CSE Undergrad News

Fall 2011 Change Seminar

Open to Ugrads too.

Hello Everyone,

In preparation for the 2011 fall quarter, I wanted to invite you all to register for the one credit Change Seminar (Course number: CSE590C1, SLN: 12464). The seminar is held on Thursdays at 12pm in the Paul Allen Center (Room 203).

Change (http://change.washington.edu) is a group of faculty, students, and staff at the UW who are exploring the role of information and communication technologies (ICT) in improving the lives of underserved populations, particularly in the developing world. We cover topics such as global health, education, micro finance, agricultural development, and general communication, and look at how technology can be used to improve each of these areas.

This fall we will be alternating between talks by invited speakers and group discussions. Those who sign up for credit will be asked to participate in leading one of the discussions (this requires very little work and can be done in groups). We are in the process of scheduling speakers, so stay tuned to our calendar (http://is.gd/3PkTF), Twitter (http://is.gd/3PkVk). Also please feel free to subscribe to the Change mailing list (http://is.gd/3PlkS) for more information.

Please consider registering. If you are unable to register, feel free to come to any of the meetings you are interested in attending! The seminar is available for all UW students and the content is designed to be widely accessible. We encourage students from all departments to register/attend if interested.

Please forward this message to the relevant mailing lists, and we hope to see you at the first meeting on Thursday October 6 at 12pm in Room CSE 203 of the Paul Allen Center.

Thanks,

Nicki

September 14, 2011

F15 Upgrade: Instructional File/Mail server tanaga and attu 9/14 10AM-6PM

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: John R. Petersen <jrp@cs.washington.edu>
Date: Mon, Sep 12, 2011 at 8:55 PM
Subject: Re: [cs-ugrads] [wreq #170414] F15 Upgrade: Instructional File/Mail server tanaga and attu 9/14 10AM-6PM
To: faculty@cs.washington.edu, cs-ugrads@cs.washington.edu, cs-pmp@cs.washington.edu

Request #170414 was updated by jrp:

On Wednesday September 14th, from 10 AM to 6 PM, the Instructional file server tanaga, and attu will be transitioned to the CSE 64-bit Fedora 15 distribution. Instructional home directories, /cse/courses and most /projects/instr directories will be offline during the upgrade process.

Quick Links:
Fedora 15 Lab information: http://www.cs.washington.edu/lab/sw/f15.shtml

Linux Upgrade calendar: http://www.google.com/calendar/hosted/cs.washington.edu/embed?src=cs.washington.edu_sua4p69sp50f098ojaa5cal928%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Los_Angeles&pvttk=fc94360bd17a90841d7a9cc3a779b697

Please use the Reply-to: address if replying via email.

To see the Original Request and Action Log click on:

http://rtfm.cs.washington.edu/cgi-bin/wreq/req?show-all-1-170414
_______________________________________________

September 14, 2011

Susan G. Komen College Scholarship Program – Application opens tomorrow

Applications for the $10,000 scholarships will be accepted from September 15th, 2011 – November 15th, 2011. These awards aid college students facing significant financial burdens due to the loss of a parent (or guardian) to breast cancer or their own breast cancer diagnosis at age 25 or younger.

The scholarship awards $10,000 per year (for up to four years) to a student to attend a state university in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree. Komen scholarship recipients are selected based on scholastic achievement, community service, financial need and demonstrated leadership potential. Scholarship recipients serve as Komen Collegiate Ambassadors and must volunteer their time to breast cancer awareness activities for at least 20 hours per semester.

For more information and to apply for this scholarship, please visit www.komen.org/scholarship.

September 14, 2011

Ugrad labs in CSE closed until start of fall

Most of the ugrad labs will be closed for a deep clean until the start of fall quarter. Just a heads up in case you were planning to stop by. At most, we’ll have one lab open at a time, but that cannot be guaranteed.

September 13, 2011

Research project needs volunteers to test eye-tracking

———- Forwarded message —————————–—————————

Hello,

You are invited to participate in research on a new secure login technique based on eye tracking!

The study will take about an hour and you’ll get to use an eye tracking machine.

