Department of Computer Science, College of Engineering, Drexel University
CS News & Notes
Issue 17February 7, 2011
In This Issue
Interview Workshop Series
MCS Meeting
WiCS Chinese New Year
CSGCS Jeopardy! Viewing
Resume Repair Workshop
CS Colloquium
Egg Drop Competition
Engineering Career Fair
Engineering Alumni Connection
UPE Alumni Reception & Dinner
Trivia Question and Answer
Department Advising Notes
Graduation Information
Upload CS Events
CS/SE Job Opportunities
Become a Peck Scholar
Engineering Scholarship
Quick Links
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Did You Know?

A video of the recent Jay Modi Memorial Lecture (Jan. 24, 2011) featuring Dr. Sven Koenig is available. Click here to view the presentation.  

For questions about this newsletter or if you'd like to contribute content, please contact Julie Fisher.  

Drexel Campus
Welcome to the Department of Computer Science e-newsletter. This bi-weekly newsletter will list all upcoming CS events and announcements every other Monday.

EVENTS

Interview Workshop Series
Tuesday, February 8
5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
SCDC (3201 Arch St, Suite 250)
One-on-one Mock Interviews will be held on Wednesday, February 9 from noon to 4 p.m. at the SCDC. This event fills up quickly. Call 215-895-2185 to schedule a 30-minute time slot.
The third workshop will focus on Alternative Interview Types. Students will learn tips to prepare themselves for unexpected interview styles. Phone, group and panel interviews are some of those to be discussed on Thursday, February 10 from noon to 1 p.m. at the SCDC. For more information or to reserve a place, contact the SCDC at 215-895-2185 or [email protected].
Drexel's Steinbright Career Development Center will present a series of workshops for students preparing for interviews. A Tough Interview Questions session introducing students to the STAR method of answering behavioral interview questions will be held on Tuesday, February 8, 2011 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the SCDC (3201 Arch St., Suite 250). General tips will also be discussed.
MCS Meeting: Trackers and DemoScene
Thursday, February 10
5 to 6 p.m.
University Crossings 153
Drexel's Math and Computer Science Society (MCS) invites all students for a Trackers and DemoScene presentation. These are two of the more artistic aspects of CS. Demos are real-time audio visual presenations running on computers. Food and beverages provided. To learn more about MCS, click here.
WiCS Chinese New Year Celebration
Friday, February 11
5:30 p.m.
University Crossings 149 
Drexel's Women in Computing Society (WiCS) invites all students to celebrate the Chinese New Year, one of the most traditional Chinese holidays. Get ready to have some fun and enjoy delicious Chinese food. View pictures from last year's party here. To learn more about WiCS, click here.
CSGSC Jeopardy! and Watson Viewing Party
Tuesday, February 15
6 p.m.
Location TBA
The Computer Science Graduate Student Council (CSGSC) invites all students to view the Jeopardy! competition featuring Watson, an IBM computing system that was built to rival a human's ability to answer questions posed in natural language with speed, accuracy and confidence. Watson will compete against two of  the most celebrated players in Jeopardy! history, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. For more information about Watson, visit http://www.ibmwatson.com.
Engineering Resume Repair Workshop
Wednesday, February 16
12 to 4 p.m.
Bossone Research Center, First Floor Lobby
To all Drexel engineering students: repair your resume in time for the Engineering Career Fair (February 22, 2011). Fix a shaky structure, construct a better job description and create solid formatting. Please RSVP by calling 215-895-2185 or emailing [email protected].
CS Colloquium: Ryusuke Sagawa
Monday, February 21
11 a.m.
University Crossings 153
Drexel's Students, faculty and staff are invited to see guest speaker Dr. Ryusuke Sagawa, researcher at Service Robotics Research Group, Intelligent Systems Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan. His talk is titled, "One-shot 3D Reconstruction for Objects in Fast Motion." More information about Dr. Sagawa can be found here. Visit Dr. Sagawa's colloquium page for abstract and bio.
CoE Egg Drop Competition
Monday, February 21
12 to 3 p.m.
Great Court, Main Building  

The 17th annual Egg Drop competition will kick off CoE's celebration of National Engineers Week. The Egg Drop competition challenges student, faculty, and professional staff teams to create a recycle-able contraption that will protect a large Grade A egg as it glides down a steel zip line and crashes into a target more than 30 feet below. For more information about the Egg Drop, visit the CoE schedule of events.To register, click here. Deadline to register is Thursday, Feb. 17 at 3 p.m.

Engineering Career Fair
Tuesday, February 22
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Bossone Research Center 

The Steinbright  Career Development Center and CoE are co-hosting Drexel University's 7th Annual Engineers Week Career Fair. The career fair is a great opportunity for students to discuss career opportunities and co-op positions with organizations interested in recruiting students from CoE. This career fair is for Drexel students and alumni only. Many companies are looking for computer science and software engineering graduates! More information about the event and registration can be found here.

Engineering Alumni Connection Program
Friday, February 25
2 to 4 p.m.
Mitchell Auditorium, Bossone Research Center 

CoE students will have the opportunity to hear alumni from different engineering disciplines speak of their experiences in industry, current trends in the field and how to advance in engineering. Two panels will be hosted; each panel will be an hour in duration. For more information, please contact Maria Papa with any questions about the Engineering Alumni Connections Program.

