Where is the semester going?

By now I hope everyone is settled in to the rhythms of academic life. Some of you are preparing for midterms, some of you are working on projects.

We've had alot going on at the Seidenberg School and around the School. The Pace Computing Society in New York has a full schedule of Wednesday speakers-two of our own students spoke about internships in early October.

The First Tech Challenge, an event for high school students to compete using LEGO robotics, will be held in Pleasantville in the Spring, and the kick-off on October 9 was well attended. Congratulations to all who are working on this important event.

I was invited, along with Cathy Dwyer of the Information Technology Department in New York, to speak at a Women in Engineering Conference sponsored by the IEEE in White Plains. I encourage you to look into joining a professional society if you haven't already done so. I'm a member of the ACM, the IEEE, and AIS. Many of these groups offer student memberships at a fraction of the cost of a professional membership. I'm sure that any of your professors will be glad to "sponsor" you and sign your membership applications.

Best of luck on exams, projects, and whatever else this semester is throwing at you! I'll be on the downtown campus on October 22, 23 and again on Tuesday the 27, at the Goldstein Academic Center on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of next week, and I'm not sure where I'll be on Thursday. Feel free to drop in and say hello.

It's Back to School Time

I hope everyone is enjoying these waning days of August.

Let me be the first to welcome you (back) to campus-I look forward to seeing you all as the fall 2009 semester gets underway.

During the fall semester I will be holding student office hours. I haven't yet posted the times, but will do so soon. Please feel free to drop in during those hours; stop by to compliment a professor, or discuss your summer reading, or talk about whatever is on your mind.

So enjoy this last weekend before Labor Day signals an end to the summer vacation!

Hope you are enjoying your summer!

I haven't been blogging; I figure everyone is enjoying the summer weather that finally! arrived here in New York.

But I have been reading-some for pleasure, like His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman. The movie The Golden Compass was based on the first book of the trilogy.

And for work I've been reading a bunch of time management type books-The Myth of Multitasking by Dave Crenshaw, and The Now Habit by Neil Fiore. Both of these fit in with David Allen's Getting Things Done.

What about you? Reading anything good this summer? Comment and let us all know.

Good Luck on Finals

and have a great summer, everyone.

Stop by to say good bye if you get a chance-I'm in New York, at 163 on Tuesday, at the Graduate Center on Wednesday and Friday, and in Pleasantville on Thursday.

Pretend this is Thursday's post

because I've been confused ever since the holidays.

Hope everyone enjoyed whatever holiday they celebrated-in my house we celebrated Easter and Passover, and now I'm celebrating getting to the gym to lose the few pounds I put on in hard boiled eggs, chocolate macaroons and some fabulous meals.

I hope everyone is getting enough rest and exercise as the semester winds down.

I'll be away this Wednesday and Thursday, and mostly on the Westchester campuses for the next week and a half or so.

Good luck with all of the end of semester work, and as always, keep in touch.

See you on campus and/or in cyberspace!

Countdown to finals!

Hard to believe but the semester is almost over. For those of you completing your first year at the Seidenberg School, congratulations! You made it.

Get ready for finals-they'll be here before you know it. Post a comment and let us know what your summer plans are.

A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines

I'm a huge fan of public radio. I have favorite shows, like Radio Lab; Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me; The Takeaway and BBC News.

But my favorite is Speaking of Faith (which I actually listen to as a podcast, since it broadcasts on WNCY at 7 am on Saturday, without me!).

It's a show about religion, meaning, ethics and ideas with wide ranging guests. A while ago Jana Levin, an assistant professor of astrophysics at Barnard College, was on the show talking about her novel, A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines. The novel imagines what was going through the minds of Alan Turing and Kurt Godel and is written in a very compelling style.

And so even though I know many of you are studying hard and getting ready for the end of the semester, if you have a few hours (it's a very quick read-I finished it on my commute from Croton yesterday) I highly recommend this book!