Photo credit: Daniel German...Game” at IEEE CGAMES 2011, one of the leading research conferences...
Transcript of Photo credit: Daniel German...Game” at IEEE CGAMES 2011, one of the leading research conferences...
2011
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Chair’s MessageIt is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the Department of Computer Science at the University of Victoria.
We are home to dynamic and active leaders in a broad range of research areas, including long standing areas such as digital systems, databases, networks, software engineering, theoretical computer science, and computer graphics as well as newer, multidisciplinary areas such as music information retrieval and computer games. As reflected by our academic programs and student and faculty activities, our department has made a strong and continuing commitment to engage with our students, our colleagues in other academic disciplines, and the expanding circles of our local, regional, and international communities.
We are proud of the accomplishments of our faculty, students, and alumni. Together, they have established our department as a world-class presence in computer science, software engineering, and IT, and as an important contributor to Victoria’s and Canada’s vibrant information economy.
As you explore this report, I emphasize our continued commitment to the highest levels of excellence in teaching, research, and community engagement as we strive to enhance the profound and positive impact of computer science on the future of our world.
Sue Whitesides Chair, Computer Science Department January 2012
UVic Computer Science Department - 2011 Annual Report | 1
Faculty of Engineering Associate Dean of Research Hausi Müller
Faculty of Engineering Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs LillAnne Jackson
BSENG Program Chair Jens Weber-Jahnke
Computer Science/Math Co-op and Honours Advisor Dale Olesky
Department Chair Sue Whitesides
Director of Outreach, Recruitment and Retention Sudhakar Ganti
Director of Undergraduate Studies Ulrike Stege
Graduate Advisor, Admissions and Recruitment Frank Ruskey
Research Advisor Bruce Gooch
Acting Associate Vice-President Research Michael Miller
Director (Acting), UVic Learning and Teaching Centre Mary Sanseverino
FACULTY AND STAFF
4RegulaR Faculty
cRoss-listed Faculty
emeRiti Faculty
adjunct Faculty
senioR instRuctoRs
34
45
1416 depaRtment staFF
ADViSORS, CHAiRS AND DiRECTORS
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JASon CoRleSS Jason Corless was awarded the Faculty of Engineering UVic Excellence in Teaching Award for 2011. Students commend him for providing context for course material by sharing anecdotes from his own workplace experiences. His student evaluations are consistently strong and positive. Known for an amusing yet passionate delivery style, he encourages students to use their minds actively during class, often demonstrating concepts by quickly coding examples “live” and on the spot.
Amy GooCh Together with her PhD student, Jeremy Long, Amy received the IEEE TCSIM best paper award for their work on “BeePrepared: Simulating Bee Vision in an Educational
Game” at IEEE CGAMES 2011, one of the leading research conferences devoted to advancing the theory and practice of computer games development. BeePrepared is a first-person game where the player tries to collect different coloured flower seeds within a certain amount of time (the player can switch between a human or a bee character). This game could be used to simulate other species or even different kinds of human vision.
VAleRie KinG Valerie King’s research on Scalable Byzantine Agreement was featured as the Computing Research Association (CRA) Highlight of the week in January 2011. King’s co-authored
paper “Breaking the O(n^2) Bit Barrier: Scalable Byzantine Agreement with an Adaptive Adversary” received the best paper award at
the prestigious 2010 Principles of Distributed Computing (PODC) conference. This paper makes use of several novel mathematical and algorithmic tools and describes an algorithm that solves the Byzantine agreement problem with significantly less communication than any previous results.
miChAel milleR Michael Miller was ratified for the position of Associate Vice President, Research and will serve his term in the VP Research office from May 1, 2011-2016.
hAUSi mülleR Hausi Müller was one of 15 principal investigators of the NSERC Strategic Research Network for Smart Applications on Virtual Infrastructures (SAVI). SAVI investigates
the development of an extended computing cloud. Hausi was elected Chair of IEEE Technical Council on Software Engineering (TCSE), serving a valuable role in the international software engineering community for academic researchers and industry professionals.
