CS @ uWaterloo announcements

Hello! The third round of the  Yelp Dataset Challenge  is now open, giving students access to our massive  Phoenix Academic Dataset , with reviews and businesses from the greater Phoenix metro area. This round runs through  July 31, 2014 (23:59:59 UTC).  Use our data and submit your project for a chance to win a $5,000 award ! Just show us how you use Yelp data in insightful, unique, and compelling ways. A team of our data mining engineers and data scientists will read each paper and select the winner(s) (we are also hiring for both roles!). We are also excited to announce that  we have updated and extended the original Phoenix Academic Dataset ! The original dataset, released in March 2013, has been well-received by the academic community, and has already been cited in papers and included in presentations around the world. For more information on past winners and their papers and to download the dataset, please check out the  Yelp Dataset Challenge  site. The

Attention students! Does the prospect of taking charge of your career and destiny sound appealing to you? Have you ever thought of possible products and services but didn’t know what to do with these million dollar ideas? Has the prospect of becoming an entrepreneur or being part of a start-up ever crossed your mind?   Nspire presents to you, the National Business and Technology Conference, a two-day conference promoting student entrepreneurship in the business and technology space. Currently, the Computer Science department has agreed to subsidize the first 10 CS students that apply for the subsidy in the amount of $50. This $50 will help to offset the cost of registration to NBTC14 as well as possible hotel costs. To learn more about Nspire click: http://nspire.org/   To learn more about NBTC14 click: http://nspire.org/nbtc/ To apply for the subsidy click: http://nspire.org/nbtc/delegates and click the “Waterloo”                                               butto

Information Session: Tuesday March 11, 2014 Queen's Graduate Diploma in Business: The first step in your journey towards a Queen's MBA Have you ever considered complementing your engineering education with an understanding of business fundamentals?  If so, you will be pleased to hear about Queen's Graduate Diploma in Business ; an innovative new 4-month summer program, designed to provide recent graduates with the business knowledge that recruiters are looking for in this competitive job market.

http://www.sfu.ca/computing/BigData.html The School of Computing Science at Simon Fraser University is pleased to announce that it is now accepting applications for the brand new Professional M.Sc. program for admission to the Fall 2014 semester (starting in September 2014). Application deadline: The application deadline is April 1st, 2014. We will keep admissions open until we fill available slots for the Fall 2014 cohort. We aim to notify students of acceptance by May 1st, 2014. To apply: First read about the application process: https://www.sfu.ca/dean-gradstudies/future/application_process.html Note that you do not need to find a supervisor or contact any faculty from the department. A supervisor will be assigned to you when you are admitted into the program. Then go to the online application system: https://go.sfu.ca/paprd/gradapplication.html You will have to create a new account by supplying a password and security question. Enter the following details to apply

Wednesday, February 12 - 4:30-6pm in MC 4042 This workshop will be facilitated by a Success Coach and a Math PhD student.  The workshop will use examples from Math courses to illustrate problem solving strategies and we’ll share test-taking skills that have worked for other Math students.  

Prior to the Blitz on Feb 11 and 12, BlackBerry Campus Ambassador, Sajjad Mosharraf, will represent the company to meet with students and answer any question you may have about the interview and application process at BlackBerry.  *** Attending this event won't have any impact on your hiring decision; however, you will have a chance to talk with our former co-ops and find out about their interview and co-op experience at BlackBerry. Bring your resume and stand out in the crowd! Date: February 10th, 2014 Location: RCH 306 Time: 5:00pm – 6:00pm

Marc Gagné Senior Developer Evangelist Cloud Wednesday, Feb 12th 11:30am-1:30pm Fishbowl - DC 1301 You may have heard about Windows Azure (you know Microsoft's cloud offering) but wrote it off because you don't do .NET or even use Windows. Well in this lunch and learn you'll see how wrong you are. Windows Azure has support for Node.js, php, python, Linux VMs and more. You'll be shown quick and practical demos on using git to deploy your sites, how to setup a Linux VMs with SSH key authentication and more. You'll also learn about BizSpark, a program from Microsoft for all tech startups that includes free software, $150 a month for 3 years in hosting and even a one-time $5,000 a month for a year offer for select startups. Oh and there will be pizza too!

Spread your love for Waterloo Computer Science to future students! Sign up to be a volunteer! Event details: Saturday, March 1 9:00 am – 4:00 pm Volunteers will receive a free lunch and t-shirt! A volunteer orientation session will take place on Wednesday, February 26 from 5:00 - 6:00 pm in DC 1304. For more information, please contact Sumair Ali. Email: cs-ur-co@uwaterloo.ca

Sajjad Mosharraf, our campus ambassador is available to answer any question you may have about the resume, application process and co-op/ summer internship position ‎ at BlackBerry. You may contact him via email at (( smosharr-at-uwaterloo-dot-ca)) or just simply BBM him at ((2FFFAC2C)).

Information on all fourth-year and optional third-year courses. Differences among courses explained Advice on preparation for upper-year specialization (e.g. what courses to choose to prepare for graphics, AI) Monday, February 10 3:30-5:00pm DC 1302 Refreshments will be provided

The Security Governance Group (SGG), an international affairs consulting firm, is offering a four-month internship for technology experts with an interest in global politics. The firm’s clients in this dynamic industry include the United Nations, the US government, and the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development. The SGG is hoping to hire a Technology Intern to support its e-conferencing efforts, which include high profile virtual events and seminars. While the position is unpaid, our internship program will introduce you to the world of international affairs, state building and post-conflict reconstruction. Interns are expected to devote 10 hours to the position each week. Desired Qualifications Bachelor’s degree or current student in the field of information technology or computer science. Web design skills required. Knowledge of e-conferencing or e-learning systems is a strong asset. Graphic design skills are an asset. Knowledge of political science o