Computer science day gets competitive

Computer Science students, alumni, educators and industry representatives came together Friday… Computer Science students, alumni, educators and industry representatives came together Friday to celebrate Computer Science Day, held in Sennott Square.

The event was planned by the Department of Computer Science.

The Computer Science Bowl was held for college and high school students. The “Jeopardy!”-style challenge consisted of questions concerning various computer science topics.

Representatives of local and international high-tech firms filled the hallways, with tables displaying information about their businesses. Some of the participating companies included Apple, Cisco Systems, Intel Research and Vivisimo.

Compunetix, a Monroeville-based company that develops multimedia multipoint telecommunications systems for both commercial and government markets, sponsored the department’s annual graduate student research competition. In order to participate, students had to write research papers and give oral presentations before the day of the event.

A computer science poster competition was held, with separate contests for graduate and undergraduate students.

For junior Teddy Wardak, it was the first time he had participated in Computer Science Day. Wardak enjoyed all of the activities that the day had to offer, including the poster contest. He said that being able to talk to representatives from the different companies was helpful and interesting.

Students were also given the opportunity to participate in an internship and co-op forum. During this discussion, they were able to gain insight from the experiences of other students, as well as various industry veterans.

Some members of the computer science faculty, graduate students and undergraduates have recently completed a variety of noteworthy projects related to their fields of study. They set up demonstration tables to educate the participants about their recent achievements.

Wardak said he found the demonstrations to be very interesting, and he enjoyed learning about the new things that the demonstrations presented.