Christmas and CompSci

It wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't have a Computer Science department get-together.  Save the date Dec 8th, Noon, the Computer Lab A119.

Pizza will be provided, a chance to chat and catch up on the latest happenings in the department.

Mike Dembeck & Rob DeLong will give us the scoop on the wireless communication project they've been working on with USF's IS department.  


So be there for a fun and informative time.  As always alumni and USF staff are always welcome!

Apps, Bernie and WiMax!

There really is an app for that!

Our first Mobile App Programming Seminar was a big hit!   Students from all over the university, alumni, staff, and other schools came together to learn about the wave of the future.  Programming for mobile phones.  Thanks to Sprint and Motorola we already have a jump start with the donation of mobile phones for our testing.   Due to the efforts of Tim Archer, USF Computer Science alumni and Director of Information and Administrative Services here at USF we had a wonderful event.  

Carlo Angelo of Sprint was kind enough to join us and give us a background of the cell phone and insight into the different technologies that we use.  Mr. Angelo let us know why we care about the GSM, WiMax, CDMA.

Tim  introduced the programming concepts behind mobile phones and introduced us to the framework that supports the Droid.   Then it was time for some hands-on work.   A number of participants had agreed to request access to the Google AppInventor project.

This is a programming interface that uses a building blocks approach to creating mobile apps.  The project is currently in a beta status so approval to join the project takes about a week. 

AppInventor Screen

Once a driver is installed on the PC for your phone you can download the AppInventor interface.

Thanks to the efforts of Tim Archer, T.J. Eakle, Computer Science Alumnus and Applications Programmer,  &  Dave Senior Information Technology Alumnus and Microcomputer Support Specialist, and Luis Escorz, Information Technology senior and intern, the computers in the A102 lab were setup to use Google AppInventor and our new donated phones ahead of time.   


With Tim Archer’s expert guidance the participants built their own ‘Pet Bernie’ app.  When the screen with Bernie’s picture on it is touched or shaken, Bernie barks.  As an added bonus, Tim also showed us how to use the bar code scanner logic.

Everyone attending left wanting to come back for more.  So stay tuned for more events this coming Spring.  

And if you want to get set for the future, plan on enrolling in Comp 494 – Programming for the Droid, Fall 2011.  A prerequisite of either Comp 140, Computer Science I (C++) or Comp 253 Java will be needed.  

Tim Archer

Thanks to Tim Archer, Computer Science alumnus and Director of Information and Administrative Services here at USF for coordinating and presenting such a great and successful event.

Here at USF Computer Science we are the sum of our people and we have very good people, indeed!

Game Programming Contest

    
We're delighted to announce our first ever game programming contest.  The University of St. Francis is partnering with Joliet Junior College to offer an opportunity to college and high school students to design and develop their own games.


The computer game must be created using the Game Maker software which may be downloaded from http://www.yoyogames.com/gamemaker/

 GameMaker is an innovative product which is available for a free download and includes tutorials to help you get started.  You can design adventure style games, first person shooter games, maze style games.   Many levels of game play can be developed, high scores tracked, games can be set to increase difficulty as play continues.  Music and sound effects can be added to improve the play.  By the way, GameMaker does NOT require prior programming experience.





You'll create rooms and fill them with objects that can interact with each other.  A graphical interface makes it easy to setup everything from bouncing when an object hits a wall to being destroyed, with the appropriate sound effects, when being shot.


A game developed for which a developer was paid, is not eligible.

All games should adhere to the current legal requirements concerning copyright, first amendment, trade work, and civil rights.

Check out all the contest rules and register at: http://www.jjc.edu/academics/divisions/career-technical/cios/game-contest/Pages/default.aspx

Entries are due by March 14th.   The awards dinner is May 11th.

So have some fun and design a game the way you think it should be played. 

First Mobile Seminar Scheduled

 

Save the date!!!

 Thursday, Nov 18th,  6:30 PM to 8:30 PM

Our first 

Mobile 

Programming 

Seminar.  

The details are still being worked out, but the phones are in  and we're looking forward to making sure that 'Droid Does'!

As you can see several of the students are examining the new phones, putting in the batteries and micro SD cards.

Thanks to Motorola and Sprint for the phones.

