Hawaiʻi's Technology Community

Three good things about being a UH ICS student

What are three good things that the UH ICS program is providing for its students?

If you can only think of one thing, that's OK too.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bret K. Ikehara on January 13, 2013 at 9:12pm

1. Breadth of course work offered. Definitely, the ICS field is a mixture of both pragmatic and theoretical work so its reach into other interdisciplinary studies makes it a practical field of study. I believe that this program takes advantage of this strength.

2. Solid course work foundation. From the algorithms to software engineering, a good foundation in the basics add values to the ICS degrees.

3. Faculty are knowledgeable leaders in their areas of research. According to the UH website, the professors are able to secure $3-4 million in extramural funds.

Permalink Reply by Alexander Cam Liu on January 13, 2013 at 9:44pm

1. Access to the MSDNAA software from Microsoft. Free software for ICS students which provide a wide range of tools from IDEs to Microsoft OS.

2. The ICS 491 and 691 classes which offer a wide variety of different topics about computer science each semester.

3. Friendly environment in the ICS community. It is not hard to approach any faculty in the department. I had worked with a couple of professors and both of them were excited to work along side with me. They taught me a lot about programming and had pushed to work a little harder which is what every ICS student should expect to do.

Permalink Reply by Anthony Christe on January 14, 2013 at 11:35am

1. Dedicated and hard working faculty. I've never had a problem that I couldn't talk to one of the professors about. The professors are extremely knowledgeable within their fields and also great people. From the professors to the office staff, I have nothing but good things to say. I was worried about the stressful process of completing my Masters degree, but my committee has made the process as smooth as you could expect. Also, every course I've taken as a graduate student has been enlightening and has helped my grow tremendously as a student and a computer scientists.

2. Dedication to undergraduate education. I come from a small school where the CS department wasn't large enough to need TA's for classes. On one hand, I feel that I got a more personal education because all classes and labs were ran by professors. We tended to have smaller classes which led to more opportunities for personal attention. However, there is something to be said about the amount of support students get at UH when it comes to TA's in the ICS department. Students can obtain multiple perspectives on material from their professor and also from their TAs. Also, 390 students must act as a Lab Assistant (LA) to the TAs in most labs. Now, when the students don't understand a concept or are having trouble debugging their code, they can ask an LA, the TA, or the professor of the course. Furthermore, the LA's run something called "Open Lab Hours" from 3 - 9PM on weekdays which is a time for undergrad students to come into the lab and work on their projects all the while receiving personalized attention from the LAs.

3. Many others have mentioned it, but I chose UH because of its location. I never would have made it to Hawaii if it weren't for my ability to go to school here. Hawaii is a unique place in that it's beautiful, diverse, and really far from the mainland. I hopefully would like to teach and do research at a university level, and the experience I'm currently gaining teaching a diverse group of students and working with a diverse set of faculty is helping to prepare me for the real world in ways the classes can't.

Permalink Reply by Keone Hiraide on January 14, 2013 at 5:41pm

1. Able to obtain an excellent education in ICS in the comfort of Hawaii.

2. Unique exposure to certain areas that are especially great because we're in Hawaii. For example, sustainable energy, international relations, and the best location for telescopes (Observatories on Mauna Kea).

3. The students, professors, instructors, and staff are friendly and willing to help you.

Permalink Reply by Dylan Kobayashi on January 15, 2013 at 11:33pm

Through announcements and notifications there is a constant exposure to new technology and information. Many of the professors also expose students to advancements they find significant in their fields. It isn't just about the class material.

Computer hardware and software is constantly changing, hopefully improving. Although some may find this to be negative, I like the fact that studying computer science means rarely doing the exact same the same thing multiple times, that is what a loop is for. Professors in the ICS department cover a huge spectrum of computer specialties.

Being a UH ICS student means living in Hawaii. The weather is pretty good year round, the worst being heavy rain. There is no worry about snow, freezing temperatures, scorching heat, or some of the other nasty side effects from pollution. Beautiful views are usually a window away. Being a cultural melting pot, the diversity of people on campus can be enlightening. Among the knowledge they bring with them are ethnic foods that can really spice up a dish. Personalities on campus are comfortably informal as well. I don't think I'll ever forget a lecture where the speaker was in slippers, sandy feet, shorts and an aloha shirt.

Permalink Reply by Jonathan Waltz on August 24, 2013 at 7:27am

1. The faculty i've encountered so far have all been subject-matter experts, including TAs, and are all dedicated to their craft of computer science & teaching. They've all been happily willing to help and answer my questions.

2. Gerald Lau does an excellent job at keeping students informed about the goings-on within the community and at large. The internship I had over the Summer can be directly attributed to the information Gerald passed on to me.

3. The POST building is quite nice and I hear the ICS department will have a brand new building shortly in the future. It's nice to see the campus-at-large supports the ICS department.

Permalink Reply by Scott Honda on August 24, 2013 at 7:35pm

1. Learning how to program it is a highly sought after skill.

2. Having a diverse amount of topics to choose from. Databases, networking, programming, etc. etc.

3. Having Gerald Lau as an advisor, it's always fun talking to that guy.

Permalink Reply by Taylor Kennedy on August 24, 2013 at 10:55pm

1. Almost everyone has said this but Gerald Lau is a great source of information whether receiving guidance from him in person or from his very helpful emails.

2. The professors are more tech savvy than professors in other departments. For example, most ICS professors have their own website for the class with a detailed syllabus, assignment due dates, and lecture slides. Some of the other departments professors hand out syllabus and assignments exclusively on paper or only use laulima. This might just be personal preference but I prefer having everything easily accessible online through professors own websites.

3. The classes are small and not many of the other students actually ask the professors for help outside of class so if you are smart and go visit professors during the office hours, the professors are very knowledgeable and always available.

Permalink Reply by Kevin Paek on August 30, 2013 at 9:08am

Free software from Microsoft.

Job listings from Gerald: Not only that, but most of the emails inform us of lots of opportunities.

Knowledgeable Professors: The Professors know what they are talking about, especially in their field of research.

Permalink Reply by James Vu on August 30, 2013 at 9:32am

1) Developing effective time management skills
2) Those little spurts of joy when you finish an assignment or project, or even get small piece of code working. It's like solving a puzzle, and has a feeling of accomplishment.
3) Being able to work independently and learning how to solve problems on your own without help (from others, might need help from the internet)

Permalink Reply by Marc I Sanpei on August 30, 2013 at 9:45am