CSE Undergrad News

What is the best way to encode data so that it can be recovered even if the encoding is partially corrupted? This is the central question of coding theory. The theory is used wherever data is stored or transmitted.

This class will cover the basics of the theory, and quickly transition into topics relevant to current research and practice. No background will be assumed. The class will be taught by myself and Sivakanth Gopi. Gopi has been applying ideas from coding theory to systems being developed by Microsoft.

More information is available here:

https://courses.cs.washington.edu/courses/cse599i/19au/

Contact Professor Anup Rao if interested in enrolling:

anuprao@cs.washington.edu

This is a list of seminars for advanced undergraduates interested in these topic areas. They can be taken for one credit this fall if you receive permission of the instructor.

In 590s and 590q this term, Dan Suciu and I will be hosting a coordinated seminar on the topic of  learned data structures for systems and databases, one of the hottest topics in systems today.  Attend if you want to learn how to use ML to build better b-trees, bloom filters, query planners, secondary indices, schedulers, video coders, etc. Normal seminar (single credit) registration, but you can also register for each of 590s and 590q, as they will meet separately for most weeks of the quarter.

Contact instructors for permission

Change Seminar: CSE 590 C1, contact instructor if interested

CSE 590Y Security Seminar – contact instructor if interested

CSE 590 N and 590P:These seminars are for students who are interested in research in software engineering and programming languages.  They are not intended for students who just want to become better programmers.

The seminars are offered every quarter, contact instructor if interested

Happy Fall quarter, Allen School students!

Two announcements from the Allen School’s Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) are below. These are awesome opportunities to get more involved with the Allen School community and meet your peers!

Firstly, ACM is looking for associate officers – this is a chance not only to develop your leadership skills and get more involved with the school but also to add to your project portfolio and make new friends. Associate officers will help plan and organize social and technical events and work on technical projects that directly serve your peers.

We encourage any motivated CSE major who wants to learn or take on a new challenge to apply (this is open to both new and veteran CSE majors). No prior experience necessary.

The application is due on October 4, 2019 at 11:59pm.

Sign in with your CSE account to access the application:

https://forms.gle/2ixyJxKS3YaPf4Uc9

Secondly, ACM is once again beginning sign ups for our Big & Little mentorship program! The ACM Big & Little mentorship program is a great opportunity for newly admitted students to learn more about the Allen School, and for returning students to give back to the community and help out the new students.

Once you are paired with a Big or Little(s), ACM encourages you to hang out every once in a while, but ACM will also plan a variety of Big & Little events that all of the Bigs & Littles can attend throughout the quarter.

The deadline to sign up is October 2, 2019 at 11:59pm.

If you are a *newly admitted* Allen School student looking for some mentorship and to learn more about the school, sign up as a Little!

https://forms.gle/UVif73ogkDYuG5E98

If you are an Allen School student who has been in the school *for at least 1 quarter*, and are looking to share your wisdom and experiences with a newer student, sign up as a Big!

https://forms.gle/CHeu1bGEVSwiyxvx7

If you have any questions about ACM, associate officer positions or Bigs & Littles, please email acm-officers@cs.washington.edu and we would love to answer your questions!

Have a great quarter,

ACM

Welcome to the fall quarter 2019!

Stop by the Atrium in CSE1 to pick up a Google cookie and say hi to a couple of our alum Googlers!! The team plans to stick around until 1 pm – or until the cookies run out.

Cookies are going quickly!

Hello Allen School!

Q++ is a student organization providing support and community for LGBTQIA+ students in computer science and engineering. We are hosting an Autumn Brunch and want you to be there! Come hang out with us and enjoy the start of the year with a catered meal, including vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options.

Date: Tuesday, October 1st

Time: 11:00am-12:00pm

Location: Gates Commons

RSVP: https://tinyurl.com/yy5qzgfk

If you have any comments, questions, or concerns, feel free to contact Q++ at qpp-officers@cs.uw.edu

 We hope to see you there! 

 Your Q++ Board 

Hi CSE!

ACMW is committed to ensuring that our events are accessible for all students and is happy to arrange disability accommodations for students (with advanced notice). Please reach out to Chloe Dolese-Mandeville (our staff adviser) at cdolese@cs.washington.edu if you have any questions or requests. Please note that we occasionally may not be able to fulfill a specific request, but will do the very best we can to ensure you have a positive experience at our event!

Best,

ACM-W

I wanted to let you know we are now accepting applications for the Computational Neuroscience Training Program, and I was hoping you could pass this information on to your CSE students.

This is a NIH-funded training program that helps connect students with the theoretical neuroscience research community and provides a research stipend. We guarantee two quarters of funding, with the potential for additional quarters and funding for conference travel. Funded research can be undertaken in any UW lab, but does need to be related to computational neuroscience. The program can help connect students with neuroscience labs. (If a student is currently working in a research lab and not sure if it would qualify, they can reach out to cncadmin@uw.edu for guidance).

Applications are due Oct 22. More information and the application form are available on our website.

PUTNAM MATHEMATICAL
COMPETITION

Weekly meetings:

Mondays, 6-8PM, Padelford C-36
starting on Monday, September 30

Competition date: Saturday, December 1
Practice Exam: Monday, October 7
Learn problem solving skills in:

Combinatorics
Number T heory
Geometry and T rigonometry
Sequences and Series
F unctional Relations

Algebra

For more information, see the Putnam at UW page
http://sites.math.washington.edu/∼putnam/putpage.html
and the Math 342, The Art of Problem Solving page
http://sites.math.washington.edu/∼putnam/math342.html

Faculty Contact/Sponsors:

Prof. Julia Pevtsova, julia@math.washington.edu Prof. Jonah Ostroff,

ostroff@uw.edu

The Allen School is announcing a change to how it does admissions for currently enrolled UW students to our majors.  In short, while CSE 142 remains a prerequisite for current UW students to apply, we will no longer consider CSE 142 as one of the prerequisite grades in evaluating academic performance.  

The rationale for this change is to help address the negative impact that competitive admissions has on the environment in CSE 142, a course that is designed for students with no programming experience.  We hope the effect of not using CSE 142 grades in admissions is a greater focus on learning and a lesser focus on grades in CSE 142.  

This change was initially recommended by a working group of faculty who reviewed our 100-level courses.  It was then considered and approved by our undergraduate admissions committee. This change does not affect how we evaluate other prerequisite grades, including CSE 143.

As always, the source for accurate information on Allen School admissions for current UW students is https://www.cs.washington.edu/academics/ugrad/admissions/currentuw and our undergraduate advisors.  

As that page notes:

We use an evaluative, rather than a quantitative, process in our admission review. This means our decisions are based on more than simply which applicants have the highest grades. We do not tally up points; rather, we form an overall evaluation based on academic background and other factors, such as outside interests and activities, evidence of leadership and a sense of direction, and life experience. We do not expect all students to excel across the board, but achievement in relevant academic areas or evidence of overcoming hardships can strengthen an application.