— A pictoral written by first-year doctoral student Heidi Biggs received honorable mention at this year’s Designing Interactive Systems, a premier venue for interaction design research in human-computer interaction. The work explores the use of animated GIFs as tools for design research, and walks through four case studies that exemplify GIFs used throughout the design process as empirical probes, prototypes, communication tools and finalized artifacts. Biggs and her co-authors found that the aesthetics of movement and the rich, concise and contextualized nature of GIFS added to users’ depth of thinking and ability to communicate speculative and imaginative concepts.

— An article outlining tips for continued use of certain technology-based teaching practices that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, authored by College of Information Sciences and Technology faculty and staff, was listed as No. 2 in The Top 5, a compilation of the most popular EDUCAUSE Review content published in the first half of 2021. The article, authored by Ed Glantz; teaching professor; Chris Gamrat; instructional designer; Lisa Lenze, director of the Office of Teaching, Learning and Assessment; and Jeffrey Bardzell, professor and associate dean of undergraduate and graduate studies was also highlighted on Penn State News earlier this spring.

— Tiffany Knearem, doctoral student of IST, has been selected as a CIFellow by the Computing Research Association and its Computing Community Consortium. Supported by the National Science Foundation, the program aims to provide a career-enhancing bridge experience for recent and soon-to-be computing doctoral program graduates to combat hiring disruptions due to COVID-19. Knearem will work with former IST graduate student Elizabeth Eikey, assistant professor at the University of California, San Diego.

— Penn State men’s soccer midfielder Pierre Reedy, who earned a bachelor’s degree in security and risk analysis in 2020 and a master’s in corporate finance in 2021, recently became the program’s first member since 2009 to earn first team Academic All-America distinctions selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).  He was one of two Penn State student-athletes to be selected as recipients of the Big Ten Medal of Honor, the conference’s most prestigious award that recognizes excellence on and off the field, and was named a first team Scholar All-American by United Soccer Coaches in May. He also earned CoSIDA Academic All-District Team honors and United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-Region Team accolades, and was named a 2020-21 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and Academic All-Big Ten.

— Daniel Susser, Haile Family Early Career Professor of Information Sciences and Technology, has published a chapter in “The Ethics of Policing: New Perspectives on Law Enforcement.” In the piece, “Predictive Policing and the Ethics of Preemption,” Susser discusses and raises ethical questions about the use of information technology in the American justice system, specifically machine learning and data analytics tools that promise to accurately predict where crime will occur and who will perpetrate it.

“On the Bridge” highlights accomplishments by faculty, staff, students and alumni of the College of Information Sciences and Technology. Share your news with us and the IST community by emailing webmarcom@ist.psu.edu.