computer science

Walking In Memphis with K Students

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K Math Students in Memphis Feb 2016Six Kalamazoo College math and computer science students traveled to Memphis, Tenn., March 3-5 (or, in K-speak, the end of 9th Week!) to attend the annual conference of the Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education (ACM-SIGCSE). They attended plenary and workshop sessions, volunteered with various conference management activities, and interacted with conference organizers, presenters, and other students from around the world. They also helped develop a mobile app that will be used for student volunteers at the 2017 conference. (And they may have enjoyed a stroll along Beale St., famous for its BBQ, Blues, and beverages.)

From left to right in the photo taken by Elizabeth Fiator ’16 are Noah Getz ’17, Luis Diniz (visiting international student from Belo Horizonte, Brazil), Will Lewis ’16, Owen Galvin ’17, Melany Diaz ’16. Their conference and Beale St. guides were K Associate Professor of Computer Science Pam Cutter, Ph.D., and Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science Alyce Brady, Ph.D.

A Break for Microbial Evolution

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Kalamazoo College sophomore Tanush Jagdish
A monument to experimental success in microbial evolution (and a pretty dandy learning experience)

Talk about making the most of an opportunity! Sophomore Tanush Jagdish took the initiative to contact microbiologist Richard Lenski (Michigan State University), who had visited Kalamazoo College last spring as the biology department’s Diebold Symposium keynote speaker. Tanush inquired about research possibilities in Lenski’s lab over the December break. Tanush has been working in Assistant Professor of Biology Michael Wollenberg’s microbiology research lab at K since his first year, so he was already familiar with techniques he would need to work in Lenski’s lab.   Lenski graciously extended an offer to Tanush and paired him up with a postdoctoral fellow to work on microbial evolution. Tanush loved the work (that’s probably an understatement).

“This experience becomes the most intensive and profound one in my (extremely short) research career,” he wrote. “Through a very fortunate set of events, I got to work on the strain of E-coli that famously learned to eat citrate after 20 years of evolution. Essentially, in order to trace the potentiating mutations back through time, I was trying to figure out the set of genes that are required for citrate consumption in the evolved strain.

“Everything went amazingly well–my experiments worked, the yields were great! I transformed and scanned through more than 1,600 strains from a mutant library, consuming over 3,500 agar plates. As is Lenski lab tradition with large experiments, I got to build my own tower from the plates.” (see photo). Tanush also expressed his appreciation for the opportunity to work with the post-doc with whom he was paired, Dr. Zachary Blount.

“Dr. Blount was extremely kind and generous with his time when he mentored me,” said Tanush. “He is very well regarded in the evolutionary biology community (he characterized the citrate consuming bacteria after conducting what is still the largest genetic screen in academic history).”

Congratulations, Tanush, a beautiful example of leveraging the opportunity of a break between terms.

K women show GISMO girls there’s no magic to learning computer science

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K students (l-r) Natalie Davenport ’16, Octavia Smith ’18 and Melany Diaz ’16 showed local 6th- and 7th-grade girls that there is no magic to learning computer science.
K students (l-r) Natalie Davenport ’16, Octavia Smith ’18 and Melany Diaz ’16 showed local 6th- and 7th-grade girls that there is no magic to learning computer science.

More Kalamazoo College Computer Science majors doing good things:

Recently, Natalie Davenport ’16, Octavia Smith ’18 and Melany Diaz ’16 (l-r in photo) led sessions on Android app creation for Kalamazoo-area sixth- and seventh-grade girls at GISMO (Girls Investigate Science and Math Opportunities), held at KAMSC (Kalamazoo Area Math and Science Center).

In six separate sessions (with about 15 girls per session) titled “Magic 8-Ball with App Inventor” the K women guided the GISMO girls through steps to create an Android app that, when activated (by pressing a button or shaking the device), gives a random response just like the iconic fortune-telling “Magic 8-ball” toy.

They also shared their experiences and excitement about computing with the middle school girls and, according to Associate Professor of Computer Science Pam Cutter, “were excited in return to see how quickly these girls caught on to the programming ideas they presented and their desire to do more of this at home.”

Q: Magic 8-Ball, can women do computer science?
A: Our sources say, “Yes! Definitely!”

