August 25, 2008

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IN THE NEWS
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NSF Grants Four $10-Million Expeditions in Computing Awards. Four projects from researchers at more than a dozen universities and other research institutions have been awarded $10-million grants in the first edition of a competition that aims to expand the frontiers of computing. A joint project of Cornell University, Bowdoin College, the Conservation Fund, Howard University, Oregon State University, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, which brings together computer scientists, mathematicians, economists, biologists, and environmental scientists, wants to develop a new field of computational sustainability. Chronicle of Higher Education

IT Schools to Watch. Computerworld ranked OSU as one of its top "IT Schools to Watch.," a list created by IT executives, hiring managers, recruiters and academics who identified the country's leading-edge schools for IT workers seeking to advance their careers. Considerations included graduate-level IT programs and schools that are giving graduates the best deal in terms of salary increases or promotions vs. cost of tuition, and that are best at gearing their curriculum to the everyday demands of today's IT workplace. Computerworld

Solar power. Jason George works for Mentor Graphics and is part of Oregon team that raced a solar car. In college some people spend time partying, playing video games or taking part in the latest fraternity shenanigans. But for Jason George of Wilsonville, three years of his Oregon State University college career were spent designing and building the school’s first solar car. Wilsonville Spokesman

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OPPORTUNITIES
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The 2009 Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference is accepting proposals until September 5, 2008 for papers, panels, workshops, Birds-of-a-Feather sessions, posters, and the Doctoral Consortium. The conference brings together diverse leading researchers from around the world to present their work on state-of-the-art research in the field of computing. The 2009 event, the fifth in the series, will take place April 1-4, 2009 at the Portland, Oregon Marriott Downtown Waterfront.
     The conference theme of "Intellect, Initiative, Insight, and Innovation" should be considered in submissions that may cover any area of computing, computational math and science, and diversity issues in these disciplines. Accepted papers presented at the conference will be included in the Tapia conference proceedings published by ACM Press. The posters competition is part of the ACM Student Research Competition (SRC), and the top three posters in the graduate and undergraduate student categories will advance to the ACM SRC Grand Finals.
     Scholarships are available to support travel and registration for attendees who might not otherwise be able to attend (applications will be accepted through October 15, 2008 at the conference Website). Details

Linux Plumbers Conference Student Day
Interested in a career in Linux? The Linux Plumbers Conference Student Day will prepare you to become an open source developer! The Student Day includes hands-on tutorials from local open source developers, an introduction to the open source communities represented at the Linux Plumbers Conference, and a career panel comprised of local open source companies.
          Linux Plumbers Conference Student Day
          16 September 2008, 9:00-17:00
          Portland State Business Accelerator
          Portland, Oregon USA
          http://www.linuxplumbersconf.org/program/students/
The $50 student registration fee also includes admission to the Linux Plumbers Conference, the Tuesday evening IBM-sponsored event at Aura Lounge with Linux Kernel Summit attendees, and the Wednesday night Intel-sponsored event at the Portland Art Museum. Registration by August 18th is recommended.

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GRADUATE EXAMS
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Monday, August 25, 10 am – noon, KEC 3114. PhD Oral Preliminary Examination - Guoning Chen. Major Professor: Eugene Zhang; Committee: Mike Bailey, Ronald Metoyer, Konstantin Mischaikow; GCR: Harry Yeh. "Time-Dependent Vector Field Design on 2-Manifold." Details

Wednesday, August 27, 2-4 pm, KEC 1114. PhD Oral Preliminary Examination - Ataur Patwary. Major Professor: Shih-Lien Lu; Committee: Bella Bose, Ben Lee, Huaping Liu; GCR: William Warnes. "High-performance and Low-Power Dynamic CMOS Circuits." Details

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JOBS
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Did you know that you can subscribe to the EECS Jobs List that will send you e-mail when new jobs are posted? Internships and even a few on-campus jobs get advertised there as well. Subscribe here.

