Computer Science News

Computer Science News Robotics Team Takes Second At Beyond Botball The robotics team from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville took second place at the International Beyond Botball competition held in Leesburg Virginia. This marks the third occasion the team has met their rivals, Lockheed Martin, in the finals of the double elimination round. The robotics team from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville took second place at the International Beyond Botball competition held in Leesburg Virginia. This marks the third occasion the team has met their rivals, Lockheed Martin, in the finals of the double elimination round. The competition this year involved saving the real estate market. To do this the robots must: release the flood of government assets (yellow golf balls), remove the toxic mortgages (orange poms), and build new homes (green cylinders). The game is played on four 4’x4’ pieces of poly with ramps and scoring zones for each of the real estate objects. The more difficult pieces and locations represent a higher total score. The team built, programmed, and tested two autonomous robots for this competition, named “When” and “What”. They are mobile robots, both using wheels to move about the arena and they use arms with a grippers to move objects about the arena. “When” is the latest addition to the robot crew, built using an iRobot Create platform and a LynxMotion 5 degree of freedom arm. A miniature laptop, or netbook, was used to program and control the robot. “What” was a robot used previously that was bolstered and reprogrammed to perform a different task. During the competition both robots performed without any human influence, relying purely on input from sensors like cameras, touch, and SONAR. The team’s main strategy was to have “When” release the government funds while the other robot, “What”, went to the opposing teams side and stole their houses. This proved to be an effective strategy for taking points from the other team as well as implementing blocking strategy. Team members included Aaron Parker, Rob Long, John Marriott, and Dr. Jerry Weinberg. Aaron, who just completed his freshman year in computer science, began working with robots in high school at Edwardsville High participating in the Botball program, he plans to continue working with robots throughout his academic career. Rob is a graduate student in computer science and drew from his robust professional experience working with industrial robots. John Marriott is completing his graduate education in mathematics and has experience coaching Botball robotics teams. Dr. Jerry Weinberg, Chairman of the Computer Science Department, has vast experience in robot design, implementation, and education. This is the third team he has led to a Beyond Botball competition and he also supports the Botball program as an instructor. Congratulations team! Botball Team .images/2009-07-23.beyond_botball.225x169.jpg Botball http://www.botball.org SIUE News Release http://www.siue.edu/news/current.shtml#Robots Computer Science Department hosts 2009 Greater St. Louis Regional Botball Tournament On Saturday, April 25th high school and middle school robotics teams competed in the 2009 Greater St. Louis Regional Botball Tournament hosted by SIUE's Computer Science department. This Saturday, thirteen middle school and high school teams participated in the Greater St. Louis Regional Botball Tournament. The theme for this year's competition was "Living Green." Objectives in the tournament included collecting various objects such as "hydro energy" (blue balls), "green fuels" (green palms), and "fossil fuels" (orange palms). The overall winner of this years competition was St. Mary's School. Other awards were handed out for categories such as Most Promising Design, Best Recovery, and Best Collaborative Effort. For a full list of all awards handed out, visit the link below. Students working .images/2009-04-28.botball_tourney.225x169.jpg 2009 Greater St. Louis Botball Tournament Results http://www.botball.org/season/2009/GSL/results The Net Impact - Blog Entry http://blog.thenetimpact.com/index.php/2009/04/29/battle-of-the-robots/ Students Participate in Robotics Workshop High school and middle school students from the St. Louis area took part in a robotics workshop recently to prepare for the Greater St. Louis Botball Regional Tournament. High school and middle school students from the St. Louis area took part in a robotics workshop recently to prepare for the Greater St. Louis Botball Regional Tournament. Students took part in designing and constructing autonomous robots as well as learning the fundamentals of the C programming language. Additionally, students were educated on the basics of sensor hardware. Students working .images/2009-03-13.botball.225x169.jpg 2009 Greater St. Louis Botball Tournament http://www.botball.org/current-season/GSL/ Pictures of Workshop http://roboti.cs.siue.edu/competitions/botball/2009/workshop.html SkewlZone Research Receives NSF Funding A research group in the Department of Computer Science led by Dr. Jerry Weinberg and in partnership with RoadNarrows Robotics has been awarded a second phase grant of $500,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF). A research group in the Department of Computer Science led by Dr. Jerry Weinberg and in partnership with RoadNarrows Robotics has been awarded a second phase grant of $500,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The SkewlZone project involves developing a “Brain Pack” and sensor suite to simplify the use of humanoid and other legged robots. The Brain Pack is a small computer carried like a backpack that can be used on various legged robots. Specific sensors, such as pressure sensors on the feet, aid legged robots in walking and autonomous abilities. The second phase of this grant will look to improve the software, sensors, and platforms developed during the first phase to create a fully marketable product. Brain Pack .images/2009-02-26.skewlzone.225x169.jpg RoadNarrows Robotics http://www.roadnarrowsrobotics.com/ SkewlZone http://www.roadnarrowsrobotics.com/research/SkewlZone/ Computer Association of SIUE Elections Held The Computer Association of SIUE held their annual elections last week. The Computer Association of SIUE held their annual elections last week on Februrary 5th. The new officers are: President: Scott Miller Vice President: Jarod Luebbert Secretary: Travis Wisnasky Treasurer: Delia Feerer Web Admin: Mark Sands Congratulations to the new officers! CAOS Officers .images/2009-02-10.caos_elections.225x169.jpg CAOS - Computer Association of SIUE http://caos.siue.edu Mars Robot Camp! January 31st 2009 - Middle school students from around the Metro East created autonomous robots designed to navigate a rough, Mars like terrain. January 31st 2009 - Middle school students from around the Metro East created autonomous robots designed to navigate a rough, Mars like terrain. These robots were built within the four hour day camp using common building materials and the C programming language. No human guidance was allowed or necessary for these robots to complete their simulated exploration of the Mars landscape. The students will return in one week to perfect their designs and compete against one another in a robotics tournament. The robotics middle school camp is an annual event produced by Edwardsville High School and hosted in the SIUE Computer Science Department. Robot Working .images/2009/2009-01-31.robo_camp.225x169.jpg SIUE Robotics http://roboti.cs.siue.edu C.A.O.S. Elections On January 30th 2008 the Computer Association of SIUE (CAOS) held elections for the upcoming year. On January 26th 2007 the Computer Association of SIUE (CAOS) held elections for the upcoming year. The new officers are: President: Shaun Martin Vice President: Scott Miller Secretary: Brent Beer Treasurer: Delia Feerer Web Admin: Jarod Luebbert Congratulations to all the new officers! Other business at the meeting included Dr. White's presentation on SIGGRAPH and getting to meet the new members and officers of CAOS. CAOS Members .images/2008/2008-02-08_CAOS_Officers_preview.jpg CAOS - Computer Association of SIUE http://caos.siue.edu ACM Competition SIUE Competes in International ACM Programming Competition Nine computer science students from SIUE competed last week in an international programming competition sponsored by the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM). SIUE competes regularly in the International Collegiate Programming Competition under the supervision of Dr. Blythe, an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at SIUE. Teams consist of 3 students representing higher education institutions. Once the contest begins, each team is provided with one computer and 8 problems which are to be solved in C++. Problem difficulty varies and teams are encourage to complete as many problems as possible in the 5 hours they are alloted because final standings are based on how many problems are solved. SIUE competed at Webster University which was one of many regional locations for schools to go head to head this year. Our programmers went up against students from Webster University, Saint Louis University, and Washington University and said they enjoyed meeting the competition during breaks. "We met some very smart and interesting people from some of these schools," said one of the SIUE competitors Justin Camerer. SIUE came in 6th place, however, team members and the coach were very optimistic. "We had a great time but we were cut short on time due to problems with the computer they gave us," Justin Camerer said. "It was a great learning experience but due to some disorganization at the center, we had limited time to solve the problems," Jesse Cook added. Two thirds of the team that attended this competition will be returning in 2008 making this a valuable experience in preparation of next year. Dr. Stephen Blythe was the coach for the teams which are detailed below. Teams A: Jesse Cook, Justin Camerer, Shaun Martin Team B: Brian Pritchett, Jimmy Prager, Mike Moore Team C: Siyao Gu, Delai Feerer, Scott Miller ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest .images/2006/2006-09-25_ACM_ICPC_preview.png ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest Homepage http://icpc.baylor.edu/icpc/ Dr. Stephen Blythe http://www.cs.siue.edu/faculty/?Who=blythes SIUE CS Senior Ross Mead Honored Ross Alan Mead is one of 48 collegiate seniors to be honored by The Lincoln Academy of Illinois this month. He will be awarded the Student Laureate Medallion which is given annually along with a $150 honorarium and certificate of achievement. Ross Alan Mead is one of 48 collegiate seniors to be honored by The Lincoln Academy of Illinois this month. He will be awarded the Student Laureate Medallion which is given annually along with a $150 honorarium and certificate of achievement. The Lincoln Academy's Student Laureate Awards are granted to a senior from each four-year degree granting institution in Illinois. These seniors have been nominated because they have displayed excellence in academics and extracurricular activities. "These students have exhibited a personal commitment to excel as seen by their remarkable academic accomplishments. But just as important, these students serve as role models to other Illinois students, as well as their own family and friends. With hard-working, dedicated individuals such as these, Illinois and the rest of the nation can look forward to a bright and prosperous future," said Chancellor of the Lincoln Academy, John B. Simon. The Lincoln Academy was established 42 years to recognize Illinois' most distinguished citizens with the state's highest award, the Order of Lincoln which is also awarded annually. Ross Mead .images/2007/2007-04-03_Ross_Mead_preview.jpg The Lincoln Academy of Illinois http://www.thelincolnacademyofillinois.org SIUE Team Takes First The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville robotics team-Fishtank Assassin-took first place recently at the International Beyond Botball competition in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville robotics team-Fishtank Assassin-took first place recently at the International Beyond Botball competition in Honolulu, Hawaii. Fishtank Assassin members include Ross Mead, a senior majoring in computer science at SIUE; Jeff Croxell, an SIUE graduate student in Electrical and Computer Engineering; and Jerry Weinberg, an associate professor of Computer Science at the University. "The final match was a repeat of last year’s final match-up," Weinberg said. "Once again our team found itself going undefeated into the finals of the double elimination contest against the team of Lockheed Martin engineers, called the Return of Pins and Needles. Last year, we took second place after losing two out of three rounds in the final to the same team of engineers." Weinberg said the competition attracts robot hobbyists, college teams, and professional engineers, who build and program autonomous robots to bring plants and a spaceship crew to a safe location in the face of a pending "warp core reactor explosion." "During the competition, each member of the crew, represented by the mascot of the Botball competition, Botguy, had to be transported to a safe zone and the door to the zone had to be closed, while the plants, represented by large green foam balls, had to be transported to a solarium," Weinberg explained. "When the reactor goes off, additional points can be made by containing the radioactive particles, represented by small pompons. Fishtank Assassin developed two mobile robots that coordinated their activity to collect the Botguys, close the safe zone door, and then find as many plants as possible to place in the solarium." Weinberg said the Fishtank Assassin entry was two mobile robots-named Who and What-that used every possible sensor input available to them. It included 11 distance sensors to help itthem navigate to specific locations in the arena, one light sensor for starting, a color camera to track crew members and plants, and a radio module so the two robots could communicate to coordinate their activities. "The strategy of the Return of Pins and Needles team relied on its robot’s speed to get to all of the game pieces before their opponent could reach them; the game elements were always retrieved in the same order," Weinberg said. "Fishtank Assassin’s strategy was to program modular behaviors that could be put in different orders. The order game pieces were retrieved was changed to best match up the strategy of their opponent." To take points away from their opponents, Weinberg pointed