Year: 2020

10 undergraduate students from Queen’s University have received the Schulich Leader Award Scholarship. We’re proud to see 3 Computing students included in the list.

Here’s what the winners had to say about receiving this scholarship.

Catie Austin

Winning the Schulich Leader scholarship has been a life changing experience for me in so many ways. Financially it’s been incredibly important to me of course. Before winning this scholarship I was unsure if I would even be able to attend university this year, and I knew I’d have to dedicate a lot of time to working when I did go instead of spending time working on projects I was interested in. The moment I had been offered the scholarship all that uncertainty and restriction was gone, and I am very grateful for that.

Becoming a Schulich Leader has also connected me to an amazing network of people who want to make a difference in STEM like I do, which is an extremely valuable resource to have. It’s because of these advantages the Schulich Leader scholarship has offered me that I am in a unique position where I can make an impact at Queen’s and beyond that I couldn’t have dreamed of before, and I hope to take advantage of being in that position to the fullest.

One of the things I love about computer science is how far reaching its applications are. The skills computer scientists have are useful in so many fields, and I’m still exploring where I want to go with the skills I’ll have. One of the places I could see myself making the most difference in is developing software to help people with mental health issues such as anxiety disorders. I think computing has the potential to be helpful in improving all areas of a person’s health, and I think I’d like to be a part of making that potential a reality.

Sharaf Khan

I hope to improve millions of lives in the future, and this scholarship serves as a catalyst to accelerate this process through financial freedom and elite network connections. As a computer scientist, I aspire to cross my expertise in modern technologies and molecular biology to create more effective treatments for diseases.

Dajung Yoon

In receiving this prestigious scholarship, through communication with my fellow leaders, I have come to the realization of how much access I have to such a huge network. It is an amazing feeling getting a scholarship that has a mission statement that values what I have been working hard towards. Receiving this scholarship means that I have a bigger opportunity to achieve my career and goals. It is an honour to be called a Schulich leader among my respected peers.

As for my career, I want to work with young kids and further educate them in the fields of STEM. Same as other schools, usually there are not that many girls in a computer science class. In my community, there were only two girls including me in the computer science class. So I want to be able to educate the kids in my town to realize how many pathways there are. In general, for my career, I want to be able to use my knowledge in software to help people and their needs. For example, I would love to work in areas with prosthetics and or robotics. However, I am not 100% set on my future, I am planning on being open with my courses, so I am able to see what intrigues me the most.

Congratulations to you all, we hope this scholarship helps you in achieving your fantastic aspirations!

The School of Computing in the Faculty of Arts and Science at Queen’s University invites applications for a faculty position at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor. The preferred start date for the appointment is January 1, 2021. Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Candidates should have a Ph.D. in Computer Science or a related discipline. A strong record of post-secondary teaching, curriculum development, and/or other relevant leadership experience are required. Experience in securing external research funding would be an asset. The candidate will build on and extend the School’s existing research strengths in smart infrastructures and cyber-physical systems.

For the full job posting and application details visit Faculty Position at Queen’s School of Computing.

The Computing Instructional Support Team (CIST) has been providing support to instructors as they transition from in-class teaching to a remote teaching environment. The team has supported instructors by educating and providing resources to online tools and methods, as well as providing technical support for remote delivery in the Fall. Our instructors have been eager to make the experience as seamless as possible for all students, whether they are joining Queen’s for the first time this September or returning for their final year.

What can Computing students expect in a remote learning environment?

Computing students can expect the remote courses to involve a lot more asynchronous delivery, which means you can learn course materials at your own pace and at your own time. Instructors have taken diverse approaches to their course development. Some courses are entirely asynchronous with weekly targets/goals, and others include mostly asynchronous materials with some synchronous Q&A sessions to meet other students and instructors, both in a group setting and one-on-one.

As a student, it is important to take the initiative to stay on track with your learning. Since there will be few scheduled in-person lectures to attend to learn or ask questions, students should review the course timeline/schedule on the first day of classes and set aside time each week to get through the course learning materials. Some instructors will be providing you with short 2 to 20-minute videos, while others provided annotated PowerPoint, collaborative or individual readings, discussion boards to ask questions, and/or weekly coding activities. Regardless of the approach to learning this Fall, the diversity in the learning activities will keep you as a student engaged in your learning in many different ways.

What sorts of resources and supports are available for Computing students?

Your instructors will provide many methods to get support from them and the course TAs. Be sure to check the course syllabus first and use the approach that is suggested by your instructor for contacting them with questions. In addition to this, the Computing Instructional Support Team will be available to provide additional technical support within onQ and Microsoft Teams where needed. Before your courses begin this September, we encourage you to review the following resources below:

Using OnQ

onQ Support for students

Using Microsoft Teams

Getting Started with Microsoft Teams

IT Services Welcomes you to Queen’s

New Student IT Guide

Recommended Technology Requirements

Faculty of Arts & Science

Information for Students Fall 2020 & Winter 2021

Queen’s Accessibility Hub

Accessibility Services Information and Resources for Students

Student Experience Office

The Club Hub

What is the best way for students to make the most of their remote learning experience?

