Corporate Relations Home
The computer science department values its interactive relationships with the corporate community, both within the Research Triangle and beyond.
We are open to exploring new opportunities to partner in research and to strengthen the educational experience of our students.
Current engagement opportunities for executives and subject area experts include:
- Be a guest speaker at student organization meetings, including ACM/AITP, Women in Computer Science, Computer Science Graduate Student Association
- Be a guest classroom presenter on such topics as software engineering and leadership in technology
- Provide student internships and co-op opportunities
- Provide research assistantships for our graduate students, to support directed research relevant to your organization
- Host recruiting and other special events
- Participate in computer science's Strategic Advisory Board (nomination-based membership)
Sponsorship Opportunities
Each is critical to the department's vision and/or ongoing operation, each offers corporate exposure to large and varied audiences, and each carries a sponsorship value of $2,500 (unless otherwise noted).
CSC Student Ambassadors Program
The NC State Computer Science Student
Ambassadors program was established to promote student leadership and
communication skills. This select group of approximately 20 undergraduate
students will represent our department at a variety of academic, social and
networking events held throughout the academic year, and through personal
interface with prospective students through our outreach efforts. Your
sponsorship covers travel, branded attire, incentive materials, service
awards and a year-end recognition event.
Gaming Repository Initiative
Our “Top 15” ranked Game Development Concentration, led by the Games Design Research Center, has launched an effort to build a historical repository of gaming software and hardware that will make games available as a scholarly resource for students and faculty. Through a careful curation process, the objective would be to build a "collection" of games and gaming hardware, spanning the most popular and current games available to the more obscure and rare (yet significant) releases. As the repository grows, the DGRC will explore ways to collaborate with the planned Hunt Library to provide a game playing space with an archival/study component. Your sponsorship of this initiative covers acquisition cost of hardware, software, and related documentation for the build-out of the collection.
Outreach Initiative Targeting Attraction of Females & Minorities
This long-range multi-phase project involves a comprehensive strategy designed to increase the percentages of females and under-represented minorities entering the computer science discipline at NC State. With the continued support of corporate sponsors, our strategy is to leverage the launch of the comprehensive communications campaign by creating 2-3 new alumni profile features and/or videos each semester, making ongoing enhancements to the Future Students web portal, properly seeding an extensive network of alumni volunteers across the state to deliver targeted messages, developing outreach connections with targeted high schools and middle schools, updating and refining all collateral and promotional materials, and developing sound evaluation methods and tools.
Welcome Back Bash
This popular event, typically held at the start of the fall semester, is hosted by the eCouncil and all the engineering departments on Centennial Campus (CSC, ECE, Chemical, Materials Science, Mechanical & Aerospace, and Biomedical) and their student organizations and serves as the official welcome back for students, faculty & staff to the new school year. It is traditionally held in the Masnari Gateway at EB2 and around the Engineering Oval, and features a DJ, games & activities, and BBQ, fried chicken and all the fixin’s. Student organizations and event sponsors typically have a presence with table-top displays and use this as a recruiting event. Your sponsorship helps cover entertainment, equipment rental, catering, door prizes, etc.
Diploma Ceremony - Fall or Spring
Both fall and spring ceremonies are regularly attended by 1200 - 1500 graduates, family, friends and faculty. Because of the size and distinguished nature of these ceremonies, they are traditionally held in large venues such as the Meymandi Concert Hall or the Raleigh Convention Center in downtown Raleigh or Hope Community Church in West Raleigh. Your sponsorship goes toward covering the cost of facility rental, refreshments, entertainment, and publications.
"CSC eNews Online"
his departmental e-newsletter is distributed monthly to approximately 3,500 students, faculty, staff, alumni (those for whom we have email addresses), and corporate contacts. News items are segmented and distributed by audience category, and linked back to the complete eNews online site. Your sponsorship covers the entire year and supports web and email feature enhancements, address management, etc.