out, Who and What’s first usual move was to navigate near the opponent’s side of the board and reach over to pick-up their plants and then place them in the solarium. "In a critical defensive move, one of the robots, What, was programmed to hold its out-reached arm over the other game pieces on its side of the board, preventing the opponent’s large arm robot from getting to them," Weinberg explained. "In the meantime, our other robot, Who, managed to score most of the game pieces on its side of the board. It was a close match, both sides scoring the same number of crew members and plants. The difference came down to the number of ‘nuclear particles’ left in the reactor. "The Fishtank Assassin robots attempted to set off the reactor early in the round to hopefully distribute the particles evenly, but were unsuccessful. The Return of Pins and Needles robot attempted to deflect the particles toward its opponent’s side; however, some of the particles were deflected back into the reactor. This made the difference in the score, leaving more of particles contained on Fishtank Assassin’s side." In March, the SIUE team will next enter a new robot challenge that is an autonomous vehicle competition, in which the team will convert an electric golf cart into a self-guided, self-driving robotic vehicle that will navigate the campus pathways. .images/2007/2007-07-31_WhatFinal_preview.jpg Botball http://www.botball.org Robots Walk onto the SIUE Campus Jerry Weinberg and William Yu, Associate Professors of Computer Science at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, in partnership with Kim Wheeler and Robin Knight of RoadNarrows, LLC have received $150,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to create a "Brain Pack" for walking robots. Jerry Weinberg and William Yu, Associate Professors of Computer Science at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, in partnership with Kim Wheeler and Robin Knight of RoadNarrows, LLC have received $150,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to create a "Brain Pack" for walking robots. The grant, titled "General Robot Controller for Legged Mobile Robots with Integrated Open Source Software", is to develop a computer backpack or Brain Pack for two-, four-, and six-legged robots for teaching science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses. The Brain Pack will provide an easy to program computer controller that connects sensors, such as foot touch sensors to give the robot the feeling of walking and a color camera to give the robot eyesight, to commands for generating movement. It will be a general controller that can be used on any legged robot, providing it with sensors and computing power that walking robots on the market currently do not have. Hands-on robotics projects have become useful educational tools across a variety of subjects. Robots are integrated systems comprised of interdependent electrical, mechanical, and computational components. Because of their multidisciplinary nature, the study of robotics in the classroom has become a valuable tool for the practical, hands-on application of concepts in various STEM topics at the K-12 and undergraduate educational levels. While there are wheeled robots that are easy to use for K-12 and undergraduate educators, there are not any legged robot platforms with easy to use hardware and software. The Brain Pack will have plug-and-play sensors with straightforward software modules developed specifically for use in the classroom. SIUE has been using robots in classrooms and outreach programs since 1999. Both Drs. Weinberg and Yu use robotics to teach computer science and engineering courses. In addition Dr. Weinberg conducts middle and high school robot demonstrations, workshops, and competitions to help get students interested in pursuing careers in computer science and engineering. Most recently Dr. Weinberg organized the Greater St. Louis Botball Tournament held on the SIUE campus. This was a regional robotics competition for a national tournament conducted by the KISS Institute for Practical Robotics. The regional tournament brought together about 150 students along with their teachers and parents from 11 schools in Illinois and Missouri. The event stated with a student/teacher workshop on building and programming robots and ended in an exciting head-to-head tournament 7 weeks later. This was the first regional robotics tournament held at SIUE, which Dr. Weinberg plans to make an annual event. Kim Wheeler-Smith and Robin Knight are the co-founders of RoadNarrows, LCC, which is located in Loveland, Colorado. Their graduate degrees in engineering and mathematics focused on robotics and computational intelligence, which got them interested in creating a company to provide mobile robots to educators and researchers. The primary mission of RoadNarrows is to participate in the robotics revolution by developing, manufacturing, and selling hardware and software platforms to further technical education and to enable related research and development. The partnership between SIUE and RoadNarrows is key to the successful development of the Brain Pack innovation. The educators as SIUE have considerable experience in developing curricula and software for using robots in the classroom, and RoadNarrows have similarly considerable experience in engineering and marketing robot hardware for educators. .images/2007/2007-06-11_DrWwithRobot_small.jpg Dr. Weinberg's Web Page http://www.cs.siue.edu/jweinbe/ Dr. Yu's Web Page http://www.cs.siue.edu/xyu/ RoadNarrows' Web Page http://www.roadnarrowsrobotics.com/ First Annual Greater St. Louis Regional Botball On the 28th of April 2007, the School Engineering had the honor of hosting the first ever Greater St. Louis Regional Botball competition. Eleven area schools participated in this landmark event: St. Mary's School, Hazelwood West High School, Edwardsville High School, Columbia High School, Ladue Middle School, Liberty Middle School, Lincoln Middle School, Highland High School, Parkway North High School, De La Salle Middle School, SIUE East St. Louis Charter School. On the 28th of April 2007, the School Engineering had the honor of hosting the first ever Greater St. Louis Regional Botball competition. Eleven area schools participated in this landmark event: St. Mary's School, Hazelwood West High School, Edwardsville High School, Columbia High School, Ladue Middle School, Liberty Middle School, Lincoln Middle School, Highland High School, Parkway North High School, De La Salle Middle School, SIUE East St. Louis Charter School. "The Botball competition encourages students to combine science, technology, engineering, and math to create autonomous robots. Students are given about seven weeks to design, build and program a team of mobile, autonomous robots as well as document their process on a weblog. Participants compete against each other on a 4’ x 8’ playing field in a fast paced, non-destructive regional tournament. The robots are student built and programmed to maneuver on the game board without the need for remote control." (Botball.org) In this year’s competition robots were placed on an island. This island had huts, pineapples, leaves, a near-by ocean, and a volcano, whose eruption was imminent. Robots could earn points in several ways: they could collect pineapples and leaves and place them into their respective bins, they could shelter the huts and drag them to safety, and they could place ocean water on the collected pineapples and leaves to protect them from lava. While the competition may sound daunting, the teams were up to the challenge. Students at the competition were constantly modifying their code and robots to compete at each round. Many times teams would change their entire strategy to give them an edge against their opponent. The overall ranking of the competition placed St. Mary's School in first, Hazelwood West High School in second, and Edwardsville High School in third. These rankings were determined not just by these teams performance in the competition but also by the quality of their documentation and presentation about their robot. The School of Engineering plans to host the Greater St. Louis Regional again next year. Anyone interested in competing is encouraged to contact Dr. Weinberg or www.botball.org for more information. .images/2007/2007-04-28_Botball_Volcano_preview.jpg Botball http://www.botball.org Dr. Weinberg's Web Page http://www.cs.siue.edu/jweinbe/ IEEE Region 5 Robotics Competition On April 21, 2007 Timothy McCullough, Benjamin Spiller, Phillip Klinefelter, and Britian Oates of Black Hole Robotics attended the IEEE Region 5 Robotics Competition. On April 21, 2007 Timothy McCullough, Benjamin Spiller, Phillip Klinefelter, and Britian Oates of Black Hole Robotics attended the IEEE Region 5 Robotics Competition. This year’s competition was held at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. The competition setting was a solar system that had recently developed a black hole. The robots’ jobs were to then rescue survivors and carry them to safety. The team placed 5th overall at the competition after experiencing some difficulty configuring their camera. Entry into the competition was a joint senior project between the Electrical Engineering and the Computer Science Departments. Timothy McCullough and Benjamin Spiller represented the Electrical Engineering Department and Phillip Klinefelter and Britian Oates represented the Computer Science Department. The Computer Science Department is very proud of Black Hole Robotics and extends its warmest congratulations. .images/2007/2007-04-21_Group_small.jpg Black Hole Robotics Website http://www.cs.siue.edu/seniorprojects/2006/fall/BlackHoleRobotics/ Black Hole Robotics Senior Project Site http://www.cs.siue.edu/seniorprojects/2006/fall/?Group=BlackHoleRobotics Steve Klein receives Teaching Distinction Award Steve Klein, a Computer Science Department instructor, is this year’s recipient of the 2006-2007 Teaching Distinction Award. Steve Klein, a Computer Science Department instructor, is this year’s recipient of the 2006-2007 Teaching Distinction Award. He won in the category of non-tenure/tenure track faculty. Before winning the award he was nominated by Associate Dean Van Roekel and received letters of support from Dr. Jerry Weinberg and Dr. William White. He was evaluated on his teaching dossier and his teaching style. His teaching style, described as "Fun and Challenging", greatly impressed the award committee. Besides recognition of his outstanding teaching approach, Mr. Klein will also be receiving a $500.00 award. When asked about his feeling on this achievement he responded, "I'm very excited about receiving the award. I'm thrilled to bring this kind of recognition to the CS Department and the School of Engineering." In addition to Mr. Klein's award, Dr. Brad Noble won the Teaching Excellence award in the tenured/tenure track category. Mr. Klein and Dr. Noble were not in competition for the award since they each won in their respective categories. In addition, because both recipients of the award are School of Engineering faculty, this is tremendous achievement for the School of Engineering. Congratulation Mr. Klein! The Computer Science Department is very proud! .images/2007/2007-04-13_Head_Shot_PICTURE_preview.jpg Computer Science Students to be Honored On Sunday April 15 2007 SIUE will host Honors Day, rewarding students for the academic achievements. On Sunday April 15 2007 SIUE will host Honors Day, rewarding students for the academic achievements. Several students from the Computer Science department are to be recognized at this program for their academic excellence. The following awards will be presented at this year’s ceremony: Grace Murray Hopper Award ($500) The Grace Hopper award recognizes students of notable achievement and promise, and is one of the highest awards offered by the Department of Computer Science. The award is named after Grace Murray Hopper, who was a pioneer in the development of the compiler for computing languages. Awarded To: Jesse James Cook Nori Sushi Restaurant Scholarship ($500) Former Computer Science student and current owner of Nori - Sushi and Japanese Grill, graciously offered a scholarship to full time graduate and undergraduate Computer Science majors with a 3.0 GPA or higher and completed at least one 300 level CS class or higher. Awarded To: Ross Alan Mead Outstanding Senior Awards ($100): This award recognized the top senior level students. Awarded To: Stephen Alexander Bory Philip Graham Klinefelter Christopher William Menke Outstanding Junior Award ($100): This award recognized the top junior level students. Awarded To: Jennifer Diane Koenig Outstanding Sophomore Award ($100): This award recognized the top sophomore level students. Awarded To: Alexander R. Towell Merit Awards ($75) Every year, the Computer Science Department recognizes several students who have shown academic excellence in their computer science courses. Awarded To: John Thomas Hawthorne James Marvin Eldred James Charles Mruzik Kirk Adam Wilson We encourage you to come and celebrate the accomplishments of these outstanding students. Jesse Cook .images/2007/2007-04-19_Jesse_Cook_preview.jpg Engineering Banquet Information http://www.siue.edu/ENGINEER/banquet/ Ross Mead - Best Presented Poster Winner At this year's Student Research Symposium Ross Mead, of the Computer Science Department, won best presented poster. At this year's Student Research Symposium Ross Mead, of the Computer Science Department, won best presented poster. His poster is titled "A Platform for Local Interactions between Robots in Large Formations". At the symposium Ross also gave two oral presentations, "A Framework for Interactions in an Impromptu Robot Team" and "A Platform for Local Interactions between Robots in Large Formations". As a result of winning best presented poster, Ross will receive a $200.00 cash prize. Congratulations Ross, keep up the hard work! Ross Mead .images/2007/2007-04-03_Ross_Mead_preview.jpg LINK TEXT http://URL C.A.O.S. & N.S.B.E. Joint Presentation Series On Friday March 16th Mike Blakey of Anheurser-Busch came to SIUE to present on life at A&B. On Friday March 16th Mike Blakey of Anheurser-Busch came to SIUE to present on life at A&B. The event is the first of many joint presentations in a series between C.A.O.S. (Computer Association Of SIUE) and N.S.B.E. (National Society of Black Engineers). The purpose of the series is to expose engineering students to various career possibilities in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area. It affords an opportunity for students to meet and network with local employers. It