ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest @ YSU
YSU hosted one of the East Central North America Regionals ACM Programming Contest for 2007. The winners selected from regional contests on six continents advanced to the ACM Programming Contest World Finals to compete for bragging rights and scholarships. 31 teams from 19 universities converged on YSU to compete. YSU hosted the most universities and teams in East Central North American Regionals and was the only site that started on time. Dr. Bob Kramer along with a few volunteers, were behind the success of this regional competition.

“This was the first time for any of us to host a contest. It was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. I had great help from everyone, the staff was awesome! You all gave a great effort for a successful contest. I'm looking forward to doing this again this coming year”, said Dr. Kramer. And maybe we will.
...read more
Karen Duda Lecture Series Presents
Named after the late Dr. Karen Duda, the chair of the computer science department, this series will feature computer science lectures from professors and professionals from outside and inside the Youngstown Community and YSU campus.

Our guest lecturer will be:
Dr. Marius Truta: Northern Kentucky University
Lecture Topic: Data Mining and Privacy

April 18th, 12:00-1:30 PM, Room 330 Meshel Hall, Free Pop and Pizza

Dr. Marius Truta has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan. He is an assistant professor at Northern Kentucky University. He has written many papers on Data Mining and Privacy and has been the Principle Investigator for many grants including NKU Faculty Summer Fellowship title “ Extended p-Sensitive k-Anonymity for Privacy Protection” for May 2007 and NSF EPSCoR Research Enhancement Grant titled “P-Sensitive K-Anonymity Property for Microdata” for June 2006. ...more

Articles on Data Mining and Privacy:

  • In this data-mining society, privacy advocates shudder
  • NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
  • Data Mining and Privacy

    • What are multicore processors?

     A multicore is an architecture design that places multiple processors on a single die (computer chip). Each processor is called a core. As chip capacity increased, placing multiple processors on a single chip became practical. These designs are known as Chip Multiprocessors (CMP) because they allow for single chip multiprocessing. Multicore is simply a popular name for CMP or single chip multiprocessors. Multicore architectures are now center stage in terms of improving overall system performance. YSUACM sponsored a colloquium on MULTICORE Processors in March. Our guest speaker was:

    Dr. Kriss Schueller: The UltraSparc T1

    Student Presentations:

  • What are multicore processors?
  • How do you write programs for multicore processors?
  • Intel's Core 2 Duo and Cell Broadband Engine

    Date: March 4th
    Time: 12:00 - 1:30 PM
    Where: Room 337 Meshel Hall

    ...colloquium
    		•
    NSF Preparing for the Demise of Moore's Law
    InfoWorld (02/13/08) Shah, Agam

    The National Science Foundation wants to spend $20 million researching replacements for current silicon technology. NSF's “Science and Engineering Beyond Moore's Law” effort would fund academic research in such technologies as carbon nanotubes, quantum computing, and massively multicore computers, all of which could improve and replace current transistor technology. NSF's Michael Foster says that human and economic progress in the U.S. over the past 20 years has relied on continued advancements in computing and information processing. “If the current technological basis of that ends, we've got to find some way to replace it, or we're going to stop moving forward,” Foster says. He says radical new microprocessor structures are needed to push the technology forward, such as transistors based on nanostructures. Carbon nanotubes could be used as interconnects for circuits, though that would require new research and improvements to chip architectures, and quantum computing could also advance technology by providing inherent parallelism, which would require improvements in parallel programming. Foster says it may ultimately be difficult to replace current transistors, so researchers may need to develop better architectures and chip designs that use current transistor technology to maintain the growth rate.

