JULY/AUGUST 2017
CSS Division Celebrated 20th Anniversary
Graduating students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends commemorated the division’s history at Junik Winery by coming together to celebrate its impact on students, industry, and the community.
After introductions from Elaine Scott, Dean of the School of STEM, attendees heard from prior Directors who have fostered the division’s success since it’s inception twenty years ago: Bill Erdly, Professor and founding Director of the CSS Program; Chuck Jackels, Professor Emeritus; Frank Cioch, Professor Emeritus; Mike Stiber, Professor and Associate Dean of the School of STEM; and Professor Munehiro Fukuda, Division Chair of CSS.
This anniversary highlighted the success of alumni, the impact of UW Bothell research on industry, and the hands-on education students receive. For those who joined us, we hope you left feeling proud and energized to be a part of the CSS division and we thank you for attending the division's 20th anniversary celebration.
To stay engaged, make sure to follow UW Bothell Alumni Facebook page and UW Bothell Computing & Software Systems Division page, check out the Inside UW Bothell Alumni Magazine, and attend upcoming UW Bothell Alumni Events.
Ingenious way to visualize college affordability
UW Professor Jim Fridley and UW Bothell Professor Kelvin Sung and his students have developed a computer model for college affordability used by state lawmakers. In this model, over a dozen variables are built into a college affordability computer model, which helps illustrate how state investment choices could make college more affordable.
More about college affordability
Welcome William Erdly as the CSS Chair!
Associate Professor William Erdly, Ph.D., will begin serving as the CSS Chair starting this fall quarter. He will be taking over from Professor Munehiro Fukuda, who served as chair from September 2014 to 2017 and helped ensure the growth and transition of the division into the new School of STEM. The CSS Division faculty welcome Dr. Erdly to the leadership role and would like to extend a special thank you to Dr. Fukuda for his contributions to the division as Chair.
Min Chen, Ph.D.—Congratulations!
The CSS Division would like to congratulate Dr. Min Chen for attaining Associate Professor with Tenure. Dr. Chen’s research covers groundbreaking work in the realm of multimedia data imaging. Please visit Dr. Chen’s website for further details. Congratulations Dr. Chen!
View Min Chen research website
MAY 2017
UW Bothell Team in Imagine Cup US Finals
A team of University of Washington Bothell students competed in the national finals for the Imagine Cup, the prestigious Microsoft software contest. Computing software systems seniors Darong Leng, Miyu Kimura and Shen Li created an “ultra-reality space” that allows people from different locations to interact using multiple devices. Learn more about the competition and winners announced atop the Seattle Space Needle.
About Convergent going to the Imagine Cup | Team Convergent website
'Special Spice' in Writing Center Consultations
The first time Gautam Kumar, Master of Science in Cyber Security Engineering student, submitted a cybersecurity paper to a conference, it “failed spectacularly." But with assistance from the University of Washington Bothell Writing and Communications Center, Kumar succeeded in having the paper accepted at a conference in Portugal where he presented his work.
Read more about the 'Special Spice'
APRIL 2017
UW Bothell Ranked Among Top Graduate Programs
The University of Washington Bothell computer science master’s degree has been ranked among the nation’s top graduate schools for 2017 by graduateprograms.com.
Read the full article
UW Bothell Accelerates Cybersecurity Careers
The University of Washington Bothell is in a select position to accelerate students into high-demand careers in cybersecurity. The University is leveraging course offerings with government and industry partnerships through the Center for Information Assurance and Cybersecurity.
Read the full article
FEBRUARY 2017
Explosive Enrollment Growth Continues in the CSS Division Graduate Programs
As the new year begins, I’d like to take the time to
share with you some information about the Computing & Software Systems (CSS) graduate programs! It is exciting and gratifying to report that, since established in 2009, we have undergone a multi-fold growth. The Master of Science in Computer Science and Software Engineering (MSCSSE) degree program was launched in 2009 with an enrollment of 32 students and 8 faculty members. During the first academic year, one core class was offered each quarter with no elective options. Since then, we have established a Graduate Certificate in Software Design and Development (GCSDD), graduated our first student in the Master of Science in Cyber Security Engineering (MSCSE), doubled incoming student enrollment, and most exciting of all, almost tripled the size of our faculty to 21!
