The Department of Computer Science has many research groups and labs.ResearchGroups & Labs
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- AquaLab - Research in Distributed Computing
- Artificial Intelligence Group
- Assistive and Rehabilitation Robotics Laboratory
- Campanoni Lab
- Cognition, Creativity and Communication (C3)
- Delta Lab
- HABits Lab - Mobile Health and Passive Sensor Analytics
- IDEAS - Design Automation of Intelligent Systems
- Interactive Audio Lab
- Northwestern Lab for Internet and Security Technology
- Midwest Uncertainty Collective Lab
- Northwestern Networks Group
- Northwestern Security & Privacy Group
- NuLogiCS group
- Parallel Architecture Group at Northwestern
- Prescience Lab
- Qualitative Reasoning Group
- Swarm Robotics Lab
- Tangible Interaction Design and Learning (TIDAL) Lab
- Technological Innovations for Inclusive Learning & Teaching (TIILT)
- Northwestern CS Theory Group
- VAK Sustainable Computing Lab
- VLSI Research Lab
AquaLab - Research in Distributed Computing
The AquaLab conducts research on large-scale distributed systems and networking. Its approach is mainly experimental, focusing on the design, deployment, and evaluation of systems that people use. This lab is headed by Fabián Bustamante.
Artificial Intelligence Group
Artificial Intelligence (AI) research explores the nature of intelligence and the ways in which computation can be used to explain and engineer it. Work in AI combines the scale afforded by machine learning with the expressive and organizational power of semantic information-processing and knowledge-based reasoning. Our faculty research programs include work in machine learning, cognitive modeling, language understanding and generation, planning and reasoning, robotics and human-robot interaction, computational journalism, social media analysis, computer audition, computers and education, computational creativity, and legal reasoning.
Assistive and Rehabilitation Robotics Laboratory
The Assistive and Rehabilitation Robotics Laboratory strives to advance human ability through robotics autonomy by easing the burden of controlling assistive machines. This lab is headed by Brenna Argall.
Campanoni Lab
Research focuses on code compilation challenges for both energy efficiency and performance on commodity processors. These challenges are addressed by co-designing compilers, the computer architecture of the platform they target and programming languages. This lab is headed by Simone Campanoni.
Cognition, Creativity and Communication (C3)
The C3 Lab is focused on bridging the gap between the wealth of data that surrounds us and the information that is hidden within it. Using the tools of natural language processing, data analytics, and cognitive modeling the C3 Lab builds systems that link people to the information and insight that serves them. C3 is led by Kristian Hammond.
Delta Lab
The Delta Lab is an interdisciplinary research lab and design studio at Northwestern University. Its driving mission is to improve the way we design, work, learn, play, and fundamentally change the way we interact. This lab is headed by Haoqi Zhang.
HABits Lab - Mobile Health and Passive Sensor Analytics
We design, build and analyze end-to-end mobile health systems, while focusing on signal processing and machine learning of wearable sensor data to help answer health-related questions. This lab is headed by Nabil Alshurafa.
IDEAS - Design Automation of Intelligent Systems
IDEAS Lab aims to develop innovative design automation methodologies and algorithms for software synthesis of cyber-physical systems (CPS), which have applications in key sectors such as automotive, aerospace, healthcare, and industrial automation.
Interactive Audio Lab
The Interactive Audio Lab applies machine learning, signal processing, natural language processing, and database search techniques to make new auditory tools and interfaces. This lab is headed by Bryan Pardo.
Midwest Uncertainty Collective Lab
We are a research lab working at the intersection of information visualization and uncertainty communication. Our mission is to combat misinterpretations and overconfidence in data by developing visual representations and human-in-the-loop tools that express uncertainty and align with how people think. Topics we like include sampling-oriented uncertainty visualizations, eliciting and modeling beliefs about data, automated visualization reasoning and generation, and Bayesian statistics. The MU Collective is directed by Jessica Hullman and Matt Kay.
