Featured – Page 52 – Seidenberg School News

Welcome Back! – Looking forward to the Spring 2013 Semester

The Seidenberg School would like to warmly welcome all its students back for the Spring 2013 semester. We had an exciting 2012 which brought lots of new initiatives, like the STEM Collaboratory with the School of Education, and a new Dean, Dr. Amar Gupta. We hope to continue this positive track into this semester and have even more success to report.

One of our big focuses this semester will be community engagement and to this end we will be making the Seidenberg webpage a greater resource for students. We have a number of events up already such as the FIRST Tech Challenge at our Pleasantville campus, Microsoft Mondays and an Agile NYC speaker – Damon Poole. Not only will we be updating the website we also have a Google Calendar that we will be constantly updating with events both hosted by the school and outside the school that we feel might be good for you to attend.

We also plan to step up our social media engagement and you can find us on a number of networks:

Facebook: Like the “Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems” page

Twitter: Follow @pace_seidenberg

Foursquare: Like the “Pace Seidenberg” page

Tumblr: Follow “PaceSeidenberg”

Instagram: paceseidenberg

Google+: +1 the “Pace Seidenberg” Page

LinkedIn: Join the “Pace University – Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems”

Any of these networks are a great way to stay informed about what’s going on at the school and learn more about the community. We encourage prospective students to follow them and get a feel for the school, current students to follow them to get updates about the semester, and alumni to use them to keep up to date about what their school is doing. Feel free to contribute to any of these pages with your own inputs and ideas. We want you to feel a part of this community and we need your help to make it a two-way dialogue.

Finally please remember that this is your community too and we want to hear from you. Any of those social media channels are a great way to ask questions or give feedback and you can always e-mail us at paceseidenbergschool[at]gmail.com. We’d love to hear your stories. What exciting projects you’re working on, what new tech buzz is making your ears perk up, and what you’re looking forward to.

We’re looking forward to another exciting semester.

MyPace Mobile app is now available for download in App Store, Android Market, and Blackberry App World!

The “MyPace Mobile” app has debuted on the Android Store this week joining the versions already available on the iOS and Blackberry platforms. MySpace Mobile is an initiative by the ITS department and the school to better connect students with resources that will answer their questions about the school. The app is able to be accessed from any smart phone with an internet connection

The app is subdivided into modules that allows students to stay connected with Pace University wherever they are. The app will allow students to keep up with the latest news from the Pace Pulse and videos of recent events. For academics students can look up courses, including announcements about current ones, final exam times and room assignments and have access to a directory of university students, faculty and staff. The app will also help students navigate around campus with maps and a bus schedule for shuttles. These are just some of the features available now and more are planned to be rolled out. Students will also be able to fill out surveys and submit feedback via the app to help make it better.

Pace University Named Best Online Bachelor’s Program according to U.S. News and World Report

Pace University placed 1st out of 237 schools surveyed in the latest poll from the U.S News and World Report on Online Bachelor’s Degree programs. Pace’s online program, iPace, scored a 70.2, over 5 points higher than the next school on the list. Universities were judged on a number of criteria including graduation rates, indebtedness of new graduates, and academic and career support services offered to students. Pace also placed #13 for Best Online Graduate Computer Information Technology Programs

Pace University placed 1^st out of 237 schools surveyed in the latest poll from the U.S News and World Report on Online Bachelor’s Degree programs. Pace’s online program, iPace and Nactel, scored a 70.2, over 5 points higher than the next school on the list. Universities were judged on a number of criteria including graduation rates, indebtedness of new graduates, and academic and career support services offered to students. Pace also placed #13 for Best Online Graduate Computer Information Technology Programs

The iPace and NACTEL program allows students that have begun a bachelor’s degree but were unable to finish in a traditional time frame to still receive their degree. The program offers a Bachelors of Business Administration in Business Studies and Bachelors of Science degrees in Nursing, Professional Communication Studies and Professional Technology Studies.

