The computer science department values its interactive relationships with the corporate community, both within the Research Triangle and beyond.

 

CSC 2023-24 Premium Engagement Opportunities

ePartners can select one of the Premium Engagement Opportunities listed below for every $2,500 of support provided to the ePartners Program. Each of the programs, initiatives, events, and student orgs listed below is critical to the department's mission, vision and/or ongoing operation, and many provide exceptional opportunities to engage directly with students and faculty, while increasing corporate exposure and brand awareness. Audiences targeted for each engagement option are designated by the following symbols: Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students, Alumni, Faculty, Outreach.

ACM/AITP Networking Sessions

ACM/AITP, the department’s largest student organization, provides a variety of opportunities throughout the year for students to get involved in their department, gain insight into emerging technologies, and learn about the exciting career opportunities awaiting them in this dynamic field. ePartners selecting this option will have the opportunity to participate in one or more networking sessions throughout the academic year, as well as have access to a resume book with resumes of all participating student members.

Ambassadors Program

The NC State Computer Science Student Ambassadors program is a very select group of approximately 30 undergraduate students who represent our department in a variety of academic, social, and networking events held throughout the academic year, and through personal interface with prospective students through our K-12 outreach efforts. During their time as ambassadors, we are committed to providing guidance and development opportunities that promote enhanced leadership, communication, and other vital life skills. ePartners selecting this option have the opportunity to engage directly with this group via structured opportunities such as dedicated mixers, panels, info sessions and/or development sessions.

Code Black Networking Sessions [max of 6 slots]

Code Black is dedicated to solidifying the presence of black students in NC State's computer science department by providing opportunities for community development, professional success and departmental interactions. ePartners selecting this option will have the opportunity to participate in one or more networking sessions throughout the academic year, as well as have access to a resume book with resumes of all participating student members. Funding will also supply resources for planning sessions for Code Black throughout the academic year.

Code Black-A-Thon [max of 2 slots]

Code Black-A-Thon is a yearly hack-a-thon hosted by Code Black in honor of Black History Month. Code Black-A-Thon will be hosted over a 24 hour period in February and will involve collaboration with black student CSC organizations in the triangle. Participants will have access to technical workshops, networking opportunities and community bonding experiences hosted by our ePartners. ePartners selecting this option are able to engage with participants at the event and participate in planning throughout the Fall semester. Funding will supply resources for planning the event, prizes and advertising.

Competitive Learning Program & Spring Programming Contest

The NC State Computer Science Department has an active program in competitive learning, using head-to-head competition as a context for teaching computer science and a motivation for building programming skills. Throughout the year, students meet for approximately two hours each week, working on new types of problems, studying programming techniques and working with their peers. In a typical semester, the competitive learning program may expose students to dozens of problems and algorithms they wouldn't get to see in their required coursework. For ePartners selecting this option who would like a high level of involvement, there are opportunities to attend local programming contests, serve as judges, mentor teams and even to craft contest problems.

Computing Success Center (CSCenter)

The Computing Success Center is an initiative to develop a departmental community and provide education support for core undergraduate computer science courses. The CSCenter provides a locus of student support that features both physical and virtual spaces for students to find resources and help; connect with peers, advisors, and faculty; and find ways to engage in outreach, service, and research. ePartners selecting this option will be invited to meet with Peer Teaching Fellows, a select group of undergraduate and graduate student-teachers in our department, and to offer workshops through the CSCenter.

CSC ‘Hall of Fame’ Event [max of 2 slots]

The Computer Science ‘Alumni Hall of Fame’ celebrates and recognizes the exemplary contributions our outstanding graduates have made to their profession, their community, and to the world at large. Each year, we will target the induction of 3-5 honorees, and we will recognize 1-2 ‘Rising Stars’ (early career awards). They will be recognized and celebrated at a glamorous and formal invitation-only induction ceremony in the fall. ePartners selecting this option will receive invitations and special recognition at the event.

CyberSecurity Competitions

CyberSecurity competitions, like ‘Capture the Flag’, are security events that provide a unique isolated environment for exercising the students' abilities in the security domain. The students must gather "flags" by identifying vulnerabilities in security challenges. Not only do students get a chance to test their knowledge in security-related topics, they also get a chance to network with industry professionals and other students who have similar interests. By creating a safe and isolated environment for the competition, the students have the ability to test their security skills in practice, learn about new security problems while having fun at the same time. ePartners selecting this option are welcome to participate or mentor students in these events.

