Tapan S. Parikh


Cornell Tech
2 West Loop Road
New York, NY 10044
http://tap2k.org
tapan@represent.org
+1-646-971-3841

Research Interests

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICTD), Computer Science Education, Educational Technology, Food Systems, Civic Technology, Service Learning, Participatory Design

Education

2007 University of Washington: Ph.D. in Computer Science
Dissertation - Designing an Architecture for Delivering Mobile Information Services to the Rural Developing World
Advisors - Ed Lazowska, David Notkin
1999 University of Washington: M.S. in Computer Science
Thesis - WIL: A Compiler Intermediate Language with Explicit Support for Representations
Advisor - Craig Chambers
1996 Brown University: B.Sc. in Molecular Modeling (with Honors)
Thesis - Cation Binding Selectivity of EF-Hand Sites: Perturbation Dynamics of Galactose Binding Protein
Advisor - David Busath

Awards

2022 ACM UIST Best Paper, Honorable Mention
2019 ACM CSCW Best Paper, Honorable Mention
2018 Kaplan Faculty Fellowship
2014 Sloan Fellowship
2013 Hellman Fellowship
2012 ACM CHI Best Paper
2011 NSF CAREER Award
2010 ACM CHI Best Paper
2010 IEEE ICDE Best Student Paper
2010 UW Diamond Early Career Achievement
2008 WAGS Innovation in Technology
2008 UW CSE William Chan Memorial Dissertation Award
2008 Esquire's Best and Brightest
2007 TR35 Humanitarian of the Year
2005-7 Intel Ph.D. Fellowship
2005-7 NSF IGERT Fellowship
2004 UW Computer Science & Engineering Fellowship
2003 Bonderman International Travel Fellowship
2003 ACM CUU Best Paper

Employment

2016- Cornell Tech, New York, NY
Associate Professor
Tenured appointment in the Department of Information Science.
2014-16 University of California, Berkeley, CA
Associate Professor
Tenured appointment in the School of Information.
2008-14 University of California, Berkeley, CA
Assistant Professor
Tenure-track appointment in the School of Information.
2003- Consultant, New York, NY
Expertise in design, technology and management for social enterprises, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), governments and donors.
2010- Awaaz.De, Ahmedabad, India
Co-founder and Director
Co-founded startup business offering a voice-based social media platform for government, NGOs, community activists and small farmers.
2003-11 ekgaon technologies, New Delhi, India
Co-founder and Director
Co-founded startup business offering services to NGOs, microfinance institutions and small farmers, focusing on information and appropriate rural technologies.
2005 Microsoft Research India, Bangalore, India
Summer Intern
Led project investigating usability of a mobile phone based data capture framework for rural microfinance institutions.
2003-4 University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Teaching Assistant
Teaching assistant for undergraduate Programming and Computer Architecture courses. Helped conduct a graduate course on IT and Public Policy covering four campuses (U. Washington, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego and Microsoft Research). Also organized a quarterly seminar on ICT and Rural Development, including participants from Microsoft Research, Intel Research Seattle and the UW Center for Internet Studies.
2002 Media Lab Asia, Mumbai, India
Research Associate
Researcher at Media Lab Asia, founded by MIT Media Lab and the Government of India Ministry for Information Technology. Directed the HISAAB project, exploring research issues in user interface design and microfinance.
2000-2 SRISTI, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Technical Coordinator
Co-directed the Knownet-Grin project, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, supported by the World Bank's InfoDev program.
2000-1 Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Graduate Lecturer
Lecturer in Master's in Computer Applications program, teaching graduate courses in C++ programming and XML. Developed a new syllabus, lectures, exams and assignments, and was responsible for more than fifty students.
1999 IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, Hawthorne, NY
Visiting Researcher and Intern
Worked on the design of an integrated development environment for Subject-Oriented Programming.
1998-9 University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Research Assistant
Research assistant in the Cecil group, working with Professor Craig Chambers on topics in compilers and programming language design.
1997-8 University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Teaching Assistant
Teaching assistant for undergraduate courses in Introductory Programming (I and II) and a graduate course in Compilers. Responsibilities included lecturing, teaching discussion section, tutoring students and developing exams, projects and homeworks.
1996-7 Summit Financial Systems, New York, NY
Application Developer
Involved in the development of financial simulation and valuation models for derivative financial instruments.
1994-6 Brown University, Providence, RI
Teaching Assistant
Teaching assistant for undergraduate CS courses in Discrete Mathematics, Computer Architecture and Software Engineering, and a graduate Chemistry course in Molecular Modeling. Responsibilities included tutoring students and developing exams, projects and homeworks. Helped design the curriculum for a new undergraduate major in Molecular Modeling.

