Linus Torvalds made honorary alumnus in Kumpula

The Faculty of Science invited Linus Torvalds to be its honorary alumnus in Kumpula. During its alumni event, the faculty also named one of its lecture halls after Linus Torvalds. On the event held on Thursday 17 March, young researchers were the main speakers, and the 350 guests on the science campus gave them their full attention.

Linus Torvalds is the most renowned Finn working in the field of computer science. He is the first honorary alumnus of the faculty, and also Doctor Honoris Causa of the university’s Faculty of Philosophy. During the faculty’s alumni event, auditorium B123 in Exactum was named after him.

Version 1.0 of the Linux operating system, developed by Torvalds, was published at the Helsinki University Department of Computer Science in March 1994. Torvalds, who took his MSc degree in 1997 and later settled in the USA, could not attend the alumni party in person, but he conducted a video conference with computer science professor Jukka Paakki.

‘I was also interested in mathematics and physics, so the University of Helsinki was a very natural choice for me as a Helsinkian,’ Torvalds said.

 The 350 visitors to the science campus were also treated to some very topical presentations as the young researchers described their work. Nina Huittinen, Jani Kotakoski, Rami Ratvio, Teemu Roos and Mikko Salo presented themes on nuclear waste, graphenes, the metropolis, algorithms, and reverse mathematics.

After the joint programme, the five departments at Kumpula presented their own events.

The Department of Computer Science had a book launch for Jukka Paakki’s "Rupisia bittejä, karmeita kaavioita, unelmia ja toimistohommia" (‘scabby bits, grisly formulas, dreams and office work’) In this history over the department, which was established in 1967, we meet both present and former employees at the department, as well as its students. The future is also included as the writer describes happenings at the department in 2017.

The photograph shows (l-r) the head of the department, Esko Ukkonen, Dean Keijo Hämäläinen, and Nils Torvalds, Linus Torvalds’ father.

Photograph: Juha Taina

 

Text: Minna Meriläinen

 

Translation: Marina Kurtén

 

 

Created date

21.03.2011 - 12:58

Inter-university research and training centre on information security

The University of Helsinki and Aalto University have set up a joint research centre focusing on information security. The new centre, HAIC (Helsinki-Aalto Centre for Information Security), will coordinate the Master’s-level security education between the university and Aalto, with links to research and doctoral education.

The idea is to build bridges to the industries and gain their support for the education, and e.g. grants for MSc students coming from outside the EU, the head of the Department of Computer Science, Sasu Tarkoma, says.

Computer science undergraduate Petteri Timonen awarded in US science competition

Petteri Timonen, 19, came second in his category of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Phoenix, Arizona.

 

On Friday, 15 May, Timonen, who is studying computer science at the University of Helsinki, was awarded a grant worth 1500 USD, some 1330 euros, in the Systems Software category of the Intel ISEF science competition.
 
As his entry, Timonen submitted a software tool he developed for Finland’s Red Cross to make mobile blood runs around the country as cost-effective as possible. Timonen implemented his tool in cooperation with the Blood Service.

The tool has gained international attention, as no tool like it seems to have been developed anywhere else. Timonen has also negotiated with the American Red Cross by email.

Renewed Carat App Gives a Smart Boost to Battery

 
The Carat Project Team at the University of Helsinki, Department of Computer Science, has published a new version of the popular mobile energy-awareness application.

After launch in June 2012, Carat has helped over 850,000 users, of which 41 per cent have been Android and 59 per cent iOS users, respectively. The new user interface follows modern application design guidelines and presents battery information in a more intuitive and easy to use manner.

- In addition to the new user interface, we have increased the accuracy of the energy saving recommendations of Carat, says Professor Sasu Tarkoma, the leader of this research done at the university.

The user interface features the number of energy intensive applications (Hogs), energy anomalies (Bugs) and user recommendations (Actions) at a glance on the main screen as well as global energy statistics for the device community.

Cover Song Identification Using Compression-based Distance Measures

M.Sc. Teppo E. Ahonen will defend his doctoral thesis Cover Song Identification Using Compression-based Distance Measures on Friday the 1st of April 2016 at 12 o'clock in the University of Helsinki Exactum Building, Auditorium CK112 (Gustaf Hällströminkatu 2b).  His opponent is Academy Professor Petri Toiviainen (University of Jyväskylä) and custos Professor Esko Ukkonen (University of Helsinki). The defence will be held in Finnish.

Measuring similarity in music data is a problem with various potential applications. In recent years, the task known as cover song identification has gained widespread attention. In cover song identification, the purpose is to determine whether a piece of music is a different rendition of a previous version of the composition. The task is quite trivial for a human listener, but highly challenging for a computer.