CyberSecurity Initiative (counts as two selections)

The CSC Cybersecurity Initiative is a comprehensive strategy designed to meet the growing need for cybersecurity professionals across industry and government. The central point for the initiative is the Secure Computing Institute (SCI). In the past year, SCI hired a new Director of Cybersecurity Practice and expanded our Communities of Practice in cybersecurity by creating the Secure North Carolina! LinkedIn group, leading the Interagency Cybersecurity Coordinating Committee, and offering the Dept. of Defense Cybersecurity Compliance Course for defense contractors.The computer science department continued its undergraduate Cybersecurity Concentration, which includes a cybersecurity focused practicum. Enhanced engagement with industry and government is key to helping shape these efforts. ePartner support of this initiative will provide unrestricted support of the Director of Cybersecurity Practice’s efforts to create and launch related outreach, industry engagement, seminars, workshops and other developmental programs for students in this space. ePartners selecting this option will be recognized as corporate affiliates of the initiative and be invited to a select set of events and activities (live and/or virtual) throughout the year to engage with students and faculty.

Developing and Refactoring OSS Projects

Every year, 100 to 200 students take an advanced undergrad/masters-level course in Object-Oriented Design and Development. As part of their work, they develop and refactor open-source projects, including Mozilla and OpenMRS, as well as the locally developed Expertiza peer-assessment system, a Ruby on Rails application. In order to enhance the OSS applications available for students, we are looking for companies that have an existing OSS project that could benefit from student contributions. Since the course requires students to work on, and refactor, existing code, the application should be one where the new code has to interface to existing code in a non-trivial way. Your project would be presented as an option to be chosen by our student teams. This enables us to enhance the learning effectiveness of this course by hiring top-performing students from the course to serve as TAs and/or mentors to teams in subsequent semesters. ePartners selecting this option will have the opportunity to mentor students via weekly meetings (physically or virtually).

DiamondHacks Hack-A-Thon [max of 15 slots]

Started in 2015 and hosted by the WiCS student organization at NC State, DiamondHacks is a hack-a-thon open to all college and high school women interested in computer science. Participants form small teams and work to develop software in response to a specified topic or challenge. During this time, participants also have the opportunity to attend technical workshops and lightning talks, network with representatives from industry and other local universities, and bond with peers through fun social events. DiamondHacks focuses on creating a fun, collaborative environment that fosters innovation and empowers women to pursue their interest in studying computer science. ePartners selecting this option are able to directly engage with participants by providing project mentorship, technical support, and speakers for structured events such as panels, workshops, and the keynote.

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 Reynolds Coliseum or one of the mega churches in the area. ePartners selecting this option will be invited to attend a ceremony, and possibly provide a guest speaker.

Distinguished Series on Ethics and Safety of AI in Society

AI technologies are upending business models in virtually every industry. ChatGPT has shaken up many, even in venerated industries such as education. Surprising to many is that white-collar jobs (such as in law or software development) will need to adapt rapidly, perhaps more so than blue-collar jobs. This lecture series will host distinguished speakers on ethics and safety in AI, specifically, topics such as algorithmic accountability, fairness and diversity, autonomous agents, and safety engineering. It will invite perspectives from related fields that can guide computer scientists. To engage and develop our students' leadership skills, unlike in typical lectures, we will follow each lecture with a discussion led by one or two selected students. We will expect our speakers to be available for the whole day for discussions with faculty and students. We expect to organize four seminars depending on funding support.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Council [max of 6 slots]

Comprised of student leaders representing a variety of diversity-focused student organizations and initiatives, the DEI Council will provide a united and strategic approach to planning and coordinating events, activities and initiatives across the CSC student body. ePartners selecting this option will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of unique outreach and engagement events with a diverse group of students throughout the year. Funds will also be used to help create a new student organization to support Latino students in Computer Science, and supply resources for planning sessions throughout the academic year.

eNewsletter

This departmental e-newsletter is distributed monthly to approximately 10,000 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. ePartners selecting this option will be recognized in each publication.

