SPRING/SUMMER 2019
Two CSS Husky 100: interactive media design/business junior and cybersecurity engineering graduate
Graduate and undergraduate students have the opportunity to become a Husky 100, a student recognized for connecting what happens inside and outside the classroom and applying what they learn to make a difference. The University of Washington selects 100 students every year who are making the most of their Husky experience. Ten UW Bothell students were selected as part of the Husky 100 Class of 2019.
How do these CSS huskies make the most out of their time at UW Bothell?
John J. Kim, junior, interactive media design; business administration
“Work hard with honesty, integrity, and care so deeply for people that every day you can change the world. I believe that this mission didn’t just happen once upon a time and doesn’t just wait patiently for us in the future. It begins every day with a conscious choice to serve those around us in the capacity that we can. By designing with the people, for the people, it continues to transform who I am and bring value to this Husky journey.”
Jessica Nguyen, graduate, master’s in cybersecurity engineering
“The UW has enabled my discovery of the intersectional area of software engineering and cybersecurity engineering. My Husky journey has led me through studying software engineering, working at various tech internships, mentoring others, stumbling into cybersecurity, to now pursuing a new direction in my career. Now as I move toward finishing my M.S. in Cybersecurity Engineering while working as an AppSec Engineer in the industry, I aspire to help empower/pave the way for women in engineering.”
ACM prepares for the upcoming school year
The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) UW Bothell chapter has been planning throughout summer, meeting once a month to prepare content for the 65 plus events they plan to hold this upcoming school year. Some events you can look forward to include the crack the coding interview, resume workshop, git good workshop, hackathon and RESTFul services workshop--just to name a few!
ACM is excited to introduce the faces of the new ACM executive board:
- Hannah Sokol, Chair
- Phuc Huynh, Vice Chair
- Lizzy Presland, Chief Technology Officer
- Katie Yamabe, Secretary
- Alex van Zuiden-Rylander, Treasurer
- Jacob Anderson, Budget Coordinator
- Drew Kwak, External Relations Coordinator
Visit the ACM UW Bothell chapter website and join their mailing list to stay up to date. If you are interested in becoming an officer, they encourage you to apply through the website as they plan to hold interviews mid-autumn quarter!
WINTER 2019
Gray Hats Update: A Magical cyber defense competition
During winter quarter, the Gray Hats hosted a malware triaging workshop and numerous cybersecurity speakers, but the clubs main focus was a cyber defense competition. On March 22-24, eight Gray Hats members participated in the Pacific Rim Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition at Highline Community College (PRCCDC). In this annual competition, student-led teams from across Washington, Oregon and Idaho spend two days defending their computer network from hackers, all while accomplishing business tasks, giving presentations, answering phone calls from angry customers and managing these tasks.
Each year has a different theme, and this year's competition had a lighthearted flavor as students worked to secure a Harry Potter-esque wizarding prison called "Azcatraz." Servers named Imperio, Confundus, and Obliviate were the targets of coordinated attacks from a "red team" made up of volunteers from across the cybersecurity industry, who tried to deface websites, attack databases to set early release dates for prisoners, and otherwise wreak havoc on the students' systems. The PRCCDC is a stress-filled fun weekend full of difficult challenges, as well as chances to talk with professional pen testers and use some of the most advanced tools in the industry. Magical elements aside, the competition is a great way for students to get a taste of being a cybersecurity professional faced with real-world challenges and attacks.
New ACM interns and members join as club finalizes 2019 Hackathon
The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) student chapter at the University of Washington Bothell is growing rapidly, with 11 new officer intern hires and many new chapter members, bringing total membership to over 300 members.
The ACM is on track to host its largest event in history, the second annual 13+ hour Hackathon—UWB Hacks the Internet on April 19, 2019. This signature event and many others are coming soon, all with the intent to prepare students for their professional careers in the tech industry and build a stronger community on campus. Read the 2018 UW Bothell Hackathon article.
As the chapter is preparing to announce next year’s elected executive offices, the ACM wants to personally thank all graduating officers for their commitment and passion towards the mission. Visit the ACM UW Bothell chapter website and join their mailing list to stay up to date.
Fourteen inductees join Upsilon Pi Epsilon
The Computing & Software Systems (CSS) division in the School of STEM welcomed fourteen members into the Washington Delta Chapter of Upsilon Pi Epsilon (UPE), the International Computer Science Honor Society, at the University of Washington Bothell. An initiation and chapter charter ceremony was held on November 30, 2018, where inductees took a pledge, accepted their certificates and a carat clad Recognition Key (lapel pin) to signify their membership. CSS students are selected yearly to join UPE based upon their outstanding achievement and high scholarship.
AUTUMN 2018
CSS supports women in computing at Grace Hopper Conference
University of Washington Bothell CSS students, faculty, and staff traveled to Houston, Texas to attend the Grace Hopper Women in Computing Conference this past September. The conference brought together 20,000 people from across the world for a three-day event that aims to motivate, inspire and empower women in STEM.
Conference attendees had the opportunity to listen to an incredible line up of influential speakers who shared stories of their journey and lessons they’ve learned that shaped them into successful women they are today. Among the speakers were Dr. Debbie G. Senesky, an assistant professor at Stanford University in Aeronautics and Astronautics departments, Gwynne Shotwell, president and COO of SpaceX and Jessica O. Matthews, Founder, and CEO of Uncharted Power. Attendees were also able to take part in exhibits that promoted technology or further education opportunity, technical workshops that provide hands-on training, and participate in a career fair with top companies such as Apple, Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Google and Microsoft.
The Grace Hopper Conference promotes a community for women to network with other like-minded individuals who come from diverse backgrounds but share a similar experience. CSS graduate student, Kaitlyn who attended this year’s conference said, “as a woman in the computing profession, it is common to be the only women in a room full of men, and at GHC18, it was comforting to see that many of the women attendees share this same experience. It was remarkable to see tens of thousands of women in computing, together in the same room from all over the world. One thing I took away from GH18 is that we need to support each other and persevere together to ensure our presence only gets strong in the world of tech.”
University of Washington Bothell Computing & Software Systems is a proud sponsor of Grace Hopper 2018.
ACM club plans for the academic year
The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) student chapter at the University of Washington Bothell is the largest STEM-oriented academic club on campus. With over 75 events planned for this academic year in collaboration with tech giants such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Expedia, AT&T, and T-Mobile, the club’s mission is to prepare UW Bothell’s students for the tech industry. Some event topics include: GitHub, Python, IoT, Linux, Mock Interviews, Tech Panels, Professional Development and Hackathons. Their past Spring Hackathon saw over 100 student participants, and this year they plan to involve even more. Visit ACM's website to learn more.
Gray Hats club ends 2018 with I Hack U and cyber defense competition
The focus of the Gray Hats for autumn 2018 was to introduce new people to cybersecurity. To do this the club has had weekly workshops/talks to introduce the fundamentals of cybersecurity. This included web security, network security, operating system security, malware reverse engineering and cryptography. In addition to the weekly meetings, the Gray Hats co-sponsored an election security event which addressed the security of local and nationwide election infrastructure, where Senator Susan Delbene presented. Another notable highlight was the I Hack U event, which boasted an attendance of 100+ students who did locking picking or competed in a cybersecurity competition. At the end of 2018, six members traveled to Eastern Washington to compete at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in a Cyber defense competition. If individuals are interested in joining the club, the best way is to visit their website to join their mailing list and stayed tuned for upcoming events!