In appreciation for your help, we will enter you into a drawing for one of two $25 Amazon.com gift cards.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Michael Brooks at (440) 865-2437, or by email at mjbrooks@uw.edu.

We cannot guarantee the confidentiality of information sent by email.

Thank you!

—— Details ——-

The purpose of this research is to test the new biometric security system.

This system uses eye tracking technology to uniquely identify individuals, similar to a fingerprint or signature.

If you decide to participate, we will schedule an appointment with you in Sieg Hall at the University of Washington.

The appointment will last about 1 hour. You will use the eye tracking machine to test the performance of the security system.

You will also complete a questionnaire and short interview about the experience.

If you are over 18 and sighted, you may be eligible to participate.

Unfortunately if you have been involved in one of our prior studies, you cannot participate in this study.

This study is being conducted in the Department of Human Centered Design and Engineering at the University of Washington, Seattle campus.

Your participation in this research is voluntary, and you are free to refuse to participate or quit the experiment at any time without loss of benefits.

_____________

September 9, 2011

SMART Scholarship Application – due Dec 1

Hey students!

Check out the scholarship opportunity below.

—

I write to make you aware of a tremendous scholarship-for-service opportunity for U.S. undergraduate and graduate students and to request that you encourage your best students to apply to the SMART Scholarship Program. This is a highly-selective, prestigious, national program that fully supports their education, including full tuition, a very generous stipend, book allowance, and Summer internship, while they are in school, and then provides guaranteed employment with the Defense Department upon graduation.

The Science, Mathematics, And Research for Transformation (SMART) scholarship-for-service Program fully funds undergraduate and graduate degrees in a wide range of technical areas, including all fields of engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and Mathematics.

A SMART brochure and a poster are attached and the application web page is at www.asee.org/SMART. The application deadline is December 1, 2011 for the 2012 school year. SMART provides:

· Full Tuition – to any accredited U.S. University
· A very generous stipend while in school
– $25,000 for undergraduates
– $33,000 for masters candidates
– $36,300 to $41,800 for doctoral candidates
· Book allowance – $1,000
· Health Insurance
· Paid Summer internships
· All required student fees
· Travel for internships

Summer internships at Labs are required. In return for fully funding their education, students are required work as a civilian employee at a Service (Army, Navy, Air Force) or DoD Agency (NSA, DIA, DARPA, etc.) laboratory, or other research and development activity for a period equal to the time the program paid for their school. Students must be U.S. Citizens, able to obtain a DoD Security Clearance, and be willing to work as a civilian in the DoD upon graduation.

There will be approximately 300 new awards this year. A list of SMART awards from previous years is listed by University at: http://smart.asee.org/schools/scholar_directory

While UW is one of the top schools in terms of the number of SMART recipients, I think we can greatly increase the number of your students supported in this program. I would appreciate your help in disseminating this information to your students, faculty, undergraduate advisors, and graduate coordinators, and by encouraging your best students to apply for this tremendous opportunity.

Please direct your interested students to: www.asee.org/SMART. There are links to the application portal and other program related information. Additional applicant and SMART related questions for students can be answered via:

Email: smart@asee.org
Phone: (202) 331-3544

Thank you for your consideration in this matter. If you have questions at the university/ college/department level, please feel free to contact me.

Respectfully,

Knox
Senior Administrator for the DoD SMART Program

______________________________________

Knox T. Millsaps, Sc.D.
Professor and Chairman
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
700 Dyer Road, Room 338
Naval Postgraduate School
Monterey, CA 93943-5100 USA
web: www.nps.edu/mae
Phone: (831) 656-2586, 656-3382
Fax: (831) 656-2238
email: millsaps@nps.edu

September 9, 2011

Participants Needed: Investigating New Tools for Creating Customized Groups in Online Social Networks

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Saleema Amershi <samershi@cs.washington.edu>
Date: Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 2:15 PM
Subject: [dub-students] Participants Needed: Investigating New Tools for Creating Customized Groups in Online Social Networks
To: dub-students <dub-students@dub.washington.edu>, cs-grads@cs.washington.edu, cs-ugrads@cs.washington.edu, hci-students <hci-students@cs.washington.edu>

Call for Participants: Investigating New Tools for Creating Customized Groups in Online Social Networks

My name is Saleema Amershi and I’m a graduate student in the Computer Science & Engineering Department at the University of Washington. Our group is investigating new tools for helping people create customized groups in online social networks such as Facebook.

