From Classroom to Marketplace

Computer Science senior, Alex Schmid, decided to put his newly learned Android programming skills to a real test.  As he was completing Comp 494 Programming for the Droid, taught by USF Computer Science alumnus, TJ Eakle, he took his final project, put his own twist on it and then made it available on the Android Marketplace.

After publishing his new app, Ocarina of Time - Song Helper, based upon the music in the game Legends of Zelda, he had over 100 downloads and had covered 50 countries.  His app has a early rating of 4.5 stars.     When downloaded the app is named SongHelper


 If you wish to check out his app, here's the link: 

https://market.android.com/details?id=edu.stfrancis.alexschmid.SongHelper&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImVkdS5zdGZyYW5jaXMuYWxleHNjaG1pZC5Tb25nSGVscGVyIl0

Congratulations, Alex, on showing how to take your skills from the classroom to the world!
        

An Argonne Opportunity

USF Computer Science alumnus, Pam Richmond  (1997) from Argonne National Labs, just contacted me with a great opportunity.  She is looking for someone for a part time web developer position at Argonne. 

She said:  "We are looking for someone who is a good student, cooperative, and conscientious, but they need not have existing web development skills.  We are willing to train in HTML, web image editing, and related technologies.  If you know Kevin Beckman, Mathematics and Computer Science (2009), he is working with me and would also work with the new hire."

If you're interested, please contact me so I can put you in touch with Pam.   They are looking to interview and hire in early January, so don't delay.
  

Department of Homeland Security 2012 Summer Internships

Summer may seem far off, but if you want this very special opportunity you need to get your application by January 5th, 2012.  Since you'll need to review sites and you'll want to have the opportunity to present yourself in the best possible light, it's not too soon to be begin reviewing the requirements.

Here's a link to the site:  http://www.orau.gov/dhsinternships/  

This is a 10 week commitment and there is a $500 a week stipend.  The program is aimed at rising juniors and seniors, so if you will be completing your sophomore or junior year in the Spring this might be an opportunity for you.  You should have a 3.30 GPA.

Please review the site for all the specific information, including reimbursed travel expenses.

Lincoln Elementary - Spring 2012 Internship

Mike McGowan, Computer Science alumnus, is looking for another intern for Spring 2012 at Lincoln Elementary in Calumet City.  According to Mike  there's going to be a lot of interesting things going on  he wants to start "before the end of the school year to start prepping the equipment and such. So it would be a good time to learn some project management skills."   Lincoln Elementary District #156 is at 410 West 157th St, Calumet City, IL 60409. 

Jordan Parcel, Information Technology - 2011, and Joel Perez, Computer Science Senior,  have both had successful internships at Lincoln Elementary and report very favorably about the experience and the opportunity to learn.  

Remember that an internship can count as an upper division elective, so if you're interested stop by and see Ruth Weldon and we'll get the paperwork started.

Argonne Co-op Opportunity

We received a message from Emily Mancini, from Argonne National Labs Communications, Education and Public Affairs Department.   In it she stated:

"We would like to alert to you immediate opportunities for undergraduates to work part-time at Argonne National Laboratory while maintaining full-time student status. Over the years, many students have become involved in conducting research with Argonne scientists and engineers. We are particularly interested in students who are majoring in Computer Science.

The Laboratory offers such opportunities through its Co-op Program. We offer Parallel Co-op Appointments in which the students work part-time, up to a maximum of 19 hours per week during the academic year and 40 hours per week during the summer period OR full-time hours in alternating semesters."

Please note this is a paid internship at a prestigious facility.  If you are at least a sophomore with a minimum GPA of 2.87 this is worth investigating.  The USF Computer Science Department is happy to participate in the Co-operative Education program.

More details about the program can be found at:  http://www.dep.anl.gov/p_shared/coop/coop.htm

Here's a link to the application: http://www.dep.anl.gov/p_shared/coop/coopapp.pdf.

Good luck!

       

Coming Soon - Robotics

We're very excited to offer our first course in Robotics this coming Spring.  It will be taught by Computer Science alumnus, Tim Archer, who also spearheaded the development of the USF portal when he was with the USF IT Department. 

Students will build the Boe-Bot robots and program them as part of the course.  At the end of the semester the students will keep the robots.  It promises to be a wonderful and fun learning experience.

Game Programming Contest

This year the USF Computer Science Department joined forces with Joliet Junior College to host a Game Design Competition open to both high school students and college students in the area.  Winners were announce in May, 2011.

Three high school area students were awarded scholoarship money to attend USF.  The students are: Kyle Gunderson, Nick Prueter, and Tayler Baird.  Congratulations to our winners and to all who entered the contest. 

We're looking forward to next Spring's contest.

Awards

Congratulations to Nick Zelinkski who received the Joan Nahas Ramuta award Spring 2011 for all his work in the computer lab, his academic excellence, his assistance with tutoring.  This award is given each year to an outstanding senior in the Computer Science Department.  Our thanks Nick for all your work.  Nick is picture here with his mother and father at the awards ceremony on May 5th.

