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Fall 2016 Issue School of Computing & Design

FALL 2016 NEWSLETTER CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY MONTEREY BAY

THE BIG BYTE

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Fall 2016 Issue School of Computing & Design

W elcome back, students, staff, faculty and supporters of The School of Computing & Design. It is my pleasure to introduce Dr. Andrew Lawson, Dean of the College of Science at CSUMB. The School of Computing and Design (SCD) is one of the sub units under the College of Science at CSUMB. Dr. Andrew Lawson joined us in July 2016 from another CSU campus. Please read his welcome mes-sage on the next page. As I look back on the past year (my first year as the Chair of SCD), I am amazed how quickly it went by and how much we still need to do moving forward. The School of Computing and Design at CSUMB is surely growing fast. The School graduated 150 students in the Spring and Summer of 2016, and admitted 290 new students in Fall 2016. This includes 90 freshmen, 120 transfer students, 35 CS online degree completion students, and 45 graduate students. All together SCD has about 910 declared students in its multiple degree programs in Fall 2016. We have made good progress in the past year enhancing the quality of education and services to our students by redesigning curriculum, streamlining pathways, placing more interns, building more collaborations with industry, offering more summer programs, hiring over 40 teaching assistants to provide academic tutoring, attracting excellent faculty to build up the teaching force, and hiring dedicated staff to provide the level of support that the School needs. I am deeply appreciative of the level of engagement, dedication, and enthusiasm demonstrated by our students, faculty and staff at SCD; it’s quite inspiring. We find ourselves wanting to do more, to serve better and to reach further. Please take some time to read through this issue of Newsletter. One of our big goals in the coming years is to increase student retention and graduation rates. The School has been strategically planning, implementing and evaluating new strategies to work toward this goal. I will continue to provide updates on our progress as we move forward. -Dr. Bude Su, SCD Chair

Fall 2016 Issue WELCOME FROM THE CHAIR

BECOME A PART OF THE CSUMB ALUMNI ASSOCIATION! More than 10,000 people have graduated from CSUMB since it was founded in 1994. CSUMB’s Alumni Association was created to help CSUMB graduates stay connected with other alumni and re-main engaged with CSUMB. The Alumni Association works to provide events and opportunities to alumni across the country. We help our future alumni by providing financial support while they are students. The Alumni Association is free to join, and joining the Alumni also allows you to maintain your csumb.edu email address. Visit these links to join the Alumni Association and stay connected with your fellow Otters! Please consider donating to the School of Computing & Design in one of the following ways:

Send a check payable to the School of Computing & Design, CSUMB, and send it to the SCD

Office, 100 Campus Center, Building 506, Suite 250, Seaside, CA 93955

Donate online at http://donate.csumb.edu. Select “Other” from the Designation drop down menu

and input “Donation to School of Computing & Design in the Comments Section. All donation to SCD will be used on activities that enhance student learning, faculty growth, and the School’s further development and community building.

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Fall 2016 Issue School of Computing & Design

Fall 2016 Issue COS DEAN’S MESSAGE I am honored to serve as Dean of the College of Science and to be following in the footsteps of founding Dean Marsha Moroh. The College of Science and the University has had a strong history of innovation, starting with the creation of an outcomes based curriculum in those early days up to the present day as the only university receiving two of the Governor’s Innovation in Higher Education awards. One of those Innovation awards was made to the School for Computing and Design for its innovative CSin3 program which partners with Hartnell Community College to provide a pathway to a computer science degree for students in just three years.

This is a very exciting time for the School of Computing and Design, the College of Science and the University. With new leadership at all levels, a new modern facility in the Garmbord building, recent hiring of exceptional new faculty, and increasing numbers of students in SCD programs, it is time to celebrate all that we have achieved and build on those achievements to allow even greater innovation to strengthen our future.

Exciting times are ahead. As the School continues to expand its outreach and interaction with industry and community partners, more opportunities for internships are available for our students which in turn opens up even greater career opportunities for them. These partnerships also allow our curriculum to be even more cutting edge and aligned with current and future industry needs. I look forward to engaging with the local community, industry and alumni as we embrace this next chapter in the history of CSUMB and provide a world class education for our students. -Dr. Andrew Lawson, Dean of the College of Science

C S faculty and staff this summer, in collaboration with faculty and staff from Hartnell college, hosted over

125 students during four different events focused on math, CS, and general college preparation. These

events exposed students to the opportunities in computer science with an aim to increase participation and

persistence in the field. The events included MACS for 9th and 12th graders to prepare and teach them

computer science through collaborative technology for upcoming high school and college terms, as well as

CSin3 summer bridge program for seniors preparing to start their three year bachelor program in Computer

Science. There was also a CS++ CSSIx workshop with Google, where CS++ students worked with Google

engineers and CS faculty on app development and developing soft & technical computer skills.

