How to Enhance Your Undergraduate EducationValerie Juarez – Lamar University

for University of Texas - Brownsville 9/23/2011

About Me• Studying Computer Science at Lamar University in Beaumont,

TX

• Graduate December 2011 with a B.S. in Computer Science and Minor in Mathematics

• Applying to graduate schools• Human Computer Interaction

REUResearch Experience for Undergraduates

NSF-REUs• Site consists of a group of ten or so undergraduates who work

at the host institution.

• Each student is associated with a specific research project.

• Students are granted stipends and, in many cases, assistance with housing and travel.

• http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/• Look by institution or topic• Information may not be completely updated

CRA-W/CDC• Computer Research Association’s Committee on the Status of

Women in Computing Research (CRA-W)• “The goal of the CRA Committee on the Status of Women in

Computing Research (CRA-W) is to take positive action to increase the number of women participating in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) research and education at all levels.”

• Coalition to Diversify Computing (CDC)1. Recruitment of minority undergraduates to MS/PhD. programs2. Retention of minority graduate students enrolled in MS/PhD.

programs3. Transition of minority MS/PhD. graduates into academia and

industry

Distributed REU (DREU)• Program matches accepted applicants with a faculty mentor

for a summer research experience at the faculty member's home institution. Students are directly involved in a research project and interact with graduate students and professors on a daily basis.

• Funding for the student consists of a weekly stipend plus relocation travel assistance when appropriate. A student's funding is intended to cover 10 weeks of research during the summer. Additional funds may be available to support student conference travel, either during the summer or afterward, and for outreach activities promoting DREU.

Collaborative REU (CREU)• The program is designed to provide positive research

experiences for teams of undergraduates who will work during the academic year and optionally the following summer at their home institutions (provided they haven't graduated before the summer)

• Student(s) and faculty mentor draft and submit a project proposal. • Projects must be either directly related to computing or, in the

case of multidisciplinary projects, contain a significant research component in computer science or computing.

Comparison of DREU and CREU

Source: http://cra-w.org/undergrad-research-program-comparison

OPEN SOURCE PROJECTS

GNOME Internship• For women• Full time (40 hr/wk)

internship• Programming,

graphic design, documentation, marketing• Work with a mentor• http://live.gnome.org/Gnome

Women/

Google Summer of Code• Google Summer of Code offers students stipends to write

code for open source projects. • Gain exposure to real-world software development

scenarios and the opportunity for employment in areas related to their academic pursuits.• Look at previous projects for ideas.

OTHER OPPORTUNITIESWorkshops and Conferences

Discipline Specific Workshop (CRA-W / CDC)• Goal is to increase participation of members of underrepresented

groups within a specific research area by providing career mentoring advice and discipline-specific overviews of past accomplishments and future research directions.

• http://cra-w.org/discipline-specific-mentoring-workshops• For past and future workshop dates

• Past topics include: • Multicore Systems, Databases, Pervasive Computing and more

• Applications requirements vary

• Travel and lodging costs will be reimbursed after attendance

Grace Hopper Celebration - Scholarship• GHC scholarships cover a combination of conference

registration (which includes most meals), lodging, and fixed amount of travel reimbursement funds.

• Deadline is usually around May 31• Need one faculty reference• Essay• Resume

• In the past, successful applicants have received substantial matching funds from their departments or sponsoring companies.• Recommendations for alternate funding are on the scholarship

page of the conference website.

GHC - Hopper• Hoppers are volunteers who work at the Grace Hopper

Celebration in exchange for free conference registration.

• Hoppers are responsible for their own travel expenses, including airfare and hotel.

• Most Hoppers work 2 shifts of 4 hours each, for a total of 8 hours. • Assignments include monitoring sessions, staffing registration,

greeting attendees, selling shirts and posters, and more• May miss some conference sessions.

• Good way to meet other GHC attendees.

Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing• Conference every two years, next one spring 2013.

• The scholarships cover travel, hotel, and conference registration.

• Scholarship attendees can volunteer at the conference, but it isn’t mandatory.

• Application due around January or February.• One faculty reference• Essay• Resume

International Symposium on Computer Architecture• Technical Conference

• Next conference in Portland, Oregon during June 9-13th, 2012

• Travel Grant application due around the beginning of May• Essay describing reasons for attending ISCA and your research

interests• Resume

ACM-W Scholarships for Attendance at Research Conferences• 10 scholarships of up to $600 will be awarded for intra-

continental conference travel, and 10 scholarships of up to $1200 will be awarded for intercontinental conference travel.

• The student does not have to present a paper at the conference she attends

• If the award is for attendance at one of several ACM special interest group conferences (SIGACCESS, SIGACT, SIGARCH, SIGCOMM, SIGCSE, SIGDA, SIGECOM, SIGGRAPH, SIGIR, SIGITE, SIGMOBILE, SIGOPS, SIGPLAN, and SIGSOFT) the SIG will provide complementary conference registration and a mentor during the conference.

Association for Computer Educators in Texas• State Conference• Past conference site include: Austin, Corpus Christi, League City

(Houston area)

• Submit research in student poster competition• Deadline usually mid August• Cash prize: 1st $250, 2nd $150, 3rd $100

• No scholarship - $25 student registration fee

MY EXPERIENCES

INSPIRED - Research• Conducted research in Computer Systems under Dr. Jane Liu

• Implemented a compression technique in M5 simulator

INSPIRED - Outreach• High School and

Middle School Academies• Robotics• Animation• Scratch

• Web Lab

• Road Shows

CREU – Java Gone Green• Develop Adaptable

Teaching Materials • 5 lessons

• Teach Basic Computing Concepts Through Game Programming

• Uses Greenfoot

Conferences• Grace Hopper Celebration, 2009 and 2010• Resume Database open to everyone

• Tapia Diversity in Computing Conference, 2009

• International Symposium on Computer Architecture, 2009

• Association for Computer Educators in Texas Conference 2009, 2010, and 2011

Thank You!

Any Questions?