BSOE Undergraduate Newsletter
Announcements
Competitive Programming Club for UCSC
Hi everyone,
My name is Nhan Nguyen, and I'm a sophomore here at UCSC. My proposed major is Computer Science: Computer Game Design. I have been programming since I was in 9th grade, and I have a deep passion for this subject.
For the past 2 years, I have been very devoted to a field in Computer Science called Competitive Programming (CP for short). Throughout the course of 2 years, Competitive Programming help me explore many programming techniques and algorithms that catapult my programming skills to the next level (to name a few simple ones: Binary Search, Two Pointers, DP). As my skills steadily improve, I found myself in many different coding contest from large companies like Google, Facebook, etc (my most recent one being Facebook Hacker Cup). Being involved in the Competitive Programming community for a long time also exposes me to a very prestigious contest called ICPC ( https://icpc.global/), and from there I realized that one of my biggest dreams is to compete in the ICPC.
So I got to work looking for a UCSC club that covers the topic, and I was disappointed to find that our campus lacks such a club. Since UCSD and most UCs has such a club and we don’t, I have started and currently am running a new club that specializes in Competitive Programming here at UCSC. The end goal of this club is to improve fellow programmers personal coding skills with a variety of problems to participate in the once-in-a-lifetime ICPC contest, compete in other prestigious contests like Facebook Hacker Cup or Google Codejam, and also gearing them up with the necessary skills to ace coding interviews.
I am looking for advisors and executive members for this club. If you are interested in Competitive Programming and want to support what I'm doing or being an executive/advisor in general, please message me through my UCSC email: nhtrnguy@ucsc.edu, or you could join the clubs' discord here at: https://discord.gg/aw8EqPCbWy
P.S: If you don't know what Competitive Programming is you can see this video for reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueNT-w7Oluw&t=1s
Promoting the new CSE newsletter!
In fall 2021, the Baskin School of Engineering welcomed a new weekly newsletter to its official communications. Introducing the CSE newsletter, a publication curated specifically for computer science and engineering majors! Issues are individually written each week and reviewed thoroughly by our team before send-off to provide an accurate, informative overview of what events and opportunities are being offered on campus. Key features of the newsletter include a greater focus on student body clubs and events, chronologically sorted announcements in a calendar format, and weekly original content from our writers.
For students that were not automatically subscribed, or non-BSOE majors that are interested, our Google Group [cse-news] can be visited and joined at this link. Email accounts from ucsc.edu can freely join [cse-news], while outside emails will need to request membership and be manually approved. The [cse-news] Google Group acts as our mailing list., so feel free to spread this link as an easy way to subscribe.
Past issues can be viewed at this public Google Drive.
We hope the CSE newsletter satisfies you. Thanks for your support, slugs!
2022 Straus Scholarship Informational Webinar October 19th at 4:00 pm
Donald A. Strauss Scholarship
The Donald A. Strauss Scholarship Foundation allows students to pursue a public service project during their junior or senior year. The scholarship provides $15,000 for expenses of the public service project and for some tuition, fees, books, room and board. The Foundation will award scholarships to full-time students who have:
- Demonstrated an interest in public service
- Outstanding leadership potential
- Developed and can demonstrate effective communication skills
- The desire to "make a difference” in local, regional, national or international communities
- One or two years remaining until graduation
- A GPA in the upper 1/3 of their class
- Submitted an innovative, original, public service proposal
Registration is now open for the 2022 GIX Innovation Competition
Registration is now open for the 2022 GIX Innovation Competition, in which you are challenged with advancing technology at home to improve health, wellness, and the environment. Your solution can leverage a broad range of technologies including the internet of things, intelligent hardware, low-cost sensors, drones, robotics, computer vision, machine learning algorithms, and cloud computing. The competition is open to all undergraduates or those who have graduated with their bachelor’s degree within the past 12 months. The competition is a great opportunity for students to work in teams to address a meaningful problem and have your submission seen by leading technology companies.
Who can participate: Teams of 2-5 undergraduate students and graduates with their bachelor’s degree within the last 12 months, located anywhere in the world.
