Computer Science Industrial Affiliates Program

Program Description

The Computer Science Department Industrial Affiliates Program was established to develop a practical relationship between the Computer Science Department at the University of Georgia (CS@UGA) and the industrial community.

The Computer Science Department at UGA addresses a variety of computer technologies through research and education. The research applies to application domains ranging from semantic web services, to human-computer interface, high performance communication and real time systems, network and system security, and bioinformatics. The faculty and students of CS@UGA develop software and hardware solutions in and beyond these domains, and study their effectiveness, performance, scalability and security properties. Much of this work is directly tied to challenges and problems that are anticipated by or currently faced by industry.

The intent of the Industrial Affiliates Program is to foster collaboration between CS@UGA personnel and companies that create and use advanced computer technologies.

Benefits of Membership

Membership in the Computer Science Industrial Affiliates Program permits industry partners to interact with faculty and students of CS@UGA and to benefit from the CS@UGA outreach program in the following ways:

• Obtain the latest research results and techniques from the annual Industrial Affiliates Workshop to survey new results, and to explore their impact on current and anticipated future problems.
• Through an invited presentation at the annual workshop, present and describe the role of computer science at the partner company, for potential recruiting and collaboration purposes.
• Through events and activities of the Industrial Affiliates program, seek opportunities for early evaluation of both graduate and undergraduate students; and for students, in turn, to meet the research and development staff of the affiliate companies.
• Faculty visits to participating companies to establish a knowledgeable working relationship between technical personnel in industry and university faculty.
• Contact with faculty and students in other departments of the University can be facilitated through the Industrial Affiliates Program.

Program Management

The Industrial Affiliates program is managed by the Industrial Advisory Board, which consists of representatives from Industrial Affiliates with regular membership and faculty from the Computer Science Department. Funds contributed through the Industrial Affiliates program are used to:

• Support an annual workshop and faculty visits to the affiliate companies.
• Support distinguished visitors from industry and other universities during their stay on campus to present lecture series and to aid in research.
• Support student travel to academic and industry conferences.
• Provide partial support for graduate student stipends.

How to Become a Member

Industry partners may join and interact the Computer Science Industrial Affiliate Program in several ways, depending on whether collaborative projects are contracted, the size of the company, and the needs of the potential affiliate organization.

Regular Member

Each of the member companies makes an annual contribution for its participation in the Industrial Affiliates Program in Computer Science. The typical contribution for members who join in 2010 is $2500 per year and/or funding for a student research assistant fellowship. This permits the industry partner to benefit from the support of the Computer Science Industrial Affiliate Program while also working with a specific Computer Science faculty and student, thereby building close working relationships.

At this level of support, partner companies are eligible for the following benefits:

• A company may appoint a representative to our Industrial Advisory Board.
• Participate in the annual Industrial Affiliates Workshop, which includes many demonstrations and project presentations by faculty and students.
• Have a dedicated faculty contact who will provide exclusive updates on CS@UGA activities and arrange for the industrial partner's visit, demonstration and interactions with the students.
• Advise the Computer Science department on strategic directions in its research and educational programs.
• The company logo will be displayed on the Department's Industrial Affiliates page, and in announcements and documents related to the Industrial Affiliates program.

New-Venture Member

For smaller industrial partners, such as start-ups or companies that focus more on student recruitment, the Affiliates program also offers a new-venture membership that contains all the benefits of student interactions. The typical contribution for members who join in 2010 is $1,000 per year. At this level, the benefits include:

• Participate in the annual Industrial Affiliates Workshop, which includes many demonstrations and project presentations by faculty and students.
• Present and describe the role of computer science at the partner company, for potential recruiting and collaboration purposes.

Please contact Professor Eileen Kraemer (eileen@cs.uga.edu) or Professor Kang Li, Chair of External Relations (kangli@cs.uga.edu) to discuss details of this program.