We're taking a break ...

CSA is in stasis as the next phase of Computer Science Associates will be determined in the not-too distant future by:
1) those individual computer science enthusiasts who want to meet and mingle with CSE faculty, researchers, students, staff and other enthusiasts.
2) the department administration's review of the 'social' needs and wants of the department, the college, and alumni.

In short, if 'you' want to support and help define a place and purpose for CSE alumni, friends, fans and all those associated with the CSE department, then let the the CSE powers know. Call or email them! It's pretty simple.

The new Industry Associates Council (IAC) was formed and is off to a great start. CSA is proud and delighted to have had 'a hand and a say' in it's formalization.

CSA has had it's share of directed missions over it's 40+ years of existence. CSA rose from industry pioneers raising public awareness of an emergent, disruptive science, to raising funds and garnering political commitments for space for a rapidly growing and important department, to advocating for the university at the legislature, and providing counsel with respect to curricula, honors, special programs and direction. CSA has had an action-oriented past. Now there are many organizations that are vying for the 'brass ring'. At this juncture our thinking is that there are now plenty of people out in the local community who have been touched by the teaching and research of the department and perhaps CSA's next chapter is to evolve into a more social organization with the purpose to have fun. Hmmm, what do you say?
All the best...

U Tech Upgrade Nearing Deployment

The massive, $83.5 million systemwide upgrade is counting down until it’s finally operational beginning in February 2015.  Read the story.

Sound bends Light

Extra!  Extra!  Read all about it.

UofMN researchers created a single chip that generates and contains both sound and light waves, the first of which modulates the optical light waves used to carry information, said lead researcher and physics doctoral student Semere Tadesse.  The sound vibrations generated act like an earthquake and creates waves on the surface of the chip which alter the properties of the chip’s materials...
Here's a link to the full story -  Sound bends light on a tiny chip | mndaily.com - The Minnesota Daily 

Clark Griswold would be proud!! 100,000 LEDs and lasers!!

Join the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering (CSE) during the first two weekends in December for a dazzling light show designed by students. The high-tech light show is bigger and better this year featuring more than 100,000 LED lights and laser projection set to music, some of which is written and recorded by University of Minnesota students. Learn more here.

CSA Celebrates Computer Science Education Week

The CSA crew held it's fall semester meeting on December 9, 2014 featuring a lunch and learn session with Prof. Dan Knights on his research and fascinating results in "Hacking the Microbiome".  The business portion of the meeting centered on CSA associations and activities relevant to "Computer Science Education Week",

Go West Coder Dojo! Go West to Minnetonka!

Minnetonka High School launches the state’s first high school-based CoderDojo

The first day of school often brings feelings of nervous excitement to students returning from summers filled with bonfires, vacations and relaxation. But for two Minnetonka High School seniors, the back-to-school excitement began weeks before the first day of class.

Javidan Odqan and Josh McGrath have spent their summer coding in internship positions with an innovation company called Edmentum. As they enter their final year at Minnetonka High School, they’ll bring with them a new coding club that boasts a wait list already 85-people long: Tonka CoderDojo.

CoderDojo is an open source, volunteer-led movement that runs nonprofit coding clubs for young people. According to coderdojo.com, children 7-17 are welcome, and each Dojo determines the age range its volunteers can handle.


Read the full article: http://sailor.mnsun.com/2014/09/05/cracking-the-code-tonka-coderdojo/

CSE Alumni Matt Gray and Rebecca Schatz, founders of the local Coder Dojo movement, have provided tons of encouragement, knowledge, tips, advice and support to Javidan Odqan and Josh McGrath as they navigated the waters of school district rules and regulations and built a functioning chapter.    Good ideas win out and the Minnetonka School District has embraced Josh and Javi and welcomed Coder Dojo into their facilities and learning community.  John Borowicz, CSA chair and CSE alumni, is a regular mentor at Tonka Coder Dojo and also provides web development, promotional and operations support.

Dan Knights - On the Cutting Edge of Computational Biology

UMN professor solves problems from 'gut bugs' to Rubik's Cube - By Richard Chin

Dan Knights is a new professor at the University of Minnesota doing cutting-edge work on microorganisms in the human body - but that's not why he's been on "Today" and "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."  View Full Story 

Prof. Knights will be presenting on his research during the "Lunch 'n Learn" portion of the CSA December 9, 2014 meeting.  

For details and a reservation contact Anahita Ahrar, Communications Coordinator Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering  Office: 612-626-8020    Email: ahra0005@umn.edu

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

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.

Mentor at the new Sumner Code Club

Please consider mentoring at the new Sumner Code Club, held in the beautiful Sumner Library just northwest of downtown Minneapolis.  Inspire Northside girls and boys (ages 9 to 14) to explore coding using Scratch -- a fun and powerful language for creating and sharing your own games, animations and stories. 

Experienced Scratch mentors -- or mentors eager to explore Scratch -- are all welcome. 

We're starting out with 3 sessions on Monday evenings from 4 to 6 pm -- March 31, April 7 and April 14.   

Please REGISTER HERE to mentor at one or all of these events and enjoy introducing a Northside child to the delights of coding.

Thank you for helping inspire a diverse new code-savvy generation. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. And please spread the word.  

Thank you,

Rebecca Schatz
rebecca@codesavvy.org

WSJ cites Coder DoJo Twin Cities

Matt Gray, co-founder of Coder DoJo Twin Cities and a guest at our next meeting is featured in a March 22, 2014 article on the rising interest and the opportunities to learn 'coding'.