GeoRGe TzAneTAKiS George Tzanetakis was elevated to Senior Member of the IEEE, the highest grade for which IEEE members can apply.
KUi WU Kui Wu established the initial contact with the Shanghai University of Electric Power, provided the Chair with an introduction, and helped in the
arrangements for a visit from delegates of the Shanghai University to UVic. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Shanghai University of Electric Power, which hopes to send 25 fully funded undergraduate students to UVic Computer Science starting in 2012.
BRiAn WyVill The 2011 Canadian Human Computer Communication Society Achievement Award was presented to Brian Wyvill. Brian
is recognized as a pioneer of implicit modelling. Many of the algorithms he has developed in his research have had a significant impact on the field.
Brian was on six-month sabbatical for the first half of 2011. He made various visits including Lyon, Microsoft Asia, Hong Kong University and Saudi Arabia. He started joint projects with the University of Toulouse in France (one co-tutelle PhD student), KAUST in Saudi Arabia where two students are to be hosted in 2012, and HKU who will send us a PhD student in 2012. He also started a joint project with the University of Lyon, where he taught a one-day graduate introductory course on implicit modeling. Brian’s group has expanded to ten students, several of which are doing 8-month internships at Intel Research. This year, he received the prestigious Achievement Award from the CHCCS and was invited as a keynote speaker to four conferences.
aWarDs,hONOUrs aND highlights
GRAphiCS GRoUp The UVic graphics group received a new experimental 32-core (64 Hyperthreaded virtual cores) processor donated by Intel.
pAnDA GRoUp Kui Wu, Venkatesh Srinivasan and PhD student Cheng Chen went undercover to distinguish legitimate online users from hidden paid posters, known in China as the Internet Water Army because they ‘flood’ the internet for whoever is willing to pay. The flood can make a huge difference to a product’s sales, drive a competitor out of the market or the consumer into making a purchase decision based on false information. The research team built software that was remarkably accurate at spotting paid posters.
TheoRy GRoUp Members of the Theory research group hosted IWOCA 2011 (International Workshop on Combinatorial Algorithms) June 19-22 at UVic. Wendy Myrvold, Venkatesh Srinivasan, Frank Ruskey and Sue Whitesides served as committee members.
aWarDs,hONOUrs aND highlights
DePartMeNt UPDate
UVic Computer Science Department - 2011 Annual Report | 3
Photo Credit: Ulrike Stege
lonG SeRViCe AWARDS Dan Hoffman and Hausi Müller were recognized for 25 years of service to UVic.
Dale Olesky was recognized for 40 years of service to UVic.
ReTiRemenTS Frank Roberts retired after 42 ½ years at UVic. His contribution to teaching will be commemorated with the Frank Roberts Teaching Assistant award to recognize excellent teaching assistants. The seed for this fund was provided by Daniel German and the Alumni Association.
Carol Harkness retired from her position as the Department Receptionist after 7 years of service.
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honoURARy DoCToRATe An Honorary Doctor of Engineering was conferred upon Calvin (Kelly) Gotlieb during the November 2011 convocation ceremony. Known as the “Father of Computing in Canada,” Dr. Kelly Gotlieb joined the faculty of the University of Toronto in 1945 to develop what is now known as computer science. He taught Canada’s first graduate computer science course and two years later, in 1952, he co-founded the first computer centre in the country.
Dr. Gotlieb was a pioneer, beginning his work when well-established file systems, data structures, databases, and computing methods, algorithms and processes had yet to be developed. Later in his career, he became the founding chair of the U of T’s Department of Computer Science, which at the time was home to the only computer science doctoral program in Canada. Among other recognition for his accomplishments, Dr. Gotlieb has been inducted into the Canadian Information Productivity Awards Hall of Fame alongside such luminaries as Alexander Graham Bell.