Game Development Showcase

This extremely popular end-of-year event highlights the collaborative, team-based projects primarily of computer science students, but also design students, working to create computer games and digital media experiences. This is a high-profile event, typically generating significant public attendance and often media coverage. And because it draws in students in the K-12 space, it is considered a strategic outreach and student recruitment event for the department. ePartners selecting this option will be invited to attend the showcase.

Graduate Awards

These will recognize CSC graduate students selected at the end of the academic year in four categories: Outstanding Research Assistant, Outstanding Teaching Assistant, Outstanding Dissertation and Masters Research award winners.

Graduate Recruitment Initiative

Attracting US-based candidates for graduate studies in computer science has become increasingly competitive. ePartners support provides the graduate office incremental funding to support the recruitment of US Ph.D. and M.S. students, including recruitment visits, entertainment, and print collateral. ePartners selecting this option will be invited to attend related events.

Hack_NCState [max of 15]

Hack_NCState is NC State’s largest, all-inclusive hackathon competition. Established in 2018, the 24-hour event is hosted by the Hack_NCState Student Organization, sanctioned by Major League Hacking, and is open to high school, undergrad and grad students. Attendees can work individually or in small teams to develop a creative software solution to any problem they want to address. The event is comparable to UNC’s HackNC and Duke’s HackDuke, all of which are nationally recognized and well-established hackathons. Hack_NCState has grown steadily year over year, and is projected to attract 200-300 participants annually. In order to maximize the number of students able to participate in the hackathon, regardless of age, major, or programming ability, Hack_NCState provides attendees with a variety of technical workshops - organized by partnering companies, students, and on-campus organizations - to help them pick up and apply new skills during the event. ePartners selecting this option can engage with students by providing speakers, hosting workshops, sending recruiters, or engaging via specific “tracks” to get students to interact with their software or product offerings. For more information, please visit the Hack_NCState website at https://hackncstate.org/.

HackPack Capture The Flag (CTF) Competition

This computer and network security related competition, hosted by CSC student organization HackPack every spring semester, allows teams to compete (in person or virtually) in a wide range of challenges to find “the flag”, a secret accessible only by exploiting a vulnerability. It promotes an interest in computer security issues, encourages teamwork, and stimulates out of the box thinking. It is an educational CTF that aims to complement security courses at North Carolina State University and educate the wider public practically in a wide range of security topics. The competition is open to the public and we make a strong effort to encourage NC State students, as well as high school students from the surrounding area, to participate. In the past years HackPack CTF attracted more than a thousand participants per competition from all over the world. ePartners selecting this option may be invited to participate as panelists in the competition.

LadyWolf CSC Secrets Packages

This is a special outreach initiative targeting female high school students who have been accepted at NC State University, expressing an interest in studying computer science. The initiative will provide a special package to be mailed to EVERY admitted female student, which will include hand-written notes and valuable information about what to expect when they arrive on campus, what life is like for a computer science student at NC State, and what are some of the secrets to success in the major. The package will also include a variety of departmental SWAG ranging from mouse pads, laptop stickers and a special T-shirt. Packages will be assembled by our CSC student ambassadors and mailed in the spring. ePartners selecting this option can provide their own branded SWAG, recruiting materials, etc. to be included in the package.

Navigating Networking Event [max of 3]

This program will offer graduate students an opportunity to gain insights into the proper etiquette for business receptions/networking events, and also how to best leverage these events to expand their network. A speaker will lead a short training program, followed by a networking reception allowing sponsors to mingle with the students. This event will be attended by graduate students, making it an effective event for previewing tech talent at the graduate level. Navigating Networking is typically scheduled for late August or early September, early in the fall semester, but COVID considerations may result in a delay or transition to a virtual platform. ePartners selecting this option will be expected to send representatives to interact with students during the program, and may provide company branded materials/giveaways if desired. In-person event attendance is typically between 100-115 students.

NexUX Meetups & Podcasts: Creating an Interdisciplinary UX Community

Is technology improving your life? User experience (UX) is the emerging discipline that has taken on this mission, and NexUX is the regional UX collective working to ensure your answer is a resounding "Yes!" Centered at NC State, NexUX brings together leading thinkers, educators and makers in a wide range of disciplines, including engineering, design, psychology, management and more. NexUX is a venue for discourse, education and research. ePartners selecting this option are invited to all events! Please contact Ben Watson (bwatson@ncsu.edu) if you have any questions.