    ...read more
    Wintel Will Fund Parallel Software Lab at Berkeley
    EE Times (02/13/08) Merritt, Rick

    A new Parallel Computing Lab at the University of California at Berkeley will receive about $2 million a year over five years to research a parallel programming model for next-generation multicore computer processors. The new lab was up and running on Jan. 21, and the grant from Intel and Microsoft will make it possible for about 14 faculty members to work in the facility. Defining parallel programs based on flexible sets of standards similar to the way serial programs are currently written will allow software to keep up with advances in microprocessor design. A new approach is needed to schedule parallel tasks from the modules across available hardware in complex heterogeneous multicore CPUs. “To make effective use of multicore hardware today you need a PhD in computer science,” says Advanced Micro Devices fellow Chuck Moore. “That can't continue if we want to enable heterogeneous CPUs.” Software systems have already been prototyped based on discussions and a white paper on the issue by Berkeley researchers dating back to 2005 and 2006, and the preliminary results could be published in a few months.

    ...read more
    The Multicore Association

    The Multicore Association is tackling the most critical roadblocks for developing multicore- enabled systems.
    Work in Progress:

    • A high-performance, low latency communications API (MCAPI)
    • Debug extensions into the MCAPI spec to have an implementation independent view of the state of transactions in progress and an implementation independent event log

    Roadmap includes:

  • Resource and task management
  • Virtualization Services (load balancing, power management, reliability and QoS)
  • Benchmarks (supported by EEMBC) The Multicore Association supports the multicore ecosystem and includes vendors of processors, operating systems, compilers, development tools, debuggers, ESL/EDA tools, simulators, as well as application and system developers.

    ...read more
    • YSU-ACM's New Year
    YSU-ACM is looking forward to their 2nd year of exciting events, colloquiums, and lectures. This year's fall “Afternoon Discussion” topics and events will be:
    Special Events
  • April 29th - AI Panel Discussion
  • April 18th- Data Mining and Privacy with Dr. Marius Truta

    • ...2008 calendar
    Monthly Meetings
  • First Tuesday - General Meeting
  • First Friday - Officers Meeting
  • Third Wednesday - Journal Club

    • ...2008 meetings

    Current YSU-ACM Projects


    YSU-ACM FORUM: Which degree is right for you, CIS, IT, CS?
    Which degree will give you the skills and the knowledge for a career in computer technology? What skills do you really need to have for a professional career in this field, do you really need all that math? Should you pursue a Masters or a PhD? This is a forum where students, computer professionals and professors discuss what skills are required by the computing field. ... forums

    ACM's Department Projects YSU-ACM is currently working on two projects for the Computer Science Department:

    • A Graduate Students' Lab
      This laboratory will be for computer science graduate students. This would be a lab where they would be able to work on their Master's projects, thesis, and any other academic research.

    • ACM/IEEE Computer Society Bulletin Board
      This bulletin board would be a place to post annoucements from the ACM and IEEE Computer Society. We would also post information about national, and international academic research as well as research here at YSU from students and professors; abstracts, Quest posters, and research projects. Computer industry news will also be posted.
    Computer Science Taxonomy Project We have updated the material for the Computer Science Taxonomy. We have created tentative ERD's for the taxonomy and have begun to identify possible nodes.

    If you are interested in being involved in these projects, please contact email YSU-ACM or attend any of their monthly meetings. ...more
    1st colloquium of the semester blends up a fish
    Sept. 24th was our first colloquium of the semester on 3D Modeling and Game/Graphics Programming. Our student presentation was on the “state of the art” in Game and Graphics programming. A 10 minute digital presentation was shown on the creation, design and development of the computer-generated movie “Final Fantasy” by Square Enix. It covered the origin and concept of the story and the design and development of the main characters, Aki Ross, the movie's heroine and her mentor, Dr. Cid. A special presentation was given by Dr. John Sullins on the basics of 3D character development using Blender.