Registration deadline: December 17
Join us for an informational webinar on October 27 or November 17 at 6:30 p.m. (Pacific Daylight Time), hosted by Dr. John Raiti, Assistant Teaching Professor at the University of Washington.
Registration is open now! Visit our website to learn more details about the challenge, sponsors, and registration information: www.gixnetwork.org/ic22
Undergraduate Researcher Needed for UCSC Genomics Institute
My name is Julian Lehrer. I'm an Applied Mathematics M.S. student working at the UCSC Genomics Institute. I'm looking for undergraduates, ideally in CS, who would be interested in assisting with research in the following areas:
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Computer Vision
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Data visualization
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Data engineering / data collection (for gene expression data of cortical brain organoids & primary human tissue, ECG data, other time series examples for a paper)
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Analysis of time series data (homogeneity testing using functional depth statistics)
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Machine learning with high dimensional / sparse feature space
And there are always plenty more projects in the works. No bio experience required but it would be a plus! I'm looking for strong programmers who are comfortable building data pipelines in Python and have ML and data visualization experience. If any of these sound interesting to you, please email me a short introduction and resume at jmlehrer@ucsc.edu. I look forward to meeting you!
Career Technical Tutor Needed
My name is Victoria Vasquez-Alvarez. I work with the GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) at UC Santa Cruz and run the Academic Intern Program. We hire college students to work in the local middle schools in the South Monterey County and Pajaro Valley area as Academic Interns serving as tutors and advisors.
We seek talented, qualified tutors in subject areas like Agricultural Biology, Agricultural Chemistry, It Essentials/Programming, and Mathematics for high school students in the Pajaro Valley. Tutors will help struggling students via one-on-one sessions and will have the opportunity to join Google Classroom sessions to assist students in the learning process.
If you know someone who has tutoring experience and/or would love to work with high school level students to reach and excel in their academic goals, please have them contact me directly at vvasque6@ucsc.edu or call at 831-227-3894.
BSOE students are TOP prospects for UC Berkeley's Professional MS in Chemical Engineering!
- Thrive in a close-knit community; Each cohort can only hold up to 50 students
- Guide your coursework by choosing an industry specialization, or create a hybrid:
- Advanced Materials
- Alternative Energy
- Biotechnology (Drug Development or Medical Devices)
- Consumer Products
- Manufactured Products
- Microelectronics
- New Ventures
- Instead of a thesis, gain industry experience by participating in a field project during your Spring semester, where you will work in small teams to solve a product development challenge for a real company. Some of our past clients include:
- Amyris Applied Materials
- Baxter Bayer
- Bio-Rad Bolt Threads
- Chevron Clorox
- Clif Bar Corning
- Dow Chemical Genentech
- Givaudan Illumina
- Lam Research LanzaTech
- Pacific Gas & Electric Siluria Technologies
- Our 300+ alumni have been hired at companies worldwide such as:
- AbbVie
- Accenture
- Apple
- Applied Materials
- Bloomberg
- Chevron
- Deloitte
- Dow
- DuPont
- ExxonMobil
- Genentech
- Gilead Sciences
- Hewlett-Packard
- Intel Merck
- Micron Technology
- Navigant
- Procter & Gamble
- Rakuten
- 100% of our students receive financial aid and a limited number of full tuition and fees scholarships are available
- The GRE is no longer required for admission
“The flexible curriculum, experiencing the real world in a safe environment where it is OK to fail, and access to world-class faculty were my main attractions to the PDP in Berkeley. The short duration of the program constantly keeps you on your toes but provides you a well-rounded experience and the skill set you develop is easily transferable across industries.” - Vivek Narayanan '10, Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers
“The PDP is a good choice when looking to change careers or industries. The PDP allowed me to bridge the gap between R&D for inkjet printer inks to pharmaceuticals without 4-6 more years of school. Coursework is diverse, spanning many different schools on campus (Chemistry, Haas, Public Health, etc.) allowing for more networking opportunities. Great value for the time and money spent.” - Jill Salelanonda '07, Lab Manager, Gilead Sciences
MBARI Summer Internship Program
June 6 – August 12, 2022
MBARI’s Summer Internship Program provides an opportunity for talented college students (undergraduate and graduate) and educators to work directly with MBARI scientists, engineers and communicators. MBARI’s state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, including research vessels, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), offer educators and students unique opportunities to collaborate on advanced research and development projects. The program immerses interns in collaborative teams as they learn innovative research and engineering techniques and improve communication skills. Each intern will have an MBARI mentor who will supervise a specific project for a 10-week duration. Interns also serve as peer-mentors to each other.
