CSSE News - Spring 2019

CSSE News

Computer Science & Software Engineering • Cal Poly College of Engineering • Spring 2019

Pointing Toward the Future of Energy

Developing software that helps marine biologists monitor the ocean floor near off-shore wind farms is the subject of a project led by Computer Science Professor Lubomir Stanchev.

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ith a deadline set for California to eliminate carbon electricity, Cal Poly students and faculty are helping to expedite the process with computer software.

Last fall, former Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that mandates the state fully rely on carbon-free electricity by 2045, prompting many to look toward offshore wind production as the most feasible way to reach that goal. But, before any large-scale building initiative, studies have to be conducted to determine the potential environmental impact.

“With offshore wind farms, obviously there’s some environmental regulation,” said Computer Science Professor Lubomir Stanchev.

While 2045 might seem like a ways away, the state is expected to reach half its goal by 2030 — which is not as far off. Fortunately, California does have plenty of coastline. And ocean wind produces energy with no greenhouse gases.

Several wind farms have been proposed for California, but so

far none have been built.

To generate energy from offshore wind would require turbines that would be attached to streams of cables connecting them to the electric grid on shore. As proposed, the California turbines, which look like windmills, would stand up to 360 feet high and could be located up to 40 miles from the coast.

Since it’s not known how that equipment will impact marine life, the California Energy Commission sponsored a study awarded to Cal Poly, working in conjunction with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

“The permitting process for a project like this will involve a great deal of environmental analysis, including studies of how the massive anchors would impact marine species that live on the seafloor,” said Benjamin Ruttenberg, associate professor of biological sciences and director for the Center for Coastal Marine Sciences.

“At the moment, these analyses are expensive and time-consuming,

CSSE Department teams with Biological Sciences to help marine biologists study the impact of offshore wind farms

Please see OCEAN MONITORING, Page 2

CSSE News Led by Computer Science Professor Lubomir Stanchev, left, a joint project with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute allows Cal Poly students to monitor marine life swimming by undersea cameras.

OCEAN MONITORING From Page 1

“It’s exciting to have marine biologists and computer scientists working together to solve real-world problems.

It gives our students valuable experience working with peers with different backgrounds and skills.”

Benjimin Ruttenberg Director of the Center for Coastal Marine Sciences

so we are trying to develop tools to help generate that information faster and more efficiently.”

Using underwater autonomous vehicle technology, aquarium researchers have gathered video of the sea floor featuring underwater species that would be found near the proposed turbines. That video was then shared with Cal Poly.

“We have about 50 hours of video,” Stanchev said.

Working with computer science and marine biology students, Stanchev and Ruttenberg have created a software program that allows researchers and students to annotate the video.

Researchers are specifically focusing on 10 species, including sea urchins, starfish and crabs. The software will allow for greater efficiency and cost effectiveness of video data collection.

The software displays the initial videos with bounding rectangles around the sub2 | COMPUTER SCIENCE & SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

jects and allows for on-screen annotation.

Without such software, researchers would have to pour through hours of video, taking notes by hand and recording video times next to the notes.

“They wanted features for faster notation,” Stanchev said. “So we tried to make it as user-friendly as possible.”

Because the software is web-based, trained staff can annotate the video from anywhere, and researchers can easily share information. The computer stores the annotated imagery, providing a dataset to train artificial intelligence models, which will help train the computers to watch the videos and recognize the target species without humans. And, to ensure accuracy, the software will provide an efficient way for humans to review the work of both the computer and other humans, increasing the accuracy of the identification.

“Ultimately, we hope to be able to use the software on the ships, so we can generate

data on abundance of key species in realtime directly from video,” Ruttenberg said.

Stanchev expects the project, which began last spring, to conclude at the end of 2019.

The framework can be used for other applications. And this particular project, he said, could be helpful as a teaching tool for marine biologists.

“The data is proprietary, so we can’t share the videos,” he said. “But our hope is that maybe by the end of the project, we can make them public.”

In the meantime, Ruttenberg said, the project represents an excellent opportunity for Cal Poly students.

