Scott Freitas, a third-year Ph.D. student in the Machine Learning Center at Georgia Tech (ML@GT) and the School of Computational Science and Engineering (CSE), has been named a 2021 IBM Ph.D. Fellowship Award recipient.
Freitas’ research focuses on applied and theoretical machine learning with a strong emphasis on cybersecurity. This award will provide Freitas the academic flexibility to pursue his research plan and obtain his goal of developing explainable next-generation defenses to protect systems against adversarial attacks.
“Receiving the IBM Research Ph.D. fellowship is a great honor and I look forward to closely collaborating with the talented researchers and engineers at IBM Research to maximize the real-world applicability and impact of our research,” said Freitas, who is also affiliated with the Institute for Data Engineering and Science (IDEaS). Freitas is advised by ML@GT Associate Director, CSE Associate Professor and IDEaS Director of Industry Relations Polo Chau.
Established in 1951, the IBM Ph.D. Fellowship program seeks to increase the number of under-represented minority students studying science topics such as quantum computing, data science, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity. The program also advances collaboration between faculty, students, and universities by supporting exceptional doctoral students who aim to make their mark in promising and disruptive technologies.
IBM Research Fellowships last for two years. Freitas will be awarded $60,000 in year one with an additional $35,000 award in year two. He is also encouraged to intern at IBM at some point during the fellowship.
Story by Allie McFadden | Communications Officer | allie.mcfadden@cc.gatech.edu
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