3 CoderDojos in Town

Welcoming, open, safe, free environments for kids to learn coding.

There are now three CoderDojos in town: the CoderDojo Twin Cities, Katie CoderDojo and the new Tonka CoderDojo.

Each one  has a different style, code groups and age ranges so explore them all to find the best fit for your child.

Tickets are free, but go fast; register early (this weekend!) to avoid disappointment.

The CoderDojo movement was started in 2011 in Ireland by code-savvy teenager James Whelton and philanthropist Bill Liao.   There are now almost 500 CoderDojos in 48 countries. You can start one too; here's how.

FINCH ROBOTS
Code Savvy is delighted to borrow 100 Finch Robots during the month of September, thanks to Bird Brain Technologies. Finches are rugged little robots with light, obstacle, temperature and orientation sensors as well as the ability to move, change color, talk and play music.

We'll be programming the Finches at CoderDojoTC and Katie CoderDojo and also loaning them to teachers in schools across Minnesota during September. Interested educators please contact hello@CodeSavvy.org. 

CODING on the NORTHSIDE
The Digital Empowerment Academy is a digital literacy initiative founded in 2013 that enables Northside teens to become savvy users and creators of digital technology. DEA is hosting a series of digital literacy workshops in North Minneapolis -- check out the schedule of events here -- and has recently convened the Northside Digital Innovation Alliance.

Save the date: A fundraising gala for the Digital Empowerment Academy will be held November 8, 2014 from 7 - 10 pm. For more information, please contact: Lanise@DigitalEmpowermentAcademy.org

Reproduced with respect and gratitude from Rebecca Schatz's Code Savvy email report 9/6/14

2014 Minnesota Cup Division Winners

MINNEAPOLIS—August 28, 2014—The Minnesota Cup — a statewide entrepreneurial competition that supports and accelerates the development of breakthrough business ideas from across the state — has named seven Minnesota-based startups as division winners and seven runners-up in its 2014 competition.

Now in its tenth year, the Minnesota Cup — the nations' largest statewide new venture competition — will award $300,000 in prize money in 2014 to Minnesota's budding entrepreneurs.

These seven division-winning companies will compete for the $50,000 grand prize award and the coveted Minnesota Cup at our final awards event on September 10 at the University of Minnesota. At the event, winners from each category will be awarded $30,000 in seed capital (with the exception of the Student and Social division winners, who are awarded $20,000 each). Additionally, one runner-up from each division will receive $5,000.

Energy/Clean Tech/Water:
Division Winner: 75F - Deepinder Singh, Blue Earth County
Runner-up: Pelican Lake Holdings - Robert Anderson, Grant County

Food/Ag/Beverage:
Division Winner: Trovita Health Science – William Brown, Hennepin County
Runner-up: Locally Laid Egg Company – Jason Amundsen, St. Louis County

General:
Division Winner: YOXO - Jeff Freeland Nelson, Ramsey County
Runner-up: JenTra Tools - Travis Kelley, Cass County

High Tech:
Division Winner: Elevate - Joe Stanton, Dakota County
Runner-up: InfiniRAM - Martin Fenner, Washington County

Life Science/Health IT:
Division Winner: Andas Inc - Joseph Jensen, Hennepin County
Runner-up: SpineThera - Jeff Missling, Hennepin County

Social Entrepreneur:
Division Winner: Verde Environmental and Medsaway - Carter Anderson, Dakota County
Runner-up: Twin Cities Mobile Market - Leah Driscoll, Ramsey County

Student:
Division Winner: Jonny Pops - Connor Wray, Rice County
Runner-up: Tech Bank, LLC - Austin White-Pentony, Hennepin County


Host sponsors of The 2014 Minnesota Cup competition include Wells Fargo and the University of Minnesota. Other lead sponsors include Carlson, Digital River, General Mills and UnitedHealth Group. Supporting sponsors include Agricultural Utilization Research Institute, Blandin Foundation, Bush Foundation, Cafe Inc., Cleantech Open, CliftonLarsonAllen, The Collaborative, The Digging LLC, Eide Bailly, Fredrikson and Byron, Gopher Angels, Gray Plant Mooty, Grain Millers, Haberman, Initiative Foundation, Leonhardt Ventures, LifeScience Alley, Lurie Besikof Lapidus & Company, Magnet 360, Maslon Edelman Borman & Brand, Messerli & Kramer, Minneapolis Foundation, MN Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources, MN Department of Employment and Economic Development, Minnesota High Tech Association, Minnesota Venture Capital Association, MOJO MN, The Mosaic Company, Proto Labs, Inc., Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, Southwest Initiative Foundation, SixSpeed, Split Rock Partners, Spoken Impact, Stinson Leonard Street, Stoel Rives, StarTec Investments, TECHdotMN, Treehouse Health, and West Central Initiative Foundation.

The Minnesota Cup is an annual competition that seeks to support and accelerate the development of the best breakthrough ideas from across Minnesota. For more information and to enter, please visit www.breakthroughideas.org.

2014 Minnesota CUP entrepreneur competition trimmed to 70

The Minnesota Cup announced Monday that 70 semifinalists have advanced to the next round of the annual entrepreneur competition—and will now compete for $300,000 in prize money.

The 70 entrepreneur teams were selected from a pool of nearly 1,300 applicants, the highest number of entrants ever, for the 10th annual Minnesota Cup, a statewide competition that seeks out the most innovative business ideas.  Winners are announced in September. Read more about the competition, divisions and teams in the MCB article.

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