Outreach & Broadening Participation Initiative

This broad initiative involves a comprehensive strategy designed to broaden participation of under-represented student groups entering the computer science discipline at NC State. It addresses both attraction and retention, with a strategic focus on increasing diversity in the talent pipeline. Our comprehensive multi-media communications campaign involves developing outreach connections with targeted high schools and middle schools, identifying and connecting with expanded pool of prospects, updating and refining all collateral and promotional materials, making ongoing enhancements and updates to the Future Students web portal to include the creation of 2-3 alumni profile features and/or videos each semester, and developing sound evaluation methods and tools. Retention-focused efforts include, but not limited to our special “mindset” video series in CSC intro classes, unique conference experiences, developmental/training opportunities, mentoring efforts, networking events, etc.

Progressive Dinner [max of 12]

This unique networking event is provided exclusively for CSC undergraduate students, and is scheduled for the spring in the Talley Student Center on main campus. The dinner will consist of three courses, and students will rotate to different sponsor tables for each course; two rotations based on selections they make in advance of the event, and the final made during the event. ePartners selecting this option will be expected to send up to two representatives to engage directly with students, and will be provided a resume book of all attendees. Participating companies will be given time to address students with their company’s “elevator pitch” provided in lightning fashion.

Senior Design Center Partner

Fall or Spring - As our department prepares students to 'think and do the extraordinary', the Senior Design Center (SDC) allows our undergraduates to showcase their skills in this required 'capstone' project course. Students work in teams to solve real-world challenges by developing software solutions. The SDC staff guides them from a multidisciplinary perspective, helping students apply their technical expertise and problem-solving skills, while enhancing their writing, speaking, project management and collaboration skills. Partner support will help cover the cost of a service project or a student-proposed entrepreneurial project for a semester that would otherwise go unfunded. Note that is not the same as a company-defined student project sponsorship. ePartners selecting this option will be invited to student presentations giving project status updates and to the course's 'Posters & Pies' exposition at the end of the semester. Additionally, your organization will be identified as the supporter of the project.

Senior Design Center “Posters & Pies” [max of 4]

Fall or Spring – At the end of every semester, student project teams present summary project presentations and/or hands-on demos of their semester's project work to sponsors and VIP corporate guests. Approximately 300-500 people attend this event. ePartners selecting this option will be recognized prominently at the event and in all associated promotional materials, and representatives will be invited to attend the event.

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. If ePartners selecting this option are not represented on the SAB, an invitation to attend the breakfast and/or lunch will be issued.

STARS Student Org (Students & Technology in Academics, Research, and Service)

The NC State chapter of the STARS Computing Corps operates as a student-run organization focused on broadening participation in computing of students from historically marginalized communities. We emphasize activities that both increase our university students' leadership, sense of identity, and technical skills within the computing discipline, and activities that are likely to bring more students into the discipline in the future. To help prepare our undergraduate and graduate STARS student leaders, we host mentoring workshops, career focused workshops, community building, and support student travel to computing research and leadership conferences. Our students then lead K-12 outreach experiences including Saturday workshops, summer camps, and high school internship opportunities. STARS computer science outreach events reach hundreds of K-12 students in the Triangle each year. Check out this slideshow which highlights some of our activities from the 2022-2023 academic year! Your partnership will support a variety of strategic initiatives including, but not limited to the lunches for K-12 program participants, resources to teach computer science, travel and conference participation, and community building events. Engagement opportunities include hosting mentoring and career talks for NCSU students, speaking with K-12 students at outreach events, serving as judges for programming competitions, participating in a justice-focused computer science book club, and attending our year-end celebration dinner. Partners in the RTP area are also invited to host company/campus tours. The theme for 2023-2024 is "Make Your Mark with Computing."

Symposium on Storytelling with Data

We are planning the 5th symposium on storytelling with data in Fall 2023 or early Spring 2024. The symposium will be a forum for researchers, educators, and students to meet, learn, and exchange ideas. The event will be held in collaboration with NC State’s Institute for Advanced Analytics and the Bioinformatics Research Center. We will discuss how to communicate complex data and analyses effectively. How can we present data in a way that is easy to understand and remember? How can we tailor information to different audiences, for example, scientists, students, or the public? This event is an opportunity for NC State University to host distinguished speakers from data storytelling, visualization, and analytics. ePartners selecting this option will be invited to the symposium.