We have seen a consistent growth in the competitiveness of the applicant pool, where this year’s incoming class was strategically composed to reflect our core belief in educating students to achieve lifelong personal growth, impact on our profession, and economic growth and social justice in our communities. Our new class of 55 MSCSSE and 11 MSCSE students, about 40% are women and one-third international (India, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Russia, and Pakistan), come from diverse backgrounds with undergraduate majors including Computer Science; Anthropology; Music & Jazz; Biology; Business; Geophysics; Journalism; Horticulture; Biotech; Biochemistry; Molecular and Animal Science; Psychology; and Electrical, Industrial, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering.
Our students enroll in a robust curriculum, its foundation built on the expertise and research of our faculty and a strengthening graduate student culture. Since 2009, in addition to the traditional areas of Computer Science (e.g., Software Architecture, or Algorithms), classes in the cutting edge (e.g., Machine Learning, Internet of Things, and all areas of cyber security) are becoming part of our normal elective offerings. As part of the capstone experience, students participate in research with faculty, funded by prestigious national agencies and industries including National Science Foundation, National Security Agency, National Endowment for the Humanities, The Lumina Foundation, Microsoft and Google.
Accompanying the academic rigor is the initiative to establish closer ties between our students and faculty. For example, we are in the process of creating a tradition where faculty and graduate students meet and greet informally at local breweries at the beginning and end of academic years to enjoy happy hour together. At the beginning of the 2016 academic year, the happy hour brought together about 10 CSS faculty and over 30 graduate students!
Looking forward, we are only at the beginning of our exciting growth plans! In the short term, in addition to the routine and on-going curriculum refinements with additional elective courses (e.g., Advanced Database, Deep Learning, Natural Language Processing), efforts have been made to establish fully funded Research Assistantships for our students, and we are in the process of searching for two additional faculty members. In the longer term, we are exploring additional graduate certificates, pedagogically sound approaches to distant learning, and more advanced and interdisciplinary degree programs. This is an exciting time to be with the Graduate Program at Computing and Software Systems; and we are looking forward to the bright future on the horizon.
CSS Faculty in Print and in Person
At the School of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM), we are driven to unearth solutions that make an impact, whether it’s working to secure ephemeral cloud servers for future generations or transforming urban transit with the self-driving bicycle. See what a few CSS faculty are in print and in person about:
Brent Lagasse, Assistant Professor
- Paper accepted: Gautam Kumar and Brent Lagesse. Limited Use Cryptographic Tokens in Securing Ephemeral Cloud Servers. International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy (ICISSP), 2017.
- Paper accepted: Ruth Ogunnaike and Brent Lagesse. Toward Consumer-Friendly Security in Smart Environments. IEEE Pervasive Computing Workshop on Security, Privacy, and Trust in the Internet of Things (SPT-IoT), 2017.
- Paper accepted: Cody Burkard and Brent Lagesse. Analysis of Causative attacks against SVMs Learning from Data Streams. International Workshop on Security and Privacy Analytics, 2017.
Tyler Folsom, Affiliate Professor
- E-book published: The Goddess at the Helm: Where technology is taking us, and how activists can change the course. This book discusses the foundations of science and places artificial intelligence in a broad social context.
- Presentation: Tyler Folsom and 12 other innovative teams were honored at Amazon Catalyst Fellows Dinner on Jan. 26. Each team gave a short presentation on their project and six students from the Self-Driving Bike team attended.
Johnny Lin, Senior Lecturer
- Presentation: American Meteorological Society, 12th Symposium on Societal Applications: Policy, Research and Practice, 24 January 2017, Seattle, WA. Presentation of "How the Nature of Nature and the Nature of Science Affects the Nature of Environmental Stewardship".
