For the first time since its inception in 1996, the UW CSE Professional Master’s Program (PMP) is expanding: from 130 students to 160, and from three offered courses each quarter to four. The PMP – a part-time evening program targeted towards talented software industry professionals with strong undergraduate preparation in computer science or computer engineering and three or more years of professional experience – has awarded nearly 500 degrees since its inception.
Longtime PMP Advisor Dave Rispoli is excited about the change. “Demand had grown to the point where we were unable to accommodate a significant number of highly qualified applicants. The expansion will restore balance. There has never been a better time to apply!”
To earn their degree, PMP students complete one four-credit course plus a one-credit colloquium course for eight quarters. PMP courses are taught by the same top-ranked faculty who teach UW CSE’s full-time graduate and undergraduate courses. “We have an 85% graduation rate,” says Rispoli, “which means that even students who are putting in extraordinary work hours can earn their degree in a reasonable time and maintain some semblance of a home life. It’s not easy, but the program’s flexibility means that, at least for the vast majority of those who are accepted, it’s doable.”
The next PMP application deadline is November 1, for a Winter Quarter start. Additional application deadlines are February 1 for Spring Quarter, and July 1 for Autumn Quarter.
Additional information on CSE’s Professional Master’s Program can be found by contacting Dave at rispoli@cs.washington.edu or by viewing the PMP Web page at http://pmp.cs.washington.edu/. Read more →
TechFlash interviews UW CSE students participating in the Kindle DX academic pilot project.
“At the University of Washington, more than 30 computer science graduate students are taking part in the pilot, and are just receiving their devices. We sat in on a Kindle DX orientation on the UW campus this morning, and talked to a couple students about their expectations for the reader, which they’ll be using in various courses.”
See the article and video here. Learn more about the UW CSE Kindle DX pilot project here. Read more →
UW CSE professor Dan Grossman discusses the UW CSE Kindle DX pilot project with KOMO-4 TV news. Watch the video here. Learn more about the UW CSE Kindle DX pilot project here. Read more →
UW CSE graduate students Dan Halperin and Kathleen Tuite are among 26 exemplary Ph.D. students from across the nation who have been named recipients of Intel Ph.D. Fellowships. The Intel Ph.D. Fellowship program focuses on research in Intel’s principal technical areas: Hardware Systems Technology and Design, Software Technology and Design, and Semiconductor Technology and Manufacturing.
Dan, who is advised by Tom Anderson and David Wetherall, was awarded his fellowship for research “enabling the realistic design of next generation wireless systems.”
Kathleen, who is advised by Zoran Popovic, was awarded her fellowship for “active world reconstruction through a real-world multiplayer game.”
Information about the fellowships may be found here.
Congratulations Dan and Kathleen! Read more →
The LA Times discusses the Internet and the government’s role in basic research.
“Since it’s so fashionable these days to question whether government can do anything right … it’s worth noting that we’re about to celebrate the 40th anniversary of one of the most important federal initiatives of our time … the Internet.
“[Bob] Taylor tried to interest private industry in his project, but the companies he approached dismissed the idea. IBM told him its computers already talked to one another, completely missing his point that their computers should talk to everyone else’s. AT&T, then the monopoly proprietor of the phone system over which the network would operate, fought Taylor’s project tooth and nail, contending that the network’s ‘packet switching’ technology (a method of transmitting data in discrete blocks) wouldn’t work on its phone lines and might even damage them. Packet switching remains the Internet’s governing technology to this day.
“[Taylor’s] experience underscores the importance of a government role in fields like basic research, which profit-seeking enterprises tend to shun.
“‘Industry generally avoids long-term research because it entails risk,’ the veteran computer scientist Ed Lazowska told Congress a few years ago. Why? Because it’s hard to predict the results of such research, and since it has to be published and publicly validated, corporations can’t capitalize on their investments in isolation. Yet once the research reaches a certain point, private industry piles in – Lazowska cited a National Research Council list of 19 multibillion-dollar industries that had been incubated with federal funding, generally via university grants – including the Internet, Web browsers and cellphones – before becoming commercially viable. Taylor’s ARPAnet was eventually turned over to the National Science Foundation, which in 1991 opened what was then known as NSFnet to commercial exploitation. Four years later, the dot-com boom was underway.
