Important remarks on Spring 2019 CS/SE course schedule

Dear Behrend Computer Science and Software Engineering students,

As you are starting to register for classes in Spring 2019 semester, I would like to remind you of the following. They might be crucial to your graduation on time in CS, SE major.  I strongly advise you to follow the recommended academic plan(RAP) to take the courses. You can  find them by clicking the links:

Computer Science, B.S. and Software Engineering, B.S.

However, here are some remarks or changes for the Spring 2019 which are not reflected on the RAPs yet. It may affect your schedule in the following years. Please read them carefully.

  1. STAT 301 will be replaced by STAT318 since Spring 2019 in all the requirements for major or as prerequisite of other courses.
  2. SWENG 465 – Web Services is offered in Spring 2019 to replace CMPSC475 as computing elective for CS and primary tech elective for SE. 
  3. CMPSC335  Fundamentals of Communications Networks is offered in Spring 2019 instead of Fall 2019. If you are sophomore, junior or senior without CMPEN461 in Computer Science at Behrend, I suggest you to take this course in Spring 2019.
  4. Due to the limitation of the enrollments (by class size or room capacity), some courses such as CMPSC421/443/441/474, SWENG421/431/465, etc which are required by CS /SE majors have been set the control to allow CS and/or SE students to take at this time and will be opened later to other students. Pleas register them as early as you can.
  5. The prerequisite for CMPSC443 is CMPSC473 , CMPEN362 which can be substituted by CMPSC474/CMPEN441 and CMPSC335/CMPEN461 respectively.
  6. If you have obtained internship opportunity in any of Spring, Fall or Summer, please inform Dr. Wen-Li Wang (wxw18@psu.edu), coordinator of the internship programs, to help you register it for credits (up to 3) which count as the supporting area course credits for CS and secondary tech elective course credits for SE.
  7. The above are what I have so far. I will let you know if there are any further common information regarding to the schedule. By the way, this message will also be  posted on CSSE news channel:

https://sites.psu.edu/psbehrendcsse/

You are encouraged to register on this channel so that you can receive the newest updates by email automatically.

Best Regards,

Dr. Su

——
Dr. Meng Su
Chair and Associate Professor
Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering
Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
Website: http://ecse.bd.psu.edu/~mus11/

Summer Internship — in State College

KCF Technologies is an exciting and rapidly growing technology company focused on putting inventions to work in the industrial world. We have several open internships and job positions that may be of interest to your best students in computer science, electrical engineering, and computer engineering. We are looking for students to help us reshape the Internet of Things (IOT) landscape working on full stack development, cloud and security infrastructure, embedded computing, and low power wireless sensors. If you know of students who are excited by a challenging and fast-paced environment, we would like to know about them.

We work and play hard with outstanding health care, fitness programs, and are recognized as a bicycle friendly workplace — here in the friendly heart of central Pennsylvania. KCF’s team is a diverse group of developers, designers, innovators and dreamers from all walks of life that have one thing in common: a passion for bringing the latest technologies to life to make the things we work and live with Smarter! We look forward to hearing from you about students you would recommend for an internship.

https://www.kcftech.com/employment/

Brianna Jackson
Solving Real-World Problems Through Research
KCF Technologies

A letter from CSSE department chair on Fall 2018 course schedule

Dear CSSE students,

As you are going to start shopping for classes in Fall 2018 semester tomorrow, I would like to remind you of the following: They might be crucial to your graduation on time in CS, SE major, and/or Game minor. Please read carefully.

  1. I strongly advise you to follow the recommended academic plan(RAP) to take the courses. The latest version is attached in this email. You are also recommended to use the RAP sheet to check your degree audit manually instead of relying on the degree requirement checking on LionPath.
  2.  If you knew or heard from other people about last year’s CSSE course schedule, please note some significant changes for the next Fall I listed below:
    1. The following two pairs of courses are not combined: CMPSC221 and SWENG311; CMPSC474 and CMPEN441; CS students need to take CMPSC221, CMPSC474 while SE students need to take SWENG311, CMPEN441. Please select the courses accordingly if you need.
    2. CS students have to take CMPSC431 (not MIS 336 any more) as the required database course, but SE students can still take CMPSC431 or MIS 336 as the required database course.
    3. For CS students, you need to take CMPEN441 Communication Networks to replace CMPSC335  Fundamentals of Communications Networks on the original RAP sheet because CMPSC335 will not be offered in Fall 2018. — Please note that CMPSC335 will be added in Spring 2019 and you can schedule this back instead of CMPEN461  – July 24th, 2018. 
    4.  Game 480 is moved from Spring to Fall. Hence, if you want to graduate in Spring 2019 with Game minor, you have to take Game 480 in the Fall 2018 semester. Game 480 hasn’t been shown on LionPath yet, but will come soon.
    5. CMPSC497 Cognitive Computing has not shown on the LionPath too, but will appear soon. It has 3 credits and counts as computing elective (for CS major) or primary tech elective (for SE major).
    6. If you have obtained internship opportunity in any of Spring, Fall or Summer, please inform Dr. Wen-Li Wang (wxw18@psu.edu), coordinator of the internship programs, to help you register it for credits (up to 3) which count as the supporting area course credits for CS and secondary tech elective course credits for SE.
    7.  Senior Design Project (Capstone Project) courses : CMPSC484/485 for CS, SWENG 480/481 for SE are only for senior students to take in their last year.

