Our faculty and graduate and undergraduate students are involved in a number of educational outreach programs and activities to extend their research and teaching to K-12 education and increase public awareness of computer science and science in general. These activities are carried out in partnership with a number institutions including the Wisconsin Center for Academically Talented Youth (WCATY) and the Wisconsin Institutes of Design Town Center. Below are some examples of these activities.

Educational Programs

The University of Wisconsin CATAPULT Project: The goal of the CATAPULT project is to introduce children to Computer Science. We match UW undergraduates who are interested in educating others about Computer Science with younger students in Madison-area schools. More information about the CATAPULT Project can be found on the project website. Faculty organizer: Andrea Arpaci-Dusseau

The Social Robots Summer Camp: The Social Robots Summer Camp is a weeklong educational camp organized by the HCI Lab in collaboration with WCATY. The goal of the camp is to introduce students to concepts in social robotics and to provide them with hands on experience in developing social applications for robots. The camp will be first offered in the summer of 2011. More information on the camp will soon be available on HCI Lab website. Faculty organizer: Bilge Mutlu

Educational Workshops & Events

National Robotics Week Open Lab: The HCI Lab organized a daylong educational workshop on April 16, 2010 as a part of the National Robotics Week. Tens of K-12 students and younger children as well as parents participated in the event. See the story on the event in L&S News and Notes. Faculty organizer: Bilge Mutlu, Spring 2010

Interactive Media Club at Shorewood Hills Elementary School: A weekly afterschool club in which UW undergraduates help teach fourth and fifth graders about computer science, how to program in Scratch, and how to use an XO laptop. Faculty organizer: Andrea Arpaci-Dusseau, Fall 2008, Spring 2009, and Fall 2010

Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Residential Learning Community: Faculty co-director responsible for organizing weekly seminars introducing UW female undergrads to careers and research in STEM fields. Faculty organizer: Andrea Arpaci-Dusseau, 2008-2010

Scratch Workshop at Hartland Public Library: A one-day three-hour workshop teaching middle-school students from the Hartland Wisconsin community how to program with Scratch. Faculty organizer: Andrea Arpaci-Dusseau, Spring 2009

Girls' 2007 Imaginary Worlds Camp at Calvin College: This two week camp, run by Professor Joel Adams, teaches middle school students how to create computer-generated movies with Alice. Faculty organizer: Andrea Arpaci-Dusseau, Summer 2007

Faculty Mentors for K-12 Students

Faculty:  Barton Miller
Student: David Aeschilmann, Madison West High School
David has been working on Prof. Miller's Paradyn project, which is developing new software tools for supercomputers and cyber security. David is working on a new interactive facility for binary machine code analysis to help quickly understand programs and prototype new tools.

Faculty:  Bilge Mutlu
Student:  Jacob Fiskel, Madison West High School
Jacob joined the HCI laboratory meetings in Spring 2010 to gain familiarity with computer science and HCI research. He will be assisting research projects starting Fall 2010. Jacob plans to pursue an undergraduate degree in computer science.

Visits to and Lectures at K-12 Schools

Lecture: Computer Science Theory I, Jeff Kinne, PhD Student
March 6, 2009, James Madison Memorial High School

Lecture: Computer Science Theory II, Jeff Kinne, PhD Student
May 16, 2008, James Madison Memorial High School

Lecture: Computer Science Theory I, Jeff Kinne, PhD Student
March 7, 2008, James Madison Memorial High School

Lecture: Cryptography: Secrets Concealed, Jeff Kinne, PhD Student
May 23, 2007, Madison East High School, Guest lecture for Math Week

Lecture: Computer Science in Practice, Jeff Kinne, PhD Student
December 4, 2007, James Madison Memorial High School, Guest lecture 

Lecture: From Rosie the Riveter to Rosie the Researcher: Paving the way for women in graduate school, Dana Vantrease, Ph.D. Student
Fall 2009, Guest Lecture for UW Women in Science and Engineering Residential Learning Community 

Industry Outreach

Our faculty and students are also actively involved with industry outreach through activities such as lecture series, workshops, and so on. Below are some examples from the last few years.

Lecture Series: Designing the User Experience, Bilge Mutlu, Assistant Professor
May 2010, Epic Systems Corporation

Lecture: Three Views of Cooperative Bug Isolation, Benjamin Liblit, Assistant Professor
January 2009, Epic Systems Corporation

Lecture: Cooperative Bug Isolation, Benjamin Liblit, Assistant Professor
March 2008, TomoTherapy, Inc.

Lecture Series: Statistical Debugging, Benjamin Liblit, Assistant Professor
July 2007, Summer School on Language-Based Techniques for Integrating with the External World, University of Oregon

Planning Outreach Activities

If you are a member of an educational institution or an industrial organization and would like to plan outreach activities, please contact the department chair or individual faculty to discuss how our faculty and students could help.