DiSTinGUiSheD AlUmnUS AWARD Dr. Gerry Douglas, Assistant Professor with the Department of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Pittsburgh, returned to UVic to receive the Faculty of Engineering’s 2011 Distinguished Alumnus Award. Dr. Douglas graduated with his BSc in Computer Science in 1995 and today acts as the Director, Center for Health Informatics for the Underserved. In 2000, Dr. Douglas founded Baobab Health, a non-profit organization based in Malawi, Africa, revolutionizing healthcare in lower-income countries.
UVic Computer Science Department - 2011 Annual Report | 5
phoTo ConTeSTThe winner of the 2nd Computer Science Photo Contest was Nazma Panjwani. “The women professors [in Computer Science] are involved in interesting research, are passing their invaluable knowledge to students through their teaching, are helping students by spending time with them outside of classes, and are guiding students in their academic careers through constant advising. They all have had distinguished careers throughout their lives and they continue to inspire me and many others.”
With over 35% regular faculty members being women, UVic’s Computer Science Department has the highest proportion of female faculty members out of any computer science department in Canada. The average percentage of female faculty among Canada’s major and medium-sized universities s 24%; in the United States, the overall percentage is only 8%.
2010/11 CSCU Executive
Co-Presidents: Jenn Bird and Evan Purcer Vice-President: Andi Bergen
Secretary: Nick Cohea
Treasurer: Ashley Luft Events Coordinator: Alex White
CompUTeR SCienCe CoURSe Union
GRADUATion meDAl - FRAnCeSCo mARASSFrancesco Marass distinguished himself by winning the Department of Computer Science Graduation Medal for having the highest graduating GPA. He completed his major with the Bioinformatics Option. “Bioinformatics is a growing field. Pursuing this option allowed me to combine my interest in biology with computer science,” says Marass. The adventuresome self-starter says this is simply the first step in his pursuit of a career in academia. “I would like to conduct research and answer questions of biological interest through computational methods.”
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researCh grOUPsAUTomATeD TeSTinG lAB (ATlAB) Daniel Hoffman http://www.csc.uvic.ca/Research/atlab/
� Automated Testing
� Combinatorial Test Generation
� Grammar-based Test Generation
� Network Vulnerability Testing
TheoRy GRoUp Bruce Kapron; Valerie King; Wendy Myrvold; Dale Olesky; Frank Ruskey; Venkatesh Srinivasan; Ulrike Stege; Sue Whitesides http://www.csc.uvic.ca/Research/cag/
� Graph theory and algorithms
� Combinatorial algorithms
� Computational geometry
� Randomized algorithms
� Topological graph theory
� Computational biology
� Cryptography
� Design theory
DATABASe & DATA mininG (DeiA) Daniel German; Alex Thomo; George Tzanetakis; Bill Wadge http://www.csc.uvic.ca/Research/mistic/
� Data mining
� Bioinformatics
� Automata and formal languages
� Search and ranking
DiGiTAl SySTem DeSiGn (DSD) Michael D. Miller; Jon Muzio; Micaela Serra http://www.csc.uvic.ca/Research/dsdg/
� Design for Testability
� Built-In Self-Test
CompUTeR hUmAn inTeRACTion AnD SoFTWARe enGineeRinG (ChiSel) Margaret-Anne Storey http://www.csc.uvic.ca/Research/chisel/
� Cognitive support and technology diffusion
� Human computer interaction
� Implications of technology use
� Social informatics
� Interface design
� Knowledge engineering
� Software engineering
� Technology and pedagogy
� Visualization
emBeDDeD SySTemS Mantis Cheng http://webhome.csc.uvic.ca/~mcheng/personal/Home.html
� Embedded real time systems
� Mechatronics
RiGi lAB Hausi Muller http://www.csc.uvic.ca/Research/rigi/
� Reverse Engineering
� Legacy Systems
� Visualization Support
GRAphiCS (TomoRRoW lAB) Amy Gooch; Bruce Gooch; Brian Wyvill http://www.csc.uvic.ca/Research/graphics/
� Computational Aesthetics
� Non-photorealistic rendering
� Game-based learning
lAnGUAGeS, opTimizATion & SoFTWARe (loST) Nigel Horspool http://www.csc.uvic.ca/Research/lost/
