Computer Science FSC

Timeline

How we reached where we are now.

September 2016

Beginning a New Chapter

During freshman success community orientations, most of us met for the first time. Many of them were some of the first friends we ever made after getting into college! It was the start of a new chapter in each of our lives, and the first page had the names of those we newly met in it.
October 2016

Learning HTML and CSS

After getting together and formally starting classes, we started off by learning HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), both of which are great tools to have under our belts as computer scientists. After learning the basics, we created our very own websites, most of us for the first time!
October 27, 2016

FSC Event 1

We had our very first Freshman Success Community event sponsored by the Student Success Center in the game room! It was a great time filled with food, games, laughter, and conversation, where we got to know each other much better and strengthen our bonds as friends and as a community.
November-December 2016

Machine Learning Project

For the first time, we were assigned a machine learning project given by an actual business client, MassHousing! It was a great opportunity to be able to experience a real-time project and put our problem-solving and coding skills to the test. We learned about the Jenks Natural Breaks algorithm and worked to implement it ourselves to sort a large data set into useful clusters that could be used for risk prediction.
January 2017

Starting Anew

With winter break over and classes resuming, we were sad to find that several members of our community switched majors and were no longer with us. It was a great realization for us of how taxing computer science could be, and the start of a time of self-reflection spent thinking about where we want to be in the future and whether or not computer science was right for us. The realities of college life settled in and it was a new beginning for those of us that were left. Time to look forward and plan for the future!
March 2017

Résumés, Anyone?

With the guidance of Prof. Wei Ding and guest lecturers from the Office of Career Services, we began writing and strengthening our resumes, learning how to properly format them and include information to best display our strengths. It is never too soon to prepare for internship and job searching.
March 31, 2017

FSC Event 2

For our second Freshman Success Community event, we ate together and went to the movies! It was a fantastic experience to go together off-campus to Boston Commons and explore the area and go to the theaters. Rather than a school event, it was more like an evening out with friends where we got to have fun together as a community and deepen our friendships.
April 2017

Crime Forecasting!

We were assigned our second major project created by Prof. Wei Ding's PhD student Yong Zhuang in which we used different computational methods to predict crime in the Portland, Oregon area using data provided by a government sponsored competition. We learned many different machine learning algorithms such as k-means and k-nearest-neighbors to classify data to predict whether an area would be a hotspot for crime in the future based off of past occurrences.
What's
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Our Amazing Members

These are the members of our 2016-2017 CS FSC.

Prof. Wei Ding

Course Instructor
Wei Ding received her Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from the University of Houston in 2008. She is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Her research interests include data mining, machine learning, artificial intelligence, computational semantics, and with applications to health sciences, astronomy, geosciences, and environmental sciences. Her research projects are sponsored by NIH, NASA, and DOE. She is an IEEE senior member and an ACM senior member. Wei is the faculty advisor of the Women-In-Sciences club (WINS) at UMass Boston. She is the faculty representative from UMass Boston for the National Center for Women and Information Technology. She is an inspiring and encouraging teacher that strongly focuses on student success and sets a great personal example to all her students.

Aisha Farooque

Lead Designer
Aisha is an aspiring computer scientist that got into the field due to the fact that computer science greatly trains problem-solving skills, an essential skill in life. She is passionate about volunteering, helping others, and learning new things every day, and has a very friendly and optimistic personality. She will soon be moving to Texas and will continue computer science there. You will be greatly missed!

Alexander Choe

Web Developer
Alexander is a learning computer scientist that is interested in web design and applications, game development, and the possibilities of machine learning. In his free time, he enjoys reading science fiction novels, origami, learning Eastern Asian languages, and watching movies.

Andre Dangi

Lead Developer
Andre is a skillful and aspiring computer scientist that looks forward to the many possibilities held in the field. He loves to tinker with his gaming desktop at home and enjoys playing computer games during his free time.

Ashwini Chauhan

Design Fashion CEO
Ashwini is an intelligent computer scientist with great ambitions. She became fascinated with computer science because it inspires creativity and gives the freedom to create anything one desires technologically. Many characterize her as a strong leader with amazing speaking and presentation skills, and also as a sociable and lively person. Her interests include travelling, interior design, and running a fashion blog.

Bryon Ferrer

Comedy Artist
Bryon is an amusing Filipino computer scientist who enjoys making people laugh through his unique sense of humor. When he is not working, he likes listening to music, playing video games like Heroes of the Storm, watching videos on YouTube and Twitch, and occasionally work out because he wants to be attractive to the ladies.

Daniel Johnson

Game Developer
Daniel is a talented computer scientist that is very good learning new things and at applying his knowledge. He has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Aspregers, but he doesn't let these things get him down. In his free time he enjoys playing and creating amazing games and also creative writing, specifically short stories and poetry.

Daniel Werminghausen

Front End Developer
Daniel is an aspiring computer scientist that is passionate about learning what it takes to become a professional front end web developer. He is also quite the traveler, having lived on three different continents, and enjoys listening to music, watching TV shows, hanging out with his friends, and helping others in his free time.

Darian Dias

Cyber Security Analyst
Darian is an aspiring computer scientist who is highly interested in the field of cyber security. In his free time, he enjoys listening to underground rap and indie music. Doesn't he look like he came from the cyber world itself?

Gursimar Singh

Statistical Data Analyst
Gursimar is a learning computer scientist who holds a deep appreciation for both computer and world languages, history, hip-hop music, and stand up comedy. He is also talented in photography and is fluent in four languages.

Igli Ajdini

Network Security Manager
Igli is a wizard that gets his work done like magic... (To be updated)

Justin Kwan

Lead Software Engineer
Justin is a dedicated computer scientist that is highly interested in computers and enjoys learning everything about them. He also likes to listen to music and watch movies, and is very open to new cultures and experiences.

Michael Gasper

Systems Administrator
Michael is an Information Technology major with a Business Intelligence track, and is interested in data analysis and system administration. During his spare time he enjoys reading and listening to history and sports podcasts, as well as playing basketball, biking, and professional snowboarding.

Reynerio Sarmiento

Web Developer
Reynerio is an aspiring computer scientist and web developer that admires the creative possibilities that these fields offer. In his spare time, he usually draws, plays soccer with his friends, or plays video games on his PS4. He yearns to one day travel around the world and visit many different countries, and most importantly, he greatly appreciates his parents' loving support for him thus far and hopes to repay them in the future.

Sajana Wijesinghe

Systems Software Developer
Sajana is an intelligent computer scientist who is always up for a challenge. During his free time, he often plays the guitar, video games, and soccer. He is trilingual and has been moving from one place to another his whole life.

Satomi Nishimiya

Digital Artist
Satomi is an aspiring artist, and her preferred artistic medium is a drawing tablet and computer. A couple of her hobbies include playing video games and spending her time exploring and experiencing the many attractions unique to Boston.

Amazing, aren't they? Thank you so much for making all of this possible through your hard work, Dean Grosovsky! We hope you continue in the development and expansion of this program for the many students to come in the future.