News

  • September 2009: Dr. Helal served as conference chair and gave the opening remarks for the 11th ACM International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing (Ubicomp 2009). The conference was held at the Disney World Yacht & Beach Club, in Orlando, Florida. The conference was closely followed by regional and national press and media (Palm Beach Post I, Palm Beach Post II, The Miami Herald, ZDNet)

  • September 2009: Dr. Helal authors the first IEEE Computer column on Industry Perspective. Read the press release by the IEEE Computer Society. Click below to read the article.

  • July 2009: Ph.D. Candidate Chao Chen and Dr. Helal win the IEEE/IPSJ SAINT Conference Best Paper Award. The paper entitled "Device Integration in SODA using the Device Description Language." was published and presented in the 9th Annual International Symposium on Applications and the Internet is jointly sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society and the Information processing Society of Japan (IPSJ). The paper describes a framework along with implementation and a proposed standard of a description language that revolutionizes the way sensors and devices are integrated, interconnected and deployed.

  • June 2009: Dr. Helal appointed as Associate Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Computer, the IEEE Computer Society flagship publication.
  • January 2009: Dr. Yeunsook Lee, Professor of Design at Yonsei University, Korea, visited the Mobile and Pervasive Computing lab and toured the Gator Tech Smart House. Dr. Lee is a world leader in the design of urban friendly environments for the elderly.

Dr Yensoong Lee's visit

  • November 5, 2008: Drs. Takeo Kanade and Howard Wactlar from the Computer Science department at CMU visited the Mobile and Pervasive Computing lab and tour the Gator Tech Smart House. Dr. Kanade also gave a seminar on the recent developments in the Quality of Life Technology NSF-ERC Center at CMU.

Dr. Kanade seminar

  • May 2008: Dr. Helal to give a Keynote Speech at the 31st Annual Education Conference of the Florida State Association of Rehabilitation Nurses (FSARN), Orlando, Florida, USA.
  • September 2007: Dr. Helal to give a Keynote Speech at the 3rd IET International Conference on Intelligent Environments (IE07), Ulm, Germany, September 24-25, 2007.

  • July 2007: Dr. Helal to give a Keynote Speech at the 31st Annual IEEE International Computer Software and Applications Conference (CompSac 2007).
  • July 2007: Dr. Helal to to visit Peking University, Beijing, and meet with its Executive Vice President & Provost, Professor Jianhua Lin.
  • June 2007: Dr. Helal to give a Keynote Speech at the 5th International Conference on Smart Homes and Health Telematics (ICOST07), to be held in Nara, Japan, June 21-23, 2007.

  • April 2007: Professor Hani Hagras, Professor of Computer Science and Director of the iDorm project at the University of Essex visits the Mobile and Pervasive Computing Laboratory for a two-days research exchange on Intelligent Environments. The Research Exchange Agenda and Presentations can be found here. Dr. Hagras also visited the Gator Tech Smart House at the Oak Hammock Retirement Community. A guest of honor who also joined the tour at the GTSH is Mr. Inhee Kwak, former mayor of Gimje city (1995-2006), South Korea.

  • September 2006: Dr. Helal visits the Ubiquitous Robot Companion research team in ETRI, Korea to sign a Memorandom of Understanding and discuss joint research.
  • June 2006: Pervasa, Inc., a start up led by Dr. Helal and several of his students and graduates, enters into an agreement with the University of Florida Office of Technology Licesning to license backinventions and copyrights of the ATLAS Sensor Platform.
  • May 2006: Dr. Helal dlivers a Plenary Speech on "Plug and Play Sensor Networks" in the 23rd Biennial Symposium on Communications, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
  • May 2006: Dr. Helal delivers a Distinguished Lecture Series talk about “Programmable Pervasive Spaces,”in the School of Computing, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
  • May 2006: The StarHome researech team affiliated with the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), Singapore visits the Gator Teach Smart House for a tour and technical discuission regarding future collaborations. In the picture, guests from left to right are: Mr. Chong Chieh Tseng, Ms. Khor Hwai Lin and Mr. Edward Chan Hoi Chuen.

