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As part of Google’s ongoing commitment to encouraging students of underrepresented backgrounds in technology to pursue graduate study, we are pleased to host the first annual 2010 Google Graduate Researchers in Academia of Diverse backgrounds (GRAD) CS Forum. This forum will bring together students who are historically underrepresented in the field to connect with one another and with Google. Up to 75 computer scientists will be invited to an all-expenses paid forum that will run Thursday evening through Saturday afternoon on January 21–23 at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, CA. The Google GRAD CS Forum will include technical talks from established researchers – both from Google and universities – and a unique occasion to build and strengthen networks with other emerging researchers. Students will also enjoy tours of the Googleplex, have the opportunity to meet with Google engineers in their focus areas, and have fun exploring the San Francisco Bay Area. Eligibility Requirements Applicants must: be a computer science (or related technical discipline) graduate student currently enrolled in a Masters or PhD program at a university in North America demonstrate academic excellence and leadership in the computing field maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.3 on a 4.0 scale or 4.3 on a 5.0 scale or equivalent in their current program The forum is open to all qualified graduate students, and is committed to addressing diversity in our company and in the technology industry. Students who are a member of a group that is historically under-represented in the technology industry are encouraged to apply, including female, Native American, African American and Hispanic students as well as students with disabilities. Selection Process Google engineers will select up to 75 attendees based on each applicant’s academic and technical achievements. Evidence of academic achievement and leadership experience should be evident from the resume. How to Apply Complete the online application and submit all required documents online. First-time users will be required to register and create an account. Please note that recommendation letters are not required. Application Deadline: December 12, 2009 Apply now at www.google.com/jobs/students/gradforum . Posted by Hanah Kim, University Programs

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Join us for the 2010 Google GRAD CS Forum!

Last month we asked you to nominate your campus to be photographed for Street View on Google Maps. We were inundated with more than 25,000 suggestions across all categories, and university campuses made up 44% of all suggestions! We’ve narrowed the top suggested locations to a few finalists and there is now just one week left in the voting period. Cast your vote for your favorite place within each category to tell us which locations you’d most like to see on Google Maps. The university finalists are: Arizona State University Michigan State University Princeton University Rochester Institute of Technology Stanford University Visit www.google.com/trike to vote and see the other finalists! You can vote as many times as you like until the deadline at 11:59pm PST on Monday, November 30th. We’ll then work on getting all the winners into Google Maps, and of course we’ll work closely with the relevant organizations to collect images of any privately-owned locations. If voting for Street View trike finalists gets you excited about how much you love Google Maps, be sure to check out our new Google Maps tips for life to help you save time, look smart, and manage your travels efficiently. Posted by Laura Melahn, Google Maps Team

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Street View trike competition university finalists

Today – October 15 – is known as Blog Action Day , an annual event that unites bloggers across the globe by posting about the same topic on the same day to help bring awareness to a certain issue. This year, the discussion is about Climate Change and we hope you’ll check out the Official Google Blog to learn more about some of the steps we take as a company to address this important issue. If you have blogs of your own, we also encourage you to post your own thoughts about the climate crisis and maybe some of the steps you’re taking to contribute to change. Posted by the Google for Students Blog team

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Blog Action Day

From the comfort of your own dorm room, Street View on Google Maps lets you scope out a restaurant before heading out there for a date (oh look, there’s a flower shop next door ) or preview your spring break hotel to be sure it meets your strict requirements (oh look, the beach is right across the street ). But wouldn’t it be nice if you could see more places in Street View? Places like hiking or biking trails, sports stadiums, and maybe even your university campus! Freshmen could easily study what all the campus buildings look like, and your family could get a better sense of your new home. Think back to when you were applying to schools – wouldn’t it have been handy to be able to virtually tour college campuses? Or better yet, picture how nice a Street View walk down memory lane will be after you graduate and start to feels pangs of nostalgia for college life. Good news: you can now nominate your campus to be photographed for Street View on Google Maps. We’ve created the Street View trike, a mechanical masterpiece made of 3 bicycle wheels and a mounted Street View camera, to take pictures of places like university campuses that cannot be reached by car. Visit www.google.com/trike to nominate your school for a visit from the Street View trike. To get an idea of what Street View pictures taken by the trike look like, you can check out San Diego State University , the first university included in Google Maps: View Larger Map So far we’ve taken the trike to a few other campuses, including the University of Pennsylvania and Penn State , but all of you have a chance to nominate your school to be included next. Of course, we’ll make sure to work directly with the administration at your school to get the necessary permissions and approvals before coming on campus – and, as with all Street View imagery, we’ll blur identifiable faces. We’re also accepting nominations in 5 other categories for where to send the Street View trike next: Parks & Trails Pedestrian Malls (e.g., outdoor shopping areas, boardwalks) Theme Parks & Zoos Landmarks Sports Venues (e.g., golf courses, racing tracks, stadium grounds) Head to www.google.com/trike by October 28 to submit your nomination. After we comb through the submissions and pick out the finalists, you will have the opportunity to vote on a winner from each category for the Street View trike to visit. May the best campus win!

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Get your campus featured in Street View on Google Maps

Students, educators and fans of SketchUp, rejoice: we just released Google SketchUp Pro 7.1 ! This new version is available as a free upgrade to your existing student, instructor or lab license. If you’re new to SketchUp 3D modeling software, Google offers great pricing for the education community. Students pay just $49 for a year-long Pro license, lab licenses are between $15-$30 per seat, depending whether you choose a 1, 2 or 3 year license; and, instructors can get themselves a Pro license at no charge. Learn more on our Education program on the SketchUp website . SketchUp Pro 7.1 has been our most quickly adopted update because it adds a bunch of new features while providing enhanced performance and fixes for a lot of known issues. Of particular interest for Education is the new feature called Get Photo Texture, which allows you to quickly model buildings using Google Maps Street View imagery. A popular K-12 activity guides students through the process of modeling a local building (such as their school building) using Google Earth and Google SketchUp. With the release of 7.1, the activity gets even more compelling because students can immediately access Street View imagery to apply to their model. Students can also access and edit existing buildings in the Google 3D Warehouse using the new “Nearby Buildings” feature. For industrial design, mechanical design and architecture/landscape courses, LayOut 2.1 is bundled with the release. LayOut 2.1 improves on its rich 2D presentation features by adding Dimensioning. Now any of models can be annotated or dimensioned directly in LayOut without having to go back to the original model. Scaled printing, simple construction documentation, woodworking and even site planning is a snap. That’s right, you heard the pun, the new dimensioning allows you to snap and measure from points in the embedded model! All users will see faster performance when it comes to large, complex or heavily textured models. Google SketchUp Pro 7.1 continues the tradition of SketchUp’s rich feature set, intuitive interface and our commitment to offering great pricing for Educators and Students. Learn more on our SketchUp website for Education . Posted by James Therrien, Google SketchUp Team

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Just released: new version of Google SketchUp