Publications

Theses and Dissertation Refereed Journal / Magazine Articles Refereed Conference Proceedings Refereed Abstracts, Posters and Workshop Papers Other Papers Invited Presentations / Exhibitions Press / Interviews

Professional Activities

2018 Associate Chair, ACM Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies (COMPASS)
2018 Organizer, Ethics, Youth and Data Science Workshop
2016 Organizer, Youth, Learning and Data Science Summit
2013 Program Chair, International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD)
2011 Guest Editor, IEEE Pervasive Computing, Special Issue on ICT4D
2010-14 Editorial Board, Information Technologies and International Development (ITID)
2010 Program Chair, ACM Symposium on Computing for Development (DEV)
2009 Organizer, CCC Workshop on Computer Science and Global Development
2009 Program Chair, ACM Workshop on Networked Systems for Developing Regions (NSDR)
2008-10 Associate Editor, Information Technologies and International Development (ITID)
2007-9 Poster Chair, International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD)
2013-15 Program Committee, ACM Conference on Computer-Human Interaction (CHI)
2012 Program Committee, Workshop on Information and Knowledge Management for Developing Regions (IKM4DR)
2011 Program Committee, ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST)
2011 Program Committee, iConference
2010-15 Program Committee, ACM Symposium on Computing for Development (DEV)
2008 Program Committee, Workshop on Wireless Broadband, M4D
2008 Program Committee, UrbanSense
2008 Program Committee, Human-Centered Track, ACM Multimedia
2008 Program Committee, ACM Workshop on Wireless Networks and Systems for Developing Regions (WiNS-DR)
2008-12 Program Committee, ACM Workshop on Networked Systems for Developing Regions (NSDR)
2007 Program Committee, AI in ICT for Development Workshop, International Joint Conferences on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI)
2007-11 Program Committee, Developing Regions Track, International Conference on the World-Wide Web (WWW)
2006-17 Program Committee, International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD)
2014 Reviewer, International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services (MobileHCI)
2010-15 Reviewer, ACM Symposium on Computing for Development (DEV)
2009-12 Reviewer, ACM International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing (Ubicomp)
2008 Reviewer, Communications of the ACM
2008 Reviewer, Information Systems Frontiers
2008 Reviewer, UrbanSense
2008-16 Reviewer, ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW)
2008-12 Reviewer, ACM Workshop on Networked Systems for Developing Regions (NSDR)
2007-13 Reviewer, ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST)
2007 Reviewer, AI in ICT for Development Workshop, International Joint Conferences on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI)
2007-11 Reviewer, Developing Regions Track, International Conference on the World-Wide Web (WWW)
2006 Reviewer, IEEE Pervasive Computing Magazine
2006-14 Reviewer, Information Technologies and International Development (ITID), MIT Press
2006-17 Reviewer, International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD)
2005-23 Reviewer, ACM Conference on Computer-Human Interaction (CHI)

