In This IssueeNewsletter Archive

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New Tool Increases Adaptability, Autonomy of ‘Skyrim’ Nonplayer Characters

Decision trees have historically dictated game play, but NC State Computer Science is helping make game play more unique and variable! Computer science researchers at NC State University and Universidade de Lisboa have developed a tool for use with the game Skyrim that can be used to create nonplayer characters (NPCs) that allow for more variability and flexibility in game play. The tool, called CIF-CK, is an artificial intelligence (AI) architecture program that uses social behavior models to make individual NPCs more reactive and adaptable to player behavior. more

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NC State Computer Science Game Design Rankings on the Rise

A recent study performed by the Animation Career Review recognized NC State's Game Design Program in the Department of Computer Science among the top 30% of all schools considered. Nationally, NC State was ranked 39th, and 13th among public schools. The department was also placed in the 7th spot when evaluating schools in the South. more

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How NC State is Helping Drive Economic Development

NC State’s Economic Development Partnership works closely with partners across North Carolina to help recruit companies to the state and develop high-paying jobs, while also providing valuable opportunities to students. So how do these opportunities come to fruition? NC State’s role as a catalyst, partner and key resource for economic development can be seen in a global technology company’s recent commitment to create 2,000 jobs in North Carolina. more

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Welcome Back Bash Set for August 24th

Engineering students, faculty and staff on Centennial Campus (including Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, and Textile Engineering) are invited to attend the 2017 Welcome Back Bash on Thursday, August 24th, 5-8P, rain or shine, outside on the Masnari Gateway and the brick oval at EB2. There will be free food and beverages, music, and much more! Students will also have the opportunity to interact with representatives of event sponsors including Computer Science ePartners BB&T, Eastman Chemical, IBM, Oracle, Premier and SAS. The event is also sponsored by the ePartners Program and the NC State Engineering Foundation. Numerous student organizations will also be attending, recruiting new members and advertising their accomplishments.

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BOT Welcomes New and Familiar Faces

NC State’s Board of Trustees welcomes both new and returning members for terms ending in 2021. The newly appointed members are James A. “Jim” Harrell III of Raleigh, David R. Nimocks III of Fayetteville and Edward “Ed” Weisiger Jr. of Charlotte. Returning for their second four-year terms are Thomas E. Cabaniss of Richmond, Virginia; Wendell H. Murphy, formerly of Rose Hill; and Ronald W. Prestage of Camden, South Carolina. more

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New Games and Visual Narrative Suite – a Space Made for Collaboration

Claude McKinney, who developed the master design for Centennial Campus, looked at collaboration as a contact sport. He would be very proud of how the campus continues to live into his vision. The latest example of spaces designed to foster multi-disciplinary collaboration is provided by the NC State Department of Computer Science, with the opening of its new Games and Visual Narrative Suite located in Venture II on Centennial Campus. more

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Eclipse Day Celebration

The College of Sciences invites you to celebrate Eclipse Day on the Brickyard, 12:30-4P. For the first time in 99 years, a total solar eclipse will cross the United States. During this rare celestial event, the moon will pass between the sun and the Earth, appearing to block the sun for almost an hour and a half. The eclipse will occur during the afternoon, peaking at 2:44P. more

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Get to Know: Institute for Emerging Issues

The Institute for Emerging Issues at NC State brings together individuals and groups to pursue solutions to North Carolina’s challenges and strengthen the state’s future competitiveness. Leslie Boney, IEI’s director, talks about the institute’s pursuit of academic excellence, key issues of importance to the state, and how IEI supports all North Carolina citizens. more

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Study Finds Gender Bias in Open-Source Programming

A study comparing acceptance rates of contributions from men and women in an open-source software community finds that, overall, women’s contributions tend to be accepted more often than men’s – but when a woman’s gender is identifiable, they are rejected more often. “There are a number of questions and concerns related to gender bias in computer programming, but this project was focused on one specific research question: To what extent does gender bias exist when pull requests are judged on GitHub?” says Emerson Murphy-Hill, corresponding author of a paper on the study and an associate professor of computer science at North Carolina State University. more

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Teaching Cultural Competencies Through Virtual Reality

NC State Online and Distance Education gives students an immersive experience in many online programs largely due to the innovative technology provided by Distance Education and Learning Technologies Applications (DELTA). Some of that technology includes virtual reality (VR). DELTA began exploring the use of VR for educational purposes in 2013, and during the last four years, they’ve worked with faculty and staff to create immersive learning experiences. more

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Departmental Gifts & Research

Premier Healthcare has donated $25,000 to the department in support of the Senior Design Center and the ePartners Program.

