Heather Culbertson and Marco Paolieri were presented with the awards at the Town and Gown ceremony on the University Park Campus. Photo/Tracy Che.
Two USC Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science faculty members received awards at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering Faculty and Staff Annual Award Ceremony on Wednesday, April 24.
Heather Culbertson, WiSE Gabilan Assistant Professor and Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, received the Ershaghi Faculty Mentorship Award, a new award made possible this year through an endowed gift by our USC Professor Iraj Ershaghi and the Ershaghi Family. This award, presented by Timothy Pinkston, recognizes a Viterbi faculty member for outstanding mentoring efforts of undergraduate and master’s students.
In just six years on faculty at the Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science, Culbertson “impressively has mentored an expansive cohort of over 70 undergraduate and 25 master’s students from diverse backgrounds enabling them to gain valuable research experiences in her thriving research group,” said Pinkston.
Many of these students co-authored journal and conference papers with Culbertson, won research awards and prestigious fellowships, gained admission to top doctoral programs, or were successfully placed in industry positions at leading engineering firms, said Pinkston. Culbertson also serves as a co-PI on an NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program focused on robotics and autonomous systems, and hosted students through USC’s Summer Undergraduate Research Experiences (SURE) program.
Marco Paolieri, a lecturer and senior research associate, received the Viterbi Part-Time Faculty Teaching Award, presented by Erik Johnson. Paolieri joined USC Viterbi as a postdoc in 2016 after serving as a research scientist at the University of Florence. He regularly teaches “CSCI 356 Introduction to Computer Systems” and 12 letters from past students demonstrated his impact as a teacher, said Johnson. Selected comments from student course evaluations include, “one of the best professors I have had at USC. He explains the material in a very clear manner, responds to student questions quickly with full, satisfying answers, is very approachable and accessible outside of the classroom,” “a star lecturer,” and “one of the best, if not THE best, professors I’ve had.”
Read the full story at USC Viterbi
Published on May 1st, 2024
Last updated on May 16th, 2024