"Connected" Alumni Newsletter
This full-color, hard copy departmental newsletter is mailed to approximately 6,000 alumni, corporate VIPs, and faculty members once each year, typically in early fall. Your sponsorship supports publication enhancements, printing, and distribution costs.
Senior Design Center "Posters & Pies" Event Sponsorship - Fall or Spring
At the end of every semester, student project teams present summary project presentations and hands-on demos of their semester's project work to sponsors and VIP corporate guests. Approximately 300-500 people attend this event. Your sponsorship covers refreshments and collateral.
Centennial Campus Challenge
The Centennial Campus Challenge is a relatively new engineering tradition on campus that calls for students and engineering student organizations to maintain a continuous camp in the Oval between Engineering Buildings 1, 2, and 3 on Centennial Campus for a full academic week. The event will serve to increase involvement in the engineering student community through The Greatest Engineers Challenge and daily events, increase awareness of NCSU engineering for freshman and prospective high school students, and promote relationship-building between engineering student organizations and departments within the college of engineering. The Centennial Campus Challenge will continue to grow as an annual tradition for the continuing development of Centennial Campus student culture and engineering outreach service.
YE Game Development Showcase
This extremely popular end-of-semester event highlights the collaborative, team-based projects of computer science and industrial design students working to create computer games. This is a high-profile event, typically generating significant news coverage. And because it draws in a large number of students in the K-12 space, it is considered a strategic outreach and student recruitment event for the department. Your sponsorship covers event planning, catering, refreshments, and promotional materials.This extremely popular end-of-semester event highlights the collaborative, team-based projects of computer science and industrial design students working to create computer games. This is a high-profile event, typically generating significant news coverage. And because it draws in a large number of students in the K-12 space, it is considered a strategic outreach and student recruitment event for the department. Your sponsorship covers event planning, catering, refreshments, and promotional materials.
Strategic Advisory Board Networking Reception & Dinner
The SAB is a group of approximately 25 business executives and academic leaders who meet annually with department leaders to provide guidance and direction in support of the department’s strategic planning efforts. Your sponsorship helps cover the expense of the pre-event networking social and dinner at the Park Alumni Center. If sponsor is not represented on the SAB, an invitation to the social and dinner will be issued.
Strategic Advisory Board Networking Breakfast & Lunch
Held on the day of the SAB’s annual meeting, these events provide our SAB members an opportunity to network with various members of our faculty, staff, and key student leaders. Your sponsorship helps cover catering, floral, and other associated expenses. If sponsor is not represented on the SAB, an invitation to attend the breakfast and/or lunch will be issued.
ACM Regional Programming Contest Teams
Each fall, NCSU sends one or more teams to compete in the regional ACM Programming Competition. Your sponsorship helps cover the teams' travel and living expenses for this weekend event.
Year-end Awards Reception
This celebratory event is held in April, at the end of the academic year, and serves to recognize our students, faculty & staff who have won awards throughout the year. Your sponsorship helps cover facilities, audio-visual, and catering expenses.
Graduate Recruitment Materials
Attracting US-based candidates for graduate studies in computer science has become increasingly competitive. Your sponsorship will provide the graduate office incremental funding to support the recruitment of US Ph.D. and M.S. students, including recruitment visits, entertainment, and print collateral.
Faculty Retreat
Traditionally, our faculty retreat takes place in August and/or January, just before students arrive back on campus. It is typically one of the few times during the academic year that our faculty can come together to focus on long-term strategic planning. Your sponsorship will help cover the cost of off-site room rental, AV equipment rental, and catering.
Faculty "Working Lunches"
These are weekly themed working sessions allowing computer science faculty to come together over lunch to discuss a variety of topics including strategic direction of the department, best practices, research overviews, professional development, etc. Due to the nature of faculty work (long and crazy hours balancing teaching, research and office hours), these sessions provide a much-needed and structured opportunity for faculty to come together to learn, share, and bond. Your sponsorship helps to support the catering costs for these sessions.
