Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering

Google Code Jam 2014 Registration is open and the qualification round starts on Friday, April 11, 2014. Google Code Jam is an international programming competition hosted and administered by Google. The competition began in 2003 as a means to identify top engineering talent for potential employment at Google.

The competition consists of a set of algorithmic problems which must be solved in a fixed amount of time. Competitors may use any programming language and development environment to obtain their solutions. More than 45,000 coders registered to compete last year and the winner, Ivan Miatselski won the $15,000 grand prize.

If you are interested in finding out more, see the Google Code Jam quick start guide and try some of the practice problems from past competitions. The first qualification round starts on April 11 and the finals will take place in Los Angeles on August 15.

The UMBC Council of Computing Majors will hold its first hands-on Raspberry Pi workshop from 2:00-4:00 this Friday, March 7, in ITE240.

The Raspberry Pi is a $35 credit-card-sized, single-board computer that runs a version of Unix. Originally developed for teaching computer programming to children, it is now being used in many useful and exciting applications, from near-space weather balloons to baby monitors to media servers. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.

The initial workshop will cover the Raspberry Pi, its Raspbian Unix OS, and how to program it using Python for real-world applications. There will be 20 Pi computers for participants to use. The workshop is designed so freshman and non-computer science majors can attend and participate. If you know anyone who would be interested in attending, please send them the link and information!

Space is limited, so sign up to reserve a seat.  Intermediate and advanced workshops will follow later in the semester. See the Pi FAQ for general information on the Pi and Raspbian for information on its operating system.

For more information, contact CCM president Austin Murdock ().

The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) has selected CSEE professor Marie desJardins as one of four awardees of the 2014 NCWIT Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award. The award comes with a gift to UMBC of $5,000, sponsored by AT&T that can be used to further Professor desJardins mentoring activities. The award will be presented at the 2014 NCWIT Summit which will take place at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa in Newport Beach, California in May 2014.

NCWIT is a non-profit community of more than 500 prominent corporations, academic institutions, government agencies, and non-profits working to increase women’s participation in technology and computing. Their  annual NCWIT Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award recognizes U.S. Academic Alliance representatives for their outstanding mentorship, high-quality research opportunities, recruitment of women and minority students, and efforts to encourage and advance undergraduates in computing-related fields.

Computer Engineering, Computer Science, and Information Systems majors with at least a 3.25 GPA and an interest in cybersecurity are encouraged to apply for 2014-15 cohort of the UMBC Cyber Scholars Program.

The Cyber Scholars Program is a merit-based scholarship program for talented undergraduates majoring in computer science, information systems of computer engineering who are interested in pursuing a career within the field of cybersecurity. Cyber Scholars are supported financially and incorporated into a scholarship community, unique courses, mentoring, and the chance to take part in cybersecurity research and internships during in their academic careers.

Apply by 14 February 2014 by submitting a application along with two letters of recommendation and an official college transcript.

UMBC’s ACM student chapter has a new website that will be used to announce its activities and events as well as news about computing related opportunities and resources. The chapter is open to both undergraduate and graduate students interested in computing from all majors. Joining is free and is a great way to meet other students interested in computing and to participate in activities that will help you grow as a professional.

ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, is the the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society. It provides members with resources that advance computing both as a science and a profession. UMBC’s chapter meetings are open to all undergraduate and graduate students of any major. While you do not need to join ACM to be a part of the local chapter, the annual membership dues for students is only $19, heavily discounted from the non-student rate. See the ACM site for more information on student membership and its benefits.

For more information contact us at acmofficers AT lists.umbc.edu.

The UMBC Council of Computing Majors (CCM) will meet from Noon to 12:45pm on Wednesday, November 20 in BIO 101 (Lecture Hall 1 in the building behind the Biology Building). The CCM is a student organization representing undergraduate computer science and computer engineering majors and anyone else with an interest in computing. Everyone is welcome.

At this meeting, students from Professor Nilanjan Banerjee’s Mobile, Pervasive and Sensor Systems Lab (MPSSL) will talk about their research. Their lab currently focuses on application areas that include renewable energy, healthcare applications and mobile phone systems as well as theoretical work on network topology compression and analytical modeling of hybrid mobile networks.

IEEE – Job Search Workshop

12:00-1:00 Monday, 11 November 2013, ITE LH 7

Join IEEE for a job search workshop. A Career Services’ expert will give a presentation tailored for STEM grad students. Learn about job search techniques that work best for those in a STEM major and start your search now.

It could take up to 9 months to find a job after graduation… Don’t wait until your last year to start looking for a job.

Kick start your job search with us, November 11th, at noon, in Lecture Hall 7. No matter where you are in your studies, it’s never too early to start job searching. Lunch will be served!

RSVP online.

The Council of Computing Majors (CCM) will meet from Noon to 12:45pm on Monday, November 4 in MP 103. The CCM is a student organization representing undergraduate computer science and computer engineering majors and anyone else with an interest in computing. Everyone is welcome.

At next week’s meeting, three computer science graduate students, Prajit Das, Primal Pappachan and Roberto Yus, will demonstrate Google Glass and talk about how they are using it in their research.

Google glass is the latest cool gadget in town. Developed by Google, it is is a wearable computer with a head mounted display. We will talk about the technical capabilities of Google glass as well as about developing apps for it using the Mirror API and the Android Software Development Kit. We will also give a live demo with the device where we will show some apps we developed.

The UMBC Council of Computing Majors (CCM) will meet from Noon to 1:00pm on Monday, October 21 in room 101 in the Administration building. CCM is a student organization representing undergraduate computer science and computer engineering majors and anyone else with an interest in computing. Everyone is welcome.

At next week’s meeting, Austin Murdock will give an overview of Raspberry Pi and Arduino technology and lead a discussion about possible CCM group projects involving them.

The Raspberry Pi is an inexpensive, credit-card-sized single-board computer that runs Linux and Arduino is a single-board microcontroller used to make using electronics in multidisciplinary projects more accessible. Their low cost, size and power requirements make them ideal for building novel embedded applications in a familiar Linux environment using open source software.

Dr. Evelyn Erenrich from Rutgers University will talk on “An Inside Look at Graduate School and Summer Research: How to Prepare, Get Accepted, and Succeed” at Noon on Wednesday, October 16 in room 208, Public Policy.

In addition to discussing strategies for research success, Dr. Erenrich will spotlight exciting programs and interdisciplinary training opportunities at Rutgers University, including a summer program, RiSE (Research in Science and Engineering), which has included many UMBC students. Mr. Immanuel Williams, a UMBC alumnus who is currently a doctoral Fellow at Rutgers, will be joining me to give his personal perspective. Students can also sign up for individual appointments by contacting Ms. Alicia Hall, .