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mUSiC inFoRmATion SoUnD TeChnoloGy inTeRDiSCiplinARy CenTRe (miSTiC) Peter F. Driessen; George Tzanetakis http://www.csc.uvic.ca/Research/mistic/
� New methods for controlling instruments
� Interactive context-aware music browsing
� Musical robots
� Music information retrieval
moDSQUAD Yvonne Coady http://www.csc.uvic.ca/Research/modsquad/
� Advanced modularity techniques for system infrastructure
� Concurrency
� Virtualization
� Mobile computing
� Accessibility
nUmeRiCAl AnAlySiS Dale Olesky; Frank Roberts http://www.csc.uvic.ca/Research/numeric/
� Numerical analysis
� Numerical linear algebra
� Linear programming
� Scientific applications software
� Nonlinear optimization
� Numerical modeling
pARAllel neTWoRKinG & DiSTRiBUTeD AppliCATionS (pAnDA) Jianping Pan; Sudhakar Ganti; Kui Wu; Ali Shoja; Eric Manning http://www.csc.uvic.ca/Research/panda/
� Traffic engineering of VPLS networks
� Hose models
� High-speed switch architectures
� Stateless detection of traffic anomalies
� Botnets, multi-constraint routing
ViSUAlizATion inTeRACTion DeSiGn (VisiD) Melanie Tory http://www.csc.uvic.ca/Research/visid/
� Collaborative visualization
� Computer support for building design and construction
� Multidimensional data visualization
� Casual information visualization
SoFTWARe enGineeRinG GloBAl inTeRACTion lAB (SeGAl) Daniela Damian http://www.csc.uvic.ca/Research/segal/
� Collaborative software engineering
SymBioSiS Jens Weber-Jahnke http://www.csc.uvic.ca/Research/seng/
� Software engineering
� Software specifications and testing
� Compilers, data compression
� Data & software reverse engineering
� Experimental software engineering
� Human computer interaction
� Information visualization
RemoTe SenSinG SoFTWARe enGineeRinG (RSenG) David Goodenough; Wendy Myrvold; Jens Weber-Jahnke http://www.csc.uvic.ca/Research/rseng/
� Kyoto Protocol classification system
� Measuring chemical properties of Canada’s forests from space
� Estimating 3-d properties of forests
� Distributed hyperspectral and segmentation
� Processing overgrid architectures
researCh grOUPs
8 | UVic Computer Science Department - 2011 Annual Report
COMPUter sCieNCe aCaDeMiC PrOgraMs aND OPtiONs
UNDERGRADUATE STATiSTiCS 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09
Admitted1 61 61 48
BSc Major Awarded2 51 58 69
BSc Honours Awarded2 5 4 6
BSc Degrees Enrolled3 356 352 332
President’s Scholarships 43 43 7
Dean’s Scholarships 30 30 30
UVic Entrance Scholarships 6 6 19
NSERC USRA 6 6 6
UVic Research Fellowships 3 2 2
Co-op Placements 106 131 112
1 Admits = number of applicants offered admission in September2 Degrees Awarded = number awarded during June & november convocation3 Students enrolled = number enrolled during Winter Session
UVic Computer Science Department - 2011 Annual Report | 9
UnDeRGRADUATe opTion pRoGRAmS The Option Programs allow students to focus their computer science skills in specific areas and develop the interdisciplinary skills so essential in today’s workplaces. Students may choose to complete a Computer Science Major with an Option in one of the following areas:
UnDeRGRADUATe ComBineD mAJoR pRoGRAmS In response to the phenomenal growth of computing technology and application in other disciplines, a variety of Combined Major Degree Programs are now being offered. These programs require courses to be completed in both Computer Science and another field. Students may choose to combine Computer Science with the following disciplines:
DEGREES GRANTED BY OPTiON 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09
Bioinformatics 1 0 0
Business 4 5 3
Communications & networks 0 3 3
Graphics & Gaming 5 0 0
mechatronics & embedded Systems 1 1 0
Software engineering 11 13 14
Theory 0 4 2
ENROLLMENT BY OPTiON 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09
Bioinformatics 3 2 1
Business 3 6 5
Communications & networks 5 2 2
Graphics & Gaming 12 8 -
mechatronics & embedded Systems 1 2 3
Software engineering 10 18 24
Theory 0 - -
DEGREES GRANTED BY OPTiON 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09
Geography (Geomatics) 2 1 2
health information Science 3 1 7
mathematics 1 2 2
music 3 5 1
physics 3 1 4
psychology 1 3 1
Statistics 0 0 4
Visual Arts 1 6 5
Total Combined Degrees 14 19 26
