TCNJ Department of Computer Science | News and Events

TCNJ Students and Alumni Take Home Prizes From Philly Game Development Competition

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 09:02:01 EDT

PHOENIXVILLE, PA ... A team containing three alumni of The College of New Jersey and one current student was awarded one of two major awards and a prize package valued at about $9,000 during the Philly Game Jam, a forty-eight hour game development contest.

Three teams from TCNJ competed at the event, which hosted ten teams including professional, student, and amateur entrants competing for the same awards. The three teams, TCNJ Red, TCNJ Blue, and TCNJ Yellow, were comprised of twenty-four members including four TCNJ alumni and eighteen current TCNJ students.

The Philly Game Jam began at noon on Oct. 23 amidst the GameX Industry Summit in Phoenixville, just an hour away from the college. Ten teams were each challenged with designing and developing an original computer game in only forty-eight hours. Prizes were awarded for "Most Innovative Game" and "Best Adherence to Contest Theme," the latter of which was awarded to TCNJ Yellow's game.

The game, simply titled "Yellow," was developed by Mike Testen (TCNJ '09), Jeff Rupert (TCNJ '09), Samantha McLaughlin (TCNJ '09), Akash Barot (UPenn '09), Steve Testen (Drexel '10), and Brian Bagdzinski (TCNJ '10). All development, including design, programming, art, and sound, was done on-site at the competition during the two-day time period.

The inspiration for the trip came in the summer when several students who shared a class in the Spring 2009 semester heard about the contest and started e-mailing one another. By contacting classmates, friends, and various members of the campus community with an interest in game development, the group planned the trip completely independently and continued to gain members. The twenty-four students who attended the Game Jam represent a wide variety of majors, and include freshmen all the way through recent alumni.

The 2009 Philly Game Jam was just one part of the GameX Industry Summit, which was organized by International Game Developers Association chapters located in New Jersey, Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, and Boston, and supported by NBC Local Media in Philadelphia. The summit brought professionals from the industry at both ends of the East Coast to Philadelphia for two days of lectures, round-tables, and keynotes. Attendees also had the chance to play the games developed during the Game Jam, and TCNJ's students had the opportunity to develop connections with local potential employers and increase the college's profile in the game development community.

TCNJ Programming Teams Compete in Regionals!

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:02:01 EDT

Two student programming teams from TCNJ participated this past Sunday in the ACM Regional Collegiate Programming Contest, and they were in the usual good company (several teams from Cornell, Yale, Columbia etc). Out of 52 teams, team TCNJ1 (Autumn Breese, Stephen Sigwart, Brian Bagdzinski) placed 17th, while team TCNJ2 (Rich DeFrancisco, Mark Whitty, Mike Murphy) placed 29th. Congratulations to all of our participants for representing our college and program so well!

CS Freshman Chris Green (\'13) Profiled on TCNJ.edu Site!

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:01:06 EDT

Be sure to check out freshman Chris Green ('13), from Millstone, New Jersey. He competitively races off-road motorcycles in his free time and was recently highlighted on the TCNJ web site! Congrats Chris!

ACM Announces Upcoming Workshop Series

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:01:02 EST

The TCNJ student chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has announced a fall 2009 workshop series. Each workshop is designed to provide insight and technical knowledge in a specific area. The workshops will take place during regularly scheduled ACM meetings, Wednesdays at 4PM in Holman 252.

The current workshop schedule is show below. Additional workshops are planned and will be announced by the ACM and on the department home page.

9/23 - Hardware and basic diagnosis: This workshop will explore the physical hardware of a desktop PC, including basic components such as RAM, power supply, etc. how to remove/replace components, and standard tells that a part may be faulty.
10/7 - Windows 7: Thanks to the MSDN all CS majors have early access to the newest version of Windows. Basic overview, what's different from XP, why it is better than Vista (although that doesn't take much), and fun new tricks.
10/21 - Remote desktop and virtual networks: As many students have machines at home or in some other location with a dynamic IP address, vLAN connections offer a solution to allow remote desktop connections. Why are remote connections useful, other DNS services available.

CS Department Event: My Summer in Computing: How to Get Your Foot in the Door

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:02:03 EST

Event: My Summer in Computing: How to Get Your Foot in the Door

"How to get an awesome summer internship or research experience in CS"

What: Workshop
Start Time: Thursday, September 24 at 7:30pm
End Time: Thursday, September 24 at 9:00pm
Where: Holman Hall Room 252

For more details on the seminar, including a list of speakers and short summary of their topics, please look at the seminar poster (PDF format).

PayScale.com lists computer science among the best college degrees!

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:00:09 EST

PayScale.com released a college salary report listing the best degrees by salary. It is no surprise the the sciences and engineering degrees do the best! Be sure to read their report.

Best Undergrad College Degrees By Salary

Methodology
Annual pay for Bachelors graduates without higher degrees. Typical starting graduates have 2 years of experience; mid-career have 15 years. See full methodology for more.

NASA Aeronautics Scholarship Program

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 03:01:03 EST

The NASA Aeronautics Scholarship Program which is administered by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) is officially accepting applications for the 2010 Aeronautics Scholarship Program. It is expected that approximately 20 two-year undergraduate, and 5 two-year with an option of a third year graduate scholarships will be awarded annually to students pursuing aeronautical engineering and related fields such as Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Physics and Mathematics. Total allocated award amounts are up to $40,000 for undergraduates and up to $125,000 for graduates. These funds will go towards tuition and related costs, as well as to provide paid summer internship opportunities at a NASA research center.

Competitive applicants interested in this amazing opportunity should begin completing application materials immediately. A completed application will consist of profile information, academic background (including transcripts), a resume, an essay for undergraduates, a proposal for graduates, letters of recommendations, and any test scores, such as GRE's, when appropriate.

Completed applications will be collected electronically from September 1, 2009 through January 11, 2010. To learn more about eligibility requirements, award benefits, application instructions, and to apply online, visit https://nasa.asee.org, or contact nasa.asp@asee.org with any questions regarding this program. For additional information on NASA's aeronautics research and other opportunities please log on to http://aeronautics.nasa.gov.

Windows 7 available now!

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:01:05 EST

Today, August 14th, we have updated the department's MSDN Academic Alliance software repository to include several software packages from Microsoft of interest to computer science majors, and minors. They include:

Windows 7 Professional
Windows Software Development Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
Expression Studio 3
Streets & Trips 2009
Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 R2 Academic Edition

For more information about the MSDNAA program, please see our information web page about the program. Freshmen, please note that you can email Dr. DePasquale (depasqua [at] tcnj.edu) after August 21st to request access to the program.

Windows 7 Coming Soon (VERY SOON)!

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:02:03 EST

Microsoft informed us today that Windows 7 Pro (32 and 64 bit), along with Expression Studio 3, as well as other software will be available later this week on the TCNJ CS MSDN site for the department! Check back at the end of the week for availability.

Graduation Photos Requested!

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:01:06 EST

Attention all seniors! Do you have photos from the all-campus graduation ceremony or the department ceremony? If so, and you are willing to share, please email Dr. DePasquale. His photos failed to come out in a usable form (wrong camera setting), and is in search of photos documenting this year's graduation ceremonies. We're especially looking for photos from the large group pictures at the end of the department ceremony (both with and without the faculty) for our archives! Please help! Thanks!