Grants

2022-23 Improving Soil Quality for Sustainable Urban Agriculture, National Institute for Food and Agriculture, USDA, $299,881 (co-PI: Jenny Kao-Kniffin)
2022 Supporting Participatory Learning in Urban Agriculture with Wireless Sensing and VR, Urban Tech Seed Grant, $100,000 (co-PIs: Rajalakshmi Nandakumar, Noah Snavely)
2018-22 Remaking the City, Engaged Curriculum Grant, $120,000
2018-19 Word to RI, Engaged Opportunity Grant, $5,000
2015-17 From Data to Awesome: Youth Learning to be Data Scientists, NSF ITEST, $1,200,000 (co-PIs: Ellin O'Leary, Elisabeth Soep)
2014-15 Participatory Mapping to Inform Agricultural Decision Making, CITRIS, $60,000 (co-PIs: Deb Niemeier, Adam Calo)
2014-15 Making the Road by Mapping: Informing Food System Transformation through Participatory Mapmaking, Berkeley Food Institute, $20,000 (co-PIs: Kathryn DeMaster, Adam Calo, Darin Jensen, Maggi Kelly, Sarah Van Wart)
2014 Travel Grant, Committee on Research, UC Berkeley, $800
2013-16 Local Ground: A Contextually Grounded Approach for Learning Data Science Skills, NSF Cyberlearning, $550,000
2013-14 Local Ground: Increasing Youth Data Literacy using Contextually Grounded Mapping and Visualization Tools, Hellman Faculty Fellowship, $44,087
2013 Travel Grant, Committee on Research, UC Berkeley, $800
2012-13 Mobile Phones, Privacy and Gender Inequity in Access to Sexual Health Information in India, UC Global Health Institute, $16,000 (co-PIs: Meena Natarajan, Jenna Burrell)
2011-12 The Intelligent Telephony Access Point, Google Research, $100,000 (co-PIs: Umar Saif, Eric Brewer)
2011 Emerging Business Models Enabled by Networked Computing, Research Gift, Intel Corporation, $20,000
2011-16 Improving the Accessibility and Trust of Voice-based Social Media for Small Farmers in Developing Regions, NSF CAREER, $499,948
2011 Junior Faculty Fellowship, Institute for International Studies, UC Berkeley, $5,000
2011 Travel Grant, Committee on Research, UC Berkeley, $800
2010 Travel Grant, Committee on Research, UC Berkeley, $600
2009-11 Information, Innovation, and International Development, National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, $36,500
2009-10 ICTs for Smallholder Access to Knowledge, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, $223,231 (co-PIs: AnnaLee Saxenian, Alain de Janvry, George Scharffenberger)
2009 Travel Grant, Committee on Research, UC Berkeley, $800
2008 Mobile Technologies for Rural Development, Research Gift, Nokia Corporation, $60,000
2008 Junior Faculty Research Grant, Committee on Research, UC Berkeley, $5,000
2008 Travel Grant, Committee on Research, UC Berkeley, $800
2006 Understanding and Tracking Fair Trade Coffee Transactions, Ricoh Innovations and Transfair, ORIGINS Project, $25,000 (co-PI: E. Lazowska)
2006-7 DSH and CAM: Leveraging Low Cost Technology for Rural India, Microsoft Research, Digital Inclusion Program, $100,000 (co-PIs: T. Anderson, N. Garg, R. Wang, E. Lazowska)
2005-7 A Distributed, Accessible and Open MIS Framework for SHGs and SHG Federations, International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Pan Asia Program, $30,000 (co-PIs: V.P.S. Aditya, N. M. Velayutham, V.C. Nadarajan, T.R.S. Sunder and S. Olaganathan)
2005 International Mobility Grant, Marc Lindenberg Center for Humanitarian Action, International Development and Global Citizenship, $4,000
2003-6 Self-management of SHGs Through an Accessible Paper MIS, SEEP Network, Practitioner Learning Program, $85,000 (co-PIs: N. M. Velayutham, V.C. Nadarajan, S. Olaganathan and V.P.S. Aditya)

Student Supervision

2018- Maya Mundell, PhD, Cornell University (co-advised by Phoebe Sengers)
2018-22 Ian Arawjo, PhD, Cornell University
2017-22 Samar Sabie, PhD, Cornell University
2015-19 Seongtaek Lim, PhD, Cornell University
2014- Vibhore Vardhan, PhD, Cornell University
2012-19 Sarah Van Wart, PhD, University of California, Berkeley
2008-13 Kurtis Heimerl, PhD, University of California, Berkeley (co-advised by Eric Brewer)
2008-13 Neha Kumar, PhD, University of California, Berkeley
2008-11 Kuang Chen, PhD, University of California, Berkeley (co-advised by Joe Hellerstein)
2007-12 Yaw Anokwa, PhD, University of Washington (co-advised by Gaetano Borriello)
2007-11 Brian DeRenzi, PhD, University of Washington (co-advised by Gaetano Borriello)
2007-11 Neil Patel, PhD, Stanford University (co-advised by Scott Klemmer)