Android 1.5 is on the phones.  They do not have cell service, but they can be put  on the wireless network so newly made apps can be tested.

Learn more about Mobile Phone programming at our first seminar.
Alumni, USF staff and other interested individuals are always welcome at our events.

 

Making an app for that!

Good news!

Thanks to the efforts of our Unversity of St Francis IS department, Motorola, in conjunction with Sprint, has donated 5 mobile phones to the Computer Science department so that students will be able to work on app creation. These are on the Android platform, so they're open source.

We will start with short seminars for the Spring semester and look at offering a topics course in Fall, 2011 in conjunction with a planned ACCA (Associated Colleges Chicagoland Area) seminar. This way we'll not only have hands on practice, we'll take advantage of several industry experts.

If you're thinking of taking the "Developing for the Android" course in Fall, 2011, be sure and take the Comp 140, Computer Science I - C++ in the Spring, 2011 semester, if you haven't already taken it or the Comp 253, Java course. A solid base of a programming language will be needed. Android's software stack will use the Java SDK (Software Developer's Kit) as the programming language.

Sprint is the mobile carrier used by University of St. Francis. Thank you to Motorola and to Sprint for furthering our educational goals and many thanks to Mark Snodgrass and Tim Archer of the USF IS department for working out the details to help our students.

Putting the ‘social’ into Social Network

The Computer Science department sponsored an outing to Hollywood Palms Cinema on Wednesday night to see The Social Network. Students, alumni, and USF staff got together to enjoy the movie and a chance to unwind, midweek. Some of us took the van provided by Student Life (thanks to Dominique Annis, USF Student Life) and some of us meet up at the theatre.

Naturally, since it was a movie about Mark Zuckerberg, we had a Facebook event created for the movie within our Computer Science at the University of St. Francis group. Thanks to Nick Zelinskli, Computer Science senior, for setting up a sign-up sheet for the van and promoting the movie event to others in the department.

Here are a couple of links if you’re not familiar with the movie, The Social Network, www.thesocialnetwork-movie.com or the Hollywood Palms Cinema www.hollywoodpalmscinema.com.

The consensus was that is was a good movie, kicked off a lot of conversation afterwards, and a great time. Some of our attendees were new to the venue and really liked the chairs & tables, having food and drink served during the movie.

A special thank you to John, our van driver for getting us there on time and safely home again. You made it a very enjoyable trip.

Thanks to the students, alumni, and staff who made this event successful. Everyone agrees another road trip is in our future.

Can you Google me now?

Students in the USF dorms have a lot of problems with wireless access.

Information Technology seniors Mike Dembeck and Rob DeLong wanted a project that would give them some real world experience.

Mark Snodgrass, Director of Network Support Services here at USF, decided that he could help the students in the dorm as well as Mike and Rob achieve their goals.

This semester Mike and Rob are surveying the wireless situation, contacting vendors about products, balancing coverage and cost, then putting together a proposal so that the USF dorms in Marian Hall, Tower Hall, and the Motherhouse have improved wireless access. They'll help develop the business plan and, upon the approval of the IT department, assist the IT department with implementing the plan.

This project will provide Mike and Rob with a real world exposure to designing and implementing technology based projects, dealing with constraints, such as physical structures and business considerations, such as cost. Since the students’ objectives are to work in the Information Technology sector, a course like this will provide them the opportunity to explore project management, request for proposals, an increased understanding of the expanding role of wireless access and a concrete case study of a current networking problem.

Whew! They're going to be busy as they keep their supervisors in the loop with weekly status reports. So if you're in the dorms and you see Mike and Rob, let them know that their efforts are appreciated.

Coming soon to a portal near you!

Information Technology majors Brandon Rusnak and Matt Nosbisch worked hard over the summer on their Senior project. It so impressed their senior project adviser, Tim Archer, Computer Science alumnus and USF IS Manager that he's got Matt and Brandon on board to put it up on the portal. They'll get familiar with more technology and USF students are going to have a new feature on the portal.

Here's what their project was about:

The senior project, ONEPortfolio, is a way for USF Computer Science students to showcase all of their skills and achievements to prospective employers. The ONEPortfolio website allows users to upload images, resumes, code samples, a biography, education / school information, web links and more that will be displayed on a profile page for the user on the site so that a prospective employer can quickly view this information about the potential employee.