also offers an opportunity to explore an individual company's culture before investing time and effort in seeking employment there. The March 16th presentation had about 30 members in total from both organizations and set a high standard for future presentations in the series. The next company to present will be Boeing on March 23rd. .images/2007/2007-03-16_ABPresentation_preview.jpg CAOS Photo Gallery http://caos.cs.siue.edu/v/NSBEBoeingJointMeeting/ Preparing for Botball! On March 10th and 11th area high school and middle school students attended the Greater St. Louis Botball robotics workshop presented by the SIUE computer science department. On March 10th and 11th area high school and middle school students attended the Greater St. Louis Botball robotics workshop presented by the SIUE computer science department. During the workshop, students learned the basics of building robots including: mechanical structures, electronic sensors, computer programming and robot vision with a camera. The workshop was in preparation for the Greater St. Louis Regional Botball Tournament on April 28th, also held at SIUE. Botball is a high energy learning experience in which teams pit their autonomous robots in a head-to-head challenge. The challenge will require these young robot scientists to utilize skills and techniques they learned in the workshop. Good luck to all of the teams! Botball .images/2007/2007-03-16_Botball_preview.jpg Botball Website http://www.botball.org/ Microsoft Launch Party The Computer Science Department is pleased to announce the Microsoft Launch Party presented by Mr. Frederick J. Eccher. The Computer Science Department is pleased to announce the Microsoft Launch Party presented by Mr. Frederick J. Eccher. This event will be held on Tuesday February 20th, 2007 in the SIUE Engineering building. Mr. Eccher will be presenting two separate sessions: Microsoft Launch Party Time: 2:00pm Location: EB 1012 Description: Demonstration of Microsoft Office 2007, Sharepoint, and .NET 3.0 Vista Launch Party Time: 3:30pm Location: EB 1033 Description: Exploring Windows Vista, including user experience Food will be available for all who attend, and prizes will also be awarded. Thank you Mr. Eccher for making this event possible. Frederick J. Eccher, MBA, M.S. Management of Information Systems, A.B. Psychology, B.A. Biology, CIO, Community Partners, President, Board of Directors, Saint Louis Visual Basic Users Group. Vista Logo .images/2007/2007-02-16_logo_vista_preview.jpg CAOS - News Article http://caos.siue.edu/modules/news/article.php?storyid=27 C.A.O.S. Elections On January 26th 2007 the Computer Association of SIUE (CAOS) held elections for the upcoming year. On January 26th 2007 the Computer Association of SIUE (CAOS) held elections for the upcoming year. The new officers are: President: Kaitlyn Schmidt Vice President: Jesse Cook Secretary: Shaun Martin Treasurer: Mark Seidenstricker Web Admin: Scott Magouirk Congratulations to all the new officers! Other business at the meeting included watching Diggnation and getting to meet the new members and officers of CAOS. CAOS Members .images/2007/2007-01-26_CAOS_Members_preview.jpg CAOS - Computer Association of SIUE http://caos.siue.edu Nori Scholarship Former computer science student Chong Kuk Kim and current owner of Nori - Sushi and Japanese Grill, is offering a scholarship. Former computer science student Chong Kuk Kim and current owner of Nori - Sushi and Japanese Grill, is offering a scholarship to full time graduate and undergraduate computer science majors. The scholarship is for $500.00 and is available to anyone with a 3.0 GPA or higher and anyone who has completed at least one 300 level CS class or higher. Applicants must demonstrate financial need. The Computer Science Department would like to thank Mr. Kim for his generosity. More information on how to apply for this scholarship is to follow. Nori Sushi and Japanese Grill 1025 Century Dr Edwardsville, IL 62025 (618) 659-9400 Nori - Sushi and Japanese Grill .images/2007/2007-01-26_NoriSign_preview.jpg New Instructional Support Specialist On January 2nd Jeff Croxell, took over as Intructional Support Specialist for the Computer Science Department after his predecessor, Andrew Lamonica, took another possition at Zazzle.com, Inc. On January 2nd Jeff Croxell, took over as Intructional Support Specialist for the Computer Science Department after his predecessor, Andrew Lamonica, took another possition at Zazzle.com, Inc. Jeff comes to us with a Bachelors in Computer Engineering and is currently working towards his Masters in Electrical Engineering, here at SIUE. Before starting as Instructional Support Specialist, Jeff had worked as a student worker and then as a Graduate Assistant for the Computer Science Department and for the Electrical Engineering Department. Jeff's contact information is as follows: Ext 2398 cs-support@siue.edu Jeff Croxell .images/2007/2007-01-15_Head_Shot_preview.jpg Goodbye and Good Luck! On January 2nd 2007 Andrew Lamonica left SIUE as an Instructional Support Specialist to pursue a career at Zazzle.com, Inc. in San Jose, California. Andrew had worked for the University for three years as the Instructional Support Specialist and 5 semesters (over the course of 2 and a half years) as a student worker. On January 2nd 2007 Andrew Lamonica left SIUE as an Instructional Support Specialist to pursue a career at Zazzle.com, Inc. in San Jose, California. Andrew had worked for the University for three years as the Instructional Support Specialist and 5 semesters (over the course of 2 and a half years) as a student worker. Andrew is a graduate of SIUE with a Bachelors and Masters degree in Computer Science. We know with his excellent education and experience working at SIUE that he will succeed in industry with flying colors. Good luck Andrew! We at SIUE and especially in the Computer Science Department wish you the best! Andrew Lamonica .images/2007/2007-01-02_Andrew_Pointing_preview.jpg Zazzle.Com, Inc. http://www.Zazzle.com SIUE Evens the Score! On Tuesday December 5th, SIUE hosted the sixth annual High School vs. College Robotics Contest. The top ten high school teams from the November 11th Robosoccer Shootout were invited back to test their skills against SIUE’s IME 106 freshmen engineering class. On Tuesday December 5th, SIUE hosted the sixth annual High School vs. College Robotics Contest. The top ten high school teams from the November 11th Robosoccer Shootout were invited back to test their skills against SIUE’s IME 106 freshmen engineering class. A round robin tournament was played in which each team competed in two games. This set up the seeding for an eight team single elimination bracket. Of those eight teams seven were IME 106 students and one team, Triad’s Number 1 from the high school division. The final match pitted SIUE’s team 17 against SIUE’s team 7. Team 7 utilized a massive goal blocking wall, which proved unbreakable for team 17. With an SIUE victory this year, the score is tied 3 to 3. Congratulations to all the team on another successful robotics contest! Building .images/2006/2006-12-05_high_school_v_college_preview.jpg Competition Page http://roboti.cs.siue.edu/competitions/shootout/ Gooooooaaaaaaaal On Saturday November 11th, the SIUE Engineering Building was the location of an unusual soccer competition. What made this competition so unusual was that its contestants were all robots. Eight local high-schools fielded a total thirty robots, each created and programmed by a team of students. The top ten teams will return on December 5th to compete against IME 106 Freshmen Engineering students. On Saturday, November 11th, the SIUE Engineering Building was the location of an unusual soccer competition. What made this competition unusual was that its contestants were all robots. Eight local high-schools fielded a total thirty robots, each created and programmed by a team of students. Each team was issued a LEGO Mindstorms robotics kit, providing them with the necessary materials to build their robots. Within the 16'x4' arena, these robots were required to play both defense and offense, placing obstructions in front of their respective goals and knocking colored balls into the goal of the opponent. After 61 matches were played, the Triad team named Slayer emerged victorious. Additionally, teams from Collinsville, Edwardsville, and Mascoutah will all return on December 5th for another chance to battle each other and take on the best teams from the SIUE IME106 class. Robot .images/2006/2006-11-11_RoboSoccer_preview.png Competition Page http://roboti.cs.siue.edu/competitions/shootout/ Scoreboard http://tacti.cs.siue.edu/seeding-round/ Python in 60 Minutes On Wednesday November 8th at 2:00pm, Computer Science Graduate Student Mike Grim, will be presenting a brief introduction to the Python Programming Language. This presentation will be held in the Engineering Building Auditorium and will be open to all who are interested. The presentation will be the first of two talks that will ultimately introduce game programming in Python. On Wednesday November 8th at 2:00pm, Computer Science Graduate Student and Network Administrator Mike Grim, will be presenting a brief introduction to the Python Programming Language. Python is a popular open-source programming language that emphasizes human readability over that of compiler simplicity or speed. In addition to its stylistic simplicity, the Python language boasts a powerful set of libraries and extensions. Mike Grim's presentation will be held in the Engineering Building Auditorium and will be open to all who are interested. The presentation will be the first of two talks that will ultimately introduce game programming in Python. Material presented will be most appropriate for students who are enrolled in or have completed an introductory programming course. Python .images/2006/2006-10-28_Python_in_60_Minutes_preview.png Official Python Site http://www.python.org/ Python on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_programming_language Mike Grim's Personal Site http://www.symbolx.org/ Subversion Tech. Talk On Wednesday, Andrew Lamonica of the Computer Science Department will give a talk on the Subversion Version Control System. The talk will incorporate an introduction to version control system concepts and terminology. There will also be a practical demonstration of the TortoiseSVN Subversion Client for Windows. On Wednesday Oct. 4th at 7:30pm, Andrew Lamonica of the Computer Science Department will give a talk on the Subversion Version Control System. The talk will be held in the Engineering Building Auditorium. Version Control Systems are used by software developers and engineers to manage changes to files. These systems allow multiple participants to concurrently change files then integrate their changes without causing damage. Starting this semester, computer science senior projects will be using Subversion to manage their products. The talk will incorporate an introduction to version control system concepts and terminology. There will also be a practical demonstration of the TortoiseSVN Subversion Client for Windows. No prior experience with version control systems or programming is necessary to attend this talk. Immersion in Subversion .images/2006/2006-09-29_Immersion_In_Subversion_preview.png Andrew Lamonica http://www.cs.siue.edu/staff/?Who=rlamoni Subversion http://subversion.tigris.org/ TortoiseSVN http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/ ACM ICPC Meeting Dr. Blythe will hold two practice sessions next week for the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest. If you would like to join a team representing SIUE in this year’s competition, attending one of these practice sessions will be very beneficial. Practice session I will be held Wednesday, September 27, 3-5PM in EB 2029. Practice Session II will be held Friday, September 29, 3-5PM in EB 2029. Dr. Blythe will hold two practice sessions next week (9/25-9/29) for the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) International Collegiate Programming Contest. If you would like to join a team representing SIUE in this year’s competition, attending one of these practice sessions will be very beneficial. Both practice sessions will be identical, so you only need to attend one of them (although you may attend both if you wish). Contest format, what you're allowed to bring (and not bring), what will be available at the contest, and a few sample problems will be covered in the practice session. Be sure to bring your schedule for the next 6 weeks so Dr. Blythe can form the teams and set up a weekly practice time for each team. In subsequent weeks, teams will have the opportunity to work on practice problems. If you can't make one of these times and you still want to be in the contest, let Dr. Blythe know as soon as possible. The schedule for the practice sessions is as follows: Practice session I: Wednesday, September 27, 3-5PM in EB 2029. Practice Session II: Friday, September 29, 3-5PM in EB 2029. ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest .images/2006/2006-09-25_ACM_ICPC_preview.png ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest Homepage http://icpc.baylor.edu/icpc/ Dr. Stephen Blythe http://www.cs.siue.edu/faculty/?Who=blythes EB2029 Map http://www.cs.siue.edu/facilities/?Where=EB2029 Java Class to be Offered Socratis Tornaritis will be offering his Java Course again, this spring. The course includes an introduction to the Java language and overview of its advanced features. This course is designed for students who have completed CS 240. Socratis Tornaritis will be offering his Java Course again, this spring. The course is includes an introduction to the Java language and overview of its advanced features. The course will be labeled CS 390 and will have the prerequisite of CS 240. Mr. Tornaritis hopes to cover everything from Java networking to user interface creation. We encourage students who are interested to sign up soon because space is limited and this course will fill up fast. Note: This class does not count as a technical elective. Cup of Coffee .images/2006/2006-08-28_Coffee_Cup_preview.jpg Official Announcement of Java Course with Details http://www.cs.siue.edu/news/files/2006/2006-08-28-Java-course-at-SIUE.pdf Sun's Java Site http://java.sun.com/ Socratis Tornaritis http://www.cs.siue.edu/faculty/?Who=tornaris License for Coffee Cup Photo by Julius Schorzman http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ Dr. Waxman to Retire Dr. Bernard Waxman will be retiring on August 31, 2006. He has been with the Computer Science department for 17 years, starting in August of 1989. He has also served two 3 year terms as department chair (1996-1999 and 2002 -2005) and is currently Acting Dean of the School of Engineering. Dr. Bernard Waxman will be retiring on August 31, 2006. He has been with the Computer Science department for 17 years, starting in August of 1989. He has also served two 3 year terms as department chair (1996-1999 and 2002 -2005) and is currently Acting Dean of the School of Engineering. Upon his retirement, Dr. Waxman plans on spending more time on photography, bicycle riding, and volunteer activities, mainly tutoring, environmental issues, and fund raising for the School of Engineering. Additionally, he is looking forward to having more time to visit his family and travel. When asked what he feels about his upcoming retirement, Dr. Waxman stated that he will miss the students, faculty, staff and administrators in the Computer Science and Engineering Departments and many other individuals in the university. He will also miss talking to students about everything from computer science to music. He recalled one of his funniest memories from his time here was seeing the Edwardsville Fire Department drive one of the big fire trucks on the sidewalk outside of the Engineering Building. They got out in full gear to put out a few smoldering remnants of the bushes that had caught fire outside of the building. Dr. Waxman encourages students to "work hard, enjoy learning, and always be open to learning new things. To do well, you have to enjoy what you are doing." Dr. Bernard Waxman .images/2006/2006-08-17_Bernard_Waxman_preview.jpg Computer Science Department: Dr. Waxman http://www.cs.siue.edu/faculty/?Who=waxmanb Dr. Waxman's Course Homepage http://www.siue.edu/~bwaxman/ Ross Mead Presents at National A.I. Conference Computer Science student Ross Mead presented his research, which was motivated by a joint workshop between NASA and the NSF for harvesting solar power in space, July 19th, in Boston, Massachusetts at the 21st National Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-06). The conference was sponsored by the American Association for Artificial Intelligence. His research involves the use of mobile robots to form a solar reflector. Computer Science student Ross Mead presented his research "Algorithms for Control and Interaction of Large Formations of Robots," which was motivated by a joint workshop between NASA and the NSF for harvesting solar power in space. His research involves the use of mobile robots to form a solar reflector. Mead’s research treats these robots as a lattice of computational elements, or cells. Due to the artificially intelligent nature of these cells, Mead’s paper was accepted for presentation at the 21st National Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-06) in Boston, Massachusetts, which was sponsored by the American Association for Artificial Intelligence. Mead will be continuing his research this Fall and next Spring, creating a graphical human-robot interface to provide a visualization of the formation and status information of each individual robot unit, as well as implementing and testing on a modest number of physical robots, proving that the approach is viable in real space. He hopes to demonstrate results at AAAI-07 next year in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Ross Mead .images/2006/2006-08-02_Ross_Mead_preview.jpg Algorithms for Control and Interaction of Large Formations of Robots http://roboti.cs.siue.edu/projects/formations/ The Twenty-First National Conference on Artificial Intelligence http://www.aaai.org/Conferences/AAAI/aaai06.php SIUE Undergradute Research Academy http://www.siue.edu/ura/ Dr. Wu Presents Paper and Receives Award Computer Science professor, Dr. Trong Wu, was recently awarded for his paper on an Interval Method for Solving Non-linear Equations at the International MultiConference of Engineers and Computer Scientists in Hong Kong. Dr. Wu has been very busy this summer. He traveled to Hong Kong, where he attended and presented a paper at the International MultiConference of Engineers and Computer Scientists on June 20-22, 2006. The conference was sponsored by the International Association of Engineers (IAENG). Based on his paper presentation, entitled "Interval Method for Solving Non-linear Equations," Dr. Wu received the Best Paper Award of the 2006 IAENG International Workshop on Computer Science. Congratulations, Dr. Wu! Hong Kong light show .images/2006/2006-07-26_Hong_Kong_Light_Show_by_webel_photography_preview.jpg Dr. Trong Wu http://www.cs.siue.edu/faculty/?Who=wut International MultiConference of Engineers and Computer Scientists http://www.iaeng.org/IMECS2006/ License for Hong Kong Photo by Webel Photography http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/ Fishtank Assassins Place Second at Botball Nationals The SIUE team of Ross Mead, Jeff Croxell, and Jerry Weinberg took second place this last weekend at the national Beyond Botball competition. In a dramatic finish, the team, called Fishtank Assassin, lost the two final rounds of the double-elimination tournament to a team of engineers from Lockheed Martin. Previously, Fishtank Assassin had been undefeated and had even beat the team from Lockheed Martin in the semi-finals. The SIUE team of Ross Mead, Jeff Croxell, and Jerry Weinberg took second place this last weekend at the national Beyond Botball competition. In a dramatic finish, the team, called Fishtank Assassin, lost the two final rounds of the double-elimination tournament to a team of engineers from Lockheed Martin. Previously, Fishtank Assassin had been undefeated and had even beat the team from Lockheed Martin in the semi-finals. The National Botball competition, which attracts robot hobbyists, college teams, and teams of professional engineers, required building and programming autonomous robots for the removal of items representing toxic waste. The teams were also charged with the task of saving the mascot of the Botball competition, Botguy, from the toxic spill. Fishtank Assassin used a robot with color camera tracking, a five degree-of-freedom arm, and four-wheel drive to breeze through the double elimination competition, going undefeated into the finals. The Fishtank Assassins (Ross Mead and Jeff Croxell) .images/2006/2006-07-12_Ross_Mead_and_Jeff_Croxell_the_Fishtank_Assassins_preview.jpg More Photos from the Competition http://caos.siue.edu/modules/xoopsgallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album14 Information about Robotics at SIUE http://roboti.cs.siue.edu BotBall's Main Webpage http://www.botball.org/ Senior Project Presentations Next week, The Computer Science Dept. will be holding eight senior project presentations. These presentations represent a summary of each senior project team’s work for the previous semester. Computer science students are strongly encouraged to attend some of these presentations to form an idea of what will be expected of during their senior semesters. Next week (May 2nd – 4th), The Computer Science Dept. will be holding eight senior project presentations. These presentations represent a summary of each senior project team’s work for the previous semester. Two of the teams (CryptKeeper and Metamorphosis) are just completing their first semester of senior project while the other six teams are concluding their projects. Presentations are roughly an hour long and include a question and answer session open to the spectators. SIUE Faculty, Staff, and Students are invited to view the presentations along with each team’s clients. Since the senior project is a computer science graduation requirement, declared computer science students are strongly encouraged to attend. Viewing previous semester’s senior project presentations can be helpful in understanding what will be expected of future teams. Tuesday, 12:00-1:00 PM in EB2029 - CLIP Team Tuesday, 1:00-2:00 PM in EB2029 - Pathfinder Team Tuesday, 6:30-7:20 PM in EB0011 - CryptKeeper Team Tuesday, 7:20-8:10 PM in EB0011 - Metamorphosis Team Wednesday, 5:00-6:00 PM in EB2029 - SolarSim Team Wednesday, 6:00-7:00 PM in EB2029 - Quoridor Team Wednesday, 7:00-8:00 PM in EB2029 - MIR Team Thursday, 2:00-3:00 PM in EB2029 - VR101 Team .images/2006/2006-04-28_Senior_Project_Presentations_preview.png Senior Project Presentations Invitation http://www.cs.siue.edu/news/files/2006/2006-04-28-Senior-Project-Presentations.pdf Senior Project Website http://www.cs.siue.edu/SeniorProjects/ Algorithms for Bioinformatics Class Offered This fall, Dr. Dennis J. Bouvier is will be teaching a class entitled "Algorithms for Bioinformatics." Bioinformatics is the application of information age technologies to solve biological problems. In Dr. Bouvier’s class, students will be introduced to the algorithms that are used in this emerging field. This fall, Dr. Dennis J. Bouvier is will be teaching a class entitled "Algorithms for Bioinformatics." Bioinformatics is the application of information age technologies to solve biological problems. In Dr. Bouvier’s class, students will be introduced to the algorithms that are used in this emerging field. Algorithms for Bioinformatics will be offered as both an undergraduate topics course (CS490-003) and a graduate topics course (CS590-003). The class will meet on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and will be using "An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms" by Jones and Pevzner as its textbook. Students must have completed CS340 to enroll in this class. DNA model over a computer keyboard .images/2006/2006-04-24_DNA_over_computer_keyboard_preview.png Algorithms for Bioinformatics Class Announcement http://www.cs.siue.edu/news/files/2006/2006-04-24-Bioinformatics-Course-Anouncement.pdf An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms Textbook http://www.bioalgorithms.info/ Dr. Dennis J Bouvier http://www.cs.siue.edu/faculty/?Who=bouvierd New CS Faculty Member Hired Dr. Dennis J Bouvier will become the newest tenure-track professor for the computer science department, starting next semester. He has signed the paperwork and is scheduled to teach two classes during the fall semester. Dr. Dennis J Bouvier will become the newest tenure-track professor for the computer science department, starting next semester. He has signed the paperwork and is scheduled to teach two classes during the fall semester. Some students may remember Dr. Bouvier from the talk he gave, "Visualization of 3D Medical Data", when he was interviewing for the assistant professorship. Dr. Bouvier’s interests include Scientific Visualization, HCI, and Bioinformatics, which he will be teaching a class on next fall. He will also be teaching the software engineering (CS325) course. Dr. Dennis Bouvier .images/2006/2006-04-19_Dennis_Bouvier_preview.jpg Dr. Dennis J Bouvier http://www.cs.siue.edu/faculty/?Who=bouvierd Joshua Hockett Awarded by SIUE CS This semester, senior Joshua Hockett was granted the SIUE Grace Hopper Award for excellence in computer science. This award is given annually to one deserving SIUE student selected by the Computer Science Faculty. This semester, senior Joshua Hockett was granted the SIUE Grace Hopper Award for excellence in computer science. This award is given annually to one deserving SIUE student selected by the Computer Science Faculty. The award is named in honor of the pioneering American computer scientist Grace Murray Hopper and is funded by the SIUE Foundation. The SIUE Grace Hopper Award is Joshua Hockett’s second award from the Computer Science Dept. He was also honored last year with the Outstanding Junior award. When asked what advice he had for students entering the SIUE Computer Science Program, he replied that students should be willing to learn multiple techniques for completing each task set to them, because each solution will have its own strengths and weaknesses. Joshua Hockett .images/2006/2006-04-17_Joshua_Hockett_preview.jpg Joshua Hockett’s Outstanding Student Award http://www.cs.siue.edu/news/story.aspx?StoryID=200504070 Joshua Hockett’s Senior Project Team http://www.cs.siue.edu/SeniorProjects/2005/fall/?Group=PathFinder Grace Murray Hopper http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Murray_Hopper SIUE Foundation http://www.siue.edu/foundation/ The 2006 Honors Convocation This year, thirteen students received awards from the Computer Science Department. These students were recognized at the 2006 Honors Convocation in front of their families and SIUE faculty members. This year, thirteen students received awards from the Computer Science Department. The honorees are selected each year by the CS Department’s Faculty for demonstrating academic excellence. In addition to being recognized at the 2006 SIUE Honors Convocation, each student will receive a monetary award. Merit Award: Neil Custer, Jim Eldred, Phillip Klinefelter, Jim Mruzik, Richard Sodders, and Kirk Wilson Outstanding Sophmore Award: Kit Menke Outstanding Junior Award: Ella Blackledge and Jesse Cook Outstanding Senior Award: John Hawthorne and Nate Mikeska SIUE Grace Murray Hopper Award: Joshua Hockett SIUE Ella Ott Weisman Award: Ross Mead SIUE Honors Convocation .images/2006/2006-04-10_SIUE_Honors_Convocation_preview.png The 2006 Outstanding Senior Awards Every year, the Computer Science Department recognizes some seniors for having shown academic excellence during their career at SIUE. This year, the CS faculty committee selected John Hawthorn and Nate Mikeska from the senior class to receive this honor. Every year, the Computer Science Department recognizes some seniors for having shown academic excellence during their career at SIUE. This year, the CS faculty committee selected John Hawthorn and Nate Mikeska from the senior class to receive this honor. John Hawthorn is currently enrolled in the first semester of his senior project on the CryptKeeper team. He has not decided where he wants to work when he graduates, but he will be placing a higher value on doing something he enjoys than on making more money. His favorite computer science activity is programming. He says that, "it gives a sense of accomplishment and the finished product is something meaningful that you can be proud of." Nate Mikeska is currently enrolled in the second semester of his senior project. His team, called CLIP, is creating an application to help chemistry students learn how chemists organize data. Nate’s favorite computer science topics are artificial intelligence and computer graphics. He is currently job hunting, but is seriously considering working for Boeing in St. Louis. John and Nate are just two of the CS honorees this year. Watch the SIUE CS News site over the next week for further stories about exceptional