Computer Science eNewsletter

What Google Fiber May Mean for North Carolina, NC State and R&D

FiberResearchers On Jan. 27, Google announced that it would be expanding its fiber-optic network, Google Fiber, into four new metropolitan areas: Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte, Atlanta and Nashville. So what? Google Fiber is basically a form of infrastructure for connecting to the Internet. It’s a big deal because it promises online connection speeds of up to 1,000 megabits per second (Mbps). You don’t really need to know what Mbps means to appreciate that 1,000 Mbps is much faster than 45-50 Mbps – which are the highest possible download speeds reported by two major Internet service providers. (And that’s for the most expensive packages – most customers are probably using download speeds of between 6 and 15 Mpbs). NC State experts, including CSC's Dr. Rudra Dutta, discuss what Google Fiber may mean for research and economic development in the Triangle region and at NC State. more

Engineering Online at NC State Ranked in the Top 10 Nationally

The Engineering Online Computer Science and Networking programs at NC State have been ranked 7th nationally in the U.S. News & World Report ‘s 2015 list of the Best Online Graduate Computer Information Technology Programs. more

New Visualization Studio Opens on Main Campus

Hunt Viz StudioStudents take note; the awesomeness of Hunt Library is spreading to main campus! A new Visualization Studio has opened on main campus, located in D. H. Hill Library on the 2nd floor of the stacks, next to the Unity Lab. The Visualization Studio is a collaborative environment for researchers that provides an ideal physical space for arranging visual information. The room contains 12 projectors (3 per wall) used to display the contents of a single, Windows computer screen 360-degrees across four walls. It also provides the infrastructure to tie in personal laptops, allowing four different users to project on the walls simultaneously. Because the Visualization Studio runs a standard desktop, it can support a wide range of applications and users from a variety of disciplines with varying levels of computer skills. Custom software is available to exploit the display space of the Visualization Studio, and the room enables video conferencing as well. For more info or to reserve the room, click here.

CSC Receives $120,000 Grant from LexisNexis for Big Data Initiatives

NC State University’s computer science department has received an unrestricted $120,000 research grant from LexisNexis® Risk Solutions and access to its innovative and open source Big Data processing platform called HPCC Systems®, one of the most advanced, fast-performing Big Data processing technology platforms available today. The gifts provides NC State University data scientists and researchers with the ability to research methods to critique and improve big data scripts and support research on a big data low-latency interactive query system. more

Two Major Happenings on Centennial Campus this Spring

The Alliance Center, the 145,000-square-foot, privately developed office building located at the corner of Varsity and Main Campus Drive is scheduled to open sometime in April. Also this spring - the groundbreaking of the Hotel and Conference Center, to be located adjacent to the Park Alumni Center. Both of these properties are going to have a major, positive impact on the campus!

Campus Projects Pick Up Pace in 2015

Hard HatWith the flip of the calendar from 2014 to ’15 comes an array of newly completed and newly started construction projects that will give NC State’s campus — and points nearby — quite a different look. From the completion of Talley Student Center to the start of the Reynolds Coliseum renovations, here’s a preview of what to expect during the next 12 months. And if you were thinking this would be the year Harrelson Hall would be tipped over on its side and rolled off the Brickyard, don’t fret: That’s not likely to happen until the summer of 2016 or perhaps even 2017, depending on the completion of several other projects. more

New Centennial Campus App is Coming

Plans are in the final stages for an app on both the iOS and Android platforms that will exclusively feature Centennial Campus, including maps, news, and building addresses and locations. We will let you know as soon as this free app is available.

Uneventful Test Flight in Exciting Field

For all the hubbub and electric-motor buzz about unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), watching a research drone take off, fly and land is hardly the world’s most compelling activity. And that’s a good thing, says Kyle Snyder, the director of the NextGen Air Transportation (NGAT) institute located on NC State’s Centennial Campus. more

Fidelity Investments Speakers Series Presents John O'Neill

John O'NeillPlease join us on February 26, 2015at 6 pm in 1231 EB2 for our second spring 2015 talk in the Fidelity Investments “Leadership in Technology” Speakers Series. Our special guest speaker will be John O'Neill, Founder and President of Spark Plug Games. The topic of his talk will be “Shall We Play a Game?". more

Site Tracks NC State ‘Stats and Strengths’

If you follow the news about NC State for very long, you soon get the impression that the university is achieving a new high ranking or winning another significant award almost every time you turn around. To give you an easier way to keep up with NC State’s accomplishments and tell others about them, University Communications has created an online resource that presents the essential facts about NC State — the excellence of our student body, the prestige of our faculty, the strength of our economic impact and more — all in one place. more

Departmental Gifts & Research

NetApp has donated $10,000 in support of the department’s Senior Design Center and ePartners Program.

Juniper Networks has donated $5,000 in support of the department’s ePartners Program.

Facebook has donated $5,000 in support of the department’s ePartners Program.

VMware has donated $10,000 in support of the department’s ePartners Program.

Dr. Tim Menzies has been awarded $464,609 by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support his research proposal entitled “Transfer Learning in Software Engineering.” more

Drs. Robert St. Amant and Emerson Murphy-Hill have been awarded $281,076 by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support their research proposal entitled “EAGER: Cognitive Modeling of Strategies for Dealing with Errors in Mobile Touch Interfaces.” more

CSC Wolf Bytes

Please join us in welcoming Tyler Puckett to the department, as our CSC IT Desktop Support Administrator. Tyler will provide Tier I technical support, and he comes to the roll with several years of related experience. On a related note, Jeremy Meeler has accepted the Linux System Administrator position within the department IT staff. He will be responsible for all centrally-managed RedHat Linux servers & desktops in the department (200+) including our VMWare clusters.

Congratulations to Dr. Vince Freeh and his wife, Jennifer, who were recently featured on an episode of HGTV’s “Love It or List It”!

It is with mixed emotions that we report that adjunct faculty member, Sammie Carter, will be leaving the department to pursue career opportunities in the private sector effective March 31, 2015. Sammie, who has become quite an authority in the security space, has spent the last 16 years here at NC State as a student, staff, and faculty member. He will be greatly missed!.

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