Computer Science eNewsletter

Researchers Eye Gaming As Tool for Boosting CSC Skills, Diversity in Middle Schools

Gaming Story GraphicAn interdisciplinary team of researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of Florida is launching an initiative that will use a custom-designed video game to boost computational thinking in middle school science classrooms. The goal is not only to improve educational outcomes, but also to foster gender and racial diversity in computer science and other science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. “Our goal isn’t to encourage every student to become a computer scientist,” says Bradford Mott, a senior research scientist at NC State and co-PI on the project. “We want students to understand how to utilize computer science principles in any field, regardless of what careers they choose to pursue.” more

IEEE Honors Vouk with Life Membership

Dr. Mladen Vouk, Distinguished Professor or Computer Science, Head of the Computer Science Department, and Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Development at NC State, has been selected for Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Life Membership. This special honor is reserved for individuals who have truly distinguished themselves through their sustained and lasting contributions to IEEE. Life Membership status speaks to both professional achievements in technology as well as the significant impact recipients have made on the growth and development of IEEE. more

Fidelity Investments "Leadership in Technology" Series Presents Brian Binnie

Brian BinniePlease join us on October 18, 2016 at 6 pm in Lecture Hall 1231 in EB2 for our 2nd of three fall 2016 talks in the Fidelity Investments “Leadership in Technology” Speakers Series. Our special guest speaker will be Brian Binnie, Test Pilot for the privately funded SpaceShipOne. His talk topic will be “A Tale of Four Spaceships.” more

Novitsky Helps Kick Off Congressional App Challenge

CSC undergrad, Melissa Novitsky, served as special speaker for the Congressional App Challenge Kick Off on September 15th. She followed Congressman David Price and spoke about her experiences in tech and the importance of STEM education. The Congressional App Challenge is a nationwide event, that will be hosted for the first year ever in Raleigh in October. Novitsky was approached by Raleigh's Congressional Office over the summer and she provided them some guidance and tips about planning a hack-a-thon. As President of Women in Computer Science, a Computer Science Ambassador, an NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Award Winner, and a STEM Scholar at NC State University, she was uniquely positioned and excited to shed some light on the growing need for events and opportunities like this, saying, “It was a pleasure to give back and pay forward some opportunities to the next generation!” more

Kekas Receives AURP Leadership Award

Congratulations to Dennis Kekas, Associate Vice Chancellor for Centennial Campus Partnerships at NC State, on receiving the Leadership Award from the Association of University Research Parks (AURP). The award is one of the association’s 21st Annual Awards of Excellence, which were presented during the association’s 2016 International Conference in Oklahoma City. more

Barnes Attends White House Summit on Computer Science for All

Dr. Tiffany BarnesAs part of Back to School Week in September, the White House hosted a summit on Computer Science for All, an event that marked the progress on expanding computer science education since the President’s call to action in his State of the Union address earlier this year The event also celebrated the new commitments in support of the effort. Dr. Tiffany Barnes, associate professor in the Computer Science Department, was invited to attend the Summit. more

Welcome New Student Ambassadors!

The NC State Computer Science Department is pleased to welcome 12 new students to the NC State University Department of Computer Science Student Ambassador Program. The Ambassador program is made up of sophomores, juniors, and seniors who serve as representatives of the department. The program promotes leadership and communications skills by offering students the opportunity to represent our department at a variety of academic, social and networking events held throughout the academic year, and through personal interface with prospective students through our outreach efforts. Ambassadors are the first point of contact for many visitors to NC State, so they are required to promote the University, the College of Engineering, the Computer Science Department, and the computer science discipline. more

Hunt Library Wins ‘New Landmark’ Award

Citing its role as an “innovation incubator,” Library Journal has named the James B. Hunt Jr. Library one of its five “New Landmark Libraries” for 2016. The theme of this year’s competition was “the Learning Life Cycle.” more

NC State, Eastman Hold “Red Chair” Event to Increase Women in IT

Sit With Me AttendeesMeryl Streep has sat in the Red Chair; Shaquille O’Neal, too. So has Facebook executive and “Lean In” author Sheryl Sandberg, in order to get the word out that women can find promising careers and make a difference in IT. NC State recently teamed up with Eastman to host a 'Sit With Me' event, as part of a nationwide initiative created by the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT). more

Reynolds Reopens in Grand Style

The Reynolds Coliseum renovation, now complete and unveiled to an eager public on September 16th, concludes the first joint venture between the university and athletics department by restoring and refreshing an iconic campus building. more

Departmental Gifts & Research

LexisNexis has donated $5,000 in support of the Sr. Design Center.

Capital One has donated $15,000 in support of the ePartners Program.

Bandwidth has donated $5,000 in support of the ePartners Program.

Intel has donated $5,000 in support of the ePartners Program.

Red Hat has donated $5,000 in support of the ePartners Program.

Ipreo has donated $2,500 in support of the ePartners Program.

Pindrop has donated $2,500 in support of the ePartners Program.

Pointsource has donated $2,500 in support of the ePartners Program.

ROI Revolution has donated $2,500 in support of the ePartners Program..

Alum, Tony Brown, has donated $10,000 as part of a multi-year pledge to establish the Kathryn Eskew Brown Endowment Fund, which will support student-defined entrepreneurial projects in the department’s Senior Design Center.

Congratulations to Dr. Jason King, teaching assistant professor, and Dr. Jessica Schmidt, teaching assistant professor, on receiving a NC State DELTA Grant for Critical Path Course Redesign. The grant supports their proposal titled, “Critical Path Course Redesign for CSC316: Data Structures for Computer Scientists – Applying Theory to Practice”, and is valued at $30,772. more

CSC Wolf Bytes

Wei-Ling Chou, Accounting Technician for the department, left the department on 9/30. We wish her the very best as she and her husband move back to Delaware.

Congrats to alumnus, Doug Purcell, who just published a new book entitled “Scrum Magic – Ultimate Training Guide to the Agile Framework”, which is available on Amazon.

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 Manager of Alumni Career Services, Anna Velleggia at anna_velleggia@ncsu.edu