We’re thankful to everyone who participated in these events. We’re especially appreciative of Areli Mancera

from Monterey County Office of Education, Valente Mancera from Alisal Union School District, Magda

Campos from Fairview Middle School, and Jessica Espinoza from Gonzales High School who taught the

MACS workshops. We look forward to continuing these kinds of outreach activities and supporting students in

their pursuit of computer science. Support for these events came from the $5M award for innovation in higher

education we received in 2015.

CS PROGRAM HOSTS SUMMER COLLEGE PREP FOR COMMUNITY

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Fall 2016 Issue School of Computing & Design

T he School of Computing & Design hosted the Computer Science Internship

Symposium on August 26th, 2016 in the BIT building, The event was a grand

representation of the Computer Science students and the successful internship

projects they completed in summer 2016.

Forty undergraduates from California State University-Monterey Bay and

Hartnell College participated in internships with over 20 amazing host

organizations and community partners. There were over twenty organizations

who participated with SCD and Hartnell College, including Amazon, Apple,

Bank of America, Blackrock, Dolby, eBay, Firetide, HeavyConnect, Liberty Mutual, NBC, Naval

Postgraduate School, Salesforce, SSCS Inc., Uber and Verizon. Internship projects in the fields of

software engineering, scientific computing, computer science research,

and data networking were presented.

At the event, over 250 symposium attendees were able to talk with the

students about their projects as well as see presentations and view their

project posters. During the plenary session the students were able to

present their projects in more detail. Many of the organizations and mentors

who worked with the students this summer were in

attendance, and Google’s own Peter Norvig,

Director of Research, was on hand as the symposium’s keynote speaker.

SCD and Hartnell College wish to congratulate the Computer Science

Program students on their dedication this

summer.

SCD PRESENTS THE FALL 2016 CS INTERNSHIP SYMPOSIUM

COMPUTER SCIENCE INDUSTRY LEADERS MEET WITH STUDENTS

CSUMB & Hartnell College wish to acknowledge those that

have supported the SCD’s Computer Science internship

program. The program has been supported in part by CIG,

ICERT REU, Matsui Foundation, Monterey Peninsula Foundation,

National Science Foundation, Natividad Hospital, Rig, and the

California Public Utility Commission. It is due to support from

organizations like these that allow the students to participate in

such amazing programs that provide so many opportunities.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations

are those of the individual(s) and do not necessarily reflect the

views of these organizations.

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Fall 2016 Issue School of Computing & Design

U nder the donor funds of the generous Jakob Heuser Grant, three SCD students were able to travel to Bari, Italy, to attend AVI 2016, the international working conference on advanced visual interfaces. Read on about their experiences as presenters at the AVI Conference in Italy.

Brian Zimmerman Our time spent at AVI 2016 was both educational and fun. As a prospective graduate school student, I think students should take any opportunity they can to travel to conferences and present their research. Not only do you get to share your projects with other people but you also have the opportunity to meet other people in your field of study. Having the opportunity to see the state of your field with regard to some of the cutting edge research being presented is really an invigorating experience. Because AVI was in Bari, we also got to spend some extra time exploring Italy, a country I don't think I would have otherwise traveled to. Having the opportunity to visit a country on the terms of academics was pretty cool and it's something that comes up in conversation quite frequently. I will definitely go back and, seeing how AVI is exclusively hosted in Italy, I hope I can be attending AVI in 2018 as a Masters student when I do it. Matthew Johnson AVI was the first conference I have gone to as a presenter and it was an amazing experience. I had the opportunity to talk about my work to other researchers in my field, all of whom had relevant insight that I was

able to take into consideration. I am thankful to have had this opportunity to present a poster that I spent a lot of time on. Our trip to Italy overall was incredible. The time we spent in Bari, which was where AVI was located, was only a small part at the end of our time spent in Italy. We also visited Rome, Venice, and Florence, which were three beautiful cities. I hope I will be able to visit Italy again in the future to see what else the country has to offer.

Joshua Shallow Making the trip to Bari for AVI2016 was an incredible experience. It was the first conference I have attended and to have a poster to show to established researchers, which proved to be stressful and fulfilling. Being able to talk to several others who share a research topic was insightful because each person had experience with research and could offer suggestions. Overall, the visit to Italy was awesome. Brian, Matt, and I visited Rome, Venice, and Florence before attending the conference in Bari. The food was wonderful and the architecture was incredible. If I was to go again, I would try to eat as much food as I could.

