Outstanding graduates: Zach Johnson

When he graduates this summer, Zach Johnson will join four other Jacobs School computer science alums on the Glass team in Google[x], Google’s moonshot group. Johnson is better known to his classmates and the teachers here as zachoverflow, his Twitter handle and Internet pseudonym. Johnson interned at Microsoft and Facebook before landing an internship on the Glass team last summer. “I had a few assigned projects but I got them done early and decided to squash other peoples’ bugs—it's a good way to make friends,” he said. When he’s not programming or thinking about philosophy, Johnson enjoys playing the hammered dulcimer, a string instrument generally found in folk music pieces.

Jacobs School computer science professor recognized at celebration of women in computing

Computer science student Simona Rosenberg sporting Google Glass, with Megan Smith, the VP of Google[x].

They rubbed shoulders (and got their picture taken) with the likes of  the senior vice president of knowledge at Google, Alan Eustace, and Megan J. Smith, vice president of Google[x], the company's division that develops leading edge products, including Google Glass. 

A large group of UC San Diego students and alumni attended the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Oct. 2 to 5 in Minneapolis. In fact, UC San Diego was in the top 10 schools for the number of students registered for the event.

Many of them were there to cheer on Christine Alvarado, a computer science professor at the Jacobs School, who received an award for her innovative teaching practices to attract girls and women to math, computing and engineering. Alvarado received a $5000 prize from the Anita Borg Institute. The prize and award are named for A. Richard Newton, the former dean of the College of Engineering at UC Berkeley.

Christine Alvarado, a computer science professor at the Jacobs School, receives the A. Richard Newton Education Award at the Grace Hopper Celebration.

Alvarado received the award for spearheading the implementation of practices that changed the culture within the department of computer science at Harvey Mudd College, where she taught before joining UC San Diego. The practices led to a dramatic increase in the number of women studying and pursuing careers in computer science. More than 40 percent of Harvey Mudd computer science students are women--the highest percentage in the nation, according to the Anita Borg Institute. 

Thank you for WIC@UCSD for sharing their pictures of the event!

From left: Meera Ramakrishnan, Google senior VP of knowledge Alan Eustace and Huang Li. The two Jacobs School students are officers in the WIC@UCSD student organization.

Students from WIC@UCSD at the Grace Hopper Celebration.

Jacobs School students and alums at the Grace Hopper Celebration.