“It’s exciting to have marine biologists and computer scientists working together to solve real-world problems,” he said. “It gives our students valuable experience working with peers with different backgrounds and skills, and it allows all of us to tackle challenges together that none of us could address alone.” n

Zachary Peterson Joins Influential Think Tank R

ecognized for his use of fun and engaging games to draw students to the increasingly important cybersecurity field, Computer Science Professor Zachary Peterson was recently named a fellow at New America Foundation, an influential Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

New America Foundation, which employs more than 200 people, is supported by industry titans, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Google and the Ford Foundation, as well as government entities, such as the U.S. Department of State. Some of the foundation’s goals include universal access to technology, equal representation in politics, access to education and economic opportunities for all.

It has also recognized the threat posed by new technology.

New America cited Peterson’s efforts at outreach and education, “especially those methods centered around the use of games and play.” n Computer Science Professor Zachary Peterson assists software engineering student Larissa Linden in the Northrop Grumman Cybersecurity Lab.

Zoë Wood Presented with CSU Award for Faculty Innovation and Leadership

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fter reviewing more than 360 nominations from all 23 California State University campuses, a faculty-led selection committee honored Zoë Wood with a 2018 Faculty Innovation and Leadership Award from the chancellor’s office.

The honor recognizes those educators who redesign courses, apply innovative teaching practices and more effectively use data to address equity gaps.

Wood advises the Women Involved in Software and Hardware (WISH) and has taken hundreds of students to the impactful Grace Hopper Celebration conferences. She has also encouraged young people to pursue the field, creating computer science curriculum for students across grade levels. And she has introduced students to job prospects at places like Industrial Light and Magic, Disney, Apple and Microsoft. n Zoë Wood was one of the recipients of the 2018 Faculty Innovation and Leadership Award from the CSU. For more on Wood, see Page 6.

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Take Note Computer Science Professor David Janzen, gazing out the window of the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in downtown San Luis Obispo, has seen several students develop apps that have reached the market.

Professor David Janzen and former student take popular digital note-taking app to London

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hen David Janzen launched his and Technology) show in London and the would eventually become a Faculty FelAndroid app development class in ISTE (International Society for Technollow. But Janzen first needed to understand January of 2010, the mobile app industry ogy in Education) in Philadelphia. “We the need. was still a new frontier. saw our revenues increase 96 percent from “I used to think of entrepreneurship as “Nobody really knew if it was going to 2017 to 2018.” for the greedy people,” he said. “Entretake off or not,” Janzen said. “But it had Janzen grew up in Kansas, where today preneurship is much more important than promise.” his parents live on a farm. But Janzen that. If we don’t keep creating new busiHe taught his first class a little over a pursued a more technical field, earnnesses, people won’t have jobs.” year after Android introduced its app ing degrees in computer science before Turns out, Janzen had an eye for it — market — which had quickly followed beginning his career at Sprint and then and a fortunate sense for timing. After Anthe unveiling of the iPhone droid’s app store launched app store. Still long before in October of 2008, Janzen “I used to think of entrepreneurship anyone would ever hear received a $10,000 Google of Candy Crush or Uber, Faculty Research Award and as for the greedy people. Entrepreneurship Janzen told students to get 24 G1 Android phones the onboard as soon as possible following July, which aided is much more important than that. If we because the market would him in creating the app quickly saturate. development class. don’t keep creating new businesses, “Out of the first class, His first Android success people won’t have jobs.” we had six companies that stories included Bishop started,” he said.

Peak Technologies, which Today, Janzen is heavprovides tracking for bus ily involved with a company, Steadfast pursuing a doctorate in software engineer- commuters, and Punchd, advertised as a Innovation, created by one student in that ing. When he earned his doctorate from better solution to customer loyalty cards. first Android class. Steadfast produced University of Kansas in 2006, the timing When Punchd was acquired by Google a digital note-taking application, named was perfect for him to join the faculty at for a rumored $10 million, just months Squid, that has enjoyed glowing reviews Cal Poly. after its founders graduated from Cal Poly, and widespread use.

While Cal Poly was well known for it showed in dramatic fashion the power “We’ve got millions of downloads and its Learn by Doing ethos, it was about of entrepreneurship. hundreds of thousands of active users,” to boost its reputation with the creation “I had all these students that would said Janzen, who recently promoted Squid of the Center for Innovation and Entrecome and say, ‘Do that for me!’” Janzen at the BETT (British Educational Training preneurship (CIE) in 2010, where Janzen said.

