Potato Gun. Really?!

The programming took a break to shoot potatoes from a potato gun today.  The videos made it look like great fun and, apparently, only one evil person hit the power lines!

From left to right: Chris Medykiewicz, David Kelly, Steve Bussey, Jessica Burns, Danielle Leonard, Emily Bruckart, Philip Diffenderfer, Jimmy Quinn, Chris Beggs.

The Waterfall Works

Check it out!

PACISE Conference

This weekend we hosted the annual PACISE Conference.  PACISE is an organization of the computer science and information systems departments in the State System schools, but I was happy to see participation from other schools like Dickinson and American University, too.  Turnout was very good (about 140 participants).  Here we are at dinner.

The programming contest was very well attended:  26 teams!!  Dickinson and Millersville took first and second.  Our best placement was Jessica Burns, Danielle Leonard and Steve Bussey in sixth place.  The problem set was pretty tough and the competition was very good.

The keynote speaker was Clif Kussmaul from Muhlenburg College and his talk was on Using Free and Open Source Software in the Classroom.  It was relevant and insightful.  I'm hoping to leverage some of it in my selected topics course this summer.

Computer Engineering is Approved!

Yesterday, Dr. Briggs and I had to get all dressed up to present our department's proposal for a B.S. in Computer Engineering.  Much to my surprise, my students didn't make fun of it at all (they didn't even seem to notice!).  The presentation went well even though there were so many suits in the room that I got nervous.  Here we are in our fancy clothes:

Today, the Board of Governor's gave the final vote of approval required for the creation of our new B.S. in Computer Engineering.  We couldn't be more excited and we owe thanks to the Dean (Dr. Mike), the Associate Provost (Dr. Schoolcraft), the Provost (Dr. Lyman), and the President (Dr. Ruud).  

Check out the official announcement!

Possibilities

Incoming students often ask me how the job market is.  For Computer Science students, it is surprisingly strong as evidenced by this recent story on NPR.  I have to admit that I haven't heard tales of shrimp cocktail, but I believe all of last year's graduates have software development jobs that are productive and interesting.  They have been hired by places locally, in Pittsburgh, and outside Washington and many had multiple opportunities.  It's a good time to be a geek!

Council of Trustees Approves Computer Engineering

Our Computer Engineering proposal passed one more milestone today: the Council of Trustees approved it.  Check out the University's news release.  This means we have one more hurdle to pass: the Board of Governors.  Dr. Briggs and I will be presenting it at their next meeting on April 6th or 7th.  We are hopeful and I will keep you posted on our progress!

CS Games Results

The Programming Team/WiCS have returned from their great adventures north of the border.  You can find results at Ship's news and The Programming Team's website and the CS Games website.

It was a great experience and I'm proud of how well they adapted to a completely different kind of contest than we are used to.  Thank you to everyone who bought a shirt and to the alumni who supported this trip. The students learned a lot!