Computer Science | Grinnell College

On Thursday, April 30, Brooks Davis (Senior Software Engineer, SRI International) will describe a proposed processor architecture to support memory-safe programming:

The C programming language (combined with C++) is used to implement all important modern operating systems and the runtimes of most higher level programming languages. Despite the ease of implementing serious security bugs in C, billions of lines of software is written in it and our daily lives depend on much of that software. It is surprising that all popular CPU architectures provide memory safety mechanisms substantially identical to those on the PDP-11 on which C was written in 1972! Our research aims to change that.

In this talk I provide an introduction to the conventional memory model of C and cover some of the problems this model causes. I will then discuss our solution, the CHERI CPU and our modified C compiler and how we took it from an early prototype to something that can bring memory safety to virtually all C code without code changes.

At 4:15 p.m., refreshments will be served in the Computer Science Commons. The talk, “Beyond the PDP-11: Architectural support for a memory-safe C abstract machine,” will begin at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. Everyone is welcome to attend!

On Thursday, April 17, Nora Bresette Buccino will discuss the development of an application programming interface for small robots in Java, with extensions to the Android environment:

The use of personal robots in computing is becoming more ubiquitous as robots are a good way to attract students and introduce them to the subject of computer science. Therefore, it is important to make use of all the features of the robots to give users a sense of the capabilities provided by robotics. The API (Application Programming Interface) defined by the Institute for Personal Robots in Education, called Myro, originally created in Python, has now been adapted to many other popular programming languages including Java. The Myro Java API created for the Scribbler robots by Professor Douglas Harms of DePauw University included most of the features of Myro Python. Our goals in this project were to add features to the Myro Java API, to enhance the user's capabilities, and to attempt to incorporate Android development into Myro Java.

Smart phones and tablets have become an integral part of the way we communicate and learn. Not only can these devices be used to communicate with other people, but they can also communicate with other devices through Bluetooth and infrared sensors. Thus these types of devices can interact with devices such as robots and applications can be created to control these robots. Therefore, we decided to integrate Myro and Android to provide the opportunity to not only learn about robotics but to also learn about Android programming and mobile application development.

At 4:15 p.m., refreshments will be served in the Computer Science Commons. The talk, “Enhancing Myro Java using Android,” will begin at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. Everyone is welcome to attend!

On Thursday, December 4, in Noyce 3821, Professor Samuel A. Rebelsky and the other faculty of the Department of Computer Science will present the department's annual discussion of summer opportunities in CS:

It may be hard to believe given the forthcoming sub-freezing temperatures, but it's about time to starting thinking about what you're going to do this coming summer (and maybe even in subsequent summers). If you enjoy computer science (or at least computer programming), summer is an opportunity to explore new approaches, to develop new skills, and perhaps even to make some money. But what kinds of things can you do? While students tend to focus on a few options (e.g., research with faculty), a wide variety of opportunities are available. In this session, we will discuss goals you might set for the summer and some opportunities that can help you achieve those goals.

Refreshments will be served at 4:15 p.m. in the Computer Science Commons (Noyce 3817). Professor Rebelsky's talk, Summer opportunities in computer science, will begin at 4:30. Everyone is welcome to attend!

On Thursday, November 20, Toby Baratta 2017, Bo Wang 2016, and Kitt Nika 2016 will present their summer research on the automatic detection of place names on historical maps:

This past summer we did research on toponym detection and recognition on historical maps. Overall, our research goal was making historical maps more search-friendly and making information in the maps more accessible. Kitt Nika and Shen Zhang worked on detecting text strings on map images with maximally stable extremal regions (MSER). With this, they implemented a binarization method for future research in text detection. Kitt will discuss MSERs and the methods involving them in regards to text detection. Toby Baratta and Bo Wang worked on linking geographic datasets and recognizing toponyms from the detected text strings. With the alignment between historical maps and real-life geography, we used a Bayesian model to calculate probabilities of possible toponyms. Toby and Bo will discuss their work on increasing the range of our recognition system by adding area features such as lakes.