The courses for the online programs were co-developed with experts from The National Coalition for Telecommunications Education and Learning (NACTEL). In a NACTEL press statement Dr. David Sachs, professor at the Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems, said “We’re thrilled that Pace University has been chosen for the US News & World Report’s Honor Roll of colleges and universities that provide excellent online education. He added “We’re privileged to have been partners with NACTEL since 1999, developing quality online education for the information technology industry. The results of that partnership are evident in this award.” In the same statement Bridget Trapanese, a current student and Verizon Communications employee, said “Going to school online at Pace University has been a godsend for me.”

Online degree programs such as Coursera and edX were not ranked because they do not offer full degrees, or credits. Pace was one of only two New York area schools in the top 25 – the other being St. John’s University.

If you’d like to see the rest of the ranking they can be found here – http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/bachelors/rankings

Amar Gupta Welcome Breakfast at University Club

It is a bit of Pace folklore that in the 1960’s when asked why an accounting school should include an English department the then president Dr. Edward J. Mortola replied “because I want our accountants to have the best written reports”. It is in this same spirit of interdisciplinary support that current President Friedman places a large emphasis on making sure that all Pace students are outfitted with the information technology skills they will need for the 21st century.

The man he has picked to spearhead this approach is Dr. Amar Gupta the new Dean of the Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems. A reception was held for him at the University Club on Tuesday January 8^th 2013. At the reception he gave a speech entitled “Emerging Innovative Applications of Information Technology”.

Dr. Gupta comes to Pace University from the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona in Tucson where he held an endowed professorship and was known for his role in nurturing new research and interdisciplinary programs, including one that allowed students to receive two graduate degrees and a certificate in entrepreneurship. He was a visiting scientist at MIT where he served as the founding co-director of the Productivity from Information Technology (PROFIT) initiative and has worked with large organizations such as IBM and the United Nations.

President Friedman praised Dr. Gupta saying that he joins the university at a pivotal moment in history and that he is very confident in his abilities. Dr. Gupta began his speech by talking about his “24-Hour Knowledge Factory”. An initiative that he developed it focuses on dividing a project into parts that are then passed off from team to team across the globe. Work may begin during the day in an American office, be passed off to an Australian or Chinese colleague, then to a colleague in Europe and finally back to the American office. The initiative promises to revolutionize how organizations approach problem solving since it allows the same number of man hours to produce products much more quickly in calendar time. As Dr. Gupta put it this new approach challenges the 1000 year old paradigm that distance is an impediment to business, instead it may serve as an asset by harnessing the best and brightest from across the globe.

Dr. Gupta also spoke about the need for interdisciplinary approaches to solve current problems such as healthcare. He gave several examples of the benefits of Telemedicine, which uses current information technology to connect patients with doctors that can help them treat their symptoms. This approach is particularly useful in rural parts of the nation where patients may be very far away from skilled medical practitioners. He compared the current problem to previous issues he encountered working with Citibank and IBM on check processing technology.

Dr. Gupta closed the speech by showcasing his plans for improving the university which include dual degree programs that reflect industry needs and setting up consortiums with large organizations and students. He also placed a great emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches to problem solving, bidirectional national flows of information and the importance of innovation.

People may rarely see the value of new technology initially but the value of Dr. Gupta to Pace University is clear and we are glad to have him on board.

Helsinki Again! Seidenberg School Launches Year Two of the Product Design Project Research Initiative

Extending last year’s acclaimed partnership with Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland, the Seidenberg School is collaborating for a second year in the Product Design Project (PDP) Based at Aalto University, PDP brings together students from more than a dozen universities around the globe to develop real products for companies including Ericsson, UNICEF, ABB and ExerBlast who are searching for innovative cooperation with the next generation of IT experts. At the start, much attention is directed to the formation of highly motivated interdisciplinary teams.