Northwestern Lab for Internet and Security Technology
The Northwestern Lab for Internet and Security Technology works to improve the reliability, agility, and security of the current Internet, including wireless networks. This lab is headed by Yan Chen.
Northwestern Networks Group
The Northwestern Networks Group conducts research on computer networking. This lab is headed by Aleksandar Kuzmanovic.
Northwestern Security and Privacy Group
Northwestern Security and Privacy Group has a group of faculty & researchers working on software/system security, network security, AI security, cryptography, and data privacy.
NuLogiCS Group
Human intelligence lies on the capability of thinking. With the development of the programmable computer, slow thinking has found its solid foundation on computation. With the recent progress of machine learning, especially deep learning, fast thinking is discovering its root on learning. Logics is the foundation of both computation and learning. NuLogiCS group's goal is to build the new logic foundation for Artificial Intelligence (which needs a tight integration between computation and learning), and for Security (which needs a tight integration between cryptography and formal verification).
Parallel Architecture Group at Northwestern
The Parallel Architecture Group at Northwestern (PARAG@N, pronounced “paragon”) conducts research in energy-efficient high-performance parallel computing at all scales through cross-layer design: from emerging devices and circuits, to computer architecture, compilers, runtimes, operating systems, and applications. This lab is headed by Nikos Hardavellas.
Prescience Lab
The Prescience Lab conducts a range of experimental computer systems research with a current focus on virtualization, empathic systems, and parallel and distributed systems. This lab is headed by Peter Dinda.
Qualitative Reasoning Group
The research of this group includes efforts to both create new kinds of cognitive systems and model human cognition. It has strong collaborations with other cognitive scientists in a number of fields at various institutions. This group is headed by Kenneth D. Forbus.
Swarm Robotics Lab
Research interests interests include advancing the control and design of multi-robot systems, enabling their use instead of traditional single robots and to solve problems for which traditional robots are not suitable. Using these multi-robot systems can offer more parallelism, adaptability, and fault tolerance when compared to a traditional single robot. The lab is interested in investigating how new technologies will allow for more capable multi-robot systems and how these technologies impact the design of multi-robot algorithms, especially as these systems begin to number in the hundreds, thousands, or even millions of robots. This lab is headed by Michael Rubenstein.
Tangible Interaction Design and Learning (TIDAL) Lab
TIDAL Lab is a team of designers, artists, learning scientists, and computer scientists at Northwestern University. Its research creates and studies innovative technology-based learning experiences. This lab is headed by Michael Horn.
Technological Innovations for Inclusive Learning & Teaching (TIILT)
The Technological Innovations for Inclusive Learning and Teaching (TIILT) Lab aims to improve learning opportunities for students from under-served communities. This lab is headed by Marcelo Worsley.
Northwestern CS Theory Group
Theoretical computer science looks at fundamental questions about computation by creating formal models of computation and understanding the resources needed to solve general and specific algorithmic questions. TCS studies the design of efficient algorithms and understanding the computational complexity of various computational tasks that arise in computer science, statistics, economics and the other sciences.
The major research areas include design and analysis of algorithms, computational complexity, randomness in computation, combinatorial optimization, approximation algorithms, online algorithms. The theory group at Northwestern also has strong interests in using computation as a fundamentally new lens to study other fundamental sciences, leading to areas of algorithmic game theory, machine learning and bioinformatics.
VAK Sustainable Computing Lab
The VAK Sustainable Computing Lab re-envisions the computing stack from a sustainability-first approach for its entire life-cycle, including (1) Production: eco-friendly biodegradable materials and manufacturing; (2) Use: battery-free system design and operation; and (3) Disposal: responsible end-of-the-lifecycle or reuse. This lab is headed by Nivedita Arora.
VLSI Research Lab
The VLSI Research Lab at NU focuses on the areas of energy efficient computing with digital and mixed signal design approaches. We are dedicating our effort to explore new computing method for many emerging applications including energy efficient edge computing, accelerator designs for artificial intelligence, etc.