CSUMB & the School of Computing & Design wish to acknowledge those that have supported the SCD’s

students in our Computer Science, Communication Design, and Masters in Instructional Science &

Technology programs. Student traveling to conferences have been supported in part by donor Jakob

Heuser under the Jakob Heuser Grant. It is due to support from community members like Jakob Heuser

that allow the students to participate in such amazing programs that provide so many opportunities.

A BIT OF TRAVEL

SCD STUDENTS ATTEND ITALY’S 2016 AVI CONFERENCE

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Fall 2016 Issue School of Computing & Design

VIRTUAL REALITY INITIATIVES

O n March 14th, Crytek announced their partnership with four new high-profile partners and plans for seven new VR First Labs at universities. The SCD Game Research Lab at California State Monterey Bay was one of the first to apply for consideration and be selected. UROC provided $30,000 for research equipment for the VR lab, and by our Fall 2016 semester SCD lecturer Dr.

Christian Eckhardt and the Gaming students had begun building the computers and setting up the virtual lab The equipment will provide students with access to VR development-grade computers, VR headsets, and CryEngine source code access. More equipment and supplies are on schedule to arrive October 2016, and virtual reality game development has already begun as some SCD students start utilizing the equipment. Professor Krzysztof Pietroszek is the key driver behind these initiatives.

Crytek intends to pioneer advanced virtual reality research by providing cutting edge hardware to laboratories at higher education institutions around the world. The partners working alongside Crytek on this endeavor include AMD as the exclusive partner for GPUs, Leap Motion, O5VR, and Razer.

Joining California State University Monterey Bay are Carleton University, Purdue University, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Florida, University of Southern California – School of Cinematic Arts, and Vancouver Film School.

ENGINEERS IN RESIDENCE PROGRAM

F acebook is excited to partner with California State University – Monterey Bay to offer our first Engineer in Residence program. The Engineer in Residence (EIR) program leverages outstanding engineering talent from Facebook to develop and teach Computer Science curriculum to university-level students at historically black colleges and universities and Hispanic-serving institutions. By acting as instructors and mentors, our goal is for our Engineers in Residence to help develop the technical skills, track record of achievement, network, and confidence in students traditionally underrepresented in the tech sector.

Students of the Engineer in Residence can expect to receive a challenging academic experience in software engineering as well as the coaching to prepare for and succeed in software engineering interviews at the top companies in the tech industry. We hope to provide students increased access to opportunities in the field of software engineering and the personal empowerment to pursue internships and careers in the field, or graduate-level CS coursework.

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Fall 2016 Issue School of Computing & Design

SUCCESSFUL CODE

Students from School of Computing & Design programs have gone on to work for design and

technology companies in the Monterey region, Silicon Valley and beyond. Our students have built

successful careers in computer technology companies, on the art, design and development side

of the game industry or have gone on to many of the nation's best graduate schools.

IAN BOWERS

S ince graduating from the CSIT (now called SCD) program over three years ago, I have been working full time at Microsoft in various software engineering roles. I was hired for a summer internship through the help of the CSIT mbrace program a year before graduation at CSUMB. This was a great way for me to connect the dots between the theory and values learned in the program with how things operate in a real world environment. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree the next year and instantly transitioned to working full time at Microsoft. Currently I am working in the Universal Store Team, which is actually a large organization that takes care of the research, design and operations that go into creating the software sales platforms that consumers and business customers use to purchase and subscribe to Microsoft products. The specific team I am a part of is working on the backend services that provide data for these sales platforms. My favorite part about working in a large tech company is the vast amount of resources and advanced systems I am exposed to, as well as the huge community that I can tap into for networking and collaboration. Previous to this I was part of a college hire program which allowed me to rotate through different teams and responsibilities. I have been a tester,

software developer and now software engineer in three different parts of the organization.

The emphasis the computer science program places on applying theory to solve real problems has had a huge impact for me to be able to adapt to the changes I have described as well as achieve my goals here at Microsoft. Whenever I have changed roles and had to learn a new system or a new technology/programming language, it is always the core knowledge and skills that I acquired through the CSIT program that helped me to understand and quickly adapt. It is a very interesting time to work here because of all the changes that are going on not only within the company but in the industry in general. In my opinion, while this means more effort is required to stay up to date, it also opens up many opportunities if you have the right core skillset.