The above are what I have so far. I will let you know if there are any further common messages regarding to the schedule. By the way, this letter and the latest RAPs will also be  posted on CSSE news channel:

https://sites.psu.edu/psbehrendcsse/

You are encouraged to register on this channel so that you can receive the newest updates by email automatically.

Best Regards,

Dr. Su

Behrend Speaker Series – Dr. Charlie Miller & Chris Valasek

Penn State Behrend Speaker Series

Charlie Miller & Chris Valasek

Thursday February 22, 2018, 7:30 p.m.

McGarvey Commons

Dr. Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek

White Hat” Hackers:

Recognized as two of the most technically proficient hackers on earth by ForeignPolicy.com, Charlie and Chris are best known for the remote compromise of a 2014 Jeep Cherokee, whereby they obtained physical control of the vehicle from more than 10 miles away, exposing serious security flaws. Their headline-making research led to Fiat Chrysler’s recall of 1.4 million vehicles.

Google Applied CS workshop

This Wednesday at 7:00pm ACM will be hosting our first Google Applied CS workshop. This is an event sponsored by Google, and will include free pizza.

The workshop will have each student do the first lesson in the free Google Applied CS online course. The intention of the course is to build upon Computer Science knowledge learned inside the classroom by exposing students to new concepts outside the classroom. Students will learn in a completely hands-on way by building Android Applications. Students will work at their own pace, and we will be there offering help and guidance. 

In addition to teaching the basic of Android Development, the first lesson will also focus on HashMaps and HashSets. Both of these data structures are very important to learn as they are frequently used during interviews at top companies. The earlier you are exposed to these concepts, the better!

Before attending, be sure to follow the steps heregoo.gl/sGX2mi . It is important to bring a laptop with Android Studio installed so that you may begin programming immediately.

Thanks,
Aiden Chiavatti

President of Behrend ACM

Today is the deadline for students to apply to graduate in May 2018.

Today is the deadline for students to apply to graduate in May 2018. Students can do this in LionPath. If they miss this deadline they need to file an intent to graduate by contacting the registrar in person.

Applying for Graduation

Students can apply for graduation through LionPATH.

Note: Refer to the Intent to Graduate-Activation Period of the University’s Academic Calendar to determine the dates when you may be eligible to apply for graduation.

Navigating to the My Academics Page

The Link for applying for graduation is located on the My Academics page. There are many ways to navigate to specific areas within LionPATH including using the hamburger menu, page tabs, and quick links. For the purpose of this document, navigation will be described using the hamburger menu. For information on navigating the LionPATH user interface, refer to the Getting Started with LionPATH tutorial.

1.   Click the Hamburger icon.

2.   Click the Academics drop-down menu.

3.   Click the Academic Records drop-down menu.

4.   Select the My Academics link.

Applying for Graduation

Your current programs are listed on the Submit an Application for Graduation page.  To be eligible to apply for graduation, you must be active in your current academic program.  You cannot apply for graduation if you are currently in a pre-major or a non-degree program. 

Note: If you are an undergraduate student in concurrent majors, you must apply for graduation in each major separately.  If you meet the requirements of one major and wish to graduate only in that major, you must remove your concurrent major before applying to graduate.

1.   Click the Apply for Graduation link on the My Academics page.

2.   On the Submit an Application for Graduation page, click the Apply for Graduation link to the right of the program/major for which you are applying.  Note: If the Apply for Graduation link is not visible for your program, you are not currently eligible to apply for graduation. Undergraduate students who believe they should be able to apply should contact their academic college to determine next steps. Graduate students who believe they should be able to apply should contact the responsible department for their major (academic plan) to determine next steps.

