Youngstown Programming Contest

October 31st, 2016

This past weekend, 5 teams of Oberlin students competed at the Youngstown ACM programming contest.  All of our teams performed well, and our top team — Oberlin Prime — was ranked third at our site.

Oberlin Prime

Oberlin Prime (Nathan Paige, Bobby Dorwood, Sage Jenson)

Congratulations to everyone!

Youngstown ACM Programming Contest team 2016

The whole team, plus Tom, plus creepy little girl statue.

Best Security Hack @ Kent Hack Enough 2016

October 14th, 2016

kenthackenough2016small

Congratulations to our students: David Learner,  Anders Cornell, Adam Cooper, and Jakob Cornell!  They received the “Best Security Hack” award from Securable.io at the Kent Hack Enough 2016

Oberlin was represented by 9 students who participated in this event Oct 7-9,2016. They all did a great job!

Welcome to OCCS

October 11th, 2016

Computer Science encompasses both the theoretical and the practical aspects of the study of computers and algorithmic processes. Students majoring in computer science at Oberlin are prepared both for further graduate studies in the discipline and also for careers in the industries and businesses that actively recruit computer scientists with a liberal arts background. Computer Science at Oberlin is taught within the context of a liberal arts degree, with emphasis on the lasting principles of the discipline rather than on specific training in particular tools and techniques. The CS Department stresses the fundamentals of computer science while maintaining a highly current and relevant curriculum utilizing state-of-the-art methodologies and tools. More detailed information about the Computer Science major and minor and a complete list of courses can be found in the course catalog.

CSCI Faculty 2021-22

Computer Science Student-Faculty Lunches

September 8th, 2016

The Computer Science Dept has scheduled several informal lunch times in Stevenson. All CSCI Majors are welcome to attend.  Stop by and  join your fellow students and CSCI Faculty for lunch and socializing. Mark your calendars for Feb. 13, 2017 ( more dates to follow)  11:30-1:30

Students will use their meal plans. Any student that is not on a meal plan, should register with Jackie Fortino in King 223.

 

CSCI Majors Forum Mon. Sept 12 Noon King 239

September 8th, 2016

The Computer Science Dept. will be hosting some open discussion forums throughout the semester. All CSCI Majors are invited to attend. These will be opportunities for students and faculty to come together and have open and frank conversations about topics affecting the department, the campus and the greater Oberlin community.  We welcome hearing your opinions and concerns, and will respond as best we can to any questions you may have.  These forums are not motivated by any particular incident. Rather, they are a way for us to keep the lines of communication open and to help maintain the community we’ve built together in the CSCI Dept. PIZZA will be served, so please RSVP to the email you have received.

Welcome Back CSCI Majors – Ice Cream Social

August 22nd, 2016

Yum!

Yum!

Join the Math and CSCI Department for an Ice Cream Social to start off the year right!

Wednesday, August 31 4:30 Rice Courtyard (King 2nd floor rain site) ice cream social

2016 Honor Student Presentations

April 19th, 2016

 Computer Science Department 2016 Honor Presentations

April 25 & April 26

King 243 4:30 -6:00 p.m.

Monday April 25

4:30 Conrad Schloer

5:00  Max Grusky

5:30 Nathan Klein

Tuesday, April 26

4:30  Sam Rossin

5:00  James Quintana

5:30 Gabriel Appleby

Join us for the presentations and refreshments

Programming contest teams take first and second

April 4th, 2016

This past weekend (April 2nd) was the 10th Annual Ohio Wesleyan Programming Contest. We sent 4 teams, all of whom did great, solving at least half the problems.  Oberlin Alpha and Oberlin Prime took first and second place respectively, out of 12 teams total.  Congratulations to our teams!

Graduate School for Computer Science April 7 4:30

March 18th, 2016

Abby Marsh, Carnegie Mellon Graduate Student and Oberlin College 2013 Alumni  will talk about her Graduate School research and life as a graduate student.

Are you considering graduate school? Do you wonder what computer science research looks like?  computer science is an extremely diverse discipline, containing many exciting research areas, and a doctoral graduate degree is the best way to begin your research career.  This talk will give an overview of different fields in computer science research, and discuss human-computer interaction (HCI) research in depth. We will cover the graduate school experience, especially what life is like for a PhD student, the expectations of grad school, and the thrilling world of publishing research.  Students are encouraged to ask questions.  Join us on Thursday, April 7 4:00 for refreshments followed by the talk at 4:30 in King 239

 

Pure Laziness: An Intro to the Haskell Programming Language

March 3rd, 2016

Tuesday, March 15, 2016 4:30 King 239
Join us for a talk with Richard Townsend; Columbia University:
Pure Laziness: An intro to the Haskell Programming Language

High-level programming languages such as Python and Java increase programmer productivity by abstracting away low-level details like memory management and computer architecture. However, most of these languages still force the programmer to think like a computer; we must tell the computer exactly how to solve a problem via ordered sequences of statements and explicit looping constructs. Functional languages like Haskell provide an alternative approach: instead of telling the computer how to perform a computation, you simply describe the computation itself and let the language do the work. This approach leads to more intuitive programs and higher programmer productivity in the long run. My talk will serve as an accessible introduction to the Haskell language, covering its clean syntax, lazy semantics, and pure functional model. My hope is to engender interest in other programming styles, and show that learning a vastly different programming language can lead to new problem solving techniques applicable throughout a computer scientist’s career.

Refreshments at 4:00 in King 225