We are looking for participants to evaluate new tools that we have developed for creating customized groups. We will ask you to interact with each of these tools and provide feedback about them. The study will take place next week (Sept. 6-9, 2011) in the Paul Allen Center at UW and will take approximately 1 hour. You will receive a $20 Amazon gift certificate for your time.

To qualify for this study, you must meet the following requirements:

You must be over 18 years of age
You must have an active Facebook account that you have used for at least one year
You must have over 100 friends on Facebook

If you are interested in participating, please contact samershi@cs.washington.edu to set up an appointment.

Thanks!

—
Saleema Amershi
PhD Student
Computer Science and Engineering
University of Washington
http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/samershi

____

September 7, 2011

Start-Up Weekend EDU | Sept. 30 – Oct. 2 in Paccar Hall

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Ed Lazowska <lazowska@cs.washington.edu>
Date: Wed, Aug 31, 2011 at 9:35 PM
Subject: Start-Up Weekend EDU | Sept. 30 – Oct. 2 in Paccar Hall
To: Cs-Grads <cs-grads@cs.washington.edu>, Cs-Ugrads <cs-ugrads@cs.washington.edu>, Faculty <faculty@cs.washington.edu>

———- Forwarded message ———-

Kick Off the Year Right by Participating in Startup Weekend Seattle EDU

TeachStreet will be leading the Seattle Startup Weekend EDU event held on Sept. 30 – Oct 2. If you are unfamiliar with Startup Weekend EDU’s, they’re 54 hour cram session where we gather designers, engineers and business people to build ideas over the weekend, and all projects will be focused on innovating in the education space. Feel free to check out the previous Startup Weekend recap video here. We’re convening ~125-150 Seattle-area technologists and entrepreneurs (ranging from undergrads, to VC-backed/experienced entrepreneurs). In addition, a who’s who of Seattle’s tech community will be serving as mentors and advisors, including local VCs, CTOs, CEOs, and more. AND Mitch Kapor will be keynoting the event. He is a pioneer in personal computing and has shown his extreme passion for education through his continuous efforts to invest in companies that create social value.

A few quick notes:

1. Date: Friday, September 30 – Sunday, October 2.

2. Time: Event kicks off on Friday at 6:30 PM in Dempsey Gallery (3^rd Floor) of Paccar Hall. See the full event schedule: http://seattleedu.startupweekend.org/event/

3. Location: Paccar Hall at the University of Washington. (Trust us, it’s a perfect location to build a startup.)

4. Registration: http://seattleedu.startupweekend.org/tickets/ | Tickets are $49 for students. Use code “STUDENT” to get the discount.

5. “Join the EDU discussion”: There are so many problems (err… opportunities to innovate) within the EDU space, that we didn’t want to wait until the 30th to start developing game-changing ideas. We’ve created a UserVoice tab which we will use as a forum where you can voice your opinions on problems areas, ideas and vote up ideas you think we should build over the weekend. All you have to do is click the green “Join the EDU discussion” tab at the bottom right of our event page here: http://seattleedu.startupweekend.org/

6. Please follow us @SWSEAedu and help spread the word 🙂

You aren’t going to want to miss out on this one. It’s going to be HUGE, not only for the Seattle startup ecosystem, but we believe with the talent Seattle has, ideas can be built to revolutionize the education system all around the world. Join us as we dedicate a weekend to change the future!

Startup Weekends are specifically designed for entrepreneurs interested in receiving feedback on an idea, looking for a co-founder, or who want to learn a new skill. We also welcome anyone looking to test the entrepreneurial waters. Startup Weekends are risk-free environments where everyone is expected to roll up their sleeves and dive into the exhilarating world of startups. Sign up today!