3.   Select the Expected Graduation Term from the drop-down list.

4.   Click the Continue button. Note: If it is prior to the published graduation application start date or past the deadline, the Expected Graduation Term list will be blank.  If you have missed the application time period: Undergraduate students who believe they should be able to apply should contact their academic college to determine next steps. Graduate students who believe they should be able to apply should contact the responsible department for their major (academic plan) to determine next steps.

5.   Click the Submit Application button. Note: If you need to change the program or graduation term, use the buttons provided.

 

A confirmation message is displayed indicating that you have successfully applied for graduation.

 

Nittany AI Challenge Resources

1.    The Nittany AI Challenge overview page on the EdTech Network website

2.    The Nittany AI Challenge Canvas space, which contains all challenge info and submission details  — you need to login your PSU Canvas to access them with the submission form. 

3.    The Nittany AI Challenge Slack Channel where you can post questions, discuss ideas, seek team members, etc.

4.    The 2-minute Nittany AI Challenge rundown video on Youtube

5.  A longer-form, 40 minute overview of the Nittany AI Challenge that includes a full walkthrough of the process, criteria, and challenges.

 

Best wishes and good luck as you assemble your ideas and prepare to submit your proposal(s) by January 29th!

Now Enrolling: Peru, Spring & Summer Break | Water Resource Management

Enrolling for upcoming Water Resource Management & Sustainable Practices program in Cusco, Peru this spring and summer! 
A ] link to a PDF flier here with more information about this sustainability-focused educational opportunity.

Facebook: 
Now Enrolling: Spring & Summer Break in Peru with The GREEN Program

Short-term, experiential education for our world’s most pressing issues in sustainable development, The GREEN Program is actively enrolling for their #Peru program: Water Resource Management & Sustainable Practices. Join them this March for their upcoming Spring Break session, or a Summer adventure this May or August. 

Now Enrolling:
Spring | March 11-19
Summer | May 13-22 & August 8-17

For more information and how you can get involved, please visit: 
www.thegreenprogram.com

Twitter: 
Join @theGREENprogram this spring & summer break in #Peru to dive into Water Resource Management & Sustainable Practices in 2018. For more information: www.thegreenprogram.com/programs/peru

https://thegreenprogram.com

Opportunities Abound: The Nittany AI Challenge!

Time: Thursday January 18th 6:00pm-7:00pm

Location: Burke 001 at Penn State Behrend

Stream Live Online: ZOOM Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://psu.zoom.us/j/177723950 Or iPhone one-tap (US Toll):  +16468769923,177723950#  or +16699006833,177723950#

We are pleased to invite you to a seminar to learn about the opportunities and explore how to apply AI technologies to challenges in higher education.

Over the past year the EdTech Network has developed a series of programs to improve the student experience by engaging in AI and related technologies to address challenges in higher education. The Opportunities Abound seminar looks to explore the opportunities available to expand and grow work toward a shared vision. We’ll explore the programs and provide next steps for getting engaged!

Please join us for a chance to engage and learn more about the opportunities to explore solutions to improve the student experience!

Pizza and drinks will be available.

Dr. Meng Su, Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Penn State Erie, The Behrend College

Dr. Larry Ragan, , Principal Community Aggregator, Penn State EdTech Network

Brad Zdenek, Innovation Strategist – EdTech Network

Opportunities Abound Agenda

6:00pm  Welcome (Drs. Meng Su/Larry Ragan)

6:10pm  Overview of the Nittany AI Challenge (Brad Zdenek)

6:20pm  Review of Successful Nittany Watson Experience (Dr. Meng Su and students)

6:40pm  Open Discussion of How to Succeed at the NAIC!

7:00pm  Adjourn

 

See this link about the project description: https://www.edtechnetwork.psu.edu/challenge

The Third annual Behrend Local Hack Day

Please see the message from Aiden Chiavatti, President of Behrend ACM for the local Hackathon!

Hello all,

This weekend we will be hosting our third annual Behrend Local Hack Day.  It will begin on Saturday December 2nd at 9:00am in Burke 001, and will run for 12 hours, ending at 9:00pm. For anyone interested in attending (Behrend students/faculty only), be sure to sign up at https://hackday.mlh.io/localhackday-57df. This is a great opportunity for students to work on whatever interests them, without the pressure of a large hackathon. We encourage all programming students to attend, whether you are a seasoned hacker looking to make something amazing, or if you simply want to hang out and work on homework together.

We will be serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as handing out some swag (stickers, pens, domains etc). You can find a schedule for the event in the link above. We also have a message from one of our sponsors:

The .tech squad is offering a FREE .tech domain and the chance to win the .tech Category Prize – $150 Amazon Voucher! Cool, eh? Find out how – bit.ly/2hWYmP7
See you on Saturday,
Aiden Chiavatti
President of Behrend ACM