BC Computer Science Club

Computer Science Club meeting. Photo courtesy of Jagoda Sondej

With two meetings completed and many more to come, the 2011-2012 Computer Science Club is full of intelligent students with impactful accomplishments and bright futures.

Computer science has been described as one of the most diverse majors for a job, due to the fact that it is not particularly linked to one single industry. When it comes to understanding what computer science really is, it can be defined as anything having to do with all types of computer application development, programming, website development, and hardware.

The president of the Computer Science Club, Shakeel Mohamed, shares that the mission of the club is to increase student interest, provide an educational experience, and provide networking opportunities within the computer science field. While this club is just embarking on its triumphant journey for the academic year, it has already had members contribute significantly to the club.

Mohamed, along with two other BC students, Kyle Cote and Brandon Dalesandro, were offered an opportunity to develop an Android application with a compensated reward. The students took on this challenge and finished the product in less than four days. Half of their earnings went straight into the Computer Science Club’s funds, which will be used for club supplies and projects.

Ranging from students who have been programming in elementary school to students who are just interested in computer science but know very little about this subject, there are approximately 30 members in this club. Several computer science club members have never registered in a computer science class but desire a head start before enrolling. Also, you can find continuing education students as well as people from the programming department in the club. The range of skills in computer science club makes it accessible for anyone to join.

During meetings, Mohamed plans to organize basic programming tutorials so that inexperienced members can grasp a basic understanding of how particular programming works.

The club is currently in a stage of brainstorming. The club advisor, Xiao (Winnie) Li has suggested off-campus activities such as visiting the Google and Microsoft campus, as well as touring the computer science departments at nearby schools, thus increasing outreach involvement. Li has worked with financial modeling as a financial analyst for both Clearwire and Microsoft and won the Bellevue College Margin of Excellence Award in 2010. She has definitely been an inspiration to the club members.

Though it is not required, members are encouraged to take their own laptops to meetings. Learning by experience is much more beneficial than watching someone else go through the steps themselves, so following along at club meetings will increase knowledge and skill retention.

Mohamed is clearly dedicated to the Computer Science Club. He rechartered it this year because he believed the integration of staff, faculty, and students could improve in the computer science department. Mohamed also wanted to acquire additional project work for himself and his fellow peers.

“We will be doing some pretty cool stuff in the next few weeks, so watch out!” Mohamed said excitedly. Winter quarter meetings are held every Thursday from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in C202. This club definitely has room to expand as long as new members are willing to learn and/or contribute to this excellent educational experience.