UPE Alumni Research Reception & Dinner
Friday, February 25
6 to 9 p.m.
University Club, MacAlister Hall (6th floor)

Upsilon Pi Epsilon (UPE), International Honor Society for the computing and information disciplines, invites its undergraduate members to its annual alumni research reception and dinner. Before the dinner, the CS Department will host a research reception to celebrate and display award-winning student research. FREE for current UPE members. RSVP by Friday, Feb. 18 here (scroll down and click the February 25 UPE event link). Only current UPE members can attend.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Trivia Answer from Jan. 24 newsletter
Q: Where is the CS Department student lounge located?
A: Shared with CoMAD's departments, the student lounge is located on the ground floor of University Crossings (by the stairs near the North Entrance). All students are more than welcome to study and relax in the space.
Be sure to check in for the next trivia question in February 21's newsletter.
Advising Notes
CS/SE Freshmen/Sophomore Advisor: Undergrad Advising Center
CS/SE Upper Level Advisor: Andrea Negro
Course Withdraw (Winter term):
If you plan on withdrawing from a course, you must get an add/drop/withdraw form signed by your instructor and advisor (as well as co-op coordinator if you are currently on co-op). Then bring it to the Student Resource Center (Main Building, Room 222) to be processed. The withdraw deadline is this Friday, February 11 at 5 p.m.
Registration (Spring term):
Spring registration opens today (February 7); however, depending on your classification, you may have a different registration date than other students. Your specific date is listed below:
Athletes/ROTC/Performing Arts - February 7
Graduating Grad Students - February 7
Continuing Grad Students
- February 8
Graduating Seniors - February 10
Continuing Seniors - February 14
Honors - February 16
Juniors - February 17
Pre-Juniors - February 22
Sophomores - February 25
Freshman - March 2-3
Note: Students on co-op cannot be added to classes until the week before the term starts.
Feel free to contact your assigned advisor if you need any help registering or working out a plan of study.  For additional advising information, click here.
Attention Seniors: Graduation Information 
If you are planning on graduating this June you must go on to DrexelOne and fill out the Application for Degree form by February 18th.  From the "Student" tab, you should go to "More Bannerweb Student Records" and then "Apply for your Degree".  Remember if you are a BSMS student, you should apply for both your BS & MS degrees.

If you are within a total of 20 credits of completing your degree requirements (after Spring) and they will be completed by the end of the Summer/Fall term, you may be eligible to walk at graduation.  Please see Andrea Negro for details.

Additional graduation information can be found on the SRC website.  If you have any questions or would like to go over a plan of study for your final courses, please email Andrea.

Upload CS Events from Calendar

Students can now link to our CS calendars through Google and other ical compatible systems! Receive updates on activities, talks and department events, as well as advising and academic deadlines.

 

You can subscribe to the below ical links through these instructions:

To view in Google Calendar, click "Add" under "Other Calendars" on the left side of the page, and click "Add By URL" -- paste the URL(s) below.  You can give it a friendly name later by clicking on the calendar in your list of calendars when it appears and clicking "Calendar Settings."

 

New Calendars:

Women in Computing Society (WiCS):

http://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/doisf94c0ve1bm6ivsp10e5fpg%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic or http://drexelwics.tumblr.com/calendar

Math and Computer Science Society (MCS):

http://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/mcssociety%40gmail.com/public/basic

 

Other calendars available:

Academic Calendar:

https://calendar.cs.drexel.edu/davical/public.php/CS-Dept/AcademicCalendar

Talks and Seminars:

https://calendar.cs.drexel.edu/davical/public.php/CS-Dept/Talks_n_Seminars

 

And make note: https://calendar.cs.drexel.edu provides a complete web view to these and other department calendars. The CS website is regularly updated with upcoming news, notes and events.

Search the CS Website for Jobs  
EIGHT new job opportunities posted since Jan 24!
With less than six months until graduation in June, it's never too early to begin your job search. The CS Department can help you prepare: visit our job opportunities site at http://www.cs.drexel.edu/jobs to view the latest positions available in the computing industry. 
Become a Peck Scholar
Attention sophomores, pre-juniors and juniors engineering students: Don't miss your opportunity to be a member of the first class of Peck Scholars! Peck scholars will be part of an elite leadership development program that will provide a competitive edge in the global economy. They will learn that the essence of leadership and innovation lies in the ability to communicate effectively and apply critical thinking and reasoned problem solving to any situation to produce tangible and measurable results.This is achieved through special courses in business fundamentals (mini-MBA), public policy, communication and entrepreneurship along with seminars and specialized co-op opportunities designed to develop the next generation of technological leaders. Peck Scholars will be recognized as such through a certificate at graduation. For more information and to apply please click here.
PSPE Reading Chapter Engineering Scholarship
Deadline: May 27, 2011
The Reading Chapter of Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers will be awarding a $2,000 scholarship for 2011-2012. The Scholarship is a one time only grant to be provided to an undergraduate engineering student who will be enrolled in the first semester of their second last or final year in the fall of 2011. Academic success, character, personal merit, commitment plus school and community involvements will be the basis for the award. For more information on application requirements or to apply please go to http://www.pspe.org/reading/reading.shtml. For further questions please contact Kenneth Gabel.