Computer Science | Grinnell College

On Thursday, October 28, in Noyce 3821, Martin Dluhos 2012 will describe one of the major system-administration projects he carried out this summer: configuring and using software that automate the installation of a new version of Debian GNU/Linux on the workstations in the MathLAN, in order to make the entire process less tedious and less repetitive.

Refreshments will be served at 4:15 p.m. in the Computer Science Commons (Noyce 3817). The talk, Squeezing the MathLAN, will follow at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. Everyone is welcome to attend!

On Thursday, October 7, in Noyce 3821, Shitanshu Aggarwal 2011 will describe the software-development project on which he worked last summer. He writes:

During the Summer of 2010, I interned at Amazon's online grocery business, Amazon Fresh. It is an experimental project and is currently being tested in the Seattle area in Washington. In this talk, I will describe how an online grocery store operates, the computational problems that arise in their operation, and my contributions to Amazon's project.

Refreshments will be served at 4:15 p.m. in the Computer Science Commons (Noyce 3817). The talk, Delivering groceries in Seattle, will follow at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. Everyone is welcome to attend!

At 4:15 on Thursday, September 30, in Noyce 3821, Professor Henry Walker will give a talk about software that he and his students have developed for the management of proposals for presenting research papers at conferences. In 1999, Mr. Walker was asked to develop the first iteration of a Web-based paper submissions and reviewing system. The current system represents the twelfth version of this software, and each version has implemented refinements, new capabilities, and adjustments. Reflections on the evolution of this system yield numerous lessons for software and Web-based systems. This talk discusses 10 (hexadecimal) observations that can help in the design of future software applications.

Refreshments will be served at 4:15 p.m. in the Computer Science Commons (Noyce 3817). The talk, Software for the submission and review of conference proposals: 10 (hexadecimal) lessons, will follow at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. Everyone is welcome to attend!

On Thursday, May 13, Tony Pan will demonstrate some basics of the Google Maps Application Programming Interface by building a 2010 Iowa Census map in ten simple steps.

Refreshments will be served at 4:15 p.m. in the Computer Science Commons (Noyce 3817). The talk, An introduction to the Google Maps API, will follow at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. Everyone is welcome to attend!

At noon on Friday, April 30, in Noyce 3821, Myra Cohen of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln will speak on the role of combinatorics in the design of test suites for software:

Software systems today are magnitudes of order larger and more complex than their recent ancestors. Instead of building single systems, we now build families of systems. User interfaces are graphical and programs event-driven. The software/hardware interfaces we once kept distinct have become blurred. Developing reliable and affordable software presents an increasing number of challenges. As glitches in these large-scale systems continue to make newspaper headlines, developing reliable and affordable software presents an increasing number of challenges.

In this talk we examine advances in software testing that focus on the difficulty caused by one simple but ubiquitous concept -- system configurability. Configurable systems include software such as web browsers and office applications, families of products customized by businesses for different market segments, and systems that dynamically reconfigure themselves on the fly. We show how theory from combinatorial mathematics, combined with heuristic search algorithms, can help us to test these systems more efficiently and effectively.

Pizza and soda will be served shortly before noon. Professor Cohen's talk, Combinatorics, heuristic search, and software testing: Theory meets practice, will begin promptly thereafter. Everyone is welcome to attend!

At 4:15 on Thursday, April 22, in Noyce 3821, Jordan Shkolnick 2011, Nora Coon 2010, Jillian Goetz 2010, and Cyrus Witthaus 2010 will present the results of their summer 2009 Mentored Advanced Project, Interactive MediaScripting.

Refreshments will be served at 4:15 p.m. in the Computer Science Commons (Noyce 3817). The talk will follow at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. Everyone is welcome to attend!

On Tuesday, April 6, Kate Deibel, a doctoral candidate in computer science at the University of Washington and a research assistant at the Center for Engineering Learning and Teaching, will give a talk describing

the many challenges faced by designers of technologies for college students with disabilities and will discuss who the user population is, what they experience, and what policies that shape supporting them. Design approaches like universal design and inclusive pedagogy will be discussed. Most importantly, identifying when technology is not the answer will be covered. Although this talk will apply to all disabilities, specific focus will be given to reading disabilities.

Refreshments will be served at 4:15 p.m. in the Computer Science Commons (Noyce 3817). The talk, A real grand challenge: Designing technologies for college students with disabilities, will follow at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. Everyone is welcome to attend!

At noon on Friday, April 9, in Noyce 3821, Dr. Dan Garcia of the University of California - Berkeley will describe the work of the GamesCrafters research group there:

The UC Berkeley GamesCrafters undergraduate research and development group was formed in 2001 as a watering hole to gather and engage top students as they explore the fertile area of computational game theory. At the core of the project is Gamesman, a system developed for strongly solving, playing and analyzing two-person, abstract strategy games (e.g., Tic-Tac-Toe or Connect 4) and puzzles (e.g., Rubik's Cube). Over the past nine years, more than seventy games and puzzles have been integrated into the system by over two hundred seventy-four undergraduates.

Pizza and soda will be served shortly before noon. Dr. Garcia's talk, 274 students can't be wrong!: GamesCrafters, a computational game theory undergraduate research and development group at UC Berkeley, will begin promptly thereafter. Everyone is welcome to attend!

On Thursday, March 18, Henry Walker and John Stone will describe their recent experiences in preparing to move the department's Web site to the Drupal content-management system and in adding new features to the site in the Drupal environment.

Refreshments will be served at 4:15 p.m. in the Computer Science Commons (Noyce 3817). The talk, Web content management with Drupal, will follow at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. Everyone is welcome to attend!

On Thursday, March 4, Nathan Levin 2010, Andy Applebaum 2010, Alex Cohn 2011, and Jeffrey Thompson 2010 will describe their Summer 2009 Mentored Advanced Project, StatsGames.

Refreshments will be served at 4:15 p.m. in the Computer Science Commons (Noyce 3817). The talk will follow at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. Everyone is welcome to attend!