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When student Andrew Hughes approached Janzen with his idea for an app called Papyrus, Janzen was initially hesitant to endorse because there were other note-taking apps in the works.

“I actually advised him not to do it,” Janzen said. “He was determined that mine’s going to be better — it’s going to be higher quality.”

Most of the apps out there were complex, Hughes said. They had lots of features — but at the expense of usability.

“My goal was to make it simple and easy to use while also providing advanced features to power users,” Hughes said.

The more Hughes worked on it, the better it became, Janzen said.

The app, later named Squid, allows users to take notes with a pen, finger or mouse. Squid users can take notes, sign documents, mark up PDFs, trace pictures, give presentations, and more.

Hughes continued to hone his app with Janzen initially helping as an advisor.

“I eventually convinced him to co-found the company with me,” Hughes said. “Since then he’s been a huge help with the business side of things and in general someone to bounce ideas off of.”

They’ve since formed partnerships with heavyweights like Samsung, Google, Nokia and Microsoft. And they continue to innovate, not resting on the laurels of past success.

While on a recent sabbatical, Janzen worked on two research projects — one measuring student grit and another following up on software engineering graduates.

He’s also using the time to help Cal State San Marcos launch a new software engineering program, give lectures in East and Southeast Asia, and take Squid to the next level.

Janzen, who said he is a Christian, said he encourages entrepreneurs to innovate in ways that help others and to focus on personal relationships along the way.

“I love that we built an app that people like, is useful and helps them in school,” he said. “Life’s not just about making money — it’s about making a difference in people’s lives.” n

CSSE Department Chair Chris Lupo was interviewed while attending the Academic Agricultural Technology Congress in Chile.

Computing Cows

Chris Lupo explores raising cattle with help of computers

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epartment Chair Chris Lupo visited Chile in July of 2018 to attend the Academic Agricultural Technology Congress, where he discussed how agriculture can benefit from computing.

By analyzing massive data collected from cattle, Lupo said, computer scientists hope to increase the amount of milk dairy cows can produce.

“If we can produce the same milk with fewer cattle, this has less cost for the farmer and less environmental impact,” he said.

One study Lupo co-authored explored the use of parallel computing to optimize genetic selection, thereby helping farmers breed the best milk-producing cows.

In collaboration with Cal Poly’s dairy science program, Lupo used this super computer-style processing to create a genetic selection model using data from half a million cattle.

“It worked,” he said. “We were able to speed up the computations to allow for more data to be analyzed.”

While greater milk production helps farmers and consumers, it could also lead to fewer cattle, which would help the environment. According to a United Nations report, cows produce green-

“If we can produce the same milk with fewer cattle, this has less cost for the farmer and less environmental impact.” house gases that contribute to global warming.

Lupo’s visit was indirectly related to the Grand Challenges initiative with the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, which challenges students to work on solutions in partnerships with others to create sustainable, forward-thinking solutions. Grand challenges, which are pursued globally, are difficult but important problems identified by various institutions and professions to encourage solutions.

Future collaborations between CENG, CAFES and Chile are being considered, Lupo said. n

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CSSE News

Left Brain + Right Brain = New Minor

Zoë Wood presented examples of digital art at the Distinguished Scholarship Award Colloquium at Cal Poly in April.

An artistic minor explores the creative side of programming

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n the virtual world Zoë Wood’s capstone students have created, participants rush through a lonesome spacecraft, attempting to perform a set of tasks before time runs out.

“It’s basically trying to have you explore the experience of anxiety and task completion,” Wood said.

Wearing a virtual reality headpiece and holding two controllers, student Ellen Liu is navigating one of those hallways, which is displayed on a TV screen nearby, as the students gather input from a guest experiencing it for the first time. Eventually, the game, called ANX Dread, will also monitor players’ heart rates as they pursue their mission goal – finding a door that releases them into the freedom of space.

“You will only be able to advance in the story if you can bring your heart rate down,” Wood said.

The students are all taking advantage of a new cross-disciplinary minor, Computing for the Interactive Arts (CIA), that combines art and programming.

“It’s a vision that I believe in,” Wood said. “Everybody needs to practice their creativity, and everybody should learn to program.”