The link to a user's profile can be shared on the web or via email and is a great way for someone to quickly learn about that person's skills and abilities. The site makes it easy for users to upload their information to the site by guiding them through the steps in an easy to use wizard. The site also features a powerful Admin Control Panel which allows the site administrator to change the site content, edit users and change settings with ease.

Matt & Brandon will be presenting their project soon so that all Computer Science department students can get a look at this great new utility.

Congratulations, Brandon & Matt, on a job well done!

Data Recovery Seminar

Uh-oh, that drive is toast!
Or is it?

Join our own Andrew Johnson, Information Technology, to learn about recovering data from damaged drives.

He'll demonstrate both free and purchased applications to use on hard drives.
There will be group activities to determine if a drive can be recovered.
Also, because you may need to dispose of a drive, Andrew will talk about how to safely erase a drive.
You'll learn about retrieving deleted data.

Don't miss:

The Data Recovery Seminar
Saturday, Sept 25th
9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
St. Albert's Hall, A102
University of St. Francis
500 Wilcox
Joliet, IL 60435

RSVP to Ruth Weldon

Sponsored by the USF Computer Science Club/IEEE Student Branch

Intern/Part time employee opportunity

A consulting firm in Bolingbrook is looking for someone for as an intern or a part time employee.

From the firm's email:
"an intern position or something part time in the "IT" field for about 25-30 hours per week. We would expect that this person would already have their A+ and Network+ certifications or have taken the course equivalency. Also our preference is for someone who has light programming skills or has had an introduction to some type of software technology."

Your microcomputer systems and networking courses would be the course equivalency.

If you are interested please see Ruth for the contact information.

They will be looking for a resume!

A new lab, a new look!

Welcome back to a new semester!

By now you’ve seen our newly remodeled lab. New furniture, new workstations, two flat screen tv monitors, webcams, a scanner, a printer, and a collaboration workstation. The nine workstations are equipped with Visual Studio 2010, Java SDK, and Oracle. The flat screen TV can display the images from the end workstation. At the opposite end of the room the flat screen is hooked up to a KVM
(Keyboard, Video, Mouse) switch that can handle four laptop hook-ups so that students can collaborate on projects and take turns displaying what they’re working on. The lab is still on an isolated network with Internet access so that networking classes can experiment. There is a password protected wireless hotspot in the lab.

In addition, there is a relaxation station with a couple of chairs.

But the lab is not the only new thing this semester. The Computer Science server room got a fresh reload over the summer.

Through our participation the VMWare Academic Program we have VMWare products to use for virtualization. There’s a Remote Desktop that is accessible in any lab on campus or from home. VPN is set up on our server so that you can access most of the server facilities from home or dorm.

The servers provide access to Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Active Directory, Microsoft Sharepoint Server, CentOS Linux, RedHat Linux, Microsoft Remote Desktop Services. An educational license of CPanel allows web access of designated web pages. There is also a server devoted for student creation of virtual machines.

Our lab upgrade was funded by the Academic Computing Fund.

The lab is a fun place to work and relax. Be sure and drop in to not only work on your labs, but catch up with your friends.



Thanks to everyone who dedicated so much effort during the summer to ensure that the lab was a show place - especially to the USF IT staff, Tim Archer, Ben Gunnink, Dave Senior, Jerry Kickul , alumni, Kevin Beckman & Scott Walton, and the students.

Internship Opportunity - Just in.

One of our alumni, Gannon Novak, Information Technology '09, has let us know about an internship opportunity with his company. It would be a combination of IT and Telecomm work. The company is located in a nearby town so it is not far from campus.

Please let Ruth know if you'd like to pursue this opportunity.

Thanks, Gannon, for keeping us in mind!

Congratulations, Kevin

Kevin Beckman, our second Mathematics/Computer Science major, graduated on May 8th. He had a 3.89 GPA, He was not only a member of Epsilon Delta Pi, the Computer Science Honor Society, but of Kappa Mu Epsilon, the Mathematics Honor Society, as well as Delta Epsilon Sigma, a national honor society. Kevin had worked at Argonne National Labs for the past two years in the Cooperative Education Program.

Good luck, Kevin. All of us at USF are proud of you.

