Engineering Humor

A software developer, a hardware engineer, and a mid-level manager were on their way to a conference center located near the top of a mountain. After the conference, they were driving down the steep mountain road, and suddenly the brakes on their car failed.

The car careened almost out of control down the road, bouncing off the crash barriers, until it miraculously ground to a halt scraping along the mountainside. The car's occupants, shaken but unhurt, now had a problem: They were stuck halfway down a mountain in a car with no brakes. What were they to do?

"I know," said the manager, "Let's have a meeting, propose a vision, formulate a mission statement, define some goals, and, by a process of continuous improvement, find a solution to the critical problems, and we can be on our way.

"No, no," said the hardware engineer. "That will take far too long, and besides, that method has never worked before. I've got my Swiss Army knife with me, and in no time at all, I can strip down the car's braking system, isolate the fault, fix it, and we can be on our way."

"Well," said the software developer, "before we do anything, I think we should push the car back to the top of the mountain and see if it happens again."

Minnesota Angel Shuts Down

Keeping tabs on the 'technology and entrepreneurial community' is important for engineers and scientists at all stages of their careers.  Knowing what is 'new' and 'trending' goes beyond the 'technology' and 'gadgets'. Knowing what is going on in 'your field' also involves understanding and  appreciating how enterprises are formed, evolve and are financed and also who's doing this stuff!  Read the story in the May 1, 2014 Twin Cities Business magazine.  

Connections

In the past year, the focus of Computer Science Associates has been refined and its role with the Department redefined.
The Industry Affiliates Council has taken on the heavy lifting and necessary role of seeking and securing high-value, annual and multi-year financial support commitments to the department from the national, regional and state's major technology and computer-centric corporations.
CSA is now serving the department by providing an organization for the region's alumni, industry professionals, tech biz managers, and interested individuals from the community to interact with the faculty, students and staff to further the understanding of the objectives and problems facing the field of computer science and the department. CSA promotes friendship among all of the participants and a connecting people with each other interested in the benefits of computing-based technologies.
The organization's focus remains on the Computer Science and Engineering department's noble mission of being the region's nexus of computer science research, education and enterprise interests.
The role of CSA has shifted from building fund raising, academic program definition, curriculum assessment, and legislative advocacy to 'fun', comradeship and a connection with purpose.  Come join us. Bring along a colleague and have them bring a friend.
Let's compute some fun!

Creative Industry Rebounding in Minnesota

Among all of the 'arts' filmmaking is the ultimate collaborative creative endeavor. A film project is an enormous risk and a daunting undertaking.  Special application software, hi-end A/D optical and audio interfaces and the advent of low-cost desktop supercomputers has changed filmmaking forever. Much to the delight of audiences worldwide and now Minnesota's film community is getting some help from our legislators.  Read the story in the April 21, 2014 Twin Cities Business magazine

CS&E Prof. Konstan comments on 'Massive Open Online Course' movement

An excerpt from a Minnesota Public Radio May 4, 2014 story

"The free online courses that top-notch universities offer to the public were once hyped as an innovation that could threaten the higher education establishment. But now many in the industry are scaling back expectations. University studies show MOOC students aren't performing as well supporters had hoped, and they're not exactly the underserved masses that many educators were hoping to reach."

Read or listen to the whole story

MinneWebCon April 14-15, 2014

MinneWebCon’s roots are in people coming together to solve problems and make things easier, and we are entering our seventh year with a big-time commitment to grassroots knowledge-sharing. You might hear from folks who are working in your field, or are in a position you consider

light-years from the everyday. Our work with the web brings us together, and at MinneWebCon attendees and speakers from all backgrounds, career paths, and work environments have a space to collaborate, talk, learn, ask, test, argue, create, and grow.

From the Twin Cities, Minnesota, the Midwest, and beyond… join us April 14th and 15th, 2014!

Spring 2014 Alumni Learning Series - May 2

Physics and Nanotechology Building—Tour and Lunch

By James Marti, Associate Program Director of the Minnesota Nano Center

Friday, May 2, 2014 (RSVP by April 25)

Noon-1:30 p.m.

Physics and Nanotechnology Building
115 Union St SE, Minneapolis

Enter by either the east or west doors.
We will meet in the MNC conference room, Rm. 130 (just off the main floor atrium).

Register for the May 2 lunch and tour

The University of Minnesota launches a new era of excellence with the Grand Opening of the new Physics and Nanotechnology Building this spring. The new facility will house experimental physicists—relocated from Tate Laboratories—in about 40 new research laboratories. More than 5,000 square feet of new clean room space has opened in the nanotechnology portion of the building, plus new labs for biological and nanomaterials research not found in any of the University's existing common-use nanotech labs. The new facility allows for the expansion of interdisciplinary research, as the University simply didn't have that space available in the past.

Join us for lunch, followed by a tour, in this amazing new space.

We look forward to seeing you!
David J. Lilja, Department Head
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Vipin Kumar, Department Head
Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Parking

Parking for all of these events is conveniently located across the street from Keller Hall in the Washington Avenue Ramp.

For more information, contact Anastacia Quinn Davis at aqdavis@umn.edu or 612-625-4509.

Spring 2014 Alumni Learning Series - April 24

Low-Inertia Microgrids to Enable High Renewable Integration

By Sairaj Dhople, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Thursday April 24, 2014 (RSVP by April 17)
11:30 am-1:00 pm

Walter Library, Room 101

117 Pleasant St. SE, Minneapolis
Box lunches will be served.

Register for the April 24 lunch

In this talk, assistant professor Dhople will describe the modeling, analysis, and control challenges in emerging low-inertia microgrids, which offer several system-level advantages such as reducing transmission and distribution losses, increasing renewable integration, and ensuring a reliable and secure power supply to critical loads in residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. Consequently, developing countries may choose to sidestep the traditional hierarchical bulk power system, in favor of agile and adaptable micro grids.

We look forward to seeing you!
David J. Lilja, Department Head
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Vipin Kumar, Department Head
Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Parking

Parking for all of these events is conveniently located across the street from Keller Hall in the Washington Avenue Ramp.

For more information, contact Anastacia Quinn Davis at aqdavis@umn.edu or 612-625-4509.