Applications for the 2022 MBARI internship (June 6 – August 12) will be accepted through February 7, 2022 at 8 am (Pacific).
We are currently planning for an in-person internship but may have to switch to a virtual program if COVID issues are still prevalent. Summer interns are selected following a rigorous application procedure and merit review. Hailing from around the world, MBARI’s interns represent a variety of lived experiences and education levels. We encourage all students and educators interested in a STEM career to apply.
How to apply:
Suggestions for those applying can be found here. All applications must include:
- A cover letter describing:
- general interests/goals as well as specific interests/goals relative to MBARI,
- your project preference (please choose from this list),
- your relevant coursework and grades, and
- how you hope to use your upbringing, and/or unique lived experiences to enhance your internship participation
- Curriculum vitae
- One letter of recommendation
ACE Winter 2022 Application is Open!
We would like to share with you an incredible academic support program at UC Santa Cruz called the Academic Excellence (ACE) Program!
ACE is a community of students dedicated to academic excellence who work together in problem solving sessions and peer mentoring sessions to help each other master the concepts taught in class. Not only do ACE students pass their classes at higher rates, but they also tend to earn more A and B grades than non-ACE students. You may Visit our website to learn more about the ACE Program.
This winter, ACE will be back In-Person! We will be supporting a variety of science and math courses (see the flyer attached). Check out our student testimonials video to see what our students say about ACE!
To apply: visit our Online Application
Applications are due on Saturday, December 18th, 6:00pm!
Space will be filling up quickly, so we recommend applying sooner rather than later!
Winter Opportunities in the Tech4Good Lab
The Tech4Good Lab has several positions open next quarter for undergraduate students from all majors. We are looking for people who are extremely responsible, love learning, and have a strong drive to apply technology for social good. For next quarter, we have positions doing the following types of work:
- User research: interviewing and analyzing interviews to understand user needs and context,
- Usability evaluation: conducting evaluations of interfaces for usability,
- Interface design: designing and iterating on web interfaces in Figma,
- Web development: coding an app using an Angular/NgRx/Firebase stack,
- DevOps: building tools to support developers and operations across lab projects,
- AI & economics: modeling economic systems using multiagent reinforcement learning,
- NLP: build topics to identify similarity and create clusters of short text responses,
You would be contributing to a variety of projects in the lab related to designing systems to better support the future of education, work, and community engagement. Some of the platforms we are working on include:
- An app aimed at scaling apprenticeship learning, which supports people in learning through micro-roles while supporting non-profits as they learn,
- An app aimed at microlearning through small groups to create learning environments supporting curiosity, creativity, and relationships,
- An app containing short activities for team/group community building, and also creating "small group networks" that can facilitate interesting collective goals,
- An app aimed at supporting chat-based career mentorship between industry professionals and groups of students,
Joining requires a commitment of 10 hours/week for the quarter for independent study credits. If you are interested, fill out the Tech4Good Lab Interest Form and send an email to David Lee (dlee105@ucsc.edu).
P.S. Follow our Facebook or Instagram to hear about future student opportunities in Tech4Good!
CSE Directed Reading Program
The CSE Directed Reading Program is an opportunity for undergraduate students to work one on one with a graduate mentor for a quarter to help them study an advanced topic. The program requires a 5 hour weekly time commitment, consisting of a 1 hour weekly meeting with your graduate mentor and 4 hours of independent study. In your weekly meeting you should discuss the past week's readings, discuss and clarify concepts together, and pick a direction/readings for the next week. The program is not for credit and only for enrichment purposes. We are limited in capacity by the number of graduate mentors, but in future quarters we will prioritize applicants who were unable to participate in previous quarters.
