designing and analyzing biological sequences in various scientific applications.
22. SkidTok: A Privacy-Centric Social Media App for Children
Madison Fung (Skidmore College)
Cassie Davidson (Skidmore College)
Aarathi Prasad (Skidmore College)
Presents a social media application developed to teach children about online safety.
23. Disrupting the HIV-Vif-A3F Binding Site Through Mutation of Stabilizing Residue
Nina van Hoorn (Skidmore College)
Elizabeth Miller (Skidmore College)
Juan Alacantara (Skidmore College)
Beilynn Guiss (Skidmore College)
Aurelia Ball (Skidmore College)
Molecular Dynamics simulations are a way of studying proteins in a computational manner, which is especially helpful for very flexible proteins whose movements are challenging to study experimentally.
24. Multiple-Screen Interfaces for an Improved Lecture Experience
Carly Grizzaffi (Colgate University)
Noah Apthorpe (Colgate University)
Nicholas Diana (Colgate University)
Despite the emergence of new technologies, the classroom lecture experience has not changed significantly in decades. My poster highlights progress in generating novel technologies that enhance communication between students and their professors.
25. Federated Bias Disparity: Ensuring Privacy-Preserving Fairness in AI Systems
Athulya L. Mathew (University at Albany - SUNY)
Olivia R. BenAoumeur (University at Albany - SUNY)
Kimberly A. Cornell (University at Albany - SUNY)
This poster presents Federated Bias Disparity (FBD), a new approach that reduces bias in Large Language Models (LLMs) using federated learning and AI-generated data for fairer, more reliable AI.
26. Customized GPT Models for Enhanced Student Success in STEM Education
Noelle Capodieci (University at Albany - SUNY)
Generative AI is increasingly used in education, offering personalized support for students. However, current models often provide direct answers, bypassing critical thinking and problem-solving processes. This research focuses on STEM students, particularly in technology-related fields, aiming to customize a GPT model to promote a problem-solving mindset. A specialized assessment framework will compare the customized model with a standard GPT to evaluate its impact on student success.
27. Mixed Reality (MR) and Tactile elements: Bridging the gap between the virtual and physical worlds.
Shania Brown (Adelphi University)
This study seeks to further advance Mixed Reality (MR) understanding by incorporating objects that users can interact with, ultimately contributing to more immersive and practical applications in industries such as education, retail, and entertainment.
28. How Data Variety Affects LLM Performance
Ankita Mane (SUNY Plattsburgh)
The diversity of training data significantly impacts the perceived bias and performance of large language models (LLMs). This study explores how variations in training data influence LLM responses to biased questions, comparing ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.
29. Safeguarding Military Drones Against Cyberattacks
Jason Ashong (University at Albany - SUNY)
Arun Venkitanarayanan (University at Albany - SUNY)
Taban Telemaque (University at Albany - SUNY)
Luisa Cartagena (Florida International University)
Alejandro Noguera (Florida International University)
Benjamin Yankson (University at Albany - SUNY)
This presentation goes into the vulnerabilities of commercial drones, using the DJI Mini 4 Pro as a case study, to explore broader implications for military drone security. Attendees will gain insights into the types of cyber threats the military faces.
30. AI Explainability Techniques for Real-World Dynamic Tone Analysis
Luke Pecovic (Marist University)
Christian Sarmiento (Marist University)
Brian Gormanly (Marist University)
This study benchmarks simple conversational RAG and Corrective RAG implementations using LangChain to evaluate their effectiveness in college chatbots. Using data from the Marist University website, we assessed these approaches on context recall, precision, faithfulness, semantic similarity (RAGAS framework), and face validity. The findings highlight the importance of robust metrics and data composition in designing accurate and efficient chatbot systems for academic institutions.
31. The Role of Federated Learning Models to Mitigate Poisoning Attacks: A Systematic Literature Review Approach
Mizan Rahman (University at Albany - SUNY)
Barak Hussein (University at Albany - SUNY)
Dimaz Ardhi (University at Albany - SUNY)
Dwi Sari (University at Albany - SUNY)
Federated learning allows multiple clients to collaboratively train a global model while keeping data decentralized, enhancing privacy in sensitive domains. However, its resilience against adversarial threats like poisoning attacks is crucial for real-world reliability. This study investigates federated learning’s role in mitigating such attacks, using the PRISMA approach to review 670 articles from four databases. The goal is to identify organizations implementing federated learning and understand its potential in minimizing cyberattacks, providing a foundation for future research on its effectiveness in enhancing security.
32. The Leo Project: Cybersecurity for Clean Water Systems in Africa
Casimer DeCusatis (Marist University)
Ryan Eagar (Marist University)
Jackson Schlosser (Marist University)
Anthony Scappaticci (Marist University)
Nicholas Suchy (Marist University)
Nico Conarpe-Martinez (Marist University)
Carolyn Sher-DeCusatis (Western Governors University)
Esther Wekesa (Google)
The Leo Project is a not-for-profit community-based organization in Kenya, Africa that provides support services such as bottled drinking water using an online e-commerce platform based on the Python Spring framework. In this paper, we conduct a cybersecurity audit and penetration test of this platform, including supply chain dependencies (the M-Pesa mobile payment system and Okta identity management). We generate a software BOM, run audits using Nmap, examine artificial intelligence spoofing techniques, and use many other tools to analyze attack vectors.
33. Security Profiles for Linux using KVM
Casimer DeCusatis (Marist University)
Zachary VanDerVelden (Marist University)
Nathaniel Desany (Marist University)
Fernando Pizzano (IBM Corporation)
In this project, we explore the process of hardening a kernel-based virtual machine (KVM) stack, focusing on the installation and configuration of Ubuntu Linux 24.04 within a VM under the KVM hypervisor. The VM is managed by QEMU 8.2.2, an open-source machine emulator and virtualizer, and Libvirt 10.0.0, an open-source tool that facilitates virtualization management. We examine how these tools can be used to create a custom security profile, which is attached to processes to limit their actions based on specific conditions.
34. Network Time Security Encryption of Precision Time Protocol
Casimer DeCusatis (Marist University)
Luciano Mattoli (Marist University)
Clay Kaiser (IBM Corporation)