Cecilia R. Aragon
Encyclopedia
Cecilia R. Aragon is an American computer scientist, professor, and champion
aerobatic
pilot.
In computer science, she is best known as the co-inventor (with Raimund Seidel
) of the treap
data structure, a type of binary search tree
that orders nodes by adding a priority as well as a key to each node. On July 9, 2009, Aragon received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers. She was recognized for "seminal research in workflow management and visual analytics for data-intensive scientific research, including the development of the Fourier contour analysis algorithm and Sunfall."
Aragon received her B.S. in mathematics from the California Institute of Technology
and her Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. She is currently an associate professor at the University of Washington
(UW) in Seattle, listing her research interests there as eScience, scientific and information visualization, visual analytics
, image processing, collaborative creativity, and human-computer interaction. Prior to her appointment at UW, she was a computer scientist at
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
for six years and NASA Ames Research Center
for nine years, and before that, an airshow and test pilot, entrepreneur, and member of the United States Aerobatic Team.
Aragon first won a slot on the United States Aerobatic Team in 1991. She holds the record for shortest time from first solo in an airplane to membership on the US Team (less than six years), and was also the first Latina to win a slot on the Team.
A team member from 1991–1994, she was a bronze medalist at the 1993 U.S. National Aerobatic Championships and the 1994 World Aerobatic Championships. She has also won over 70 trophies in regional aerobatic competitions at the Unlimited level and was California State Unlimited Aerobatic Champion in 1990. Aragon has also flown airshow
s (as distinct from aerobatic competitions
) professionally since 1990.
Aragon has been a flight instructor since 1987. In 1989, she founded one of the first aerobatic and tailwheel flight schools in Northern California.
Aragon was a pioneer of "unusual attitude recovery training," where flight students are taught how to recover from emergency situations in flight. Until July 2009, she was an instructor at Tracy Airport
, conducting aerobatic training, competition coaching, and teaching people to overcome their fear of flying.
aerobatic
Competition aerobatics
Competition aerobatics is an air sport in which judges rate the skill of pilots performing aerobatic flying. It is practiced in both piston-powered single-engine airplanes and gliders....
pilot.
In computer science, she is best known as the co-inventor (with Raimund Seidel
Raimund Seidel
Raimund G. Seidel is a professor of computer scientist at the Universität des Saarlandes and an expert in computational geometry.Seidel was born in Graz, Austria, and studied with Hermann Maurer at the Graz University of Technology. He received his Ph.D. in 1987 from Cornell University under the...
) of the treap
Treap
In computer science, the treap and the randomized binary search tree are two closely related forms of binary search tree data structures that maintain a dynamic set of ordered keys and allow binary searches among the keys...
data structure, a type of binary search tree
Binary search tree
In computer science, a binary search tree , which may sometimes also be called an ordered or sorted binary tree, is a node-based binary tree data structurewhich has the following properties:...
that orders nodes by adding a priority as well as a key to each node. On July 9, 2009, Aragon received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers. She was recognized for "seminal research in workflow management and visual analytics for data-intensive scientific research, including the development of the Fourier contour analysis algorithm and Sunfall."
Aragon received her B.S. in mathematics from the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
and her Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. She is currently an associate professor at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
(UW) in Seattle, listing her research interests there as eScience, scientific and information visualization, visual analytics
Visual analytics
Visual analytics is an outgrowth of the fields information visualization and scientific visualization, that focuses on analytical reasoning facilitated by interactive visual interfaces...
, image processing, collaborative creativity, and human-computer interaction. Prior to her appointment at UW, she was a computer scientist at
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory conducting unclassified scientific research. It is located on the grounds of the University of California, Berkeley, in the Berkeley Hills above the central campus...
for six years and NASA Ames Research Center
NASA Ames Research Center
The Ames Research Center , is one of the United States of America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration 10 major field centers.The centre is located in Moffett Field in California's Silicon Valley, near the high-tech companies, entrepreneurial ventures, universities, and other...
for nine years, and before that, an airshow and test pilot, entrepreneur, and member of the United States Aerobatic Team.
Aragon first won a slot on the United States Aerobatic Team in 1991. She holds the record for shortest time from first solo in an airplane to membership on the US Team (less than six years), and was also the first Latina to win a slot on the Team.
A team member from 1991–1994, she was a bronze medalist at the 1993 U.S. National Aerobatic Championships and the 1994 World Aerobatic Championships. She has also won over 70 trophies in regional aerobatic competitions at the Unlimited level and was California State Unlimited Aerobatic Champion in 1990. Aragon has also flown airshow
Airshow
An air show is an event at which aviators display their flying skills and the capabilities of their aircraft to spectators in aerobatics. Air shows without aerobatic displays, having only aircraft displayed parked on the ground, are called "static air shows"....
s (as distinct from aerobatic competitions
Competition aerobatics
Competition aerobatics is an air sport in which judges rate the skill of pilots performing aerobatic flying. It is practiced in both piston-powered single-engine airplanes and gliders....
) professionally since 1990.
Aragon has been a flight instructor since 1987. In 1989, she founded one of the first aerobatic and tailwheel flight schools in Northern California.
Aragon was a pioneer of "unusual attitude recovery training," where flight students are taught how to recover from emergency situations in flight. Until July 2009, she was an instructor at Tracy Airport
Tracy Municipal Airport (California)
Tracy Municipal Airport is a nontowered, public airport located three miles southwest of the central business district of Tracy, a city in San Joaquin County, California, United States. It is owned by the City of Tracy.Although most U.S...
, conducting aerobatic training, competition coaching, and teaching people to overcome their fear of flying.
External links
- "Daredevils of the Sky." NOVA. PBS. (Aired February 1, 1994; contains footage and interview with Aragon.)
- Bio at NASA Ames Research Center
- Home page at the University of Washington
- Treaps info including links to source code and original papers
- Publications list at DBLPDBLPDBLP is a computer science bibliography website hosted at Universität Trier, in Germany. It was originally a database and logic programming bibliography site, and has existed at least since the 1980s. DBLP listed more than 1.3 million articles on computer science in January 2010...
- International Aerobatic Club