Outstanding Graduate TAs

Outstanding TAs

The Department of Computer Science is happy to announce the winners of the first-ever Computer Science Department Outstanding Teaching Assistants Award. The winners are graduate students Feihong Hsu, Lu Ma, and Bartlomiej Sieka, and undergraduate student Angelo Poulikakos. Being an outstanding TA requires a tremendous amount of time and dedication, and the faculty and students who have benefited from their hard work really appreciate their efforts. .

This spring's prize is a $500 cash award to graduate student TA's, and a $250 cash award to the undergraduate winner. This spring's award considered teaching assistants from all the semesters that the new Computer Science Department has existed, fall 2001 through spring 2003. The CS Oustanding TA Award Committee, composed of Professors Robert Sloan (chair), Andrew Johnson, and John Lillis had a difficult time making a choice from all the excellent nominees.

The graduate TAs were invited to a lunch at "Chez Joël" with Professors Pete Nelson, Department Head (right), Pat Troy, Director of Undergraduate Studies (left), and Isabel Cruz (behind the camera). Another lunch was arranged for the undergraduate TA, who was very busy with his final exams.

Feihong Hsu Feihong Hsu received his Bachelor of Science degree in Math and Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has been the TA for both CS 107 and CS 102, and enjoys interacting with students during lab sessions. His proudest achievement as a TA was designing the last programming assignment for CS 102, in which students implemented an image manipulation program. His research interests include the Semantic Web and ontology-based data integration. Feihong is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Computer Science.

Lu Ma Lu Ma received her Bachelor and Master degrees in the department of Computer Science and Technology at the Northern Jiaotong University, China. She is pursuing her PH.D. degree. Her research interests include mobile agent systems and their security, formal specification and verification of security protocols, etc. She has been a TA for CS480 "Database System Concept" for four semesters. She enjoys helping students with their study as well as assisting the instructors in teaching. She also learns new things during her TA experience, such as designing and finishing the projects on SYBASE and ORACLE using Dynamic SQL and JDBC.

Bartlomiej Sieka Bartlomiej Sieka received his Masters degree in Computer Science from the Jagiellonian University in Cracow (Poland) and from the University of Illinois at Chicago. The main area he is researching is wireless network security, with emphasis on self-organization and routing protocols. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science at UIC.

Angelo Poulikakos Angelo Poulikakos is currently a senior studying Computer Engineering. One of the many reasons he enjoys TA'ing is that he is able to establish a friendly relationship with each and every student so that the students feel welcomed if they have any issues. By being able to express himself clear and with precision, he wants to make students feel that each and every new topic is not something to be afraid of, but rather a new tool to add to their collection. When school is not on his mind, he enjoys spending time with his girlfriend, reading, playing basketball, and working out. He also enjoys computer activites such as video and music editing. After he graduates, he first plans on securing an engineering related job, then possibly pursuing a Master's degree on the weekends.

	Feihong Hsu	Feihong Hsu received his Bachelor of Science degree in Math and Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has been the TA for both CS 107 and CS 102, and enjoys interacting with students during lab sessions. His proudest achievement as a TA was designing the last programming assignment for CS 102, in which students implemented an image manipulation program. His research interests include the Semantic Web and ontology-based data integration. Feihong is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Computer Science.
	Lu Ma	Lu Ma received her Bachelor and Master degrees in the department of Computer Science and Technology at the Northern Jiaotong University, China. She is pursuing her PH.D. degree. Her research interests include mobile agent systems and their security, formal specification and verification of security protocols, etc. She has been a TA for CS480 "Database System Concept" for four semesters. She enjoys helping students with their study as well as assisting the instructors in teaching. She also learns new things during her TA experience, such as designing and finishing the projects on SYBASE and ORACLE using Dynamic SQL and JDBC.
	Bartlomiej Sieka	Bartlomiej Sieka received his Masters degree in Computer Science from the Jagiellonian University in Cracow (Poland) and from the University of Illinois at Chicago. The main area he is researching is wireless network security, with emphasis on self-organization and routing protocols. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science at UIC.
	Angelo Poulikakos	Angelo Poulikakos is currently a senior studying Computer Engineering. One of the many reasons he enjoys TA'ing is that he is able to establish a friendly relationship with each and every student so that the students feel welcomed if they have any issues. By being able to express himself clear and with precision, he wants to make students feel that each and every new topic is not something to be afraid of, but rather a new tool to add to their collection. When school is not on his mind, he enjoys spending time with his girlfriend, reading, playing basketball, and working out. He also enjoys computer activites such as video and music editing. After he graduates, he first plans on securing an engineering related job, then possibly pursuing a Master's degree on the weekends.