The Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day is a great tradition at UMBC. It celebrates creative work done by UMBC undergraduates through posters and presentations. This year's is Wednesday April 25th.

The game developers club has long presented their creative works at URCAD. This year, we've got an extra dose of game. The featured alumni speaker is Joshua Barczak. Josh is currently a Senior Graphics Engineer at Firaxis Games. He got his BS (CMSC 2003) and MS (CMSC 2006) at UMBC. His talk is during the general session, 12-1 in UC 312. Be sure to check it out if you can!

John Winder ’12, computer science, has an essay posted on NPR’s “This I Believe” website. Winder’s essay details how an embarassing experience led him to the belief that “we can either take command of our mistakes, or let them command us.”

“I realized I had already screwed up as bad as anyone could, undermining an easy victory, looking like a fool to the world. If I tried again, how could I do any worse? Knowing that, I relinquished my fears,” he writes.

His full essay can be read here.

Photo Courtesy UMBC.edu

Whether you're running behind on credits, or just can't fathom three months without studying, it's always smart to take advantage of summer session courses. This May through August, the Computer Science and Electrical Engineering (CSEE) Department is offering a selection of Undergraduate and Graduate courses in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, and Electrical Engineering. Check out the following list to see if there's a match for you. Don't forget to apply by MAY 28.

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES

Computer Science

CMSC 104
Problem Solving and Computer Programming (3)
T, TH 9 a.m. –12:10 p.m.
Ryan Bergeron
Session 1, 8 Week

CMSC 203
Discrete Structures (3)
T, TH 9 a.m. –12:20 p.m.
Yatish Kumar Joshi
Session 1, 8 Week

CMSC 451
Automata Theory and Formal Languages (3)
T, TH 6—9:10 p.m.
Jon Squire
Session 1, 6 Week

CMSC 455
Numerical Computations (3)
M, W 6—9:10 p.m.
Jon Squire
Session 1, 6 Week

GRADUATE COURSES

Cybersecurity

CYBR 623
Cybersecurity Law and Policy (3)
M,W 6—8:45 p.m.
Session 1, 6 Week

Electrical Engineering

ENEE 699
Mathematics and MATLAB Fundamentals for Engineers (1)
W 4:30—7 p.m.
Donald Gantzer
Session 1, 6 week

For more information, stop by the CSEE Department (ITE 325) to pick up a Summer Session catalog, or visit the website for course listings in all disciples.

Don't forget to apply by MAY 28.

What should be in the curriculum for a computer science undergraduate program in the next decade? What knowledge and skills should every CS major learn? What learning objectives should we set? How can we ensure that the field remains focused on the disciplinary core while embracing an outward-looking view that actively seeks to work with and integrate into other disciplines such as Biology, Engineering, linguistics and Sociology.

About every ten years the ACM and IEEE Computer Society jointly sponsor the development of a Computing Curricula volume on Computer Science. Their joint task force has just released a Strawman draft of the the CS2013 report and invites comments from a diverse audience with the goal of broadening participation in computer science. The report seeks to be international in scope and to offer curricular and pedagogical guidance applicable to a wide range of institutions.