COMPUter sCieNCe aCaDeMiC PrOgraMs aND OPtiONs
10 | UVic Computer Science Department - 2011 Annual Report
UNDergraDUate aWarDs, hONOUrs, aND highlights
ConTeSTS In February 2011, the BC Winter Programming Competition took place at SFU. Teams came from MIT, Waterloo, Stanford, SFU, UBC, and UVic. The competition was 3 hours long and consisted of 6 problems of varying difficulty. UVic computer science undergrads competed individually and performed exceptionally well:
� Dan Sanders came in first place in the entire competition. He finished in half the allotted time and had single correct submissions for all 6 problems;
� Jennifer Debroni came in 9th place. She solved 5 of the 6 questions;
� Scott Porter came in 18th place, with 4 problems solved;
� Brodie Roberts rounded out the top 20 with a strong showing of 4 problems solved.
Over 4000 students competed against each other in the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineering (IEEE) 24-hour IEEExtreme worldwide online challenge to solve a set of programming problems. The top UVic team completed 10 problems and placed 3rd in Canada. The team consists of Computer Science graduate students Kazem Jahanbakhsh, Arian Khosravi, and undergradaute Fred Song. Three more UVic teams completed 6 of the problems.
� Students competed in the November 2011 Pacific Northwest Regional Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Programming Contest. ACM is the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society. UVic was represented by 2 teams, who came in 3rd and 15th overall, out of 94 teams. This is an incredible achievement. The top UVic team, consisting of Computer Science Majors Dan Sanders, Jen Debroni and Leon Senft, came out above all of the UC Berkeley teams, and all but one of the 5 Stanford teams. Stanford and Berkeley have two of the top computer science programs in the world.
At the 2011 BCNET, Computer Science student Caleb Shortt received an Honourable Mention for: “Web-based Security Applications Using Your Own Computer,” and was awarded $100.
Julius Davies won the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) Student Research Competition in the Undergraduate Category, in the Software Engineering field (ICSE). At the same event, he also won a Mining Software Repositories Challenge Award. ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, is the most prestigious association in Computer Science. Julius was very prolific as an undergraduate supported by the Undergraduate Research Awards in 2009 with four publications by the time he was completed his undergraduate degree.
Photo credit: Daniel German
UVic Computer Science Department - 2011 Annual Report | 11
UNDergraDUate aWarDs, hONOUrs, aND highlights
12 | UVic Computer Science Department - 2011 Annual Report
graDUate Degree PrOgraMs
1Admits = combined number of applicants offered admission in may, September & January 2Degrees Awarded = number awarded during June & november convocation 3Students enrolled = number enrolled during Winter Session 4nSeRC CGS m = natural Sciences and engineering Research Council of Canada master’s level Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship 5nSeRC pGS = natural Sciences and engineering Research Council of Canada postgraduate Scholarship 6nSeRC CGS D = natural Sciences and engineering Research Council of Canada Doctoral level Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship nR = not reported
GRADUATE STATiSTiCS 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09
mSc Admitted1 40 14 28
mSc Degrees Awarded2 24 23 30
mSc Degrees enrolled3 79 83 81
UVic Fellowships (mSc) 12 12 9
nSeRC CGS m4 1 1 1
mSc Co-op placements 25 27 nR
phD Admitted1 13 4 12
phD Degrees Awarded2 10 12 10
phD Degrees enrolled3 59 59 57
UVic Fellowships (phD) 5 5 8
nSeRC pGS5/ CGS D6 8 8 8
phD Co-op placements 6 11 26 total
UVic Computer Science Department - 2011 Annual Report | 13
graDUate aWarDs, hONOUrs, aND highlights
Jianping Pan’s student Yanyan Zhuang, was the recipient of a UVic Graduate General Scholarship, donated by Jarmila Vlasta Von Drak Thouvenelle for $15,700. Melanie Tory’s PhD student, Derek Jacoby, was awarded an NSERC CGS-D worth $35K / year.
