Findlater, Feldman Are Two Newest Appointments to UMIACS

Leah Findlater, an assistant professor in the iSchool, and Naomi Feldman, an assistant professor in linguistics, have received appointments in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS), effective July 1.

“Leah and Naomi bring a wealth of experience and enthusiasm that will significantly add to our interdisciplinary research in human-computer interaction and computational linguistics, respectively,” says Amitabh Varshney, director of UMIACS. “We are thrilled that they are joining our research community.”

Findlater’s research has focused on designing and building inclusive technology, including novel interfaces that incorporate a thorough understanding of human motor, perceptual and cognitive abilities. This is vital for developing interactive technologies that can benefit users with visual or motor impairments, or older adults.

Feldman’s research is based in machine learning, with an emphasis on language acquisition and processing. She is investigating computational strategies that allow humans to learn and use language, asking how learners acquire linguistic structure in unsupervised settings and how they use this knowledge to extract information in real time from the speech they hear.

Findlater has a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of British Columbia; Feldman has a Ph.D. in cognitive science from Brown University.