Turk recognized by NCSA for outstanding mentorship

Matthew Turk
Matthew Turk, Assistant Professor

Assistant Professor Matthew Turk has been recognized by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) as an outstanding 2016-2017 SPIN mentor. The SPIN (Students Pushing Innovation) internship at NCSA provides undergraduates at Illinois with the opportunity to apply their skills to real challenges in areas such as high-performance computing, data analysis and visualization, and cybersecurity. Turk was nominated for the honor by his SPIN intern, Charles Rozhon, who recently graduated with his BS in computer science. Rozhon's project was to develop interactive visualization tools for volume rendering simulation datasets. 
 
"Chuck built from scratch an OpenGL volume renderer that could handle a particularly persnickety data format called adaptive mesh refinement, and then he put that upstream (ultimate source of his project) into an open source project," Turk said. "I'm delighted that Chuck will be continuing in his studies toward a PhD, but we'll miss him at Illinois. He is an engaged, outstanding collaborator, and it was a true pleasure and honor to be able to work with him on this project."

Rozhon is grateful for Turk’s mentorship and support.

"Over the past several years, Professor Turk has greatly encouraged my professional development as both a researcher and a student," he said. "He has been an invaluable teacher, who helped me conceptualize a research problem that felt challenging and fulfilling."
 

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

New book explores how AI is reshaping cultural heritage

Glen Layne-Worthey, associate director for research support services for the HathiTrust Research Center (HTRC), and J. Stephen Downie, professor and HTRC co-director, have edited a new book, Navigating Artificial Intelligence for Cultural Heritage Organisations, which was recently released by UCL Press. 

Jung to join the faculty

The iSchool is pleased to announce that Yonghan Jung will join the faculty as an assistant professor in August 2025, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. 

Yonghan Jung

Aubin Le Quéré to join the faculty

The iSchool is pleased to announce that Marianne Aubin Le Quéré will join the faculty as an assistant professor in August 2026, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. Aubin Le Quéré is a PhD candidate in the Department of Information Science at Cornell University. For the 2025-2026 academic year, she will be a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University's Center for Information Technology Policy.

Marianne Aubin Le Quere

Midwest Big Data Innovation Hub wins Synergy Award

The Midwest Big Data Innovation Hub (MBDH) has won the Synergy Award from the Chicago Council on Science and Technology (C2ST). The MBDH is a partnership of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Indiana University, Iowa State University, the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota, and the University of North Dakota. It is part of the National Science Foundation’s regional Big Data Innovation Hubs program that comprises offices in the Midwest, West, South, and the Northeast. 

Kelly Desino, scientific director of AbbVie's Community of Science, presenting the Synergy Award from the Chicago Council on Science and Technology (C2ST) to Professor Cathy Blake.