2011 GooGle lime SCholARDavid Bartle, supervised by Yvonne Coady, was selected as a 2011 Google Lime Scholar. This award is worth $5,000 to support his studies. In addition, he was invited to attend the Google Scholars Retreat in Mountain View in the summer.
2011 GooGle CAnADA AniTA BoRG memoRiAl SCholARShipPhD students Norha Villegas (supervised by H. Müller) and Sarah Carruthers (supervised by U. Stege and M. Masson) both advanced to the final round in the Anita Borg Scholarship Competition. Each won scholarships of CAD $1,000 and a trip to Google in Mountain View.
iBm CAnADA CAS ReSeARCh TeChnoloGy inCUBATion lAB pRoJeCT oF The yeAR 2011 Professor Hausi Müller and his PhD student, Norha Villegas, won the IBM Canada Centres for Advanced Studies (CAS) Research Technology Incubation Lab Project of the Year 2011.Hausi and Norha’s project, Managing Dynamic Context to Optimize Smart Interaction and Smart Services, combines control theory, semantic web technologies and smart context to optimize the value businesses generate for their customers.
ieee GloBeCom 2011 BeST pApeR AWARD Liang (Leon) He, a PhD student co-supervised by Dr. Jianping Pan and Dr Jingdong Xu (Nankai University), received IEEE Globecom 2011 Best Paper Award, for his paper “Analysis on Data Collection with Multiple Mobile Elements in Wireless Sensor Networks,” co-authored with Jianping Pan and Dr. Xu.
graDUate Degree PrOgraMs
14 | UVic Computer Science Department - 2011 Annual Report
2010/11 CO-OP EMPLOYERS Undergraduate Student Employers:
� AbeBooks
� ACD Systems Ltd
� ActiVision
� Alcatel-Lucent
� Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
� Backstage Technologies
� BC Ministry of Attorney General
� BC Ministry of Finance
� Big Park Games
� District of North Cowichan
� Electronic Arts Canada
� Ericsson
� Fisheries and Oceans Canada
� FTS Forest Technology Systems Ltd
� Garritan
� Gemini Observatory
� Google inc
� Government of the Northwest Territories
� Government of Yukon
� HeavyLifters Network Ltd
� HSBC Bank Canada
� iBM Canada Ltd
� incognito Software inc
� inlight Entertainment inc
� Maximus Canada inc.
� Mount St. Mary Hospital
� National Defence and the Canadian Forces
� National Research Council of Canada
� Natural Resources Canada
� Nerds on Site
� Neverblue inc.
� OA Solutions
� Office of the Auditor General of BC
� ParetoLogic
� PDFTron Systems, inc.
� Perforce Software inc
� RadiSys Canada inc (Convedia Corporation)
� RealtyServer Systems
� Research in Motion
� SAP Canada
� Schneider Electric
� Seeker Solutions
� Sparklit Networks inc
� SUBNET Solutions inc.
� The Echo Nest
� University of Victoria
Graduate Student Employers: � Broadcom Corporation
� CoGen Media (Canada) Ltd
� Ericsson
� Google inc
� iBM Canada Ltd
� intel Corporation
� JEA
� Max Planck institute
� National Research Council of Canada
� Research in Motion
� SAP Canada
� TicTasks inc.
