Ekaterina "Kate" Spriggs
This week marks the start of a summer camp at The University of Arizona that is made for middle schoolers from the Wildcat School, a UA-affiliated charter school that is math and science focused.
The weeklong camp, called "Integration of Science and Computation Summer Camp," began today with various campus tours to learn more about laboratory work and scientific programs. It is the first of its kind being held on the UA campus and is supported by the National Science Foundation.
During the camp, three teams of students will learn about the human genome project, rice greenhouses, research on pollen, and the Arizona Laboratory for Immersive Visualization Environments, or CAVE. They also will sit in on conversations with UA researchers.
“The students will work directly with UA scientists on problems that require computational techniques to solve," said UA computer science alumna Ekaterina "Kate" Spriggs, the camp coordinator.
The daily events are part of a collaboration between the UA's computer science department and its computer vision lab, the College of Education, five biological research labs, the Arizona Laboratory for Immersive Visualization Environments, a 3-D computer-generated laboratory, and the UA-affiliated Wildcat Charter School.
"The students will learn what is involved in developing models that can be used in areas such as the identification of carcinogenic fungi, agriculture and environmental issues,” Spriggs added.
The students will have a chance to learn about research, science and math while also completing projects in one of the UA's computer science laboratories.
Student participants are required to present their research projects in a UA virtual environment at the week's end. After the presentation, UA College of Science Dean Joaquin Ruiz will present awards to the students.
The camp will be held again June 16 through June 20 in with a different group of southern Arizona students through a collaboration with the Saguaro Girl Scout Council.
The University of Arizona's computer science department emphasizes quality research and instruction and has offered master's and doctoral degrees since its founding in 1973.
The undergraduate degree program was added in 1989 and now has 450 students. The department currently has 13 graduate faculty, four senior lecturers, two academic advisers, six technical and scientific support staff, and seven administrative staff. The graduate program has approximately 50 students in the master's program and 35 in the doctoral program.
The department also has nine faculty members involved with the iPlant Collaborative, the $50 million five-year grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a cyberinfrastructure for solving grand challenge problems in plant sciences.
Kate Spriggs
UA Department of Computer Science
Robyn Austin
UA Department of Computer Science
520-626-8470