Honors 2010

Computer Science department students received their share of awards at the 26th Annual Honors and Awards Convocation. The newly inducted members of the Epsilon Delta Pi Honor Society were mentioned in the program. This years inductees were Larissa Kries, Nicholas Morris, Michael Murray, and Caleb Piggot all who will graduate in Fall, 2010.
Nick is an Information Technology senior. Larissa, Mike, & Caleb are all Computer Science Seniors

This year Dean's Scholar Awards went to Larissa Kries, Computer Science Senior, Paulina Martinez, Information Technology minor & Rec Admin junior, and Michael Murray, Computer Science Senior.

For all his work in the CompSci department computer lab we were delighted to nominate Michael Murray for the Meritorious Service Award which is presented to a senior who demonstrates our core value of service, providing the greatest service to the department and the college

The Athletic Department honored Joel Perez, Computer Science Senior, with the Jason Chonacki Scholarship which is presented to athletes who have been outstanding in service and have a GPA greater than 2.5.


This year the recipient of the Joan Nahas Ramuta Computer Science Award was Larissa Kries. It is presented to a senior in recognition of academic excellence, exemplary character standards and outstanding service to the department and college.





Larissa & her family are pictured here.

Alumni\Student Event - A fun time

Wow! What a great time everyone had at our 3rd Annual Alumni/Student Interview and Resume Tips meeting on Tuesday, April 13th. We were able to let everyone see some of our new facilities such as our new server room and talk about our future plans for our Hardware/Networking lab. We also were able to show the access to NACELink, a job search feature supported by USF’s Career Development and available for use by both students and Alumni.

Of course, the alumni were able to offer great insight into what employers are looking for when students go after those first jobs. They helped students think about those first job interviews, questions to ask and handling the tricky interview questions. Students started thinking about how they could use other volunteer activities or involvement in sports to help them standout when applying for jobs.

Because we like to have our alumni involved in our celebrations, we also took the opportunity to induct our four newest members into the Computer Science Honor Society, Epsilon Delta Pi. The 2010 inductees were Larissa Kries, Nicholas Morris, Michael Murray, and Caleb Piggott. To be eligible for the Honor Society a student must have a 3.2 GPA, 75 credits earned, and a minimum of 3 upper division Computer Science courses completed. We also did an informal awarding of the Meritorious Service Award to Michael Murray, and the Joan Nahas Ramuta Award to Larissa Kries. The formal awards will be presented at the Honors Convocation.

Check out our Facebook group, Computer Science at University of St. Francis for pictures from the event courtesy of Matt Nosbisch, Web Application Development Senior.

We’ll keep rolling this along, so plan on the early April next year!

Alumni/Student get together.

This is getting to be a habit – one we don’t want to break.

This will be our Third Annual Alumni Interview and Resume Tips meeting.

Alumni, please join us for an evening of fun, a few snacks and to share your expertise with our students on interviewing and resumes.

Students, this is a great opportunity to talk to the people who know how to get the jobs.

The USF Computer Club/IEEE Student branch
is hosting an Interview/Resume tip meeting.

April 13th 2010,
Tuesday 6 PM - 8 PM
Room A102 St. Albert's Hall

Join our Facebook group:
Computer Science at University of St. Francis

We're looking forward to seeing you.

Just the facts, ma'am......

And this coming Fall 2010 in our brand new Computer Forensics course, Comp 375, we'll have the opportunity to explore the fascinating world of finding out the facts based upon the clues left behind on computers. Guiding us to through this exciting topic will be USF Computer Science alumna and IT Director of the Will County Sheriff's Office, Jacqueline Falbo. Her work and experience in the various facets of law enforcement and technology will allow her to give her students insight into the whys and wherefore of a topic that draws instant interest.

Computer Forensics extends beyond the desktop computers and the servers. It also looks at social networking, cell phones and preservation of evidence. Ms Falbo has had training in various forensics techniques from the FBI and worked with the Sheriff’s office hi-tech lab.

If you have an interest in networking, security, or just want to expand your horizons, this class will be one not to miss!

With a little (a lot of) help from our friends.

On March 18th, Thursday afternoon, the students who attended the USF Computer Club/IEEE Branch event were introduced to the newly configured CompSci Server courtesy of USF Computer Science Alumnus & Director of USF Information Services, Tim Archer.