� Wurldtech Security Technologies
CO-OPerative eDUCatiON aND WOrk exPerieNCe PrOgraMs
the department of computer science is committed to educating students for careers as computer scientists and to graduating students with the abilities needed to excel in their professions. co-operative education integrates classroom and workplace learning. the practical experience gained on work terms is an integral part of the students’ education.
students apply to enter the optional program after their first term and admission is dependent upon first term grades. students admitted to the program are required to complete 4, four-month work terms during which they are employed by a business, industry or government agency. students in co-op also complete a seminar series which includes workshops on writing a resume, preparing for job interviews, work activities and writing work term reports.
photo credit: sandra makosinski
UVic Computer Science Department - 2011 Annual Report | 15
COMPUter sCieNCe COMMUNity eNgageMeNt
SolVinG pRoBlemS WiTh AlGoRiThmS, RoBoTS AnD CompUTeR SCienCe (SpARCS) Sponsor Of Research in Computer Science Education: The Pacific Crystal Project (NSERC) http://www.educ.uvic.ca/pacificcrystal/main.html
Co-Directors: Sudhakar Ganti Ulrike Stege http://outreach.cs.uvic.ca/
SPARCS is a unique group of people from University of Victoria whose aim is to share their love of computer science and educate others in this field. SPARCS members work with children, using creative lessons and innovative techniques to engage them in computer science. “It allows young students to have a chance to have some fun with computer science and programming while also thinking, problem solving and being creative,” says founder Ulrike Stege.
SPARCS uses technologies in innovative ways, allowing students to learn computer science both conceptually and hands-on. Stege explains that there is a way to do computer science on paper and by playing games, which makes it possible to “learn technology with no technology.” Stege notes that this makes computer science fun and accessible, and easier to integrate into the classroom.
SPARCS offers after-school clubs for school children grades 3-8. There are 2 groups based on age, and an advanced option in each age group for children who excel at computer science. Aside from learning about algorithms and concepts, members of this group get to learn how to design video games, operate Wii-motes on a computer rather than a Wii console, create storyboards, solve difficult puzzles, and work on unique projects that combine creativity and science.
Over 140 students, parents and siblings attended the “Faculty Experience” in the Faculty of Engineering – 30 of those came specifically to find out about CS programs. High School Tours and I Technology – Engineering hosted about 225 high school students.
Photo credit: Melissa Yestrau
16 | UVic Computer Science Department - 2011 Annual Report
CompUTeR SCienCe VolUnTeeR pRoGRAm (CSVp) Sponsors: Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Engineering
http://webhome.csc.uvic.ca/~csvp/
The Computer Science Volunteer Program (CSVP) is a volunteer organization run by graduate students from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Victoria. Their mission is to promote student engagement through outreach and volunteer work. Since 2007 this group of graduate student volunteers has delivered an internet course for senior citizens. The one-month course has been offered for free since January 2008 and covers basic skills such as surfing the internet and sending e-mails. In 2011, the CSVP reached out to 60 seniors helping them to gain confidence in the digital world.
inDiGenoUS miniU WoRKShop As part of the MiniU experience, ACCESS and SPARCS partnered to provide a three-hour computer science focused workshop. The students were split into two groups and alternated across two 90-minute activities. One activity leveraged the Scratch programming environment to, while the other activity used the Computer Science Unplugged activities. The programming environment gave the students hands on programming time while the games conceptually introduced issues encountered in programming.
ABoRiGinAl ConneCTionS WiTh CompUTinG, enGineeRinG AnD SoFTWARe SySTemS (ACCeSS)Coordinator: Yvonne Coady http://webhome.cs.uvic.ca/~ycoady/ACCESS/
The University of Victoria acknowledges with respect the history, customs and culture of the Coast Salish and Straits Salish peoples on whose traditional lands our university resides. UVic has built a strong reputation as one of Canada’s leading universities providing award-winning teaching and conducting groundbreaking research. We recognize the special role UVic can play in relation to Canada’s Indigenous peoples. We continue to build on our commitment to and our greatly valued relationship with Indigenous communities. It is our university’s goal to be the university-of-choice for Indigenous students, staff and faculty. Our commitment is reflected in the increase in Indigenous students in the Faculty of Engineering, from 2 students a decade ago to 16 in 2010.