K Computer Science Students Make Their Professor Proud

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Kalamazoo College representatives travel to ACM competitionTwo teams of Kalamazoo College students traveled to the ACM ECNA International Collegiate Programming Contest regional competition at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) in Grand Rapids recently — and “both teams did great,” said Associate Professor of Computer Science Pam Cutter, Ph.D.

“It’s the first time we’ve placed in the top 5 at our site!”

The two K teams, made up of three students each, finished fourth and fifth among 26 teams participating at GVSU. Out of 130 teams competing at four separate eastern region sites, K teams finished 17th and 23rd.

“I’m feeling quite pleased that we beat three out of five teams from University of Michigan,” Cutter said.

With schools such as University of Waterloo, University of Toronto, Carnegie Mellon, University of Michigan, and Notre Dame, Cutter said “Ours is known as a tough region. Because of this, our region gets to send three teams to the world finals, whereas most other regions only get to send two.”

Cutter said the top five teams at each site receive prizes, so each K student earned a backpack. Each K team also won a special award: the Black Hornets won the Jolly Jumpers award for highest jump in rank and the Orange Hornets tied for the Solid Programmers award for most problems solved with least penalties.

The “Black Hornets” team that finished fourth included Abhay Goel ’18, Raoul Wadha ’17, and Jacob Naranjo ’18. The “Orange Hornets” team that finished fifth included Sarah Manski ’16, Kyle Sunden ’16, and Kamal Kamalaldin ’17.

Left to right in the photo, they are Kamal, Kyle, Sarah, Raoul, Abhay, Jacob, and Professor Cutter.

Full results from the regional competition are here: https://ecna15.kattis.com/standings?filter=375.

 

Aced it With ACEit!

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Senior computer science major Jae Hyun ChoeSenior computer science major Jae Hyun Choe presented a poster at the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Student Research Competition. The title of his presentation was “ACEit!–Android app to Assist Children in Learning to Read English.” The work was based on his Senior Individualized Project, which was supported by the Hough Foundation Natural Science and Mathematics SIP grant last summer, according to Associate Professor of Computer Science Pam Cutter, who served as Choe’s SIP supervisor. “Jae Hyun competed with 16 others,” said Cutter, “and although he didn’t make it to the next round of the competition, he said that making and presenting the poster as well as explaining what he did and getting ideas and feedback from others were very valuable experiences. The competition was held in Kansas City, Missouri, during the ACM’s Special Interest Group in Computer Science Education technical symposium. The College’s computer science department has been busy with meetings preparations. Six women computer science students plan to participate in the upcoming Michigan Celebration of Women in Computing, which will be held in Ann Arbor. One of the students will present her SIP work there.

Kalamazoo College students launch Versapp app with help from an alumnus

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Giancarlo Anemone ’15 and Will Guedes ’15Users of a new social media application developed by two K juniors no longer have to worry about not having a second chance to make a first impression with its concept of anonymous interaction.

Versapp, a social media application combining anonymity and community, was developed by Giancarlo Anemone ’15 and Will Guedes ’15 with the help of angel investor Trevor Hough ’08.

Launched last month for the iOS platform, with an Android version to follow, Versapp allows users to send a message using their friends list to initiate a conversation while remaining unidentified using the one-to-one chat feature. Or, users may participate in a group message where the participants are known but the comments remain anonymous.

Read more about Will, Giancarlo, and Trevor in an article by Rachel Weick in the August 8, 2014 edition of Grand Rapids Business Journal.

 

The William Randolph Hearst Undergraduate Research Fellowship at K

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Thanks to a generous gift from The Hearst Foundation, Inc., Kalamazoo College has established the William Randolph Hearst Undergraduate Research Fellowships. These competitive fellowships will provide support for summer research projects for K students majoring in the sciences or mathematics. The goal is to continue the College’s success in preparing individuals for graduate studies and careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines.

Eight fellowships will be awarded each year for the next three years beginning this summer 2014. Each award will consist of a $3,000 stipend to defray travel and living expenses. Eligible disciplines include biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, and mathematics. Projects must be investigative and have the goal of generating primary research results. K first-year, sophomore, and junior students are eligible to apply.

Kalamazoo College Upjohn Professor of Life Sciences Jim Langeland ’86, Department of Biology, will serve as faculty coordinator for the program.