At 4:15 p.m., refreshments will be served in the Computer Science Commons. The talk, “Historical map processing: text detectors, database linking, and region models,” will begin at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. Everyone is welcome to attend!

On Thursday, November 13, Professor Gianfranco Ciardo, Professor and Chair of the Department of Computer Science at Iowa State University, will speak on extensions of binary decision diagrams:

Binary decision diagrams (BDDs) have had enormous success since Bryant showed how to use them for the efficient verification of boolean hardware designs and Clarke and McMillan employed for symbolic model checking. In this talk, we take BDDs as a starting point and explore various extension of decision diagrams, we apply them to problems beyond temporal logic verification, and we discuss several challenging research problems related to decision diagrams.

Before the talk, Professor Ciardo will meet informally with students considering the possibility of graduate study at Iowa State. This meeting will be in the Computer Science Commons (Noyce 3817), beginning at 3:45 p.m.

At 4:15 p.m., refreshments will be served in the Computer Science Commons. Professor Ciardo's talk, “Beyond BDDs: advanced decision diagrams and their applications,” will begin at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. Everyone is welcome to attend!

On Thursday, November 6, Professor Janet Davis and Richard Bright, Director of Off-Campus Study, will lead a discussion of options for combining off-campus study with study of computer science. CS majors who have studied abroad are welcome to come share their experiences.

Refreshments will be served at 4:15 p.m. in the Computer Science Commons (Noyce 3817). The presentation, “Off-campus study and computer science,” will begin at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. Everyone is welcome to attend!

On Thursday, October 30, Professor Sriram Pemmarju of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Iowa will discuss the uses of randomness in algorithm design:

Randomness has proven itself to be an amazingly useful resource in the design of simple and efficient algorithms. Randomized algorithms are now widespread in all areas of computer science; examples can be found in cryptography, data compression, distributed systems, machine learning, network protocols, online and streaming algorithms, etc. This talk will present a few “gems” of randomization—algorithms that highlight the elegance and power of randomized techniques, while identifying underlying principles that guide the design of randomized algorithms. Time permitting, the talk will also consider the theoretical question of whether randomness provably adds to the power of efficient algorithms.

Refreshments will be served at 4:15 p.m. in the Computer Science Commons (Noyce 3817). Professor Pemmarju's talk, “Toss a coin, throw a ball,and solve a problem,” will begin at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. Everyone is welcome to attend!

On Thursday, October 16, Professors Janet Davis and Jerod Weinman will discuss what graduate school in computer science is like, why you might consider it, what opportunities there are for graduate education, employment after graduate school, applying (for computer science or related fields in particular), and other related issues attendees may be interested in.

Refreshments will be served at 4:15 p.m. in the computer science commons (Noyce 3817), with the presentation and discussion to follow at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. All are welcome to attend.

On Thursday, October 2, Wes Beary 2005, Alex Leach 2006, Cassie Schmitz 2005, and Ian Young 2008 will discuss Web development and infrastructure using the Ruby on Rails Web application framework and “agile development” methods. In this panel, they will describe their career paths and answer questions about their work developing software as a service.

Refreshments will be served at 4:15 p.m. in the Computer Science Commons (Noyce 3817). The panel discussion, “Careers on Rails: Grinnell CS Alumni in Web Development and Infrastructure” will follow at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. Everyone is welcome to attend!

What: Résumé Review Session
When: 4:30 p.m., Thursday, 18 September 2014
Where: Science 3821
Who: SEPC, StuACM, CLS Staff, Alumni

Snacks, drinks, and casual conversation will be available in the CS Commons at 4:15 p.m.

On Thursday, 18 September 2014, the Computer Science Department's Student Educational Policy Committee (SEPC) and the Grinnell College Student Chapter of the ACM will present a Résumé Review Session. CLS staff and CS alumni will be present to review résumés, discuss general approaches to résumé building for computer scientists, and provide useful ideas.

Bring your résumé, whether you think it's complete or a work in progress. If you haven't started your résumé yet, this is incentive to do so. And, even if you don't have a résumé ready by the session, come and hear about the kinds of things people look at when reading résumés.