students. John Hawthorne and Nathan Mikeska .images/2006/2006-04-07_John_Hawthorne_and_Nathan_Mikeska_preview.jpg .images/2006/2006-04-07_John_Hawthorne_and_Nathan_Mikeska.jpg John Hawthorne’s Senior Project http://www.cs.siue.edu/SeniorProjects/2006/spring/?Group=CryptKeeper Nathan Mikeska’s Senior Project http://www.cs.siue.edu/SeniorProjects/2005/fall/?Group=CLIP Brad Nunnally Awarded by Microsoft The SIUE Microsoft Student Ambassador was recently selected as the top student ambassador in the Midwest region. He was offered a selection of prizes and he chose to receive an X-Box 360. Since his year will soon be up, he is looking for a successor among the SIUE students interested in technology. The SIUE Microsoft Student Ambassador was recently selected as the top student ambassador in the Midwest region. A top student ambassador is selected each semester based on the number and variety of activities that he or she sponsors. Brad was offered a selection of prizes including several digital gadgets and he chose to receive an X-Box 360. Microsoft states that the job of a student ambassador is to "share knowledge with fellow students through campus groups, clubs, and online communities." Brad frequently works with CAOS to fulfill his duties. Starting April 15th, Microsoft will be opening the nomination process for next-year's student ambassadors. Brad and CAOS are eager to find a new student ambassador because the program brings speakers and other resources to campus. In order to be eligible, you must be sponsored by a faculty member or the previous student ambassador. Brad Nunnally .images/2006/2006-04-04_Brad_Nunnally_preview.jpg Microsoft Student Ambassador Program http://www.studentambassador.net/ CAOS http://caos.siue.edu Fire at the Engineering Building On Friday at about 3:30, some bushes directly below the Computer Science Department’s main office caught fire. The SIUE Police and Edwardsville Fire Department put out the fire quickly and the Engineering Building does not seem to have sustained any damage. On Friday at about 3:30, some bushes directly below the Computer Science Department’s main office caught fire. Department Chair Dr. Weinberg reported seeing smoke outside his office window and called down to the first floor to see what was happening. Upon discovering the fire, Andrew Lamonica (also of the CS Department) called 911, and the campus police quickly put out the blaze. The Edwardsville Fire Department followed up by drenching the site of the fire to ensure that no further outbreaks would occur. The cause of the fire was not immediately apparent, but the blaze was spread quickly from bush to bush by heavy wind. The Engineering Building does not seem to have sustained any damage. However, the greenery on the south-east side of the building was completely scorched. Edwardsville Fire Department at the Engineering Building .images/2006/2006-03-31_Edwardsville_Fire_Department_Arrives_preview.jpg Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Police Department http://www.siue.edu/POLICE/ City of Edwardsville Fire Department http://www.cityofedwardsville.com/fire/ SIUE Engineering Building http://www.cs.siue.edu/facilities/?Where=EB Fun and Games in CS 438 Dr. Yu’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) class held a Connect-Four competition on Monday. The competition pits each student’s artificially intelligent program against all the others to select the one that plays the best. Computer science senior David Falbe’s AI was the most effective losing only one time during the entire competition. Dr. Yu’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) class held a Connect-Four competition on Monday. The competition pits each student’s artificially intelligent program against all the others to select the one that plays the best. The student’s programs perform a heuristic search of thousands possible board configurations to select the best move of those available. The move that is selected is then displayed on an open source interface called Link4. Computer science senior David Falbe’s AI was the most effective. It lost only one time during the entire competition. Dr. Xudong Teaches AI Class .images/2006/2006-03-28_Artificial_Intelligence_Class_Competition_preview.jpg Artificial Intelligence Class (CS 438) http://www.cs.siue.edu/csd/courses.pl?action=view&courseno=CS438 Dr. Xudong Yu http://www.cs.siue.edu/faculty/?Who=xyu Link4 Game Interface http://www.cs.siue.edu/gameplaying Robots with Gameboys for Brains The SIUE Robotics Integrated Systems Design class had its third competition on March 22nd. In this competition students built and programmed robots that use Nintendo Gameboys for their brains. On March 22nd, the interdisciplinary Robotics Integrated Systems Design course taught by Drs. Jerry Weinberg, Cem Karacal, and George Engel had its third competition. In this competition students built and programmed robots to navigate a mock industrial accident site complete with soda-can barrels of hazard waste and a fire simulated by a light-bulb. The robots that competed in this challenge were built primarily out of Lego bricks but with a more powerful controller than the typical Lego RCX. This controller was developed for academic and research institutions by Charmed Labs and has a single remarkable feature. The controller uses a Nintendo Gameboy Advance for its processor, memory, and human interface. The Gameboys have proven to be more reliable and faster than the custom-built microcontrollers used in past years and have the added benefit of being able to play Tetris. Robot with Gameboy Brain .images/2006/2006-03-24_Robot_with_Gameboy_Brain_preview.jpg Robotics Integrated Systems Design Class http://roboti.cs.siue.edu/classes/integratedsystems/ Autonomous Firefighter Assignment Description (PDF) http://roboti.cs.siue.edu/classes/integratedsystems/assignments/2006/Lab4/Lab4_2006.pdf Charmed Labs http://www.charmedlabs.com/ KISS Institute of Practical Robotics http://www.kipr.org/ LEGO Mindstorms http://mindstorms.lego.com/ Nintendo Gameboy Advance http://www.gameboy.com/ The Facts about AJAX On Tuesday the 14th at 8:00pm in the Engineering Building Auditorium, Andrew Lamonica of the Department of Computer Science will give a talk on the emerging web technology known as AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML). Students, Faculty, and all other interested parties are invited to attend. On Tuesday the 14th at 8:00pm in the Engineering Building Auditorium, Andrew Lamonica of the Computer Science Dept. will give a talk on the emerging web technology known as AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML). AJAX is gaining wide acceptance in the web-development community and is the technology behind Google Maps, Digg.com, Microsoft’s Start.com, and the Gmail interface. The talk will provide an introduction to the AJAX component technologies (JavaScript, XML, the DOM, HTML and XHTML) and practical demonstrations of their uses in AJAX. The demonstrations and discussion will be appropriate for students with at least some programming experience and an interest in website development. This event is sponsored by the Computer Association of SIUE (CAOS). The Facts about AJAX .images/2006/2006-03-11_The_Facts_about_AJAX_preview.png Official Announcement http://www.cs.siue.edu/news/files/2006/The-Facts-about-AJAX-Announcement.pdf The Engineering Building Auditorium http://www.cs.siue.edu/facilities/?Where=EB1033 AJAX Definition on WikiPedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AJAX AJAX Demonstration (Reversi Game) http://lamonica.info/games/reversa/ The Computer Association of SIUE (CAOS) http://caos.siue.edu Technology and Pop Culture On Tuesday the 28th, Dr. Jerry Weinberg will be giving a presentation on "Technology and the Popular Culture." Dr. Weinberg will discuss how the rapid advancement of technology in recent decades affects society and how popular culture portrays rapid technological growth in general. Dr. Weinberg is an expert in the areas of artificial intelligence and human computer interaction making him an ideal speaker on how humans perceive cutting-edge technologies. The speech will be given at 5:00pm in the Engineering Building Auditorium (EB1033). On Tuesday the 28th, Dr. Jerry Weinberg will be giving a presentation on "Technology and the Popular Culture." Dr. Weinberg will discuss how the rapid advancement of technology in recent decades affects society and how popular culture portrays rapid technological growth in general. Dr. Weinberg is an expert in the areas of artificial intelligence and human computer interaction making him an ideal speaker on how humans perceive cutting-edge technologies. The speech will be given at 5:00pm in the Engineering Building Auditorium (EB1033). Photo from Tron the Movie .images/2006/2006-02-27_Photo_from_Tron_the_Movie_preview.jpg Dr. Jerry Weinberg http://www.cs.siue.edu/faculty/?Who=weinberj Engineering Open House 2006 Thanks to all the students, faculty, and staff who participated in this year's Engineering Open House. This was the fifth annual open house event and about 350 visitors came to see what engineering at SIUE has to offer. The Computer Science Department presented its robotics projects as well as networking and AI demonstrations. Meanwhile, CAOS held a network gaming activity to attract new members and Edwardsville High School ran a Robotics Mini-camp with resources provided by SIUE CS. Thanks to all the students, faculty, and staff who participated in this year's Engineering Open House. This was the fifth annual open house event and about 350 visitors came to see what engineering at SIUE has to offer. The Computer Science Department presented its robotics projects as well as networking and AI demonstrations. Meanwhile, CAOS held a network gaming activity to attract new members and Edwardsville High School ran a Robotics Mini-camp with resources provided by SIUE CS. Visitors to the 2006 SIUE Engineering Open House .images/2006/2006-02-21_Engineering_Open_House_preview.jpg Pictures from the 2006 Open House http://www.cs.siue.edu/news/supplements/2006/openhouse/ School of Engineering http://www.siue.edu/ENGINEER/ ASP.NET 2.0 Talk On Friday at 7pm in room EB1033, Jim Chandler of the St. Louis .NET Users Group will speak on using ASP.NET 2.0 and Visual Studio 2005 to produce high-performance web applications. This is the first of several guest speakers on Microsoft Development Technologies, courtesy of Brad Nunnally the Microsoft Student Ambassador and CAOS the Computer Association of SIUE. On Friday at 7pm in room EB1033, Jim Chandler of the St. Louis .NET Users Group will be giving a talk on ASP.NET 2.0 and how to develop with it in Visual Studio 2005. ASP.NET 2.0 is the latest Microsoft website development language. It uses the 2.0 version of the .NET Framework to create fast and scalable web-applications and web-services like those that power the SIUE CS website. Jim Chandler has over 20 years of experience working as a software developer in the Midwest. He was a contributing author on the ASP.NET Bible and Visual Basic.NET Bible and is an active member of the St. Louis .NET Users Group. This is the first of several speakers on Microsoft Development Technologies who plan to speak at SIUE this semester. The speakers are provided courtesy of Brad Nunnally the Microsoft Student Ambassador and CAOS the Computer Association of SIUE. Food and drink will be provided as well as door prizes from Microsoft. Jim Chandler of the St. Louis .NET Users Group .images/2006/2006-02-08_Jim_Chandler_preview.jpg St. Louis .NET Users Group http://www.stlnet.org/ Computer Association of SIUE http://caos.siue.edu E-Mail Microsoft Student Ambassador Brad Nunnally mailto:siue.msa@gmail.com Microsoft’s ASP.NET Site http://msdn.microsoft.com/asp.net/ ASP.NET Bible http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0764548166.html New Faculty Candidates The Dept. of Computer Science is currently conducting a search for a new faculty member. The department has received more than eighty applications and has selected three candidates to be interviewed this month. During the interview, each candidate will give a one hour presentation in front of students and spend thirty minutes talking with them afterwards. The next of these presentations is Feb. 14th at 10:00am in room 1008. All students are invited to attend. For the last semester, the Dept. of Computer Science has been conducting a search for a new faculty member. The department has received more than eighty applications and has selected three candidates to interview this month. Each candidate's interview is a day-long event and includes a one-and-a-half hour session for the candidate to interact with SIUE students. The first hour of this session is devoted to the candidate teaching a lecture on a topic that interests him or her. The last thirty minutes is spent in a meeting session that is closed to current CS Faculty, where students can ask the candidate questions and the candidate can learn about SIUE from a student's prospective. We strongly encourage students to participate in these events as it gives them an opportunity to meet a future faculty member and it gives the faculty candidates a better feeling for teaching at SIUE. Schedule: Feb. 2nd at 1:00pm in Room EB1010 Feb. 8th at 11:00am in Room EB1010 Feb. 14th at 10:00am in Room EB1008 2006 Computer Science Faculty Candidates .images/2006/2006-02-01_New_Computer_Science_Faculty_Candidates_preview.jpg Faculty Position Advertisement http://www.cs.siue.edu/employment/2005-09-08_Faculty_Position.html Current CS Faculty http://www.cs.siue.edu/faculty Artificial Neural Networks Class In the fall semester of 2006, Dr. Dan Dooly of the Computer Science Dept. will be teaching a class in Artificial Neural Networks. The primary emphasis of this class will be the practical application of neural networks to solve real world problems. The class will use open-source tools to create and study the properties of artificial neural networks. Students will design and implement artificial neural networks that play games and complete simple tasks, while learning how neural networks are used in serious applications such as medical diagnosis and computer security. In the fall semester of 2006, Dr. Dan Dooly of the Computer Science Dept. will be teaching a class in Artificial Neural Networks. The primary emphasis of this class will be the practical application of neural networks to solve real world problems. The class will use open-source tools to create and study the properties of artificial neural networks. Students will design and implement artificial neural networks that play games and complete simple tasks, while