Wood created the minor with fellow computer science faculty members

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Aaron Keen and Christian Eckhardt and Enrica Lovaglio Costello, a member of the Art & Design faculty. Prior to the launch of the minor in 2016, their background research uncovered interesting demographics: While females only account for 24 percent of computer science students at Cal Poly, males only account

“It was a way for me to be an artist while using computer science skills. And it has a purpose – it’s for skills being used, not just a hobby.” for 26 percent of the art and design program. So an art minor combining the two would ideally generate greater balance for both.

Meanwhile, the minor could better prepare students for an entertainment industry – including video games and movies -- that increasingly relies on programming. DreamWorks Animation

recruits on campus every fall, Wood said, but they believe the engineering students need to better understand how visual elements work together.

“They’ve told me, ‘Your students are so technically strong, but none of them have an eye,’” Wood recalled.

The CIA minor requires students from two different majors – computer science and software engineering and art & design -- to take courses that will build their skills in the diverse disciplines. Art courses include Figure Drawing and Digital 3D Modeling and Design, while computer science classes include Introduction to Computing and Computer Animation.

On her application to study computer science at Cal Poly, Chanelle Mosquera mentioned how much she enjoyed Pixar movies. Starting with “Toy Story” in 1995, Pixar showed that computer programmers can create art. And each Pixar movie since then has moved audiences with increasingly more stunning visuals.

“I knew this was something I wanted to do – I just didn’t know how,” Mosquera said.

The CIA minor didn’t exist when she began her studies. But, luckily, it was launched while she was an undergraduate, giving her time to pursue it.

Cal Poly computer science and art students work with virtual reality headwear while participating in the new cross-disciplinary minor, Computing for the Interactive Arts.

“It was a way for me to be an artist while using computer science skills,” she said. “And it has a purpose – it’s for skills being used, not just a hobby.”

While graphic communication can be a technical major, Perry Ting didn’t plan on doing a lot of programming at Cal Poly. Then he took Fundamentals of Computer Science for the minor.

“It made me feel like I was on another level of education,” he said. “It actually felt like higher education. I thought, ‘I feel so smart after taking this.’ It helps you think differently about the way you approach things.”

The minor culminates in a capstone experience in which art and computer science majors come together to develop a creative project that marries art and

design with coding and algorithmic thinking.

This quarter, software engineering student Bonita Galvan came up with the idea of simulating the anxiety experience for her 5-member capstone. During the first quarter, the team worked with Lovaglio Costello on the game’s art and design ideas, before switching to technical development with Wood in the second quarter.

As the team continues to hone their virtual reality project, Wood continues to promote the minor, which has already improved diversity: Sixty percent of the computer science students pursuing the minor are female, which means the minor could draw more females to the department. Meanwhile, there have also

been career success stories with students landing internships and jobs at Disney, Shutterfly and Indigo Slate.

Not everyone wants to pursue a field related to the minor, though. Ting prefers to work on games as a hobby.

“Creating things and doing art has always been good for me,” he said.

Wood, who has her computer science students draw — on actual paper — before class, said there’s no reason for students to ever stop being creative.

“Everybody’s creative,” she said. “It’s just that some people at some point stop feeling like they’re allowed to do drawing. And I think the same thing happens with the art students: At some point, they’re told they can’t do science – or engineering.” n csc.calpoly.edu | 7

CSSE News

Funny

Man

Computer Science student Josh Conrad develops laughter as an improv comic

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n stage at the 7 Sisters Brewing Company, Josh Conrad is portraying a boss who can’t make eye contact with an employee during a performance evaluation.

The employee tries desperately to catch the boss’s gaze — at times waving and hopping up and down — before the boss finally does look at him.

Sort of.

“Are those New Balance?” the boss says, looking down at the employee’s shoes.

As laughter ensues, Conrad continues to improvise, turning his back to the “employee” and shouting, “Those are fantastic — it’s a good work shoe!”

While the stereotype of the computer science student conjures images of an isolated programmer glued to a computer monitor, Conrad refutes that image with every guffaw he induces.

“I have always loved making people laugh,” he said before the show, part of the SLO Coast Comedy Festival. “There’s definitely a part of me that enjoys showing off.”