Led by Associate Dean Jonathan Hill and Program Manager Wilfredo Pena, Seidenberg Students Drew Cimino (CS ’13), Prachaya Sinsuwan (MS CS ’14), Julie Gauthier (CS ‘15), Michael Cornell (CS ’15), Bryn Haffey (MS CS ’14) and Keith McPherson (CS ’13) were joined by Lubin student Shervin Browne (MBA ’14) and Dyson Communications major Jessie Mishavsky (BA ’13)

Utilizing lessons learned from the concept of distributed teams, the project goes through the phases of requirements gathering, product design, manufacture, assembly, and testing to create a unique and valuable learning experience. As the sun rises in Australia, students at Swinburne University in Melbourne begin iteration of their specified part of the project, as the day continues at Tianjin University in Shanghai, students continue the process and pass the results to the next stop, the Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur. The project is then picked up and further developed by students at Aalto University and as the sun moves from Helsinki to New York, Pace University students contribute their day’s work and then conclude their day by passing the baton back to their Australian colleagues. Team meetings are held weekly, via Skype, where students learn to negotiate differences in time, culture and project flow. After a full academic year of designing, coding and building, the international teams gather for a final ‘gala’ presentation in Helsinki where the students celebrate their accomplishments.

“This is truly one of the best educational experiences that I can imagine” said Jonathan Hill. “The students work as a distributed team on a very complex, but ultimately deeply satisfying projects with other top students from around the world. The experiences they have replicate what they will be asked to do as professional developers: ask questions, solve problems, create, get feedback, react to their clients changing needs and learn to negotiate time zones, different cultures and different learning styles”.

“I love my team” said Julie Gauthier, a sophomore computer science major from Connecticut. “I am the developer among mechanical and electrical engineers, designers, and MBA’s. They have been so welcoming and so helpful and I can’t wait to see what we build”.

This year’s collaboration includes the addition of a New York City based start-up which will bring four Aalto students to Pace for a week of on-site research, activities and workshops that support co-creation. Pace University and Exerblast, a digitally enhanced youth exercise and gaming concept, are working together to build new interactive experiences on their website and play space located in Tribeca. This project will give the students an opportunity to pursue interdisciplinary ideas at the cross point of computer science, engineering production and communications. Besides working on the project it will also be an opportunity to reciprocate the hospitality they’ve received during their visit to Aalto. Our visitors will arrive in time to attend a New York Tech Meetup (NYTM) monthly gathering among other events that showcase the thriving tech scene in New York.

If you would like to participate in helping us make this a great experience for our Aalto U guests, stay tuned for information on their arrival.

Seidenberg Student Wins Mobile App Contest

On Thursday, December 6th, an interdisciplinary group of Pace University students gathered together at the new Lubin Entrepreneurship Lab. The occasion? To design innovative mobile apps at the Mobile App Design Contest—an open exhibition in which the finalists were decided by a public vote. Participants included students from computer science, marketing, art, business, and more

On Thursday, December 6^th, an interdisciplinary group of Pace University students gathered together at the new Lubin Entrepreneurship Lab. The occasion? To design innovative mobile apps at the Mobile App Design Contest—an open exhibition in which the finalists were decided by a public vote. Participants included students from computer science, marketing, art, business, and more. It was an exciting exhibition, showing off the variety of issues students are able to tackle from a mobile perspective. The ideas ranged from a Pace-based textbook exchange app to an at-your-fingertips concession stand app. Apps were judged based on aesthetic appeal, innovative features, complexity of problem space and ease of use. The winner, Julie Gauthier, designed an app called “We Go Together.” The main goal of “We Go Together” is to act as a socially enhanced scheduling app, allowing the users to share calendars, see what their friends are up to, and to keep up with upcoming local events. She said that, “I worked extremely hard to have a great presentation, because I didn’t know what kind of format it would be, or who would be there. It was a fantastic opportunity for me to gain experience pitching my ideas.” For further descriptions of the apps presented at the Mobile App Design Contest, please visit this page.