Luis von Ahn, CS’06
Assistant Professor

One of our rising stars, Professor von Ahn’s research into human computation led to the CAPTCHA program that currently protects many websites against bots by generating and grading a visual test that humans can pass but current computer programs cannot. His teaching schedule includes Great Theoretical Ideas in Computer Science (15-251), a foundation class that integrates mathematical material with general problem solving techniques and computer science applications.

Mor Harchol-Balter,
Associate Department Head for Graduate Education

Her work focuses on designing new scheduling and resource allocation policies for distributed computer systems including Web servers, distributed supercomputing servers, networks of workstations and database systems. Professor Harchol-Balter teaches the Probability and Computing (15-359), a course designed to give students an introduction to probability as it is used in computer science theory and practice, drawing on applications and current research developments as motivation and context.

Manuel Blum,
Bruce Nelson University Professor

Known for his enthusiastic and approachable teaching style, Professor Blum is a leading expert in cryptology and complexity theory; his most recent research project applied game theory and machine learning to networks and their security. He teaches the algorithms course (15-451) where students learn the intellectual tools they will need for designing and analyzing their own algorithms to solve future problems. You won’t want to miss his delicious cake cutting lesson!

Latanya Sweeney
Associate Professor

Professor Sweeney is the director of the interdisciplinary Data Privacy Lab at Carnegie Mellon and the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Privacy Technology. Her research includes technology dialectics, a new paradigm in developing truly useful new technologies by evaluating and understanding the requirements and implications throughout the design process. Students in her data privacy course (15-394) work on real-world problems involving biometrics, video surveillance, privacy algorithms, identity theft and identity management.