Remote learning can be challenging due to the lack of in-person interaction with your peers. To foster a sense of community in this remote environment, the School of Computing has set in place many opportunities for you to stay in touch with fellow students, staff, and instructors. Be sure to stay involved in areas outside of your academics, as a reminder that we are all in this together and you have a large group of supporters cheering you on for success.

Join our Undergraduate chair David Lamb, and our Undergraduate Administrator Karen Knight every Tuesday at 11 am for an hour chat in Microsoft Teams to stay in the loop about academic updates, get some emotional support during your remote learning experience and hear from, see, and meet your fellow Computing students.

Join our various instructors, staff, and students in our weekly casual coffee break every Thursday at 10:30 am for a 30-minute update. You can either listen or share something interesting about your life. These meetings are typically non-academic and a fun way to stay connected all year round.

If you are a first-year student, be sure to register for orientation week starting today. You do not want to miss this event! For many students, it is one of the highlights of their educational experience and a great way to meet students from your incoming class.

We wish you all the best for a successful remote term!

August has been an exciting month for research funding at Queen’s University. It is no surprise to see that some of our faculty members have been the recipients of this funding for their innovative and translational work. Dr. Amber Simpson Dr. Amber Simpson is a recipient the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) research funding for her project titled Computational Phenotypes of Cancer. Drs. Sameh Sourour and Sidney Givigi Drs. Sameh Sorour and Sidney Givigi are recipients of funding from the CFI John R. Evans Leaders Fund for their project on Advancing Edge, Cyber-Physical and Autonomous Systems for Smart Infrastructure. This infrastructure funding is in support of their new state-of-the-art lab on the top floor of Fleming Hall – Jemmett Wing, where they and their trainees will conduct leading-edge research and technology development. Their innovations will make important contributions to revolutionary, hierarchical, and scalable networking, computing, control, automation, and learning architectures with cognitive and adaptive resource management schemes to provide the quality-of-service (QoS) required for future smart infrastructure applications with potential to impact the lives of billions of people. We’re excited to see the results of this exciting research. Congratulations to all!

Concerns have been circulating around the recent cyber attack that took place at the Royal Military College in July. Students’ academic and financial information has been leaked and threats to pay a ransom may be looming on the horizon. David Skillicorn comments on the possibility of this happening and how seriously such threats should be taken.

Full story here:

https://globalnews.ca/news/7283754/student-financial-rmc-data-leak-cyber-attack/

 

With social media platforms being widely used, security and privacy becomes something of the past. Among all popular platforms, TikTok poses the greatest amount of concerns and risks to one’s security. Professor David Skillicorn speaks with Global News and shares his further details on why this is the case.

Full video: https://globalnews.ca/video/7239368/expert-urges-canadians-to-be-wary-of-tiktok-app

 

It is with great joy that we announce Selim Akl as one of the recipients of the Distinguished Service Award. His 42 years of service and dedication to the School of Computing as well as his outstanding and sustained contributions to the field of computer science has been recognized by Queen’s University through a process of nomination.

When commenting on what it means to receive this award, Selim says:

“I am truly grateful for the Distinguished Service Award and the recognition it represents. To have been given the opportunity to serve my colleagues and our students is a true honour. The Queen’s School of Computing is a wonderful place; over the years, the satisfaction of witnessing its many achievements has been a reward in itself.”

 

Congratulations Selim! We are so proud and honoured to work with you as our trusted colleague and friend!

Read the official announcement here: https://www.queensu.ca/secretariat/university-council/distinguished-service-awards

 

The IEEE Computer Society Technical Council on Software Engineering (TCSE) has awarded the 2020 TCSE New Directions Award to Dr. Ahmed Hassan of the School of Computing and Dr. Thomas Zimmermann of Microsoft Research.

Drs. Hassan and Zimmermann received recognition for their individual and combined contributions to establish the field of mining software repositories (MSR).  The field emerged from the recognition of the role that software repositories have in better understanding software engineering processes.  New and  innovative solutions for mining data were developed to improve developer productivity and software quality.  Over the past 10 years, the MSR community grew and became well-established in the field of software engineering among researchers worldwide.

Dr. Hassan comments on what this award means to him. He says: “many people helped along the way to create this very vibrant and impactful community! This is the inaugural award so they had lots of candidates and research areas, so it means a lot for the
MSR community to be recognized. I ran a large event 8 years ago on campus called MSR
Vision 2020 where we had over 120 attendees from all over the world to
discuss  the future of MSR. I never imagined we would be this large in 2020,
let alone in the middle of a global pandemic. We just ran the edition of MSR 2020 all online with some sessions having over 1000 viewers! ”

Congratulations Ahmed!