 Luis Escorza was also honored with the Meritorious Service Award for his work in the computer lab, with the Greening of the Campus committee's website.  He was a valued intern for USF’s IT department.  Last Fall, he helped prep the computers so that Google App Inventor could be used in the A102 lab with our donated smart phones for the Mobile Phone Seminar.  This semester Luis has also been involved with a project to improve wireless access for students in the dorms.

 

Graduation's here

Congratulations to all our Spring 2011 grads.  May 7, 2011

In Information Technology: Rob DeLong, Mike Dembeck, Luis Escorza, Jordan Parcel walked down the aisle

In Web Application Development: Matt Nosbisch, Brandon Rusnak.








Not pictured are Larissa Kries and Mike Murphy from Computer Science who could not make the ceremonies.

Ring up one for Alex!

Congratulations to Alex Schmid, Computer Science, Senior, on landing an internship with AT&T  for the summer of 2011.  He came out ahead of several candidates from other schools, so now he’ll be learning his way around Hoffman Estates.  

Good job, Alex!

Hello World, Android is here.

T.J. Eakle, Computer Science Alumnus, and member of the USF IS Department spent some time on Thursday, April 7th evening showing students, alumni, and other interested guests how to set up the development platform for the Android. 

T.J.’s step-by-step slides made it easy to follow and after the seminar he provided a copy of the slides which were emailed to all in case they weren’t able to attend or wanted a copy to keep.   The presentation is also available on the Presentations & Seminars link from this blog.

The opportunity to learn, whetted the appetites of the attendees for the upcoming class T.J will teach this Fall on Wednesday nights.   Jordan Parcel, Information Technology Senior, also helped out with the setup of the lab in preparation for the seminar and he helped guests sign on to the lab machines.  Thanks to T.J. and Jordan for all their work.  It was a great event.

Alice in Dirksenland

On Wednesday morning, April 6th, fifty 7th and 8th graders from Dirksen Junior High came to USF to learn about programming. Using Alice, a graphical programming language, the Computer Science department introduced these bright, engaged students to the concepts behind writing computer code and everyone had fun doing it.


The students saw a demo of a graphical scene and then walked briefly through the included tutorial in Alice. Then they learned that avatars weren’t just a name for a movie. Each student built their own avatar and then learned how to make it interact with other objects. They learned about sequencing of instructions, about how to force concurrency of instructions and how to create loops. And maybe most of all, that an object can cluck like a chicken.

But the best sound that was heard was the buzz of activity as they learned what they could do and that programming was fun and a way to be creative.



Helping the students with their discovery were Ross McCallister, Kevin Healy, and Nick Zelinski. Before the students got there, Alex Schmid pitched in to help with the set up of the two labs, and then had to leave to make his class. All four students are Computer Science majors.

                                                      Thanks for all your help.

Exelon Internship

Congratulations to Mitch Cannon, Junior, Information Technology, on landing the Exelon Internship at the LaSallle County Generating Station.  He passed the initial screening process and then did a phone interview with his soon to be manager, Paul Carlson, USF Information Technology alumnus.   We're looking forward to hearing about the internship.  Great job, Mitch.

On campus job interviews

Simplex Investments is coming on campus the afternoon of Tuesday, April 5th to interview for internships and entry level developer positions.  They also have positions for experienced personnel if any alumni are interested. 

 http://www.simplexinvestments.com/careers/

We’re very excited to have them interviewing on campus and they’re here specifically for Computer Science students.   Kristi Kelly of Career Services, kkelly@stfrancis.edu, is handling the interview schedule.

Opportunities abound

Email has been kept busy early this semester as various opportunities in the Computer Science/Information Technology fields kept cropping up.

Thanks to Paul Carlson, Information Technology alumnus, for contacting us with an internship opportunity at Exelon Corporation for the summers. 

Brian Sharp’s (Computer Science alumnus) company , Bridgepoint Technologies, is looking for experienced Network Techs and Web Designers, (although entry level Web Design will be considered). 

Nestle Purina is looking for new grads and soon-to-be new grads in Computer Science and Information Technology for Information Systems Management Trainee program.

Will County Forest Preserve was looking for an IT person. Joe Bozen of our own IT department hooked us up with that one.

The Illinois Student Assistance Commission is looking for interns in IT.  Thanks to Tim Archer, alumnus and also in our IT department heard about this one.

Bullet Communications was looking for an intern who knew Dreamweaver.  Prof Terre Rosner of the Mass Communications department passed this one along.

If you have missed the emails on any of these opportunities, they’re in the USF Careerlink system.   This system is available to students and alumni.   Here’s the Career Services homepage: https://www.stfrancis.edu/about/employment/career-services/studentsalumni/

If you need help with  the USF Careerlink system, please contact Kristi Kelly of USF Career Services.  Remember this is available for both students and alumni.

If you have other leads you'd like to share, or to talk about some of these postings, please contact Ruth Weldon.

Winter Graduation

Congratulations to our latest Computer Science Department graduates.

For Computer Science we had Larissa Kries, Michael Murray, and Caleb Piggott graduating although they could not make the ceremony.

In Information Technology we were proud to see David Gingerich and Nicholas Morris walk in Commencement exercises.

Our good wishes follow all our latest graduates. Please be sure and stay in touch.

We’ll look to hear from you and all our alumni in April at our annual Alumni Student Networking and Resume Tips meeting.