ACCESS’s goal is to investigate the ways in which Computer Science and Engineering education connections can be better established, maintained and nurtured in both local and remote Indigenous communities. Our programs have been held on campus at UVic and in communities including Tswaout, Kingcome Inlet, Campbell River, Alert Bay, Port Hardy, and Deer Island.
Participants in the Indigenous Student Mini-U Camp. Photo credit: UVic Photo Services
UVic Computer Science Department - 2011 Annual Report | 17
SUPPORT FROM GOVERNMENT/ $ iN iNSTiTUTiONS THOUSANDSBCKDF .....................................................................................................................108
CANARIE ................................................................................................................162
CFI ................................................................................................................................13
DND - DNDPJ ......................................................................................................110
CRDPJ .........................................................................................................................34
MCGILL ......................................................................................................................15
MCMASTER Engineering Automotive Partnerships ......................92
NCE - GRAND .....................................................................................................135
NSERC - Accelerator Supplement .......................120
NSERC - CRD/IOR ..............................................................47
NSERC - Discovery .........................................................780
NSERC - DNDPJ ................................................................110
NSERC - Engage .................................................................75
NSERC UOFT - NETGP .....................................................36
NSERC Total .....................................................................................................1,169
NSF ................................................................................................................................1
ONC .............................................................................................................................15
PWGSC ......................................................................................................................60
SM’10 .............................................................................................................................2
SSHRC .......................................................................................................................61
NIH STANFORD ..................................................................................................179
UBC ..............................................................................................................................19
UOFT ...........................................................................................................................10
UPEI - MCRI ................................................................................................................4
Uvic ..............................................................................................................................75
ToTAl SUppoRT FRom GoVeRnmenT/ inSTiTUTionS .......................................................... 2,263
graNts aND researCh CONtraCts: 2011 FisCal year
SUPPORT FROM $ iN iNDUSTRY THOUSANDSCACANADA - DNDPJ.........................................................................................34
IBM ............................................................................................................................168
INTEL ...........................................................................................................................25
KONGSBURG ..........................................................................................................23
NOKIA .........................................................................................................................10
OPCC ..........................................................................................................................33
ToTAl SUppoRT FRom inDUSTRy ............................ 293
SHARED BETWEEN $ iN iNDUSTRY AND iNSTiTUTiON THOUSANDSMITACS - Accelerate .......................................................................................186
MITACS - Internship ........................................................................................288
ToTAl SUppoRT FRom miTACS ................................ 473
TOTAL GRANTS AND RESEARCH CONTRACTS .................................. 3,029
numbers compiled using office of Research Services data and reports by individual researchers
General informationDEPARTMENT oF CoMPUTER SCiENCE engineering/computer science Building (ecs) Room 504 university of Victoria telephone: 250-472-5700 Fax: 250-472-5708
mailing address department of computer science university of Victoria po Box 3055, stn csc Victoria, Bc canada V8W 3p6
courier address department of computer science engineering/ computer science Building (ecs), Room 504 university of Victoria 3800 Finnerty Road Victoria, Bc canada V8p 5c2
CSC oFFiCE
erin Robinson department secretary/chair’s assistant office: engineering/computer science Building (ecs) Room 504 telephone: 250-472-5700 e-mail: [email protected]
UNDERgRADUATE ADViSiNg CENTRE
jane guy undergraduate advising/ administrative officer office: engineering/computer science Building (ecs) Room 512 telephone: 250-472-5757 e-mail: [email protected]
gRADUATE STUDiES iNFoRMATioN
Wendy Beggs graduate secretary office: engineering/computer science Building (ecs) Room 504 telephone: 250-472-5703 e-mail: [email protected]
Co-oPERATiVE EDUCATioN iNFoRMATioN
duncan Hogg co-op coordinator office: engineering/computer science Building (ecs) Room 230 telephone: 250-472-5812 e-mail: [email protected]
www.csc.uvic.ca