SCD’S ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT & STUDENT SUCCESS STORIES

“Whenever I have changed

roles and had to learn a new

system or a new technology/

programming language, it is

always the core knowledge

and skills that I acquired

through the CSIT (SCD)

program that helps me to

understand and quickly

adapt.”

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Fall 2016 Issue School of Computing & Design

School of Computing & Design

M y name is Jan Clark and I work as an Instructional Designer at Apple. It’s always difficult to work full time while you’re a full time student. During my time at CSUMB I changed jobs during the hardest semester. The instructors and the fellow students in my cohort were a great resource to keep me grounded and moving on throughout the program. It always felt like I was on a journey with others, working toward the same goal, so I never felt like I was alone. As a returning student I was initially apprehensive about coming back mid career. CSUMB proved to be a comfortable home for me to finally get the formal education I always felt was lacking. I completed both the BS in Communication Design (Web Design emphasis) and the MIST program. Now that I have the MS in Instructional Science and Technology I feel more confident in my role. I frequently look back at some of my work before CSUMB and think about how I would do it differently now. Understanding instructional theories has definitely helped me improve the quality of my work. Also, the technology side of MIST and the Communication Design BS helps me to keep up with the ever-changing environment in learning technology. While the technology will continue to change, the strong grounding in theory and

I love spreading joy, inspiring content, and connecting with people all around the world. The Communication Design program allowed me to dream big and have real world experiences that prepared me for the start of my career at SoulPancake. The Capstone process was by far the best project to equip students for everyday work load, independent motivation, and prioritizing daily projects. Going into a small company all of these skills were vitally important. Taking on the multifaceted branding project, with a real world client, also allowed me to strengthen my communication skills and ability to take constructive criticism. Working with multiple departments (digital, TV, and branded) here at SoulPancake means I have to take critique and notes from many creatives and production professionals.

Throughout the CD program (Digital Art & Design, Publication Workshop, Web Design, Capstone) Bobbi Long and Kevin Cahill helped build and toughen the skills and demeanor you need to have in the production world. I’m now juggling branded projects, maintaining brand identity, and working with professionals in the production world; it feels great to do all that for a company that makes stuff that matters. If it wasn’t for the support and lessons learned in the CD program and CSUMB I do not think I would be creating inspiring projects here in L.A. Special thanks to Bobbi Long, Barbara Beckmeyer, Troy Challenger, and Kevin Cahill!

CHELSEA PYNE

JAN CLARK

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Fall 2016 Issue School of Computing & Design

School of Computing & Design

T he third annual Summer Research Symposium took place on August 12th, 2016. Nearly a hundred student undergraduate researchers participated in local research under the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center (UROC), Monterey Bay Regional Ocean Sciences Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program, and Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Internship Program.

Several UROC supported Game Research Lab students and Game Research Lab student volunteers, under the guidance of Professor Krzysztof Pietroszek, conducted five research projects over the summer and presented at the Symposium. Students Brandon Lockwood and Donald Dong worked on their

research project PinThought, where they researched the EEG technology used as system authorization using thinking patterns. Daniel Kharlamov researched the use of smartwatches for interaction in mobile virtual reality environments, and produced several papers that were submitted to the VRST 2016 and SUI 2016 Conferences. John Sullivan, while collaborating with Dr. Glenn Bruns, conducted research of machines’ abilities to recognize activities (e.g. walking, running, jumping) in VR using the IMU of a smartphone. John wrote papers on his research as well, which have been submitted to the IUI 2017 and IEEE VR 2017 Conferences.

Dr. Christian Eckhardt collaborated with students Matthew Johnson and Joshua Shallow on their research into the design & construction of large interactive tabletops. A research project on the assessment of constant and fluctuating latency in pointing

tasks was conducted by students Brian Zimmerman and Kateryna Morayko, who are preparing a paper on their research for the CHI 2017 Conference. Please visit the UROC site, NPS site, and REU site for more information on their programs and the Summer Research Symposium.

STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN SUMMER RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

A pproximately 20 students will begin an Applied Computer Science with Android Workshop hosted by Google at SCD on Oct 8. The workshop will run from 10am-3pm every Saturday through November 12 and will be taught by a Google engineer. Students will revisit concepts from Data Structures and Algorithms, as well as learn more about Artificial Intelligence as they develop games and apps on the Android platform. This will be an excellent out of classroom learning experience, and we look forward to seeing what they produce!