    Each attendee was given a resource package that listed the website where student could download the open source Blender software, websites for reference and tutorials, information on the open source graphics library OpenGL, university' that offer degrees in game development, courses that teach Blender, and the basics of 2D and 3D graphics design at YSU. The special giveaway at the end of the presentation was a collectors edition of “Final Fantasy:Advent Children”. ...more

    “A Robot Invasion: Student Affordable Robot Kits” colloquium
    On October 23th the YSU-ACM held there 2nd colloquium on student affordable robot kits. The student presentation was given by Cameron Hughes, our information officer and Robosapien enthusiast. His presentation discussed the programming and hardware modifications to the RS Media, Wowee's third installment of the Robosapien Robot series. He also talked about the hardware capabilities of the Lego NXT. A special presentation was given by Dr. Bob Kramer, assistant professor and long time builder and creator of Lego Robot Kits. He gave a 40 minute presentation on how robots can be used to demonstrate basic programming principles to college students by using Lego NXT robots such as the bar code reader and turtle bot. Basic algorithms such as tree and graph traversals and data structures such as queues and stacks implemented by educational robots can give new insights for students 1st learning these principles.

    Each attendee was given a resource package that listed the website where students could purchase robot kits for under $100 and under $300. It also listed books available for programming Lego NXT. The special giveaway at the end of the presentation was a Robosapien V1 and its companion, a mini Robosapien. It was won by one of our newest members, Janet . ...more


    James O'Dell:
    My Life as a Game Designer...
    PART II-The Courses

    In Gaming Artificial Intelligence, I worked on what would be a very important project in my future, the Sariah Project. The Sariah Project was a simple text-based AI which simulated a dragon and her human captive. The human captive, the player, would have to keep the dragon happy. The project really only reached the point where the player could manipulate the dragon's mood with specific actions, such playing a musical instrument to make her fall asleep, insulting her would make her angry, complimenting her would make her happy and such. The whole system was based on multiple mood variables. These were Happy, Sad, Angry and Neutral. Distributed between all of these were no more than 100 points. When the player did an action that would make Sariah happy, points would be removed from Neutral first, then Sad and then Angry. ...more
    Shaun Canavan:
    My Life as a Phd. Student

    Shaun Canavan is searching for a PhD program. He has applied to several universities with programs in the area of Facial recognition. In Shaun's blog, he will talk about his journey to become a PhD student.

    ...more

    Shaun Canavan presented his paper on Face Recognition Using Implicit 3D Information Inferred from Rotating Heads in Videos at the IEEE Conference on Biometrics: Theory Applications and Systems on September 27th in Washington DC.

    Shaun Canavan, et.al: Imaging and Characterization of Facial Strain in Long Video Sequences
    This paper presents a method for computing strain images of a deformable object in a video sequence. The method includes two steps: in the first step, the motion data between a pair of video frames is generated using a robust optical flow algorithm. In the second step, a strain image is computed by applying a gradient filter to the motion data. ...more ...index



    Articles and Information

    Pursuing a Ph.D in Computer Science: Is it worth it?
    More students are considering pursuing a Ph.D in computer science. Here you will find resources and information on:
  • Determining whether you should pursue a Ph.D
  • Choosing a Ph.D. program
  • Surviving a Ph.D. program
  • Benefits of having a Ph.D

    • ...more
    Trevor Watkins: System Engineer
    On my job, I assist with development, operation, maintenance, and evaluation of the Library's use of technology resources with an emphasis on application and operating system software. This includes configuring, installing, and servicing computer, peripheral, and network equipment ...more
    YSU's Colony
    The Colony is YSU's supercomputer, a cluster of 16 SGI 1400L Dual Pentium Pentium III Xeon 550MHz nodes. The Colony was granted to YSU by OSC, Ohio Supercomputer, as part of “Cluster Ohio”. Cluster Ohio is an initiative of:

    • OSC
    • Ohio Board of Regents
    • OSC Statewide Users Group
    They encourage Ohio faculty to build local computing clusters. At YSU, the cluster is used for computational chemistry, studying parallel algorithm development, and teaching students and staff how to program in a massive parallel environment. ...more
    Computer Vision Lab
    The Computer Vision Lab is managed by Dr. Yong Zhang. Here, they study and do research in image processing and Biometrics. These topics include:
    • Facial Recognition
    • Gait
    • Medical Image Processing
    • Elastography
    • Optical Flow and Strain images
    • HD vs. Regular image processing
    • Image Database Processing in respect to these topics.
    The research in the lab is not limited to these topics, any interesting domain can and will be studied. ...more