“The real world brims with other examples.”
Complete article here. Read more →
The Seattle Times discusses college costs. “Still, undergraduate tuition and fees at the UW — $7,700 this year — remain a bargain when compared to what people pay at private colleges, says UW computer-science professor Ed Lazowska: ‘Why is a parent willing to pay $35,000 for an education that’s not any better? I don’t understand the psychology of it.'”
Read the article here. Read more →
2008 UW CSE Ph.D. alumnus Noah Snavely, now on the computer science faculty at Cornell University, has received the University of Washington Graduate School “6th Chapter” Dissertation Award.
Named by former Dean of the Graduate School Suzanne Ortega, the 6th Chapter Award refers to the five-chapter length of most dissertations. In a hypothetical sixth chapter, Ortega reasoned, candidates would propose practical applications resulting from their research, translating their insights into real-world policies or programs.
Noah’s Ph.D. work, co-supervised by Steve Seitz and Rick Szeliski (Szeliski, an affiliate professor in CSE, is at Microsoft Research), concerned recovering 3D structure from large community photo collections. Microsoft’s widely-praised Photosynth offering represents technology transfer from Noah’s work. Very recently, another Snavely / Seitz / Szeliski collaboration, “Building Rome in a Day,” has received widespread attention.
Congratulations Noah! Read more →
“Geekiest title you’ve ever had: I dabble in rapping in some of my lectures under the name of Vicious D Marty Slick …
“Geekiest thing you’ve ever done: I won a Nintendo competition in Phoenix when I was young. The games were Super Mario Bros., Rad Racer, and Tetris …
“Mac or PC? I wanted to get a Mac, but I’m saving for a new kidney …”
There’s more! Read it here! And don’t miss Monica Guzman’s blog, which includes Marty’s rap video, here! Read more →
UW CSE’s computer graphics team— including professor Steve Seitz, graduate student Ian Simon, graduate alumnus Noah Snavely, affiliate professor Rick Szeliski, and acting professor Sameer Agarwal— has developed a new computer algorithm that automatically reconstructs an entire city from hundreds of thousands of tourist photos in about a day (of computing). The tool is the most recent in a series developed at UW CSE to harness the increasingly large digital photo collections available on photo-sharing Web sites.
The newly developed code works more than a hundred times faster than the previous version. It first establishes likely matches and then concentrates on those parts. The code also uses parallel processing techniques, allowing it to run simultaneously on many computers, including remote servers connected through the Internet. The new, faster code makes it possible to tackle more ambitious projects.
Earlier versions of the photo-stitching technology are known as Photo Tourism (licensed to Microsoft, augmented, and now offered as Photosynth). In the near term, the “Rome in a Day” code could be used with Photo Tourism, Photosynth or other software designed to view the model output.
Read the UW News article here. More information on the research project here.
Here’s a terrific TechFlash post, “UW’s latest photo technology could supercharge Photosynth.” Also see posts on MSNBC “Cosmic Log,” here, and on Slashdot, here. Brier Dudley’s blog in the Seattle Times here. itbusiness.ca here. NewScientist here. National Geographic News here. Popular Science here. Read more →
KOMO news reports on the UW CSE Kindle DX pilot project.
“‘Our students are going to have these devices. They are going to use them. They are going to share with us their experiences. I can assure you they will give us an honest appraisal,’ said Grossman.
“Lazowska says whether its an Amazon device, an Apple device or another company’s technology, he believes the textbook is heading the way of the blackboard.
“There may be no more pencils and no more books. But as for teacher’s dirty looks, even a Kindle can’t promise to do away with them for good.”
Read the story here. Learn more about the UW CSE Kindle DX pilot project here. Read more →