Best,

Sarah

P.S. Need more convincing? Watch this video: http://blog.teachstreet.com/community-events/startup-weekend-promo-video/

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sarah Massey, Assistant Director

Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Michael G. Foster School of Business

University of Washington
P: 206.685.9868 | masses@uw.edu
Lewis Hall 327, Box 353200
Seattle, WA 98195-3200
www.startup.washington.edu

September 7, 2011

Reminder to check the Jobs Blog

Just a friendly reminder that you should sign up for the jobs blog if you’re looking for work, either part time or full time. We have posted some new positions recently, one from the CSE department for some web help.

Information is linked here: http://www.cs.washington.edu/education/ugrad/afterlife/careers.html

August 26, 2011

Whitaker International Fellows and Scholars Program competition, with a January 23, 2012 deadline.

Seniors interested in biomedical engineering and graduate school should take a look at this opportunity.

Dear Colleagues,

The Institute of International Education (IIE) is pleased to announce the opening of the2012-2013 Whitaker International Fellows and Scholars Program competition, with a January 23, 2012 deadline.

Program Overview

The Whitaker International Program provides funding to emerging U.S.-based leaders in biomedical engineering/bioengineering to conduct a study and/or research project abroad, with the underlying objective of increasing international collaboration in the field of Biomedical Engineering (BME). Grant projects – including lab research, coursework, public policy work – are intended to enhance both the recipient’s career and the field. Founded in 2005 by the Whitaker Foundation (now closed), the program is administered by the Institute of International Education.

Whitaker International Program grants are awarded based on an activity/project proposal that is relevant to biomedical engineering. Note that not all aspects of the project have to be strictly BME related, but the applicant should showcase how the award will enhance his/her future goals in the bioengineering field. The program also allows for non-BME majors to apply as long as the candidate has relevant experience and interest in BME.

We anticipate offering about 50 grants, but only the highest-quality applicants are offered awards. In the last three competitions, 20, 35 and 40 grants were awarded.

We are seeking to increase our pool of qualified applicants, so all eligible students who are exploring the idea of going abroad for a post-graduate/post-doctoral project are encouraged to apply. Aside from the personal and professional benefits to the individual grantee, benefits to the home institution also accrue, as new university partnerships have developed with hosting institutions overseas; collaborations have developed between U.S. bioengineers and their academic counterparts worldwide; and U.S. labs have benefited from having their students learn and bring back new and, sometimes, cutting-edge technologies and procedures.

Awards have included research in heart blood flow, improved prosthetic leg design, development of affordable oral cancer screening tools, and investment in BME research. Projects occur worldwide, and have taken place in many European countries, as well as in such places as China, South Africa, Vietnam, Australia, Singapore and many more.

Types of Grants

The Whitaker International Program has two categories
· Fellows – Graduate-level applicants, from graduating seniors through current PhD students. Fellows receive a stipend for one year, and are eligible for tuition reimbursement.
· Scholars – Post-doctoral applicants, who recently received their PhD. Scholar awards can be for as little as one academic semester or as long as two years of funding, depending on their needs. Second year funding is contingent upon demonstration of progress made during the first year.

Website & Online Application
http://www.whitaker.org/
http://whitaker.usapplications.org/

The online application is now open with a January 23, 2012 deadline. The website listed above has all the information pertaining to the program, including eligibility requirements, examples of potential host institutions, and former grantee profiles.

Whitaker Program On-line Forum
http://www.whitaker.org/forum/

A new Whitaker on-line forum has been created for applicants to interact with former grantees and ask them questions about grant projects, tips on the application, securing host affiliations, and the general grant experience. Additionally, the forum has answers to many Frequently Asked Questions on the Whitaker Program.

Publicity Materials
Please feel free to circulate this email to your colleagues or to students who you think would be eligible for the program. Program brochures are available upon request.

Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions about the Whitaker International Program.

Thanks & Best Regards,

Sabeen Altaf

Sabeen Altaf
Program Officer
Science and Technology Programs

US Student Programs
Institute of International Education
809 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017
T: +1 212.984.5442
F: +1 212.984.5325
http://www.iie.org/

August 25, 2011