ACM/AITP/WiCS Year-end Cookout
This popular year-end event typically held at the end of the spring semester is hosted by the local chapters of the ACM/AITP & WiCS, but is open to the entire department (students and faculty). Your sponsorship helps cover shelter, table & chair rentals, catering, games & activities, awards & prizes, and print materials.
Students and Technology in Academics, Research, and Service (STARS) Research Initiative
STARS (Students and Technology in Academics, Research, and Service) is a multi-institutional alliance to broaden participation in computing. Initially funded by the National Science Foundation, our goal is to increase both the diversity and number of talented computing professionals through a variety of efforts focused at students at the university level and earlier. At NC State, the STARS Student Leadership Corps consists of a diverse group of bright students who join together to make a difference in the community through service, and to influence younger students toward computing through outreach efforts. While the National Science Foundation funds a small stipend for each STARS student, our group is in need of additional funding for group activities, middle school outreach, travel to the STARS Workshop, and other important endeavors. More details on this year’s planned activities can be provided.
Support for Symposium for Graduate Research
This relatively new initiative will provide a forum for graduate students to learn about serving on a program or organizing committee, and to practice their writing and presentation skills in a constructive collaborative environment. This forum, the Symposium for Graduate Research (SGR), will be a graduate student-run research conference to promote dissemination and collaboration of computer science graduate research within our department, and others across the nation. Senior level graduate students participate in the SGR as members of the organizing committee and/or the program committee. The organizing committee organizes the symposium program, location, refreshments, and reception. The program committee reviews the research paper submissions and evaluates the quality of submissions for acceptance to the symposium. Junior graduate students submit research papers outlining their current research to be reviewed by their peers. Research papers can be accepted as full papers with a 30-minute presentation at the symposium or short papers with a poster presentation during an evening reception. A best paper award will be presented to the best full paper as voted by the program committee. Corporate participation and involvement (panelist, speakers, mentors, etc.) is planned. A draft of the proposal can be viewed online at http://arches.csc.ncsu.edu/sesmith5/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=sgr.
Women in Computer Science (WiCS)
Launched in 2002, WiCS is a student organization with a mission of improving the attraction and retention rates for women in the computer science field. Sponsorships provide funding that allows our organization to be active, in a significant way, in outreach events and initiatives such as NC State’s annual Sisterhood Dinner, Geek-A-Thons, and the national Grace Hopper Celebration. Your sponsorship helps cover the cost of speaker fees, facility rentals, refreshments, publications, conference fees and sponsorships, affinity items, travel, and other expenses associated with unique outreach and recruiting opportunities.
Underwater Robotics Club
The Underwater Robotics Club is a student organization that provides hands on experience for majors in the colleges of Engineering, Management, Physical and Mathematical Sciences, and Design. The club competes in the annual international autonomous RoboSub competition in San Diego, California. The competition is hosted by the Office of Naval Research and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI). Sponsorship of this student organization provides funding for the annual trip expenses and engineering of their robot, Seawolf. Your sponsorship will support the continued success of a motivated organization that has been competing since 2004.
Summer High School Workshops
The department hosts a very successful summer program for high school students consisting of 2-3 independent week-long Computer Science workshops. Each of these resident workshops (students stay on campus in dorms) accommodates 25-35 students, providing them a basic introduction to the discipline through a variety of fun and exciting hands-on projects such as the creation of Android apps using AppInventor. A poster session is held at the end of the week for students to demo their work to family, friends, faculty and staff. Your sponsorship helps cover the cost of student supplies (USB drives to take their work home), special events and extra-curricular activities, publications & promotional materials, refreshments, and other expenses associated with the workshops.
Regardless of the choice you make, your sponsorship will be prominently noted via announcements, print & web collateral, banners, and/or other highly visible means.