Alumni News from Computer Science at Drexel

Department of Computer Science, College of Engineering, Drexel University

Winter 2010

Greetings!

Welcome to the first e-newsletter from Drexel's CS Department! Every quarter we plan to keep in touch with our alumni by sending student, faculty and alumni news and achievements. For more information about alumni events and activities, please visit our new Alumni Web site.

In our first issue, we're catching up with a few of our alums and would also like to know what's happening in your life since graduating from Drexel. So please read on and drop us a line.

Where are they now?

John "JD" Dougherty

Class Year: 1985

Degree: Masters in CS

Currently: JD is an assistant professor of computer science at Haverford College, where he works on such topics as computing education, K-12 outreach and dependable parallel computing in the sciences. Read more about JD's CS outreach projects and other activities here.

Scott Smith

Class Year: 1996

Degree: Bachelors in Computer Science

Currently: Scott works as a computer scientist and researcher with the U.S. Government. He also operates DCSki.com, an online publication geared toward skiers and snowboarders in the mid-Atlantic region. Read more about Scott, his job and his pastimes.

Chris Cera

Class Year: 2001 (BS) and 2004 (MS)

Degrees: Bachelors and Masters in CS

Currently: Chris is co-founder and CTO of Vuzit, a document sharing, control and analytics company. He also co-founded Philly Startup Leaders, currently the largest and most active community of startup entrepreneurs in the Philadelphai region. Click here to find out what else Chris has accomplished since graduating from Drexel.

Where are you now?

The CS Department wants to hear from you. What have you been up to since graduating from Drexel? Take a few minutes to fill out our questionnaire and tell us about your life. We're interested and so are your fellow graduates.

Robotics professor presents at Jay Modi Memorial Lecture

CS Department welcomed Dr. Manuela Veloso, computer science professor from Carnegie Mellon University, who presented the Second Annual Jay Modi Memorial Lecture, January 25, 2010. This lecture is held annually to honor the contributions of Pragnesh Jay Modi, former Drexel computer science professor, to the field of Arificial Intelligence, to Drexel and the CS Department. Dr. Veloso discussed her journey of research on multi-robot systems. During the ceremony, the Jay Modi Memorial Award was given to CS Ph.D. candidate Louis Kratz, recognizing his academic excellence and the potential to become a leader in the field. Read more about the lecture and click here to learn about the Modi Award.

Celebrate Drexel's Alumni Weekend with a Phillies game and reception

The CS Department has two exciting activities planned for Drexel's Alumni Weekend, April 28-May 1, 2010. Join the department at Citizen's Bank Park and watch the Phillies take on the New York Mets, Friday, April 30 at 7:05 p.m. A limited number of tickets are available at a reduced price of $15 per person (limit 2 per order), so sign up quickly! Then, enjoy a department tour and reception, Saturday, May 1 at 1 p.m. in University Crossings. Afterward, Dr. Johnson is inviting everyone out to happy hour at the local pub, Slainte. Find more information about both events here. Hope to see you there!

Join the CS Alumni Committee

Want to stay in touch with your fellow peers and CS alumni? Enjoy going to sports games and happy hours? Wondering what's new at the department? Then please help us form the new CS Alumni Committee, where you can decide the next event taking place and how to keep all our graduates in contact. If you're interested in joining the committee, please send an email to Jeff Popyack and he'll be contacting you soon with more details.

Computer Science is going social social networking image

We've been branching out into the social networking world. For all those who want to keep updated with department and industry news, student and staff accomplishments and plenty of CS events, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. These highlights and happenings are worth checking out. CS Department Head, Jeremy Johnson, also has a LinkedIn account, so be sure to connect with him too.

Note from the Department Head

I'm excited to introduce our first Alumni e-Newsletter. There has been a lot going on in the department since you have graduated: Our PhD program has received final approval; new tracks in computer graphics and vision, game programming and development, and computer and network security have been introduced; The A. J. Drexel Institute in Applied Communications and Information Networking (ACIN) has been initiated; and NSF funding for a super computer built from GPUs has been obtained. Now every quarter we'll keep you posted about department news and events that will help you communicate with fellow graduates. So please sign up for our newsletter and forward it to your friends.