MIME-Version: 1.0 Server: CERN/3.0 Date: Sunday, 24-Nov-96 22:06:57 GMT Content-Type: text/html Content-Length: 4668 Last-Modified: Thursday, 07-Nov-96 14:51:00 GMT Computer Science Fair: HomePage

Undergraduate Computer Science Fair: Information Sheet

This spring, we will be holding an Undergraduate Computer Science Fair. The Fair will be run in the spirit of a local science fair, and students may enter any project that has relevance to computer science. The intention of the Fair is to enourage students to work on independent projects and to give them a public showplace for projects demonstrating their creativity and originality. Secondly, students often cite their work on independent projects as their fondest memories of the undergraduate experience. Finally, we will use the Fair as a tool for increasing the visibility of our students with potential employers and potential graduate departments.

The Fair will be held using two mediums -- the web and a poster session. In order to submit a project, a website should be constructed containing a short abstract describing the project, and any longer description and summary of results, pictures or demos that the team wishes to display. Websites for all projects will be linked up to a single website that is accessible from the CS department's homepage. Outstanding projects may be highlighted by the department via additional links from the department's homepage in order to showplace examples of what Cornell undergraduates do.

We will also be having a poster session in which all the entries will be physically displayed to the general public for one afternoon. One member of the team of entrants should be on hand at all times to describe the project. For those that wish to, we will allow the entrants to to bring in a personal computer in order to give demonstrations of projects. We will be able to provide power but no networking capabilities.

Sample Projects:

The projects might be theoretical in nature or involve an interesting program. Some possibilites include (but are not limited to):

Elegibility:

Any Cornell undergrad may enter the contest. Group work is allowed as long as all members of the group are Cornell undergrads. If the project is done as part of an on ongoing Cornell research project, then it is crucial that you clarify the exact contribution of your work in relation to the contributions of persons that are not part of the project team. A background of the problem and the previous work done on it should also be provided. No faculty sponsorship is required. We cannot emphasize enough the importance of clearly stating the contributions of the project and providing a well-written description -- remember that people will quit reading or listening to you as soon as they get bored or tired. Projects must comply with the Engineering College's Code of Academic Integrity and a Policy Notebook. We reserve the right to exclude projects that we feel do not comply with the above criteria.

Important Dates:

Firm dates will be announced at a later date. Tentatively, a form indicating intent to submit a project will be due on January 31 (this will include information such as the project title and names of students working on the project). Webpages describing the projects should be ready for public perusal by February 7, and the Fair poster session will be held on some afternoon during the week of February 10 (roughly 4:30-7:30pm).

For more details and updates, see our website at

Questions? e-mail Biana Brukman at byb1@cornell.edu