Tim described the servers now available and how students could VPN in to access the server resources. The servers include the firewall server, the virtualization server, the web server and the database server that was configured in the Fall database class with USF Computer Science Alumnus, Scott Walton. Tim gave everyone an opportunity to suggest what they'd like to see be part of our new configuration.

New proposed plans for the Computer Science Lab were also shown. This gives us a target to aim for as we look ahead to the future.

Cris & Ruth extend their thanks to Tim for all his work on the server room and making a new environment available to our students.

Playing ball

When Coach Ed Serdar of Plainfield was looking for to create a website for his girl's softball team, he turned to his friend Coach Richard Smith of USF, who in turned called on the USF Computer Science department. Three of our students are stepping up to meet the challenge and lend a hand. Megan O'Brien, Computer Science Sophomore, Alex Schmid, Computer Science Junior, and Caleb Piggott, Computer Science Senior are going to provide Coach Serdar's team with a web presence and gain valuable experience at the same time. Teamwork, developing new skills, and gaining a first exposure to working for a client are important aspects of a student's growth.

We're looking forward to seeing the website they create.

Seeing through - website development

The call came out from USF Solutions and Information Technology junior, Matt Strama, answered it. He's helping a company that has never had a web presence create one. He is currently working with a glass company to identify their needs and help them understand what they will be able to accomplish with a company website. This will give Matt another competency on his resume and he'll be able to work around his busy schedule. We're looking forward to spreading the word once his project is completed. Good going, Matt.

Beyond the Books

What’s up at the library? Ask Matthew Strama, Information Technology junior , he is a Computer Technician for the Morris Area Public Library. He maintains, fixes, and troubleshoots the network and computers, which includes staff and public computers. And if anyone, staff or customers, has a computer question, Matt is the go-to guy. Maintenance on the machines includes Windows updates, reinstall OS if it needs to be reinstalled, run the spy-ware cleaner, install the library check out system when it is needed, and installing deep-freeze on the public machines (a program that wipes the machine after its restarted.). He gets involved in networking troubleshooting if the internet drops, the switches and routers are having connection problems or the public needs help connecting to our wireless router.

The Morris Area Public Library network is made up of switches, routers, and a sonic wall. They have 20 public computers and 14 staff computers that need to be maintained on a daily basis. That means running updates and other software on them. Matt just assisted in the switch from ATT DSL to Comcast cable internet. Not only did Matt help setup the internet system, he teaches computer classes as well to the public. The classes he has taught include computer basics, Word 2007, Internet Explorer 7 & 8, Yahoo email, and intermediate computers. Besides teaching the public he does staff training as well on the new updates and software that purchased for the computers.

So if you thought libraries were just about books, talk to Matt. Whether its helping someone get online to make that important change to their Facebook status or teaching them about using their computers, he knows that support comes with a variety of responsibilities.

Excellent work, Matt!

Opportunities from USF Solutions

Bonnie Covelli of USF Solutions approached us with opportunities for students. She is looking on the behalf of a local business for website design. The company is a glass company. According to Ms Covelli: "They have zero web presence at the moment. The website would primarily include information on company location and products. No e-commerce, no outrageous bells and whistles are needed."

At this point it would be donated time, but this would be an excellent opportunity for students who have not had any experience or just a little experience. Perhaps two students could cooperate on this. It would be a good entry for your resume and help you when more formal jobs or other paid opportunities occur.

Additionally Ms Covelli, also informed us of another opportunity, this one paid, but will require more experience.

"It's for a small retail store, but the website will need a bit more "bells and whistles" and someone with enough knowledge to advise on hosting and long-term maintenance carriers. The store has a current "basic" website, but they are ready to upgrade to a more sophisticated look. ... For this project, the designer would only need to work with me, and I'd serve as the interface with the client. Also, the designer would be paid."

Please contact either Cris or Ruth if you'd like to take advantage of either opportunity.

Paid or unpaid - experience will help you land the job of your choice.

Join us on Facebook!

We now have a Facebook group: Computer Science at University of St. Francis. Anyone interested in our Computer Science program whether student, alumni, faculty, staff, prospective student, former teacher, or just plain interested, is welcome.

Facebook Link

So sign in, add photos, links, start or join a discussion. This can be a great way to reconnect with old friends and classmates.

You're always welcome!