learning how neural networks are used in serious applications such as medical diagnosis and computer security. Diagram of an Artificial Neural Network that performs the XOR operation .images/2006/2006-01-27_Artificial_Neural_Network_for_XOR_preview.png Dr. Dan Dooly http://www.cs.siue.edu/faculty/?Who=doolyd Artificial Neural Networks on WikiPedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_neural_network Network Security Class Offered In the fall semester of 2006, Dr. Hiroshi Fujinoki of the Computer Science Dept. will be teaching a class in network security. This course approaches network security from both a theoretical and practical angle. The theoretical study will include a discussion of core network security concepts and a literature review. While the practical study will focus on security incident case studies and the use of network security tools such as firewalls, encryption, and digital signatures. In the fall semester of 2006, Dr. Hiroshi Fujinoki of the Computer Science Dept. will be teaching a class in network security. This course approaches network security from both a theoretical and practical angle. The theoretical study will include a discussion of core network security concepts and a literature review. While the practical study will focus on security incident case studies and the use of network security tools such as firewalls, encryption, and digital signatures. William Stallings’ "Network Security Essentials" will be the primary text for this class. This class is listed as a CS490 Topics in Computer Science class and is open to students who have completed CS414 and CS447. Screenshots of Network Security Applications .images/2006/2006-01-23_Network_Security_Applications_preview.png Dr. Hiroshi Fujinoki http://www.cs.siue.edu/faculty/?Who=fujinokh Network Security Essentials Textbook http://vig.prenhall.com/catalog/academic/product/0,1144,0130351288,00.html Visual Studio 2005 Starting this semester, the Dept. of Computer Science has switched to Visual Studio 2005 and the .NET Framework 2.0. This new development environment form Microsoft has many improvements over (the previously used) Visual Studio .NET 2003. These improvements include better documentation, a cleaner .NET-debugging interface, refactoring tools, and the ability to debug web-based (ASPX) applications in a secure lab environment, among others. Computer science students will be able to download licensed versions of Visual Studio 2005 for their home computer via the MSDNAA as well as use it in the engineering labs. Starting this semester, the Dept. of Computer Science has switched to Visual Studio 2005 and the .NET Framework 2.0. This new development environment form Microsoft has many improvements over (the previously used) Visual Studio .NET 2003. These improvements include better documentation, a cleaner .NET-debugging interface, refactoring tools, and the ability to debug web-based (ASPX) applications in a secure lab environment, among others. Computer science students will be able to download licensed versions of Visual Studio 2005 for their home computer via the MSDNAA as well as use it in the engineering labs. Visual Studio 2005 Professional Box Shot .images/2006/2006-01-09_Visual_Studio_2005_Box_preview.jpg Microsoft’s Visual Studio 2005 Website http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/ Get Visual Studio 2005 Professional via the MSDNAA http://software.cs.siue.edu/msdnaa What is Refactoring http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refactoring Bryan Grubaugh Selected as Commencement Speaker Computer science student Bryan Grubaugh has been selected as student speaker for the fall commencement ceremony. Bryan is the fourth computer science student to be so honored in the last four years. He recently completed an undergraduate research academy (URA) project that examined how electronic monitoring affects computer usability studies. In addition to showing academic excellence, Bryan has been heavily involved in CAOS as its treasurer and as a frequent contributor to the CAOS forums. After graduation, he will be taking his human computer interaction expertise to Perficient, a consulting firm that focuses on business application design. Computer science student Bryan Grubaugh has been selected as student speaker for the fall commencement ceremony. Bryan is the fourth computer science student to be so honored in the last four years. He recently completed an undergraduate research academy (URA) project that examined how electronic monitoring affects computer usability studies. In addition to showing academic excellence, Bryan has been heavily involved in CAOS as its treasurer and as a frequent contributor to the CAOS forums. After graduation, he will be taking his human computer interaction expertise to Perficient, a consulting firm that focuses on business application design. Bryan Grubaugh .images/2005/2005-12-14_Bryan_Grubaug_preview.jpg SIUE Commencement http://www.siue.edu/commencement/ Bryan Grubaugh in CAOS Forums http://caos.siue.edu/userinfo.php?uid=336 Perficient http://www.perficient.com/ SIUE Takes Fifth at ACM ICPC Regional Congratulations to Jonathon Birch, Nathan Mikeska, and Andrew Garrison for their outstanding finish at this year’s ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC). The team, coached by Dr. Stephen Blythe, took 5th place out of 122 competing teams. On November 5th, a team comprised of Jonathon Birch, Andrew Garrison, and Nathan Mikeska, coached by Dr. Stephen Blythe, spent five grueling hours at Webster University as they competed in the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC). The competition required each competing team to solve as many problems as they could in five hours. The team from SIUE was able to finish an amazing six out of nine problems, which placed them 5th in the Mid-Central region. The Mid-Central region consists of 122 teams from five states, including Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, and Illinois. This is the second consecutive year that SIUE has finished fifth place at the ICPC. SIUE ACM Programming Team A including Jonathon Birch(left), Nathan Mikeska, and Andrew Garrison(right) .images/2005/2005-11-16_ACM_ICPC_Team_Jonathon_Birch_Nathan_Mikeska_and_Andrew_Garrison_preview.jpg ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest http://icpc.baylor.edu/icpc/ ACM ICPC Mid-Central Region http://csc.missouristate.edu/~mcpc/ ACM ICPC Mid-Central Region 2005 Standings http://csc.missouristate.edu/~score/mcpc2005.cgi?view=99 ACM ICPC Mid-Central Region 2005 Problem Set http://csc.missouristate.edu/~mcpc/archives/2005/mcpc2005/browse.html SIUE Takes Second at MechMania XI On Saturday, October 8th, Jonathan Birch, Mike Grim, and Ross Mead represented the Department of Computer Science in MechMania XI. Their team, known as BGM, took home second place out of sixteen teams in the double-elimination tournament. Participating teams consisted of undergraduate and graduate students from schools such as UIUC, UIS, WashU, UMR, and NIU. Congratulations to team BGM! On Saturday, October 8th, Jonathan Birch, Mike Grim, and Ross Mead represented the Department of Computer Science in MechMania XI, an AI programming tournament at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Their team, known as BGM (Birch-Grim-Mead), took home second place out of sixteen teams in the double-elimination portion of the tournament. MechMania is part of the ACM's Annual Reflections | Projections Student Computing Conference, which is in its eleventh year. Each MechMania XI team was given 18 hours to implement an artificial intelligence program capable of defeating the programs of other the contestants. The same programming specification was provided to each to team the night before the competition. This specification defined the parameters of the competition and the capabilities of each team's computerized agents. This year's competition had a medieval theme, which included castles, fighters, archers, and wizards. Units would battle each other while trying to locate a randomly placed "Mech", which could be delivered to the enemy team's base for an instant win. Participating teams consisted of undergraduate and graduate students from schools such as UIUC, UIS, WashU, UMR, and NIU. Congratulations to Jonathan, Mike, and Ross for a job well done! MechMania battle including a Team BGM archer shooting an enemy .images/2005/2005-10-20_MechMania_Battle_preview.png MechMania http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/conference/mechmania.php ACM's Annual Reflections | Projections Student Computing Conference http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/conference/ Microsoft Kick-off Event Computer Science Student Brad Nunnally has recently been chosen as the Microsoft Student Ambassador to SIU. Microsoft says that this award is given to "college students in the United States who have demonstrated strong technical knowledge of Microsoft developer technologies, and who willingly share that knowledge with fellow students through campus groups, clubs, and online communities." In addition to sharing knowledge, however, Brad says that he will also be giving away "free stuff." To kick off his ambassadorship, Brad is holding a meeting on Thursday October 20th. Computer Science Student Brad Nunnally has recently been chosen as the Microsoft Student Ambassador to SIU. Microsoft says that this award is given to "college students in the United States who have demonstrated strong technical knowledge of Microsoft developer technologies, and who willingly share that knowledge with fellow students through campus groups, clubs, and online communities." In addition to sharing knowledge, however, Brad says that he will also be giving away "free stuff." To kick off his ambassadorship, Brad is holding a meeting on Thursday October 20th. The meeting will be held in the Engineering Building room 1033 and 4:30pm and there will be free pizza, soda, and prizes. Brad will discuss his duties as Microsoft student ambassador and announce upcoming Microsoft-related events. Microsoft Ready to Launch .images/2005/2005-10-18_Microsoft_Ready_to_Launch_preview.png Meeting Announcement http://caos.siue.edu/~caos/MSKickOffEvent.pdf Official Microsoft Student Ambassador Site http://www.studentambassador.net Network Simulator Demonstration Given On October 10th, Ken Wong, a faculty member from the CS Department at Washington University, and Charles Wiseman, a graduate student in CS, gave a presentation on the Open Network Lab in Dr. Fujinoki's CS 547 class. ONL, which was funded by the National Science Foundation, allows remote users to access this resource via a web browser. The web site provides documentation on using the system, several tutorials, and a mechanism to configure the network and to run experiments. Once a user registers, that user may reserve a time to run experiments and to configure the network remotely. The network is intended to be used for both research and as educational tool. Dr. Fujinoki hopes to develop several exercises for his networking classes that will make use of ONL. On October 10th, Ken Wong, a faculty member from the CS Department at Washington University, and Charles Wiseman, a graduate student in CS, gave a presentation on the Open Network Lab in Dr. Fujinoki's CS 547 class. ONL, which was funded by the National Science Foundation, allows remote users to access this resource via a web browser. The web site provides documentation on using the system, several tutorials, and a mechanism to configure the network and to run experiments. Once a user registers, that user may reserve a time to run experiments and to configure the network remotely. The network is intended to be used for both research and as educational tool. Dr. Fujinoki hopes to develop several exercises for his networking classes that will make use of ONL. Open Network Lab Overview Slide .images/2005/2005-10-12_Open_Network_Lab_Overview_preview.png Open Network Lab Website http://www.onl.arl.wustl.edu Dr. Ken Wong http://www.arl.wustl.edu/~kenw/ Dr. Hiroshi Fujinoki http://www.cs.siue.edu/faculty/?Who=fujinokh Edmond Abrahamian to Give Talk In the world of technological research the biotech and software development, industries are two of the most active. Edmond Abrahamian works in the middle-ground between these industries known as Discovery Informatics. On October 13th, however, Dr. Abrahamian will be taking a few hours off from hunting for useful molecules to discuss some new software that his team has developed. In the world of technological research the biotech and software development, industries are two of the most active. Edmond Abrahamian works in the middle-ground between these industries known as Discovery Informatics. On October 13th at 4:30pm in the Engineering Building Auditorium, however, Dr. Abrahamian will be taking a few hours off from hunting for useful molecules to discuss some new software that his team has developed. Here is what Dr. Abrahamian has to say about this software. "Most existing bitmap containers used to store molecular descriptors are poorly suited for descriptors that can span a very large solution space. We present a bitmap container that uses a compression scheme to characterize the bitmap, while allowing on-the-fly bitmap operations on the compressed bitmap, with no need to decompress it first. Examples and detailed performance analyses will be presented." A computer model of a ligand bound to a protein .images/2005/2005-10-10_Computer_Model_of_a_Ligand_Bound_to_a_Protein_preview.jpg Announcement Details files/2005-10-10_Abrahamian_Bitmap_Compression_Talk_Anouncement.doc Tripos http://www.tripos.com/ Engineering Students Teach Computer Fundamentals Thanks to a grant arranged by Ron Banks and Bernard Waxman, the SOE and Computer Science Dept. have hired four students to teach computer fundamentals at the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center in East St. Louis. Pavankumar Reddy Jataprolu, Prasanth K. Mandali, Harshavardhan Raghaula, and Swati Jain have taught a wide range of computer skills to students from early grade school to late high school. This semester, the older students are learning computer construction and repair, while the younger students are learning basic computer skills through the use of educational games. Thanks to a grant arranged by Ron Banks and Bernard Waxman, the SOE and Computer Science Dept. have hired four students to teach computer fundamentals at the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center in East St. Louis. Pavankumar Reddy Jataprolu, Prasanth K. Mandali, Harshavardhan Raghaula, and Swati Jain have taught a wide range of computer