Born to a musical family — one brother is the band director at Atascadero High School, the other travels with a group and performs music transcription for movies — Conrad was a shortlived trombonist.

“I managed to learn two or three songs from a ‘Star Wars’ songbook – the Imperial march,” he said. “By seventh grade, they wanted us to be reading music and actually playing the notes on the page.”

He gravitated toward drama in high school and eventually studied fine arts at UC Santa Cruz. But after 2 ½ years, he was no longer interested in a fine arts degree. Out of school, Conrad worked at different jobs, including a 6-year stint at CVS, before he realized he had to return to school, first to Cuesta College and then Cal Poly.

A fan of math, puzzles and trouble-shooting, he was drawn to computer science. But college was different the second time around: When he entered Cal Poly, in the fall of 2017, he was in his 30s and recently broken up with a girlfriend.

“It took me a quarter and a half to start thinking about dating 8 | COMPUTER SCIENCE & SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

someone else,” said Conrad, 34. “And then I realized that all of the people I’m around are a decade or more younger than me, so that was kind of weird.”

Luckily, he had transferred with friends who were also older.

And while at Cuesta, he had returned to improv comedy — something he began with a friend back at UC Santa Cruz. He initially performed with Smile and Nod, a student improv group, before joining Central Coast Comedy Theater, founded

by Sabrina Pratt.

“I describe myself as an outgoing introvert,” Pratt said. “I think Josh is probably similar. He’s super funny — and that’s a talent he brings to the stage.”

When he’s not studying or working as a programmer with Tapestry Solutions, Conrad is often performing improv at bars, breweries and coffee shops around San Luis Obispo.

While most comics write and rehearse their acts, improv comedians step onstage without a script — a notion that might terrify many.

“I think that’s one of the reasons I fell in love with improv,” Conrad said. “The first time you go out there with nothing and it works out, it’s a very rewarding feeling.”

Taking risks before an audience, Pratt said, is not only cathartic, it’s also funny.

“A big part of comedy is building and releasing tension in the room,” she said.

Not that it always works. When improvisers hit a wall in stage, they typically spiral into one of two panic modes, Conrad said.

“One is doing nothing,” he said. “The other is non-stop stream of talking – just thoughts coming out of your head.”

Luckily, improv comics learn to use tools — like pretending to interact with an invisible object or relying on your fellow comics.

“When I notice I’m babbling, I try to pause,” Conrad said.

“Usually my babbling is preventing the other person in the scene from helping me out.”

Many of the skills he has learned in improv — the ability to think quickly, the interpersonal skills, teamwork — are easily transferable to a computer science career.

“It helps build confidence,” Conrad said. “And it helps to have an understanding of how much I can rely on my intuition.”

Perhaps most of all, it provides him a vehicle to decompress outside of work and school.

Sitting outside 7 Sisters as a pre-show crowd orders grilled cheese sandwiches and craft beer, Conrad looks forward to being someone else for a while.

“One of the things that I love the most about it is it lets me use my imagination,” he says. n

JUST JOSHING To see a video of Josh Conrad performing with the Central Coast Comedy Theater, see:

https://vimeo.com/325021164

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College of Engineering Computer Science & Software Engineering 1 Grand Avenue • San Luis Obispo, CA • 93407

SLO Hacks Club Hosts Largest Hackathon Yet

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LO Hacks hosted its largest hackathon to date in February when more than 300 students from Cal Poly and across the country attended the event at the Chumash Auditorium. With support from sponsors, this was the first time SLO Hacks bused and flew in students from different parts of the state and beyond California.

During the 36-hour hackathon, students were encouraged to develop innovative protects, ranging from smart technology to solving social problems.

The winning team — Mackinnon Buck, Zach Osterday and Steven Sun — created a game, LineFighter, that recalled the classic game Smash.

The event featured food from local restaurants, workshops from sponsors and community members, and, of course, lots of hacking. n

More than 300 students from around the country participated in the 2019 Hackathon sponsored by SLO Hacks. (Photo by Janet Fang)

SUSTAIN THE FUTURE MAKE A GIFT TO SUPPORT COMPUTER SCIENCE LABS, PROJECTS AND CLUBS Click HERE to make a gift now, or contact Tanya Hauck, assistant dean of advancement, at thauck@calpoly.edu or (805) 756-2163