    Thesis Option added to CIS Masters Program

    A thesis option has been added to the Masters in CIS program. A student may do a formal thesis under the CSIS 6999 course.
    STEM College at YSU

    YSU will be combining and re-structuring of the College of Arts and Science and the Rayen College of Engineering and Technology to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) and the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. The new STEM College along with other standards developed by the state may effect the Computer Science and Information System's curriculums. Yet the ACM and IEEE has developed the guidelines for the for undergraduate computing curricula since 1965. The most recent Computer Science Curriculum was finalized on December 15, 2001. They are now in the process of revising C2001-CS document by soliciting community help to identify places where the curriculum has become outdated or a topic not previously included has emerged. ...more
    ACM Celebrating their 60th Anniversary


    ACM is celebrating their 60th year in existence. In January 1947 Howard Aiken from Harvard University's Computational Laboratory organized a symposium of computer scientists for the purpose of sharing their interests and knowledge of mathematics and of computational advances of "computing machinery". The four day symposium was attended by 336 computer scientists. Up to that point, computer scientists found they had no avenue to stay knowledgeable of the advances and changes in the field. “Around the country their is clear evidence of an increasing desire to stay in touch with the rapidly changing technological scene and to establish improved means of communication among the many persons who were professionally interested in the new machines” as stated by Mona Rees who attended and was chair of the Mathematical Methods session of the January 1947 symposium.

    In September 1947, originally called the EACM (Easterm Association of Computing Machinery) would lay the groundwork for computer professionals and researchers to:

    “... to advance the science, development, construction, and application of the new machinery for computing, reasoning, and other handling of information.”

    Eastern was eventually removed from the title so its purpose would be expanded to a national organization. Within the first few years, the ACM:

    • identified the work of the researchers and professionals of the field
    • established a common technical vocabulary
    • published a book that reported the status of the development of computing-machine components

    These efforts were the foundations of establishing computer science as a profession. Since then the ACM has published 1000s of publications, guidleines for undergraduate curriculum, involved in the development of professional standards, special interests groups, programming competitions, and much more!! ...more

    YSU-ACM commemorates the 50th Anniversary of AI


    2006 marks the 50th anniversary of AI as a field of research. The field was officially named at the 1956 Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence held at Dartmouth College. John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Claude Shannon, Nathaniel Rochester organized a two month workshop bringing together U.S. researchers in the areas of automata theory, neural nets, and the study of intelligence. It was attended by 10 researchers including Allen Newell, Herbert Simon, Trenchard More from Princeton, Arthur Samuel from IBM, and Ray Solomonoff and Oliver Selfridge from MIT. The attendees agreed to adopt the name ‘Artificial Intelligence’ introduced by John McCarthy. This workshop defined the major contributors as well as the leading universities (MIT, CMU, Stanford, and IBM) of the field of AI for the next twenty years.

    Dartmouth College held a conference on July 13-15 2006 reuniting four of the researchers who were at the original 1956 meeting and will feature numerous current AI scholars from around the world ...more

    In 2007, YSU-ACM will also commemorate AI @ 50 by sponsoring "An Afternoon Discussion" on AI, and will highlight on this website:
    • weblinks to current AI research
    • historical information
    • AI research @ YSU
    What is the ACM?
    ACM delivers resources that advance computing as a science and a profession. ACM provides the computing field's premier Digital Library and serves its members and the computing profession with leading-edge publications, conferences, and career resources premier Digital Library and serves its members and the computing profession with leading-edge publications, conferences, and career resources.

    What is a Student Chapter ACM?

    The student chapter program is a critical part of ACM's mission to facilitate the exchange of ideas between students and professionals in the computing world. YSU's ACM will provide students and professionals a network of relationships, experience, and a source of knowledge to help them in their research and implemetation of computer science. Although the majority of local members are students and professionals in the field of Computer Science, individuals of every field of study are welcome to attend meetings and events held throughout the school year.