Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems
Spotlight
Spectators "Bowled Over" by FIRST Tech Challenge
Imagine the excitement generated by 33 teams of high school students guiding their programmed and carefully tested robots into spirited competition in a gym packed with cheering spectators. That was the scene that unfolded on the Pleasantville campus on Sunday, January 29.
For the third consecutive year, the Seidenberg School hosted the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), an exciting all-day robotics tournament for high school students from the Hudson Valley region. The tournament requires that students build, program and test their robots to meet the challenges set out in a game that changes each year. This year’s challenge was Bowled Over!
Participating teams compete for prizes in a variety of categories ranging from design to inspiration. This year, the Suffern Syborgs 2, a team from Suffern, New York and captain of the Winning Alliance, placed first and earned the right to compete in the World Championship to be held in St. Louis, Missouri in April. Robots and Brain Bots, Inc. from Waltham, Massachusetts (the only team not from the Hudson Valley) also qualified as the winner of the Inspire Award.
FTC is a tremendous, year-round undertaking. It would not have been possible without the outstanding leadership of Professor Richard Kline and Associate Dean Bernice Houle, the faculty and Pace students who help the teams build their robots, and the many other volunteers who make the day the success that it has become.
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In The News
Seidenberg's online BS in Professional Technology Studies: Telecommunications offered through the NACTEL program was named to the first-ever honor roll of top online bachelor's degrees compiled by U.S. News and World Report.
Professor Jean Coppola's Inter-
generational Computing course was recently featured in a discussion on "ushering older adults into the digital age" on NPR's All Things Considered while coverage of a "class graduation" for more than a dozen seniors at the Hallmark Residence in Battery Park City appeared in The Tribeca Trib.
Professor Darren Hayes continues to be cited in a wide range of publications on computer security and forensics issues including Internet Evolution on suspected bugging of computers made in China and sent to the U.S., Forensics Magazine on the handling of mobile devices as forensic evidence, and TechNewsWorld on privacy and Google's new "Search Plus Your World."
IT Job Market Ends the Year Down Marginally in Manhattan, Flat in Westchester.
Faces of Seidenberg
John Calvert (DPS/Ed), a learning facilitator in the Clarkstown School District, received the Distinguished Technology Pioneer Award conferred annually by the Lower Hudson Regional Information Center (LNRIC) in recognition of his innovative uses of technology to advance education in his district.
Seven mobile apps relating to the theme of “Smarter Energy” were submitted at the 2nd Annual Pace/Seidenberg Mobile Competition held on the NYC campus in early December. Top honors went to Energy Watcher (1st), Green Friends (2nd), and RideShare Cost Estimator (3rd).
Yuriy Tanskiy (MS/IS '13), a political refugee from the former Soviet Union, was awarded the New York State Humane Serivce Medal for meritorious service in New York's response to Hurricane Irene. Tanskiy is a member of the New York State Guard, a volunteer uniformed state defense force, that assisted the National Guard when it was activated by Governor Andrew Cuomo last August in anticipation of the storm.