skills to students from early grade school to late high school. This semester, the older students are learning computer construction and repair, while the younger students are learning basic computer skills through the use of educational games. Swati Jain helps a young student at the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center .images/2005/2005-09-30_Swati_Helps_a_Young_Student_preview.jpg Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation http://jackiejoyner-kerseefoundation.org/ Ronald Banks http://www.siue.edu/ENGINEER/IE/IME_Faculty/ime_banks.html Bernard Waxman http://www.cs.siue.edu/faculty/?Who=waxmanb Robotics Used to Turn Girls into Engineers Jerry Weinberg, Associate Professor of Computer Science, in partnership with the KISS Institute for Practical Robotics and Saint Louis University, has received a $360,000 National Science Foundation grant (# HRD-0522400). The grant will be used to investigate the effects of participating in robotics competitions on girls’ perceptions of their abilities and interests in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math. There is clear evidence that shows robotics projects are an engaging educational tool. Previous National Science Foundation grants, "Agents for Change: Robotics for Girls" and the "Tufts Engineering: The Next Steps Project", have been successful in creating curriculum for teaching and encouraging girls in the study of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). While it appears clear that robotics projects energize students toward participating in the activities, it is less clear whether such projects translate into long-term interests in STEM areas of study and, ultimately, career choices. A vital component to understanding the "achievement-related choices" people make when deciding what areas to study, what careers to pursue, and the strength of commitment they make to accomplish their goals is a person’s perception of self-achievement in a particular area of study. This grant will fund an in depth study of participants in a robotics educational program to gain an understanding of how such programs may have a short term effect on girls’ perception of their achievement in STEM areas and whether this translates into long term choices in study and career options. The study will apply a long-standing model in motivation theory, the expectancy-value theory, to examine a variety of factors that surround girls’ perceptions of their achievements. Three girls participating in a robotics competition at SIUE .images/2005/2005-09-14_Girls_Work_on_Robot_preview.jpg Agents for Change: Robotics for Girls http://www.ircs.upenn.edu/pennlincs/ Tufts Engineering: The Next Steps Project http://www.ceeo.tufts.edu/gk12/ The National Science Foundation http://www.nsf.gov National Science Foundation Award #HRD-0522400 http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward.do?AwardNumber=0522400 The ACM Reports on the grant http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2005-7/0907w.html#item4 Compiler Construction Returns to SIUE After an absence of nearly a decade, Compiler Construction (CS423) will once again be offered in spring of 2006. Dr. Stephen Blythe will be teaching the class, which will cover the internal workings of modern software compilers. Students will be assigned several programming assignments, culminating in the creation of a compiler for a language designed by Dr. Blythe. For these projects, students will learn to use tools such as Flex and Bison in a Linux environment. This spring, the computer science department will be offering a class in compiler design. While this class has been in listed in the course guide for many years, it has not been offered at SIUE for nearly a decade. However, when Dr. Stephen Blythe joined the Department in 2004, the department gained an assistant professor with the know-how, motivation, and interest to teach this class. The compiler construction class, CS 423, will cover the fundamentals of compiler design. These fundamentals include the procedures and algorithms used to translate source code into intermediate and machine code, and the optimization strategies used by modern compilers. In addition to the principals of compiler design, students will gain hands-on experience by creating their own compilers for a small programming language. To aid in this project, students will be instructed in the operation of Flex and Bison, which are two tools that assist in the creation of compilers. Hello world program written in C fading to binary numbers on all sides .images/2005/2005-09-09_Hello_World_preview.png Dr. Stephen Blythe's Home Page http://www.siue.edu/~sblythe/ Legacy description of the CS423 Class https://www.cs.siue.edu/csd/courses.pl?action=view&courseno=CS423 Bison (general-purpose parser generator) http://www.gnu.org/software/bison/ Flex (lexical analyser generator) http://www.gnu.org/software/flex/ Game Design Course Offered Spring 2006 In the spring 2006 semester, the Department of Computer Science is offering a new elective - CS490: Game Design, Development, & Technology. Using the International Game Developers Association's curriculum framework, this course provides an introduction to the entire process of game development. This course will be taught by Dr. Bill White, who specializes in computer graphics. In the spring 2006 semester, the Department of Computer Science is offering a new elective - CS490: Game Design, Development, & Technology. Using the International Game Developers Association's curriculum framework, this course provides an introduction to the entire process of game development. Topics include the history and social impact of video games, game design issues, game programming (DirectX, OpenGL), the math and physics of games, graphics and animation techniques, artificial intelligence in games, audio-visual design and production recent technological advances, and the business of gaming. The course will be taught by Dr. Bill White, who specializes in computer graphics. Related courses Dr. White has taught include CS482 - Computer Graphics, CS490 - Artificial Intelligence and Computer Graphics Techniques in Computer Gaming, and CS490 - Virtual Reality. This course will be offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:00AM - 12:15PM. Prerequisites include CS312, CS321, and Math 152. This course does not count for graduate credit. Destory All Humans .images/2005/2005-08-30_Destroy_All_Humans_preview.jpg Full Announcement http://www.cs.siue.edu/wwhite/CS490Announcement_Spring2006.pdf Dr. Bill White http://www.cs.siue.edu/faculty/?Who=whitew Computer Graphics http://www.cs.siue.edu/wwhite/CS482/Syllabus.htm Welcome New CS Students As the Fall 2005 semester starts, the Department of Computer Science would like to welcome students new to our program and provide some useful information about where to find assistance, how to download needed software, and how to become more involved with the department. Welcome to the SIUE Department of Computer Science. Whether you are taking just one class or intend to get a graduate degree, we are glad to have you and hope that you will enjoy learning about computer science. To help you get started with our program, here are a few things that you should know about. Receiving Assistance: The Department of Computer Science provides assistance to its students in several ways. If you have general questions about the department, you can always call the main office at (618)-650-2386 (or x2386 on campus). If you are having difficulty with a programming assignment, you can visit our Tutor Lab (EB 1036) for assistance. If you are having technical difficulties using departmental resources, please call (618)-650-2398 (or x2398 on campus). Getting Software: In addition to textbooks, most computer science classes require the use of development software. Because development software is often expensive, we (in conjunction with Microsoft) have provided a method for students enrolled in CS classes to get it for free or at a dramatically reduced rate. Development software such as Visual Studio .NET 2003 can be downloaded or ordered through the CSD website by clicking on the MSDNAA link (see links below). Becoming Involved: The Department of Computer Science encourages all of its students to become involved in making the department better. Graduate students can become involved through assistantships and many upperclassmen can become tutors, graders, or technical assistants. But you do not have to be advanced in your academic career to become involved with the Computer Science Department. Both graduates and undergraduates are encouraged to join the Computer Association of SIUE (CAOS) and participate in its events and discussions. The CAOS website is one of the most active sites on campus. If you enjoy solving programming problems, you should consider trying out for the Department's ACM Programming Team, which finished 5th in the region last year. Finally, we are always open to suggestions. If you think of something that could make the department better, feel free to drop us an e-mail. New Students Wait in the Engineering Building Lobby .images/2005/2005-08-22_New_Students_Wait_in_Engineering_Building_preview.jpg Resources for CS Students http://www.cs.siue.edu/studentServices/ CSD (Includes MSDNAA Downloads) http://www.cs.siue.edu/csd/ Student Employment Opportunities http://www.stuemp.siue.edu/ Computer Association of SIUE (CAOS) http://caos.siue.edu ACM Programming Team Article http://www.cs.siue.edu/news/story.aspx?StoryID=200411060 New CS Department Chair Appointed The Department of Computer Science is proud to announce that Dr. Jerry Weinberg will be taking over for Dr. Bernard Waxman as the new department chair. Dr. Weinberg has worked for the CS department for nine years and served as acting Chair in 2003. Dr. Waxman will be teaching this fall semester and will take over as interim Dean of the School of Engineering at the beginning of the 2006. The Department of Computer Science is proud to announce that Dr. Jerry Weinberg will be taking over for Dr. Bernard Waxman as the new department chair. Dr. Weinberg has worked for the CS department for nine years and served as acting Chair in 2003. Dr. Waxman will be teaching this fall semester and will take over as interim Dean of the School of Engineering at the beginning of the 2006. A CS Department Chair typically serves a three year term, but may serve multiple terms. Dr. Weinberg is the fifth faculty member to hold the position of Chair of the Department of Computer Science since it's founding in 1986. Faculty members that have previously held this position include Dr. Bernard Waxman, Dr. Marilynn Livingston, Dr. Greg Stephen, and Dr. Jimmie Hattemer (pictured left). CS Department Chair Dr. Jerry Weinberg .images/2005/2005-08-16_CS_Department_Chair_Jerry_Weinberg_preview.jpg Dr. Jerry Weinberg http://www.cs.siue.edu/faculty/?Who=weinberj Dr. Bernard Waxman http://www.siue.edu/~bwaxman/ SIUE School of Engineering http://www.siue.edu/ENGINEER/ Sheila Shapari Gives Commencement Speech Each academic term, an outstanding student is selected to give the commencement speech for the graduating class. On August 6th, Sheila Shapari gave this speech for the Summer 2005 commencement. Sheila is the third computer science student to have given the commencement speech in the past ten semesters, following Jyoti Dharna and Erin Harris. Congratulations Sheila! Each academic term, an outstanding student is selected to give the commencement speech for the graduating class. On August 6th, Sheila Shapari gave this speech for the Summer 2005 commencement. Sheila is the third computer science student to have given the commencement speech in the past ten semesters, following Jyoti Dharna and Erin Harris. Congratulations Sheila! Commencement Speaker Sheila Shapari .images/2005/2005-07-29_Commencement_Speaker_Sheila_Shapari_preview.jpg Commencement http://www.siue.edu/commencement Congratulations to SIUE Summer Graduates http://www.thealestle.com/media/paper351/news/2005/07/27/News/Congratulations.To.Siue.Summer.Graduates-964338.shtml Erin Harris Presents Research to UPA 2005 Erin Harris presented results from her undergraduate research at the 2005 Usability Professionals' Association (UPA) conference in Montreal, Quebec. The UPA "supports those who promote and advance the development of usable products, reaching out to people who act as advocates for usability and the user experience." Erin's study examined aspects of usability testing to determine if the effects of social facilitation and electronic monitoring are present. Erin Harris presented results from her undergraduate research at the 2005 Usability Professionals' Association (UPA) conference in Montreal, Quebec. The UPA "supports those who promote and advance the development of usable products, reaching out to people who act as advocates for usability and the user experience." Erin's study examined aspects of usability testing to determine if the effects of social facilitation and electronic monitoring are present. Typical usability testing includes the use of facilitators, observation rooms, and electronic monitoring. Because users are being observed during the testing process, software designers must consider the psychological effects of social facilitation on the results. Social facilitation theory states that a person’s performance is affected when being observed. Erin's study examined three aspects of usability testing: 1) persistent knowledge of being observed, 2) presence of a facilitator, and 3) persistent knowledge of being videotaped. Four groups of subjects were run through a usability test, each group varying in the amount of direct observation and electronic monitoring. In each of the experimental groups significant statistical effects were found in the number of errors the users made. The results suggest ways usability testing should be conducted to minimize the effects of social facilitation. Undergraduate Research Academy Scholar Erin Harris .images/2005/2005-07-25_Erin_Harris_preview.jpg Undergraduate Research Academy (URA) http://www.siue.edu/~deder/assess/ura.html Usability Professionals' Association (UPA) http://www.upassoc.org/ Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) http://www.cs.siue.edu/hci/ "Effects of Social Facilitation & Electronic Monitoring on Usability Testing" http://www.cs.siue.edu/hci/NSF/Files/Pubs/UPA2005/HarrisUPA2005.pdf "Facilitator Induce Errors: The Effects of Social Facilitation and Electronic Monitoring on Usability Testing" http://www.cs.siue.edu/hci/NSF/Files/Pubs/UPA2005/HarrisUPA2005.ppt Ross Mead Selected by Undergraduate Research Academy Ross Mead has been selected