- Short course taught: A Beginnerʼs Course to Using Python in Climate and Meteorology, at American Meteorological Society (see above), held 21-22 January 2017 in Seattle, WA.
- Chaired event: Seventh Symposium on Advances in Modeling and Analysis Using Python—held at the American Meteorological Society's annual meeting (23-24 January 2017).
JANUARY 2017
Students, Faculty, and Staff Attended The Grace Hopper Women in Computing Conference!
University of Washington Bothell CSS students, faculty, and staff traveled to Houston, Texas in October to attend a three-day conference that serves as the largest gathering of women technologies in the United States. Designed to bring together women in computing to discuss research and career interests, The Grace Hopper Women in Computing Conference fosters a sense of community and highlights the contributions of women in computing.
Conference attendees were able to attend various expos, plenaries, poster sessions, professional development workshops, and clusters—groups of tracks that cover similar topics, including: General Session, Technology, Emerging Technology, Special Session, among others. Job Seekers were able to take part in the three-day career fair featuring companies like: Google, Macys, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Ebay, Intell, Facebook, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Dell, LinkedIn, Verizon, Adobe, and AT&T, and many more.
Computing & Software Systems is a proud sponsor of Grace Hopper 2016. We are changing the future of STEM, with a focus on bringing the diverse perspective of women and underrepresented minorities into the field.
CSS APPROVES MISSION & VISION
Last summer, the CSS Faculty concluded a yearlong endeavor to update their mission, vision and goals.
Mission
Our purpose is to be a collaborative community that provides cross-disciplinary education and research in computer science and software engineering, resulting in lifelong personal growth for our graduates, impact on our profession, and economic growth and social justice in our communities.
Vision
Accomplishing our mission results in the following:
- Our community of faculty, staff, and students are known for their collaborative and caring spirit.
- Our curriculum is intellectually rigorous, includes a healthy balance of theory and application, and prepares students for cross-disciplinary work.
- Our research is known for its academic excellence, interdisciplinary, social relevance, and connection to the education of our students.
- Our graduates are lifelong learners who continuously seek to make an impact in their companies and communities.
- Our industry and local community partners value us as true collaborators in helping drive economic and social change.
STEM & Career Services Partner to Hire STEM Graduate Career Counselor
My name is Michael Kimball-Bryant and I am filling the newly-created role of Graduate STEM Career Counselor in the STEM Office of Research and Graduate Studies (ORGS). I am a Pacific Northwesterner returning to the region after a five-year hiatus living in Chicago and New York. I attended graduate school at Loyola University Chicago where I worked closely with international students at University of Chicago’s International House. Post-graduation I provided career advising to graduate students at Columbia University’s Teachers College in New York City. I returned to Chicago to work at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where I managed the on-campus recruiting program and provided career advising for engineering and business students at all degree levels.
I am the first Career Counselor on campus to support a specific student population, graduate and certificate STEM students. I will also contribute to external relations efforts with STEM employers and alumni in industry. I am available to meet with students to discuss technical resume reviews, developing a job & internship search strategy, career transition & exploration, salary negotiation and professional portfolio review, among other topics.
There are several events planned for the winter and spring quarters you should be aware of, which include “Making the Most of STEM Networking Night” workshop on January 19, the STEM Networking Night on January 26, “Nailing the Technical Interview” workshop on February 9, “How to Job Search in 2017: Using Science and Technology to Your Advantage” workshop on March 2, “How to Tactfully Negotiate Your Salary” on April 6, along with other workshops and events. Please check the UW Bothell calendar or UWBCSS Facebook for the latest on these events—dates are subject to change.
If you are a STEM graduate student and would like to schedule an appointment with me, please contact the Office of Research and Graduate Studies at stemgrad@uw.edu or 425.352.5490.
Otherwise, feel free to contact me if you have a suggestion for an event or an employer you would like to see recruiting on campus, at mkimbry1@uw.edu.