Contact: Amy Hewes
805-756-6402
ahewes@calpoly.edu
CENG Professor Receives NSF CAREER Grant
Diana Franklin, assistant professor of computer science, has received a prestigious, $300,000, five-year grant from the National Science Foundation's Early Career Development (CAREER) Program.
"The first NSF CAREER grant awarded to a professor teaching in the College of Engineering was to electrical engineering professor Dr. Joy Shetler in 1996," noted College of Engineering Dean Mohammad Noori. "Dr. Franklin has now joined a very exclusive group--in fact, she has achieved a significant milestone in our journey to move the College to higher grounds of national visibility."
According to the NSF, the CAREER Program offers "the most prestigious awards in support of the early career-development activities of those teacher-scholars who most effectively integrate research and education within the context of the mission of their organization."
Franklin has proposed to study the concept of allowing incorrect execution in some computer programs, particularly with applications such as video and audio where small inaccuracies may be tolerated. "This is a five-year grant, so each year I am going to explore different aspects of the ways in which we can short-cut execution so that our programs run faster, but still get mostly the right answer."
In addition to receiving funds for a graduate research assistant, faculty members who receive the CAREER grant become eligible to apply for the funding of up to four undergraduate assistants each summer. "This would greatly increase the opportunities that undergraduates have to participate in research and pursue a graduate degree," said Franklin.
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