as a 2005-2006 Undergraduate Research Academy Scholar for his research proposal entitled "Algorithms for Control and Interaction of Large Formations of Robots". The Undergraduate Research Academy (URA) recruits eligible students to undertake research and creativity activity under the guidance of dedicated faculty members. Ross will be working with Dr. Jerry Weinberg and Dr. Bill White, who have both signed on as faculty mentors for his research. Ross Mead has been selected as a 2005-2006 Undergraduate Research Academy Scholar for his research proposal entitled "Algorithms for Control and Interaction of Large Formations of Robots". The Undergraduate Research Academy (URA) recruits eligible students to undertake research and creativity activity under the guidance of dedicated faculty members. Ross will be working with Dr. Jerry Weinberg and Dr. Bill White, who have both signed on as faculty mentors for his research. Ross's research is motivated by a joint workshop between NASA and the NSF for harvesting solar power in space. His proposal involves the use of mobile robots to form a solar reflector. The formation of robots will be treated as a lattice of computational elements, or cells. Each cell is in one of a given set of states governed by a set of rules. A command would be sent to a small number of robots, and the formation would transform as other robots react to changes in their neighbors. The formation algorithms created will be tested on 18 ground-based EyeBots, provided by the Department of Computer Science. A graphical human-robot interface will also be created to provide visualization of the formation and update the status of each robot. Undergraduate Research Academy Scholar Ross Mead .images/2005/2005-06-27_Ross_Mead_and_EyeBots_preview.jpg Undergraduate Research Academy (URA) http://www.siue.edu/~deder/assess/ura.html Dr. Jerry Weinberg http://www.cs.siue.edu/jweinbe Dr. Bill White http://www.cs.siue.edu/faculty/?Who=whitew Space Solar Power http://spacesolarpower.nasa.gov EyeBot http://www.joker-robotics.com/eyebot/socbot.html Grace Hopper Award Congratulations to Jonathan Birch for receiving the SIUE Computer Science Grace Hopper award. The Grace Hopper award recognizes students of notable achievement and promise, and is one of the highest awards offered by the department of computer science. The award is named after Grace Murray Hopper, who was a pioneer in the development of the compiler for computing languages. Congratulations to Jonathan Birch for receiving the SIUE Computer Science Grace Hopper award. The Grace Hopper award recognizes students of notable achievement and promise, and is one of the highest awards offered by the department of computer science. The award is named after Grace Murray Hopper, who was a pioneer in the development of the compiler for computing languages. Grace Hopper Award Winner Jonathan Birch .images/2005/2005-06-01_Jonathan_Birch_preview.jpg Grace Murray Hopper http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper Four Outstanding Students Four computer science students will be recognized at this year’s Honors Convocation as being outstanding students. Sheila Shahpari (senior, upper left), Ross Mead (sophomore, lower left), Kirk Wilson (senior, upper right), and Josh Hockett (junior, lower right) were chosen from more than three hundred computer science majors for having excelled in their course work. In addition to recognition each of these students will receive a financial award. Four computer science students will be recognized at this year’s Honors Convocation as being outstanding students. From left to right, Sheila Shahpari (senior), Ross Mead (sophomore), Kirk Wilson (senior), and Josh Hockett (junior) were chosen from more than three hundred computer science majors for having excelled in their course work. In addition to recognition each of these students will receive a financial award. Sheila Shahpari (upper left), Kirk Wilson (upper right), Ross Mead (lower left),and Josh Hockett (lower right) .images/2005/2005-04-07_Sheila_Shahpari_Ross_Mead_Kirk_Wilson_Josh_Hockett_preview.jpg Honors Convocation Details http://events.siue.edu/cgi-bin/calendar.pl?view=Event&event_id=4084 Can Machines Think? On the 18th of March, CAOS (Computer Association of SIUE) sponsored an open discussion directed by Dr. Greg Littmann of the SIUE Department of Philosophy. The discussion, entitled "Is it Possible for a Machine to Think?", covered concepts of artificial intelligence and the nature of human thought. After this serious discussion, participants were invited to stay for the more light-hearted showing of the second season of the machinima series, Red vs. Blue. On the 18th of March, CAOS (Computer Association of SIUE) sponsored an open discussion directed by Dr. Greg Littmann of the SIUE Department of Philosophy. The discussion, entitled "Is it Possible for a Machine to Think?", covered concepts of artificial intelligence and the nature of human thought. After this serious discussion, participants were invited to stay for the more light-hearted showing of the second season of the machinima series, Red vs. Blue. Students watching red vs. blue .images/2005/2005-04-05_students_watching_red_vs_blue.jpg Computer Association of SIUE (CAOS) http://caos.siue.edu Department of Philosophy http://www.siue.edu/PHILOSOPHY Red vs. Blue http://rvb.roosterteeth.com/ CS Department Merit Awards Congratulations to Seniors Joel Hackstadt (left) and Andrew Garrison (right)and Junior Richard Sodders (center) for earning the 2005 CS Department Merit Awards. Merit Awards are given to a few students who have shown academic excellence in computer science courses. The awards recipients are selected by Computer Science Department Faculty. Congratulations to Seniors Joel Hackstadt (left) and Andrew Garrison (right)and Junior Richard Sodders (center) for earning the 2005 CS Department Merit Awards. Merit Awards are given to a few students who have shown academic excellence in computer science courses. The awards recipients are selected by Computer Science Department Faculty. CS Merit Award Winners Joel Hackstadt (left), Richard Sodders (middle), and Andrew Garrison (right) .images/2005/2005-03-23_Joel_Hackstadt_Richard_Sodders_and_Andrew_Garrison_preview.jpg Integrated System Design This week, students in the Multidisciplinary Robotics Course mixed high-tech with medieval combat by creating robots to compete in a jousting competition. These robots were designed, built, and programmed by groups of students consisting of a Mechanical Engineer, an Electrical Engineer, and a Computer Scientist. Each robot was permitted sensors, motors, a small computer, and a lance to strike their opponent with. Unlike televised robot battles, however, these robots had to act autonomously (without outside aid or remote controls) for the duration of each round. The robots were required to emit a high-pitched noise so as to allow their opponent to track them in the ring using sound sensors that the teams designed and built. Some of the most successful robots used additional sensors and extendable lances to hit their opponents from several feet away. The winning robot employed an edge-skirting behavior combined with a retractable lance to avoid hits while striking its enemy repeatedly. This week, students in the Multidisciplinary Robotics Course mixed high-tech with medieval combat by creating robots to compete in a jousting competition. These robots were designed, built, and programmed by groups of students consisting of a Mechanical Engineer, an Electrical Engineer, and a Computer Scientist. Each robot was permitted sensors, motors, a small computer, and a lance to strike their opponent with. Unlike televised robot battles, however, these robots had to act autonomously (without outside aid or remote controls) for the duration of each round. The robots were required to emit a high-pitched noise so as to allow their opponent to track them in the ring using sound sensors that the teams designed and built. Some of the most successful robots used additional sensors and extendable lances to hit their opponents from several feet away. The winning robot employed an edge-skirting behavior combined with a retractable lance to avoid hits while striking its enemy repeatedly. Two robots jousting .images/2005/2005-03-03_Two_Robots_Jousting.jpg Integrated System Home Page 2004 Site http://roboti.cs.siue.edu/classes/integratedsystems RoboCraft 110 students from five local high schools built and programmed 27 robots to participate in RoboCraft 2004. RobotCraft 2004 is a competition in which two robots compete simultaneously in a 4’ by 8’ arena to be the one to collect the most golf balls and return them to a base. The robots cannot receive any instructions from the students once a three-minute match begins and must be programmed to complete their task autonomously. The robots are built using inexpensive Lego Mindstorms kits provided to the high schools by the SIUE School of Engineering with help from local sponsors. Of the 27 teams ten will go on to compete in the final competition against robots built by freshmen SIUE engineering students taking the IME 106 class. The Computer Science Department, along with other engineering departments, provided logistics, support, and staff for the event. 110 students from five local high schools built and programmed 27 robots to participate in RoboCraft 2004. RobotCraft 2004 is a competition in which two robots compete simultaneously in a 4’ by 8’ arena to be the one to collect the most golf balls and return them to a base. The robots cannot receive any instructions from the students once a three-minute match begins and must be programmed to complete their task autonomously. The robots are built using inexpensive Lego Mindstorms kits provided to the high schools by the SIUE School of Engineering with help from local sponsors. Of the 27 teams ten will go on to compete in the final competition against robots built by freshmen SIUE engineering students taking the IME 106 class. The Computer Science Department, along with other engineering departments, provided logistics, support, and staff for the event. .images/2004/2004-11-21_RoboCraft_2004_High_School_Students.jpg Official RobotCraft 2004 Site http://roboti.cs.siue.edu/competitions/robocraft/ Competition Rules http://roboti.cs.siue.edu/competitions/robocraft/rules.html Sponsors http://roboti.cs.siue.edu/competitions/robocraft/sponsors.html Lego Mindstorms http://mindstorms.lego.com ACM Programming Team We would like to congratulate Jonathon Birch, William Grim, and John Tippabuttini for their outstanding finish in the 2004 ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest. The team, led by Dr. Stephen Blythe, placed 5th out of 109 competing teams from five states in the Mid-Central US region. The team had the best score of any team at the local site. In recent years, SIUE teams have done well in the regional competition but have not placed better then 8th until this year. We would like to congratulate Jonathon Birch, William Grim, and John Tippabuttini for their outstanding finish in the 2004 ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest. The team, led by Dr. Stephen Blythe, placed 5th out of 109 competing teams from five states in the Mid-Central US region. The team had the best score of any team at the local site. In recent years, SIUE teams have done well in the regional competition but have not placed better then 8th until this year. Jonathon Birch, William Grim, Dr. Stephen Blythe, and John Tippabuttini .images/2004/2004-11-06_ACM_Programming_Team_SIUE_B.jpg Regional Contest Page http://csc.smsu.edu/~mcpc/ Complete Results http://csc.smsu.edu/~score/mcpc2004.cgi?view=99 Virtual Reality Class In the Spring of 2005 a Virtual Reality Class will be offered as an elective for both CS graduate and undergraduate students. This course will survey the current state of virtual reality, including its core techniques and technologies, as well as recent applications and open problems that must still be resolved. In the Spring of 2005 a Virtual Reality Class will be offered as an elective for both CS graduate and undergraduate students. This course will survey the current state of virtual reality, including its core techniques and technologies, as well as recent applications and open problems that must still be resolved. .images/ Full Anouncement (MS Word) http://www.cs.siue.edu/news/files/2004-11-03_VR_Class_Anouncement_Spring2005.doc Outstanding Teaching Assistant Computer Science Student Erin Harris received the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. In the words of the Graduate School at SIUE, one award is given each year in recognition of exceptional effort and contributions to academic excellence through teaching and instruction. Erin has done an outstanding job for Dr. Weinberg in both the robotics and HCI classes, and for Dr. Waxman in Senior Projects. The Department of Computer Science congratulates Erin on this well deserved award. Computer Science Student Erin Harris received the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. In the words of the Graduate School at SIUE, one award is given each year in recognition of exceptional effort and contributions to academic excellence through teaching and instruction. Erin has done an outstanding job for Dr. Weinberg in both the robotics and HCI classes, and for Dr. Waxman in Senior Projects. The Department of Computer Science congratulates Erin on this well deserved award. Erin Harris holds certificate .images/2004/2004-10-27_Erin_Harris.jpg Jyoti Dharna CS student Jyoti Dharna, was selected commencement speaker for Fall 2003. Jyoti continues the tradition our students have established as commencement speakers, and we congratulate her for her selection. Job well done Jyoti. CS student Jyoti Dharna, was selected commencement speaker for Fall 2003. Jyoti continues the tradition our students have established as commencement speakers, and we congratulate her for her selection. Job well done Jyoti. Jyoti Dharna .images/2003/2003-10-27_Jyoti_Dharna_preview.jpg Elizabeth Weber CS student Elizabeth Weber, was awarded the Lincoln Academy of Illinois Student Laureate Award for her academic excellence. We congratulate her achievements and the distinction this award brings to her and the department. Lincoln would no doubt be very proud. CS student Elizabeth Weber, was awarded the Lincoln Academy of Illinois Student Laureate Award for her academic excellence. We congratulate her achievements and the distinction this award brings to her and the department. Lincoln would no doubt be very proud. Elizabeth Weber .images/2003/2003-10-27_Elizabeth_Weber_preview.jpg