Free Workshops for High School Teachers on Computing Takes Place at RIT

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Mayur Thakur

High school teachers can keep up with the latest trends in computer science—and their computer-savvy students—at the upcoming Computer Science for High School at Rochester Institute of Technology, CS4HS@RIT, June 27–29.

The event is free and sponsored by Google and RIT’s computer engineering department. Teachers attending will have an opportunity to explore real-world computing applications and learn creative and interactive ways of teaching computing to help build new course modules.

Mayur Thakur, a software engineer in the Search Quality group at Google, will be the featured speaker for the event. He will present “Computer Science, Math and Engineering Challenges at Google” at 8:15 a.m. June 28 in the Golisano Hall auditorium. His presentation will be an overview of the many Google products that are used by millions daily and the behind-the-scenes computational challenges that are addressed by the staff skilled in computer science, math and engineering.

Thakur has been with Google since 2007. Prior to this, he was a professor of computer science at the University of Missouri–Rolla. He received a doctoral degree in computer science from the University of Rochester in 2004.

The three-day workshop features a full slate of computer industry experts and RIT faculty including:

Mike Kurdziel: “Experience the Real World Software-Defined Radio,” Harris RF Communications

Ray Ptucha: “Hands-on Robotics,” Computer Engineering, RIT

Jim Heliotis: “Hands-on Python Programming,” Computer Science, RIT

John Adam: “Math in Nature: Modeling Patterns,” Old Dominion University

Pencheng Shi: “Biomedical Imaging,” Computer Science, RIT

Jay Alan Jackson: “A Crash Course in Collision Detection: Computational Geometry Intersects Game Programming,” Interactive Games and Media, RIT

Reynold Bailey: “Subtle Gaze Manipulation for Improved Mammography Training,” Computer Science, RIT

Stephanie Ludi: “Everyday Software Engineering,” Software Engineering, RIT

Zack Butler: “What does it mean to study robotics?” Computer Science, RIT

“RIT is one of only a handful of universities in the nation to receive funding from Google to host a workshop like this. More than 35 teachers from area high schools have already signed up for this program,” says Dhireesha Kudithipudi, assistant professor of computer engineering and principal organizer of the workshop. She and Stephanie Ludi, associate professor in software engineering in RIT’s Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, organized this year’s event.

For more information about the event, contact Kudithipudi at dxkeec@rit.edu or 585-475-5085, or Ludi at salves@rit.edu or 585-475-7407. Participants can register online for the event.

The workshop will run in parallel with the School of Mathematics Institute Teachers’ Workshop, an event for high school faculty. Teachers who register for either workshop may attend sessions from both. More information about the mathematics workshop can be found by contacting the organizer, David Ross, professor in the School of Mathematical Sciences, at dsrsma@rit.edu or 585-475-5275.