The Hearst Foundation and the William Randolph Hearst Foundation are national philanthropic resources for organizations working in the fields of culture, education, health, and social services. The Hearst Foundations identify and fund outstanding nonprofits to ensure that people of all backgrounds in the United States have the opportunity to build healthy, productive, and inspiring lives.

Hornet Teams Display Computing Power in ACM Competition

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Seniors Kyle Sunden, Lucas Kushner and Fayang Pan at the ACM competition
Orange Hornets (l-r) Kyle Sunden, Lucas Kushner, and Fayang Pan, all seniors.

Two teams of Kalamazoo College students recently competed and computed in the annual Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Intercollegiate Regional Programming competition. When the dust settled, the Orange and Black left some big competitors feeling blue.

The Orange Hornets team of seniors Lucas Kushner, Fayang Pan, and Kyle Sunden solved two of nine problems and placed 34th out of about 126 teams from 61 colleges and universities throughout western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, eastern Ontario, and Indiana. The Black Hornets team of seniors Tibin John and Will Reichle and sophomore Sarah Manski also solved two of nine problems and finished 40th.

“It’s a combination of both time and correct submissions, with penalties for incorrect submissions,” explained K Associate Professor of Computer Science Pam Cutter who accompanied the teams to the competition held at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids.

She said the Orange Hornets solved the first problem in 50 minutes with three incorrect attempts and solved the second problem in 2:30 with one incorrect attempt. The Black Hornets solved the first problem in 1:41 with two incorrect attempts and solved the second problem in 3:39 with one incorrect attempt.

Last year, K teams placed 39th and 53rd out of 131 teams.

Senior Will Reichle, sophomore Sarah Manski and senior Tibin John at the ACM Competition
Black Hornets (l-r) senior Will Reichle, sophomore Sarah Manski, and senior Tibin John.

The 2013 competition included teams from big institutions such as Carnegie Mellon, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, University of Toronto, and University of Michigan—some of which finished behind Cutter’s Hornet squads.

“I am quite proud of our teams,” she said. “If you see this gang, give them a “Good job!”

ACM is the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society.

 

 

Kalamazoo College Alumna Helps Develop Bicycle Safety Simulator

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Jodie Plumert ’85, professor and chair of psychology at the University of Iowa is helping lead a joint research project with the University’s computer science department to develop a simulator that uses virtual environment technology to study children’s decision making process when riding a bike. The simulator employs a stationary bicycle sitting in the middle of three large screens and equipped to feed real-time information into a computer network, which creates an interactive virtual environment. Bicyclists “ride” up to a simulated intersection, assess the traffic “crossing” on the screens around them, then determine when it’s safe for them to cross. Read more about Jodie and her research on her UI webpage.

Check out the video below where Jodie helps demonstrate the simulator.

Battle of the Brains

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Congrats to the Black Hornets (Jiakan Wang ’13, Renjie Song ’13, Tibin John ’15) and the Orange Hornets (Chris Clerville ’13, Will Reichle 14’, Kyle Sunden ’14) on their success at the regional Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest, or “Battle of the Brains,” this past Saturday. Both Kalamazoo College teams finished in the top half of the teams in their region.

The  Black Hornets solved two out of nine problems, finished in 39th place in the region (out of 131 teams), and earned the Extreme Programmers award for solving problem B in 25 minutes! The Orange Hornets solved one out of nine problems and finished 53rd in the region.

“Our region is one of the most competitive in the country, including multiple teams from such schools as Carnegie Mellon, University of Toronto, University of Waterloo, University of Michigan, and Notre Dame,” said Associate Professor of Computer Science Pam Cutter, Ph.D. “I’m proud of both teams for solving at least one problem. There were 54 teams in our region that did not solve any of the problems!”

According to Cutter, the “Battle of the Brains” consists of a five-hour, real-world, problem-solving challenge that is equivalent to an entire semester’s worth of computer programming. Teams of three from colleges and universities in 90 countries and six continents use skills based upon open technology and advanced computing methods to compete for a coveted spot on the World Finals held in summer 2013 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Full standings and results from the recent regional, and problem sets with judges solutions can be found at http://acm.ashland.edu.

Black and Orange! Orange and Black!