Don't forget to check out the AfterCollege job site, tailored especially for our EECS students. This week's featured employers:

• Shell

The Business Solutions Group (BSG) is hiring a Student Test Engineer. The Business Solutions Group (BSG) is part of Oregon State University's College of Business. The BSG is a complete resource for quality assurance of network technologies, provides students with an on-campus internship experience, and functions as a test platform for the deployment of new technology for the College of Business. In this position, students have an opportunity to learn technical skills and get hands on experience with some of the newest Computer Networking and Software Development technologies before they've entered the marketplace. Details

Software Developer, Clearwater Analytics. Analyze and develop specifications for software programming applications and modify/maintain existing software; Design/code applications following specifications using the appropriate tools; Research product development options and provide analysis for product direction. Participate in all phases of product delivery including development, integration, testing, deployment, and client integration; Analyze moderately complex technical and system problems; Consult with internal departments to identify client needs and include into project objectives; Provide support regarding product development to internal departments. Details

GIS Programmer/Analyst: Faculty Research Assistant, Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University. The employee will work on a project funded by the U.S. Forest Service Climate Change Research Program. The objective is to develop a web-based decision support tool that can be used by forest managers to map the locations of appropriate seed sources for future climates. The employee will also collaborate with the members of the Taskforce on Adapting Forests to Climate Change (TAFCC). This position is funded from October 2008 through September 2009, although there may be opportunities for continued employment beyond Sept 2009 on related projects supported by the TAFCC. Details

Regional Sales Manager, Vacon, Inc. Maintain and develop sales for their territory. Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Achieve sales plan; Introduction of new products; Train distributors; Target OEM’s; Target industry markets; Upgrade Distribution; Support Distributors Trade Shows; Support National trade shows; Develop application stories. Details

Zope/Python Software Developer, AllMed Healthcare Management. AllMed Healthcare Management provides independent medical reviews that help insurance payers and medical managers control healthcare costs. Requirements: 4 years + experience in Software Development. Application Development experience using Python 2/FIve, Zope, Plone, Javascript, CSS, HTML and PostgreSQL. Working knowledge of web application security, understanding of vulnerabilities and countermeasures. Understanding of HIPAA best practices a plus. Experience with professional project management methodologies and tools such as RUP, UML, Use Case preparation, Object Modeling, ER diagrams, code archive and release using source safe, quality assurance testing, etc. Details

SW Engineer 1/2, Datalogic Scanning. Join a team responsible for developing and executing software test plans for barcode scanners. Become a principle contributor to the new development, ongoing improvement, and extension of our automated software test tools and software testing capabilities. Plan, develop, document, perform test procedures, and run automated tests. Find, document and verify corrections to software defects and participate in the software change management process. Contribute to the development of software requirements for new products. Work with other members of the Software Test and Software Development teams to improve existing software processes and develop and implement new software processes. Details

ActionScript/JavaScript Developer, CollegeNET, Inc. CollegeNET, Inc., located in downtown Portland, Oregon, now provides software, web transaction, web analytics, and a Scholarship Election Forum, to over 1120 higher education institutions, 500 non-profits worldwide, and students. We operate a modern, Linux environment. We are seeking an ActionScript/JavaScript developer with the following skills: Adobe Flash/Flex ActionScript, and/or JavaScript programming; Data manipulation and presentation using CSS/XSLT/XML; Ability to work with a graphic designer/multimedia developer, and to interface with server-side application engineers. This is more a web engineering than a web design position; Java/Perl programming skills are a plus. Details

Data Analyst, CollegeNET, Inc. CollegeNET, Inc., located in downtown Portland, Oregon, now provides software, web transaction, web analytics, and a Scholarship Election Forum, to over 1120 higher education institutions, 500 non-profits worldwide, and students. We operate a modern, Linux environment. We are seeking a Data Analyst to assist with data warehouse ETL and data modeling: Write Linux shell scripts, SQL stored procedures, and triggers to automate data ETL and maintenance; Work within a team to support the design and implementation of transactional, reporting, and analytical web applications; Be very picky about data quality; Proficient with SQL. Details

Have you programmed in MATLAB for at least a couple years? I'm a grad student in Botany facing some new MATLAB tasks, and I have a strong need to bounce a task off of a fellow MATLAB programmer. I've been working in MATLAB for a couple years. I can trade statistical consulting, buy you coffee, give you fresh garden vegetables--lots of basil, or pay you. Details

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