Computer Science eNewsletter

Mealin Receives NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

Sean Mealin and SimbaThe NC State Computer Science Department is pleased to announce that PhD student Sean Mealin has been chosen to receive a prestigious and highly competitive National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship, valued at more than $144,000. Mealin, who graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in computer science from NC State in 2013, is now working toward his PhD in computer science at NC State. His research is focused on using computers to enhance communication between humans and dogs, with a focus on working dogs such as Guide Dogs for the Blind. This field of study is of particular interest to Mealin, who is blind. more

NC State Awarded $25 Million NNSA Grant

NC State today was awarded a five-year, $25 million grant by the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development to develop the next generation of leaders with practical experience in technical fields relevant to nuclear nonproliferation. NC State was selected by NNSA over 22 other proposals following a competitive process that began in May 2013. The multi-disciplinary effort includes research from six departments spanning three colleges including computer science. more

IEEE Computer Society Honors Samatova

Dr. nagiza Samatova The IEEE Computer Society has recognized Dr. Nagiza Samatova for her “Distinguished Contributions to Public Service” for outstanding teaching and mentoring of pre-college students in research populations. Samatova has supervised dozens of young researchers, and three high school teams she mentored were national finalists in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology. more

Spring 2014 Diploma Ceremony Set for May 9th

The NC State University Computer Science Department will hold its spring diploma ceremony on Friday, May 9th at 2:00 p.m. in the main sanctuary at Providence Baptist Church, located at 6339 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh. Approximately 200 graduates are expected to receive their degrees during the ceremony, making this one of the largest diploma ceremonies in department history. Because of space limitations with available venues, attendance will be ticket controlled. We are honored to have Computer Science alumna Heather Miller (BS CSC 1993) serve as our keynote speaker. more

NC State, UNC Ink Research Deal

NC State and UNC–Chapel Hill have reached an agreement to make it easier and cheaper for their researchers to share specialized research facilities on both campuses. “Agreements like this are the wave of the future,” says Jonathan Horowitz, assistant vice chancellor for research development at NC State. “With declines in grant support, federal funding and state funding, universities are always looking for ways to partner with each other so they can reduce the expense of purchasing and maintaining research equipment.” more

Zhang Two-Time IBM PhD Fellowship Winner

Zhe ZhangCongratulations to Zhe Zhang, a PhD student in the computer science department at NC State University, who was recently awarded a prestigious 2014 IBM Ph.D. Fellowship Award. This is Zhang’s second consecutive year of winning the award. Fellows are awarded tuition, fees, and a stipend for one academic year. The total value of the award is estimated at $30,000. All IBM Ph.D. Fellows are matched with an IBM mentor according to their technical interests, and they are encouraged to intern at an IBM research or development laboratory under their mentor’s guidance. All PhD Fellowship awards are eligible for renewal yearly for a total of up to three years. more

Improving How Students TH!NK

Find out how NC State's quality enhancement plan will promote higher-order thinking skills by teaching certain classes in a certain way. more

A Day with the Chancellor - Innovation Check-up!

NC State Chancellor Dr. Randy Woodson took a chance to get out of his office and see the kind of exciting work going in the university’s College of Engineering on Feb. 24. Each year, the chancellor joins Engineering Dean Dr. Louis Martin-Vega to visit a couple of departments within the College of Engineering. This year, Woodson toured the Departments of Computer Science (CSC) and Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), both located in EB2. more

This Is What Science Looks Like At NC State: Kristy Boyer

Dr. Kristy BoyerDr. Kristy Boyer, assistant professor AND mom, guitarist, runner, & scuba diver, was recently featured in The Abstract’s “This Is What Science Looks Like At NC State!" more

Howling Robots

Now that she’s the co-creator of a robotic wolf, Michelle Phillips’ career path into the field of animatronics seems obvious. But that wasn’t always the case. Like many NC State engineering students, she participated in the Disney ImagiNations competition, which lets students develop potential new attractions for the company. Phillips’ team made it to the semifinals of the competition with their concept of an interactive theme park based on Brazilian folklore. more

Departmental Gifts & Research

Aruba Networks has donated $10,000 to the department in sponsorship of the 2014 CentMesh Drones Challenge.

The RTP Chapter of SIM, Inc., has donated $8,000 in support of their NC-SIM Scholarship Endowment to be awarded to students in the 2014-15 academic year.

Humana has donated $7,500 in support of the department’s ePartners Program and Senior Design Center.

Bandwidth has donated $5,000 in support of the department’s Senior Design Center.

Fujitsu America has donated $5,000 in support of the department’s Senior Design Center.

I-Cubed has donated $5,000 in support of the department’s Senior Design Center.

Ipreo has donated $5,000 in support of the department’s Senior Design Center.

Sport Spiral has donated $5,000 in support of the department’s Senior Design Center.

Strategic Motion Video has donated $5,000 in support of the department’s Senior Design Center.

Teradata has donated $5,000 in support of the department’s Senior Design Center

IBM has donated equipment valued at approximately $218,000 to support the research and teaching efforts of the department.

Jesse Fearrington Jr.(B.S. CSC '73) has donated $5,000 plus a matching gift of equal value from Wells Fargo, in support of the Jesse Fearrington Endowment Fund..

CSC Wolf Bytes

We are pleased to announce the addition of Ms. Kathleen (Kathy) Luca to our Graduate Office Support Staff effective April 1st. Kathy had been with the department in a temporary status since last October. Her primary duties include student services and operations of the Graduate Program in the department, and she will serve as a liaison for the Graduate School, University Payroll, College of Engineering, and Registration and Records in all graduate student-related matters. Kathy comes to us with over 20 years of related experience in both university and private sector.!

Congratulations to alumna, Dr. Susan Rodger (B.S. CSC ’83), professor of the practice of computer science at Duke University, who was recently named the winner of ACM’s 2013 Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award. more

Shout out to alum John O’Neill (B.S. CSC ’96), founder and CEO of Spark Plug Games. Check out their MechRunner game promo filmed recently in the Hunt Library GameLab! more

Follow the Department on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter!

Alumni, students, faculty, staff, and corporate partners of the NC State Department of Computer Science, interested in networking to foster collaboration, entrepreneurship, partnerships, career development and professional growth are invited to follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Personalized Job Search Agent in ePack

If you are a CSC student or recent graduate (within 12 months post-graduation) and would like to receive email notifications when new jobs are posted on ePack matching your profile, you can set up your own customized job search agent to receive just the postings you desire (intern vs. full time, etc). For a short video tutorial on how to create your own personalized job agent, click here.

The Alumni Association has partnered with the University Career Development Center to make ePACK available to NC State alumni. If you are a current Alumni Association member, update your online profile by visiting the Wolfpack Connect (alumni directory) and click on the ‘Update My Info’ tab on the upper right side of the page. Select the ‘Career Connections’ tab and then choose ‘yes’ beside the question, ‘Do you want access to ePACK?’

To access ePACK you must be a member of the Alumni Association and you must be an alumnus/alumnae of NC State. If you are not a member of the Alumni Association, you can join online. Once you have received an email confirming your membership, you will be able to register for access to ePACK.

Questions: Contact Career Services Counselor Catherine Tuttle at catherine_tuttle@ncsu.edu