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Jeff Cameron is the Google Student Ambassador at the University of Waterloo, where he studies Computer Science and Math. As part of his role as ambassador, he recently hosted a great event focused on Artificial Intelligence, and we wanted to share his story with you here. In the 2009 Artificial Intelligence Contest at the University of Waterloo, participants used both simple and sophisticated AI techniques to create programs that would intelligently play a simple game. The submitted programs competed in head-to-head tournaments to see how they all ranked compared to one another. Contestants could re-submit their code on the contest website as often as they liked, and the online leaderboard was updated once every hour with fresh tournament results. A screenshot of the hourly leaderboard after the contest had been open for a few days. The contest was initially supposed to stay open for two weeks, but was extended by another week due to unexpectedly high participation. Almost 300 participants were involved, with about 150 people submitting their entries to the final tournament. The contest webpage received over 50,000 hits from 38 countries. The final tournament took place at the Contest Finale Code Party, held at the University of Waterloo. Pictures from the Contest Finale Codeparty. The very talented Mr. Jesse Onland serenades some happy coders with his mad banjo skills. Some contestants huddle while adding the finishing touches to their entries. The contest organizer (me), with this year’s grand champion, Alex Stan. Our congratulations goes out to the winner of this year’s Google Artificial Intelligence Contest, Alexandru Stan! A big thank you also goes out to the University of Waterloo Computer Science Club for organizing and hosting the contest. Full contest results are available here . Posted by Jeff Cameron, Google Campus Ambassador at University of Waterlo

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University of Waterloo’s Artificial Intelligence Contest

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

[Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog ] Today we’re excited to announce the most recent addition to our scholarship programs in Europe, the Google Europe Scholarship for Students with Disabilities. This scholarship is designed for students with disabilities who are pursuing degrees in the field of computer science anywhere in the European Union, plus Switzerland and Israel. Multiple scholarships will be awarded based on the strength of candidates’ academic performance and demonstrated passion for computer science. Scholarships will be granted for the 2010/2011 academic year, and recipients will be invited to attend an all-expenses-paid retreat at Google’s Engineering Center in Zurich in 2010. Here’s what Nelson Mattos, our VP for Product and Engineering in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, has to say about this scholarship: “We’re committed to diversifying the long-term engineering talent pool for the industry as a whole. We hope that this scholarship will increase opportunities for students with disabilities and encourage them to pursue careers in computer science. The retreat fosters relationships so that scholars can form a supportive network lasting the full length of their academic studies and beyond.” We know that a diverse group of people use our tools and services and only an equally diverse workforce can anticipate our users’ needs. We’ve found that the diversity of perspectives, ideas and cultures leads to the creation of better products to the benefit of all users of the Internet. We hope that this scholarship works towards that end. The deadline to apply is March 15th 2010. For more details, visit www.google.com/studentswithdisabilities-europe . Posted by Beate List, EMEA University Programmes and Eleanor Mulligan, EMEA Diversity and Inclusion

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Introducing the Europe Scholarship for Students with Disabilities

[From time to time we invite guests to blog about initiatives of interest, and are very pleased to have Stephen Savage join us here again. Stephen is Arizona State University's Geo-Archaeological Information Applications Lab IT Manager of the Archaeological Research Institute at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change. You might remember his previous posts about Exploring exploplanets using Google Earth's API or his work on the Digital Archaeological Atlas of the Holy Land .] For years, astronauts and rocket scientists at NASA and JPL have had all the fun. Billions of people on Earth have seen pictures of Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmidt driving their “dune buggy” on the Moon. Billions more have seen pictures of NASA’s Mars landers, Spirit and Opportunity. We’ve all wished we could be the ones to take these incredible toys out for a spin on the Red Planet or the Moon. Now, thanks to Google, you can do the next best thing — you can drive a virtual rover model on Google’s Mars or Moon (or a skateboard on Earth), and experience the real topography of these places. We at ASU developed a “Drive the Solar System” website where you can explore how the power of Google Mars, Google Moon and Google Earth has been brought to the web. You can put your rover or skateboard down anyplace on Mars, the Moon or Earth and drive it anywhere you want to go. Explore the Apollo landing sites or Olympus Mons, the largest volcanic cone in the solar system. Drive down the Valles Marinaris, the canyon on Mars that dwarfs Arizona’s Grand Canyon, or kick-flip your skateboard down the Amazon. And that’s not all. You can visit all the other planets and the largest moons in the Solar System too. But you can do more than drive or look at these strange new worlds — you can also look at these places in depth with detailed information about each place you can visit included. So if you’ve ever wanted to be an astronaut, visit http://gaialab.asu.edu/ SolarSystem and see what you’ve been missing! Posted by Stephen Savage, Geo-Archaeological Information Applications Lab IT Manager, Archaeological Research Institute, School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University

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Driving the Solar System with Google

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

The fall semester is around the corner, meaning you’re probably starting to think about what new subjects and topics you’ll tackle. If you are studying CS or considering taking a Computer Science course we thought you might be interested in Google Code University . Here you’ll find a repository of educational material, including tutorials, lecture slides, and videos focused entirely on computer science. The content – developed by the best schools around the country – is cutting edge. Since all of it is Creative Commons licensed, you can even download it and reuse it in your class. With freshly created content by the University of Southern California , California Polytechnic State University and the University of Washington , there’s lots to check out, so give it a whirl and learn something new! By Andrea Held, Google Code University Team

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Back-to-School with Google Code University

Robert, a rising senior at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, is interning with the Search Marketing team on iGoogle in Mountain View this summer. Growing up in the 80’s and 90’s, I’ve always been a fan of comics. I remember collecting Batman and Superman comics and scouring through the comics section in the Sunday paper and let’s not even forget the awesome Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles … ah, those were the days. Even now in college, I’ve met new friends who have introduced me to Japanese manga , and comics remain a big part of my life. In celebration of Comic-Con’s 40th anniversary, we’ve teamed up with top comics creators to bring you 50 new themes to stylize your iGoogle homepage. The comics world is so diverse that there’s something for everyone. I’m sure everyone can admit, we’ve all enjoyed some memorable characters in comics whether it be Charlie Brown from Peanuts , alternative comics like Owly , or villain-destroying-heroes like Iron Man . We hope you enjoy these themes in customizing your iGoogle homepage to make it even more personal. We got so excited that we teamed up with renowned comics artist Jim Lee to create a comics themed doodle to celebrate Comic-Con. In case you missed it, here it is. Posted by Robert Do, iGoogle Team

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Personalize your iGoogle homepage with comics themes