- Rozovsky wins prestigious NSF Early Career Award
- UD students meet alumni, experience 'closing bell' at NYSE
- Newark Police seek assistance in identifying suspects in robbery
- Rivlin says bipartisan budget action, stronger budget rules key to reversing debt
- Stink bugs shouldn't pose problem until late summer
- Gao to honor Placido Domingo in Washington performance
- Adopt-A-Highway project keeps Lewes road clean
- WVUD's Radiothon fundraiser runs April 1-10
- W.D. Snodgrass Symposium to honor Pulitzer winner
- New guide helps cancer patients manage symptoms
- UD in the News, March 25, 2011
- For the Record, March 25, 2011
- Public opinion expert discusses world views of U.S. in Global Agenda series
- Congressional delegation, dean laud Center for Community Research and Service program
- Center for Political Communication sets symposium on politics, entertainment
- Students work to raise funds, awareness of domestic violence
- Equestrian team wins regional championship in Western riding
- Markell, Harker stress importance of agriculture to Delaware's economy
- Carol A. Ammon MBA Case Competition winners announced
- Prof presents blood-clotting studies at Gordon Research Conference
- Sexual Assault Awareness Month events, programs announced
- Stay connected with Sea Grant, CEOE e-newsletter
- A message to UD regarding the tragedy in Japan
- More News >>
- March 31-May 14: REP stages Neil Simon's 'The Good Doctor'
- April 2: Newark plans annual 'wine and dine'
- April 5: Expert perspective on U.S. health care
- April 5: Comedian Ace Guillen to visit Scrounge
- April 6, May 4: School of Nursing sponsors research lecture series
- April 6-May 4: Confucius Institute presents Chinese Film Series on Wednesdays
- April 6: IPCC's Pachauri to discuss sustainable development in DENIN Dialogue Series
- April 7: 'WVUDstock' radiothon concert announced
- April 8: English Language Institute presents 'Arts in Translation'
- April 9: Green and Healthy Living Expo planned at The Bob
- April 9: Center for Political Communication to host Onion editor
- April 10: Alumni Easter Egg-stravaganza planned
- April 11: CDS session to focus on visual assistive technologies
- April 12: T.J. Stiles to speak at UDLA annual dinner
- April 15, 16: Annual UD push lawnmower tune-up scheduled
- April 15, 16: Master Players series presents iMusic 4, China Magpie
- April 15, 16: Delaware Symphony, UD chorus to perform Mahler work
- April 18: Former NFL Coach Bill Cowher featured in UD Speaks
- April 21-24: Sesame Street Live brings Elmo and friends to The Bob
- April 30: Save the date for Ag Day 2011 at UD
- April 30: Symposium to consider 'Frontiers at the Chemistry-Biology Interface'
- April 30-May 1: Relay for Life set at Delaware Field House
- May 4: Delaware Membrane Protein Symposium announced
- May 5: Northwestern University's Leon Keer to deliver Kerr lecture
- May 7: Women's volleyball team to host second annual Spring Fling
- Through May 3: SPPA announces speakers for 10th annual lecture series
- Through May 4: Global Agenda sees U.S. through others' eyes; World Bank president to speak
- Through May 4: 'Research on Race, Ethnicity, Culture' topic of series
- Through May 9: Black American Studies announces lecture series
- Through May 11: 'Challenges in Jewish Culture' lecture series announced
- Through May 11: Area Studies research featured in speaker series
- Through June 5: 'Andy Warhol: Behind the Camera' on view in Old College Gallery
- Through July 15: 'Bodyscapes' on view at Mechanical Hall Gallery
- More What's Happening >>
- UD calendar >>
- Middle States evaluation team on campus April 5
- Phipps named HR Liaison of the Quarter
- Senior wins iPad for participating in assessment study
- April 19: Procurement Services schedules information sessions
- UD Bookstore announces spring break hours
- HealthyU Wellness Program encourages employees to 'Step into Spring'
- April 8-29: Faculty roundtable series considers student engagement
- GRE is changing; learn more at April 15 info session
- April 30: UD Evening with Blue Rocks set for employees
- Morris Library to be open 24/7 during final exams
- More Campus FYI >>
4:24 p.m., Oct. 28, 2008----Keith Trnka, a doctoral candidate in the University of Delaware's Department of Computer and Information Sciences, won the Student Research Competition at Assets 2008, the 10th ACM Conference on Computers and Accessibility. The conference was held in Nova Scotia from Oct. 13-15.
ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, has a number of special interest groups; one of those groups, SIGACCESS, promotes the interests of professionals working on research and development of computing and information technology to help persons with disabilities.
To win, Trnka had to advance through a multi-level competition, beginning with submission of a paper and then a poster. Finalists then delivered a 15-minute presentation on their work. Trnka emerged as the overall winner.
His paper, “Adapting Word Prediction to Subject Matter Without Topic-labeled Data,” presents an improved method for predicting words in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems.
Trnka explains that such systems help people with speech impairments to communicate by speaking words for them. However, many AAC users also have reduced motor control, which slows down communication with AAC devices. Word prediction reduces the effort of producing text and increases the communication rate by predicting the desired words and allowing the user to select them using fewer keystrokes.
AAC devices are used for a variety of purposes--for example, e-mail, casual conversation, school assignments and recreation--and models are typically tailored to one of these topics. Consequently, a model that works well in one setting may not be as effective with another topic.
Trnka has developed a method, called fine-grained topic modeling, that treats each document as a topic, eliminating the need to split a corpus, or collection of text, into topics. Results obtained using the new method are comparable to those resulting when human-labeled topics are used.
“What sets Keith's work apart is that he has developed novel ways to zero in on those aspects of the corpus that are most like what the person has typed so far,” says his adviser, Kathleen McCoy, professor of both linguistic and cognitive science and of computer and information sciences. “This has enabled his algorithms to work better than what has been done before. His work could make a big difference in the communication rate of people who use these devices.”
Trnka, who earned his undergraduate degree at the College of New Jersey, expects to complete his doctoral degree in 2009. After graduation, he says he would like to continue doing research in his general area of interest, natural language programming, in either an academic or industrial setting.
Article by Diane Kukich
Photo by Ambre Alexander