GOOGLE'S APPLIED COMPUTER SCIENCE WITH ANDROID WORKSHOP SERIES KICKS OFF SATURDAY, OCT 8

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Fall 2016 Issue School of Computing & Design

F or the past 14 years, CST 404 Publication Workshop has designed the posters and promotion materials for First Night Monterey. First Night Monterey, Inc. promotes community diversity by celebrating visual and performing arts and celebrating the local community and families by promoting art and workshops to

the public as well as provide the community an amazing New Year’s Eve Celebration. The event takes place in beautiful downtown Monterey, and features a multitude of local artists and performers that provide education and entertainment for thousands of community members and tourists. Out of over 30 submissions, this year's poster design winner is Annalisa Lopez, a Visual Design major who graduated this Spring and is already working at SAP in Palo Alto. Congratulations to Annalisa for her beautiful visual design and win!

VISUAL DESIGN STUDENT WINS FIRST NIGHT MONTEREY DESIGN CHALLENGE

S CD Assistant Professor Glenn Bruns has recently founded the Monterey Bay Data Science Meetups, along with co-founders Dr. Marcus Stefanou of the Naval Postgraduate School and Paul Temple, CEO of Advanced Onion. The co-founders hope to build a community where local government, academia, and businesses can share knowledge and experiences in the data science fields. According to their Meetup site, “Data Science is about using computing and statistics to make sense of data. There's a lot of interest around the Monterey Bay in data science coming from businesses, universities, and government. Let's get together, get to know each other, and share knowledge and experience. “

Meetings take place the first Thursday of each month at 7:30pm in room S219 of the Chapman Science Center, and include presentations, open discussion, and networking. Refreshments are provided. The meetings are open to anyone wishing to attend or present data-science related talks, including tutorials, case studies, and briefs on related papers.

At October 6th’s meeting, SCD Computer Science students Zac Leids and Austin Zielinski will be presenting “Exploring Chicago Crime Data” & “Trends & Predictions in Car Accidents”, works from their projects in last semester’s Data Mining course.

MONTEREY BAY DATA SCIENCE MEETUPS BEGIN AT CSUMB

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Fall 2016 Issue School of Computing & Design

School of Computing & Design

To support student success and community in the department, space in the BIT building has been dedicated for students studying computing. You can always go to the following rooms to work, except in the rare case when there is an activity scheduled or it is already full occupied:

There other rooms unoccupied at various times and usually more rooms are available on Fridays.

We hope this reserved space promotes a consistent investment in studying and the formation of

study groups among our students. We encourage you to study in these locations in order to get

ahead in classes, meet other computing students, and get help from TAs.

STUDY TIME AND THE LAB

BIT 230 - Networking lab, has computer workstations that convert into desks. TAs hold their office hours in this room.

BIT 202 - Graduate lab, has several small tables suitable for group work. There are also designated Study Times each week when additional space is

reserved: Mondays and Wednesdays 12pm-8pm Room 202, 12pm-2pm Rooms 108 & 223 Wednesday 6pm-8pm Room 223 Tuesdays and Thursdays 12pm-2pm Rooms 109 & 223, 4pm-8pm Room 202

ALUMNI & CURRENT MIST STUDENTS PROGRAM SURVEYS

At SCD, we are always striving to improve the programs and overall experience for our students, as well

as keep up with impending technology. Our degree programs go through periodic reviews, and this

semester it’s the Masters in Instructional Science & Technology Program’s turn. MIST graduate alumni,

you will be receiving via e-mail an online survey regarding your experience in the MIST Program at

CSUMB. Your feedback on your experiences while in The School of Computing & Design's MIST

Program and since graduation is incredibly helpful to us as we look for ways to grow and improve.

There is no better way to learn than from the people who have gone through it. We also find that current

students provide crucial information to the MIST program as it is currently operated, and that insight is

also highly valued when we develop program improvement ideas.

When you receive the survey, please take a few minutes to provide us with your reflections and insights

about the MIST program. We sincerely appreciate it.

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Fall 2016 Issue School of Computing & Design

CSU Monterey Bay

School of Computing & Design 3052 Divarty Street Seaside, CA 93955

Building Code 506

Department Office: Room 250 Phone: 831-582-3621

Fax: 831-582-4484

E-mail: scd@csumb.edu

S CD students apply state-of-the-art information

technology to solve real world communication problems in a

socially responsible way. In addition to mastering the

technical knowledge and skills, graduates of SCD programs

excel in communication, collaboration and innovative

problem solving.

SCD values innovation, rigor, project-based learning,

inter-discipline collaboration and global perspective. By

integrating media arts design, computer science,

information technology, management, and learning

sciences, SCD's faculty, staff, program directors and chair

strive to provide an innovative environment that supports

wor ld-class teaching,

learning and research.