Barbara Cutler

Barbara Cutler is an Associate Professor in the Computer Science Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), with an affiliation to EMPAC. She holds a Ph.D. and served as a Post-Doctoral Lecturer at MIT in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, focusing on computer graphics and visualization within the CSAIL lab. Her research spans computer graphics, geometry processing, architectural design tools, and educational technology, particularly in autograding systems like Submitty and plagiarism detection (Lichen). She has contributed to open-source platforms, container-based grading solutions, and policies to reduce academic stress and misconduct.

Education Background: Ph.D. and Postdoc at MIT (EECS).

Research Interests: Combining computational techniques with real-world applications in architecture, visualization, and education. Key areas include erosion modeling, tangible user interfaces, and collaborative infrastructure restoration simulations. Her work bridges theory and practice through tools like Submitty for scalable programming assignment evaluation.

Grants & Projects: Developed Submitty, a widely used autograding platform. Authored over 50 publications on autograding systems, plagiarism detection, and computer graphics. Collaborated across institutions on H/FOSS curriculum integration and late-day policy studies.

Labs & Teams: Affiliated with RPI’s Computer Science Department and EMPAC. Active in the Submitty development community and interdisciplinary projects involving architecture and engineering.