WiCS (Women in Computer Science)

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. ePartners provide funding that allows our organization to build community, and participate in outreach events and initiatives such as NC State’s annual Sisterhood Dinner and the national Grace Hopper Celebration with significant impact. ePartners selecting this option have the opportunity to engage directly with this group via structured opportunities such as dedicated mixers, panels, info sessions and/or development sessions.

WiCS ‘Coding Nights’

This WiCS-hosted initiative provides for a series of structured coding challenge events (2-3/semester) that engage WiCS members, but are open to all CSC students. Coding nights are one of WiCS’s most popular events because they prepare students for technical coding job interviews. The event is typically 1 hour long, and sponsors present 2-3 coding problems that students might see in a technical interview for your company. Students work individually on the problems for 20-30 minutes, then company representatives walk through the problems and answer any questions. ePartners will engage directly with participants to solve the challenge while sharing internship and career opportunities. Additionally, students are also given grants to attend tech events/ conferences, access coding platforms, purchase books for cracking technical interviews, etc.

WiCS Workshop Series

This WiCS-hosted initiative provides a series of scheduled workshops, talks, panel sessions, and/or interactive group discussions held throughout the academic year. Sessions are themed around a variety of special interest topics from providing support, encouragement, and advocacy for women in computing to hosting interactive technical workshops to showcase new company technologies. ePartners selecting this option have the opportunity to engage directly with this group by attending and participating in discussions as mentors, panelists, presenters, etc.

Year-end Pig Pickin'

This popular year-end event typically held at the end of the spring semester is hosted by ACM/AITP, but is open to the entire department (students, faculty & staff). ePartners selecting this option will be invited and can have a table to use as a recruiting event.

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Regardless of the choice you make, ePartners selecting any of the options above will be prominently noted via announcements, print & web collateral, banners, and/or other highly visible means. If for any reason, a selected opportunity doesn’t take place during the academic year, the NC State Computer Science External Relations team will work with you to find an alternative selection.

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The opportunities listed below DO NOT count as PEO selections. Instead, they are considered extra support and may be used by Super ePartners to satisfy their incremental support levels:

Aspirations Scholarships ($2,500)

These are awarded annually to a student who has won a regional or national NCWIT Aspirations Awards and who comes to NC State to study computer science. Awards are targeted at entering freshmen, and are renewable for up to four years given the student remains academically eligible and makes satisfactory progress toward completion of a degree in computer science. Donations in support of this opportunity, like all scholarships, are considered “restricted” and can be used only for the purpose of the scholarship.

CyberSecurity Awareness ($2,500)

Cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility. Yet not everyone has the knowledge and tools to protect themselves against cyberattacks that threaten their personal and sensitive data. In a year of unprecedented cyberattacks against institutions of higher learning, now is the time to join forces to raise cybersecurity awareness. We need your help! The NC State Office of Information Technology and the NC State Department of Computer Science provides year-round campus activities and events designed to address the cybersecurity needs of our students, faculty and staff. This fiscal year, we will reinforce the message that cybersecurity is every Wolfpack member’s responsibility with intentional and creative content that we hope to deliver both online live and in-person. Our most recent events were centered around Data Privacy Month and National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. ePartners selecting this option will be invited to participate in these activities as well as other events that promote security awareness across campus and to provide ideas to help students pursue their career interests in cybersecurity.

Sr. Design Center Student Project ($7,500)

Each semester, corporations from across the nation provide real-world learning experiences for our students. You simply provide a problem statement and a mentor to work with the team, and we will provide talented students suited to the needs of your project. Under the direction of the Senior Design Center staff, our student teams follow a software development methodology, develop project documentation, and present progress reviews. This unique academic and experiential focus gives students the opportunity to enhance their communication, collaboration, project management and leadership skills. This creates a true "win-win" situation for both our sponsors and our students. For more information on project proposal submissions, click here.

Welcome Back Pack the Oval Party [$2,500]

This popular event (previously known as the Welcome Back Bash), typically held at the start of the fall semester, is hosted by the eCouncil and all the engineering departments 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, some food trucks, snow-cones, ice cream and refreshing beverages. 30+ Engineering Student organizations and event sponsors typically have a presence with table-top displays and use this as a recruiting event. We expect the event to attract between 1500-2000 students this year. Your sponsorship helps cover entertainment, equipment rental, catering, door prizes, etc.