Robert Lindeman 'GS *99 Receives Award

In April 2008, Robert W. Lindeman (graduated with PhD degree from SEAS CS in 1999) was awarded the "Worcester Polytechnic Institute Young Faculty Award for Innovation in Undergraduate Teaching". Dr. Lindeman is Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute and teaches in the Interactive Media & Game Development Program. Dr. Lindeman shared the Award with a faculty member in the Humanities & Arts. Together they developed an innovative method of delivering their courses in a synchronized manner, with their students working together on projects.

Zohra Hemani '01 Receives National Award

Zohra Hemani (2001 graduate of SEAS CS) is the 2007 recipient of the "National Women of Color in Technology Rising Star Award". Ms. Hemani is currently the software engineer and project lead for Northrup Grumman Information Technology and is a member of their internal research and development team. She credits the strong technical foundation provided during her time at GW and the CS Senior Design Project in particular as especally helpful in preparing her for the business world.

Bill Westenhofer 'GS *95 Wins Oscar

Bill Westenhofer (graduated with Master's Degree from SEAS CS in 1995) has won an Academy Award for Visual Effects for The Golden Compass. Bill is the visual effects supervisor for Rhythm and Hues and led the Rhythm and Hues studios team on The Golden Compass. He led a crew of 500 on 2 continents over a period of 18 months to produce nearly 400 shots featured in the movie, which stars Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, and Dakota Blue Richards.

He is also nominated for The Golden Compass in the Special Effects category by the Orange BAFTA Awards, and The Golden Compass is one of the Visual Effects Society's nominees for Best Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture category. Bill was previously nominated for an Oscar in the Visual Effects category in 2005 for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Kenneth Settle 'GS 96

We received the following news from CS alumnus Kenneth Settle (graduated with Master's Degree from SEAS CS in 1996):

I will be celebrating my 17th wedding anniversary in October. I have 5 children...my oldest, Alec, turned 15 in February. The rest of the crew are: my 12 year old daughter, Paulina, 8 year old son, Justin, 5 year old daughter, Gianna, and 21 month old James. I'm a senior vice president at Lehman Brothers. I've been working here for almost 2 years. I work in the Equities Technology Division responsible for building and managing a large trading data warehouse. My job has absolutely nothing to do with graphics. I just get to drive my family crazy when we watch animated movies from Pixar, Dreamworks, etc. and I get excited at some of the really cool stuff that I see them do with each new movie.