Informatica has donated $10,000 to the department in support of the ePartners Program.

Allstate has donated $7,500 to the department in support of the ePartners Program.

Eastman has donated $5,000 to the department in support of the ePartners Program.

Vanguard has donated $5,000 to the department in support of the ePartners Program.

Allied Telesis has donated $5,000 to the department in support of the ePartners Program.

Builders Mutual has donated $5,000 to the department in support of the ePartners Program.

Applied Systems has donated $5,000 to the department in support of the ePartners Program.

Blackbaud has donated $5,000 to the department in support of the ePartners Program.

Sunrise Technologies has donated $2,500 to the department in support of the ePartners Program.

Sageworks has donated $2,500 to the department in support of the ePartners Program.

OneTrust has donated $5,000 to the department in support of the ePartners Program.

Prometheus Group has donated $2,500 to the department in support of the ePartners Program.

WillowTree has donated $2,500 to the department in support of the ePartners Program.

Triangle Strategy Group has donated $5,000 to the department in support of the Sr. Design Center.

Dr. Tiffany Barnes and Glenn Kleimann, Executive Director of Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, have been awarded $326,480 in supplemental funding to support their project entitled “Scaling a Rigorous CS Principles Curriculum: A Supplement to Beauty and Joy of Computing (BJC) in New York City STEM-CMSP”. The Educational Development Center via National Science Foundation is funding the project. Total funding is now $568,967. more

Dr. James Lester has been awarded $114,672 in supplemental funding by McGill University/Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to support his research proposal entitled “Learning Environments Across Disciplines (LEADS): Supporting Technology-Rich Learning Across Disciplines: Affect Generation and Regulation During Co-Regulated Learning in Game-Based Learning Environments.” Total funding for the project is now $161,642. more

Dr. Frank Mueller has been awarded $90,000 by Virginia Tech via U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research to support his proposal entitled “A Deep-Learning Approach Towards Auto-Tuning CFD Codes”. more

Dr. Xipeng Shen has been awarded $30,000 by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory via U.S. Department of Energy to support his proposal entitled “Exploring Deep Learning and Ontology-Based Framework”. more

Dr. Alexandros Kapravelos has been awarded $300,000 by Arizona State University via Office of Naval Research to support his proposal entitled “XS-Shredder: A Cross-Layer Framework for Removing Code Bloat in Web Applications." more

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CSC Wolf Bytes

CSC alumna, Vidya Srinivasan was featured recently in a Forbes magazine article on coping during maternity leave and returning to work in the tech sector after having a baby. more

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Follow the Department on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter!

Alumni, students, faculty, staff, and corporate partners of the NC State Department of Computer Science, interested in networking to foster collaboration, entrepreneurship, partnerships, career development and professional growth are invited to follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

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Personalized Job Search Agent in ePack

If you are a CSC student or recent graduate (within 12 months post-graduation) and would like to receive email notifications when new jobs are posted on ePack matching your profile, you can set up your own customized job search agent to receive just the postings you desire (intern vs. full time, etc). For a short video tutorial on how to create your own personalized job agent, click here.

The Alumni Association has partnered with the University Career Development Center to make ePACK available to NC State alumni. If you are a current Alumni Association member, update your online profile by visiting the Wolfpack Connect (alumni directory) and click on the ‘Update My Info’ tab on the upper right side of the page. Select the ‘Career Connections’ tab and then choose ‘yes’ beside the question, ‘Do you want access to ePACK?’

To access ePACK you must be a member of the Alumni Association and you must be an alumnus/alumnae of NC State. If you are not a member of the Alumni Association, you can join online. Once you have received an email confirming your membership, you will be able to register for access to ePACK.

Questions: Contact Manager of Alumni Career Services, Anna Velleggia at anna_velleggia@ncsu.edu