Crossroads - Spring 2012

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During W WII breaking the Enigma ciphers gave the Allies a key advantage, which, according to historians, shortened the war by two years thus saving many lives. 2 years

Approximation of the number of possible keys the Enigma could have.

150 quintillion

ACM Student Chapters

I have a confession to make; I am not a member of an ACM Student Chapter, no such chapter exists at my university. That said, it is an excellent benefit to any student who has the opportunity to join one.

Student chapters bring together all students in a given location (usually a university) who are interested in computer science. And the purpose? That will vary depending on where you are. The best ones will organize social activities and guest lectures, travel to events, and try to close the gap bet ween study and profession. ACM student chapters also have access to the Distinguished Speakers Program whereby top names in the field can be scheduled to speak at your event around the globe.

Many chapters are also involved in community service, which varies by chapter. Some offer workshops or lectures to high schools as well programming courses or career guidance to students.

As well as “standard” chapters, some student chapters are part of ACM-W. These chapters offer students activities and projects that aim to improve the working and learning environments for women in computing.

To find out more take a look at: http://www.acm.org/ chapters/students. And if you institution does not have chapter you can always start your own.

Public Relations for
Computer Science Students

Your life as an undergraduate or postgraduate student is perhaps one of the first steps toward a successful professional or academic career. This is when you will have the first opportunity to meet important people regarding your future and a unique opportunity to let these people know about you. Since many students are not equipped with skills in marketing and promotion, here are some easy tips that can help you build your personal brand:

1. Network yourself. You never know how useful the guy sitting next to you at a conference dinner or business presentation might be in the future. He can be your next advisor, employer, colleague. or even the next Turing Award winner. Take some time to shake his hand and have a (at least short) discussion with him. Business cards can be very useful for these cases so prepare and keep some of them in one of these what-should-I-put-in-here pockets of your backpack.

3. Attend communication skills seminars. Even though many universities offer seminars and workshops that can help students improve their so-called communication skills for free, it is very common for students to view them as worthless activities. Nevertheless, some instructors are experts on the topic and can really help you make a difference in presenting your work, joining an interview or even chatting with somebody. It is a fact that firms spend significant amounts of money on similar seminars for their employees so why not trying attending one of them while in college?

2. Use human language. I think you’ll agree that CS students usually communicate better with computers rather than with people. However, although our PC or Mac may be one of our best and closest friends in the cyber world, we still live in the physical one where people have real bodies and senses and they use them to communicate with each other. You may not find words like “thank you” and “please” in a programming language but believe me, humans do appreciate them. Moreover, your body is not just a tool to carry your brain!

4. Build your professional Web profile. Take a moment to think about the tools you use to find information about things that interest you and you will soon realize the importance of having a well-designed and up-to-date personal Web profile. If you manage to compel someone to Google you, you better give them something more than crazy pictures of your last vacations. You can either create a personal website ( helpful for an academic career) or choose one of the professional social net works (e.g., LinkedIn).