For more information, please see this Google doc: Link
If you are an undergraduate interested in participating in the CSE Directed Reading Program in Winter 2022, please fill out the following form: Link
Please send me an email at evin@ucsc.edu if you have any questions, input or just want to discuss this further!
Seeking Readers for STAT 131 - 02 (Introduction to Probability) Winter 2022
Graders will be responsible for grading homework and assignments using Canvas and GradeScope.
We are looking for students who have already passed STAT 131, are detail-oriented, conscientious, punctual, and that are comfortable using R (https://www.r-project.org/).
Steps for the Student Applicant
- Log in to the Reader Tutor Application (RTA) system using your CruzID and Blue password.
- Submit your application. You will receive an email confirming that you have applied. An application is not a guarantee of employment.
- If your application is approved, you will receive a formal offer of employment via email. You must accept the formal offer in the RTA system within two days.
- After accepting the offer, you will receive an acknowledgment notice with instructions to complete employment paperwork.
- You are not permitted to begin working before completing the required employment forms and work authorization documents.
LSS is Hiring Tutors!
Hello!
Are you interested in becoming a campus leader and deepening relationships with other students, faculty, and staff at UCSC, while getting paid to do it?
Apply to be a Tutor or Learning Assistant for Winter 2022! Tutors and Learning Assistants work with Learning Support Services (LSS) independently facilitating weekly collaborative learning sessions to deepen students’ knowledge and practice course skills.
What positions is LSS hiring for?
What Courses is LSS Hiring Tutoring Support For?
Biomolecular Engineering
BME 160 - Small Group Tutor
Computer Science and Engineering
CSE 100 -Small Group Tutor
CSE 12- SI Leader
CSE 107 - Modified Supplemental Instruction
CSE 111 - Modified Supplemental Instruction
CSE 111 - Modified Supplemental Instruction
CSE 120 - Modified Supplemental Instruction
CSE 120 - Modified Supplemental Instruction
CSE 13S - Modified Supplemental Instruction
Electrical and Computer Engineering
ECE 101 - Small Group Tutor
Mathematics
MATH 100 - Small Group Tutor
MATH 110 - Small Group Tutor
MATH 111A - Small Group Tutor
Statistics
STAT 131 - Modified Supplemental Instruction
STAT 7- Modified Supplemental Instruction
How to Apply
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Fill out the LSS Applicant Form
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After, go to the UCSC Career Center website, and fill out an application for job number 0527.
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Upon submission of your application, you will receive an automated email to fill out another application form. Please ignore this email and do not fill out the form, since you have already filled out the Recruitment Application form.
Don't wait! Applications close on December 10th!
Why should you work for LSS?
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Learn leadership and communication skills - become an on-campus leader!
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Learn about educational theory that works to dismantle inequities at UCSC
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Learn how to become an equity-minded educator
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Be a role model for students in classes you took and feel confident in!
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Work with other students and staff with similar values as you
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Work with faculty in your major
What type of qualities does LSS look for in a strong applicant?
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Someone interested in offering representation for their community in academia
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Someone who cares about giving back to their communities and wants to see them succeed
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Someone who knows what it’s like to struggle in a class
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Someone who understands that privilege affects what type of education folks have access to
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Someone interested in making education accessible to everyone
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Someone with strong listening skills, values and respects diverse cultures, is growth-oriented, and has a willingness to reflect.
If you have any questions about the positions, please feel free to contact Learning Support Services at (lss@ucsc.edu). You can also stop by our Front Desk Zoom with this link Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays 2-6 pm or in-person at ARC 221 M/W/F 9 am -12 pm and T/TH 11:30 am -1:30 pm.
Genomics Independent Studies Opportunity for Winter '22
JOIN THE COMPUTATIONAL GENOMICS LAB!
It's a fantastic way to learn new skills, contribute to the development of genome science, and prepare for grad school. We offer flexible schedules, and you can telecommute with any laptop!We're looking for undergraduate UC Santa Cruz students with a strong background in statistics, computer science, mathematics, physics, chemistry, or biology.
2- or 5-unit course credit is available.
APPLY HERE (http://bit.ly/38Y0cbd) BY JANUARY 10TH FOR WINTER '22!