  • May 2006: The Ubiquitous Robot Companion (URC) research team of the Electronics and Telecommunication Research Institute (ETRI), Korea, visits the Gator Tech Smart House to discuss joint research and the use of UF's ATLAS Sensor Platform in the URC Project. ETRI team: Dr. Hyun Kim (Leader), Dr. Kang-woo Lee, and Mr. Young-ho Seo.
  • February 2006: Dr. Helal to attend the Advisory Board Meeting of the "Ultra Wide Band – enabled Sentient Computing" (UWB-SC) initiative administered by the Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) under  A*STAR, Singapore
  • Feburary 2006: Dr. Helal delivers a Keynote speach to the attendees of the ICADI Conference on Aging and Independent Living, St. Pete, Florida.
  • October 2005: Senator Mel Martinez tours the Gator Tech Smart House for a demo of the most recent developments in UF's Pervasive Computing research in support of successful Aging.

  • September 2005: Professor Helal visited the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R) in Singapore to deliver a Keynote Address in the InfoComm Horizons 2005 Conference. The keynote will present current UF efforts in Pervasive Computing Research and its applications in the domain of Elder Care.
  • September 2005: Professor Helal visited the School of Information Systems at the Singapore Management University and presented a SIS research talk.
  • September 2005: Professor Helal and graduate students Raja Bose and Steven Pickles showcased the sensor platform at the 2005 Very Large Data Bases Conference (VLDB-05) held Aug. 29 through Sept. 3 in Trondheim, Norway. They presented the platform as part of a joint project with researchers from Purdue University. More details.
  • September 2005: The Mobile and Pervasive Computing Laboratory at the University of Florida launches the www.sensorplatform.org web site to share results of Sensors and Pervasive Computing Middleware research with other universities and industry.
  • May 2005: The DISCOVERY CHANNEL Beyond Tomorrow program, came all the way from Australia to film the Gator Tech Smart House. BEYOND TOMORROW is the cutting edge series that will change the way you think about your future. From the makers of the world's most popular science and technology programme, Beyond 2000, this new series looks even further into our future to see what is now within the realms of possibility. Filmed around the world, the magazine-style format is packed with amazing technological innovations and breakthrough scientific advancements, which are destined to change the way we live. (Airing time will be announced soon).
  • March 2005: The Pervasive Computing Laboratory at the University of Florida participates in the CTIA Wireless Home show, March 14-16, in New Orleans , Louisiana . UF will show three of its smart home inventions, including the mobile Medicine Reminder, the Smartwave and Modia (mobile multimedia). For more information check the CTIA Wireless Home web site.
  • January 2005: The grand opening of the Gator Tech Smart House. Read the official University of Florida Press Release.
  • December 2002: The National Science Foundation and the British Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) visit the Pervasive Computing Laboratory and the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Technology for Successful Aging. Dr. Gilbert Divey (NSF), Dr. Lee Bartlett (EPSRC) and Dr. Andrew Sixsmith (The University of Liverpool) visited the labs and the House of Matilda where several demos were shown on the use of the smart phone as an assistive device. (Photo)
  • July 2002: Dr. Helal and Dr. Mann gave the Keynote Speech in the opening session of the AAAI Workshop on Automation as Caregiver: The Role of Intelligent Technology in Elder Care, Edmonton, Canada. Dr. Helal and Dr. Mann were quoted the next morning in the Canadian Edmonton Star newspaper.
  • June 2002: Dr. Helal and Dr. Mann along with colleagues from the VA Hospital won a VA R&D grant that deals with distance monitoring and the use of smart phones and other devices by elder veterans in the city of Alachua.
  • May 2002: Dr. Helal along with Dr. William Mann won a 5 year NIDDR Grant to support Postdocs in research on using Pervasive Computing in Aging research.
  • October 15, 2001: Dr. Helal along with a team from the School of Health Professions won a Center grant that will focus on applying pervasive computing technology for elders and disabled. The Center is funded by the Department of Education. Read the UF Press Release.
  • October 9, 2001: Steve, Balaji, and Dr. Helal presented their paper on DRISHTI in the 5th International Symposium on Wearable Computing (ISWC'01), in Zurich Switzerland. Paper is available online.