mini-road trip: IBM's scary-smart Watson prez this TH

I have to say I was rooting for the humans last Feb when they went up against IBM"s Watson on the Jeopardy! show (just like I rooted unsuccessfully for Kaparov against Deep Blue, Watson's chess-playing predecessor). Even though I'm into technology, I kind of hate to see "the rise of the machines" over people, maybe due to growing up watching The Twilight Zone and The Terminator. But still I have to hand it to those guys at IBM - Deep Blue was a watershed moment of its own but the Watson victory really seems like a defining moment in history. What they got it to do was pretty jaw-dropping. I mean, I remembered seeing those guys who played against Watson back when they were on the show playing humans and they were awesome killer-champs that on one else could touch. But Watson blew them away like they were clueless. Stunning.

I've had a couple of chances to hear from the Watson team about how they put it together and made it work (and how the Watson technology is being applied to other "big data" problems the world needs solved) and it's all fascinating, so I highly recommend any chance you get to do the same. The Computer History Museum in Mountain View which in and of itself is a must-visit for everyone, seriously, is hosting a program on Watson tomorrow night but it now says it's fully booked & there's a waiting list. But it turns out there is another opp to see them up at the Berkeley campus this Thursday. Details below.

Then, after the show, stop by The Cheeseboard on Shattuck Ave to get a hot slice of the pizza of the day. I used to live there and I tell you it's fabulous stuff. Ack! Now I'm dying for a slice myself. Dang.

Smarter Planet & IBM Watson Jeopardy! Presentation 
Bernie Meyerson, IBM VP of Innovation & University Programs 
LOCATION:  Banatao Auditorium, 5rd floor, Sutardja Dai Hall,
UC Berkeley
Date: Thursday November 17, 2011 
Time: 10:00 – 11:00 am

Dept Chair's chair: I'm out. Burkhard's in 4 now

In case you haven't noticed, I've been hard to find on the 2nd floor of BT these lately. Last summer, our Associate Dean for the Lucas Graduate School of Business left for a deanship at Hawaii Pacific University (can't blame her) and I was asked to step in as a temporary replacement for this year while a search is conducted.

Hence, I'm out as MIS department chair for now but not to worry because Professor Burkhard has graciously agreed to take occupy the chair's chair in my absence. He's terrific, as everyone knows, and will keep things going better and better in the MIS program while I'm away on the 3rd floor. Additionally, he'll be co-authoring this blog to help keep everyone up to date on the goings-on around here.

I do expect to be back as department chair sometime during the summer but will also try to maintain a presence here as much as I can. But you see now why I've been running so far behind so far this year.

In any case, stay tuned. There will be some important announcements coming up here very soon regarding at least one and probably two of the top employers that everyone is dying to work for (including me but I'm too old). More soon... 

MISA's prez is the best (proof)

So again, I'm just now catching up with the big news from last spring but this item is still totally relevant because the current president of the MIS Association, Richard Bartmess, is the same one we had last spring when we/he won President of the Year for the College of Business.

The pic shows a bunch of us at the Business Students Awards banquet held at Flames last April where he received the plaque. (That' him holding it, of course.) Robert Fisher (immediately right of Richard) was nominated for Leader of the Year and totally deserved it too but we didn't snag that one. Still it was really fun and we were super proud of both of them. And if you're not in MISA now you obviously should be for a number of reasons but especially because we still have Richard around, continuing his awesome presidentialness for another year and it really shows in the activities and success of the club itself.

MIS students go global. Your chance coming in Jan

So here's the story - we have this alum (not the guy in the picture) who graduated back in the 60's who then started his own shipping company in Asia with $1000 and which is now called Crown Worldwide Group with revenues of over half a billion dollars. Yeah, I know!

His name is Jim Thompson and besides being a super successful businessman,  he's also a nice guy. So among other nice things he's done, he created the Thompson Global Internship Program by which SJSU business students get to travel (all expenses paid) to do a 3-week internship (paid) at one of his corporate offices somewhere around the globe. Yeah, I know!

So far some of our students got to go to Hong Kong, others to Kuala Lumpur and the picture is our own MIS Association president, Richard Bartmess, presenting his team's project at the London office. Yeah, I know! After the internship, he ran around Europe for a few weeks having fun as you can see in the other pic. (In fact, we almost overlapped in Italy. Crazy!)

So what have we learned? A) Work hard in your classes so you can get good grades and apply to the program and travel the world. Next opp is coming in January during winter break. Check the TGIP web page for details on applying. B) Jim Thompson is a great role model for you, not just in terms of success but also giving back to later generations. Don't forget! C) Richard Bartmess had way too much fun last summer. Yeah, I know!

MIS has the best faculty. Here's proof!

(Really sorry I'm just catching up with this but better late than never.) Just wanted to make sure everybody knows that, last April, one of our MIS faculty family was selected as the SJSU Outstanding Lecturer for the 2010/11 school year–Jeff Gaines. That's right, this award recognizes the best one on the entire campus and he got it! (Sorry the pic is a vid cap so kind of fuzzy but this is him giving his acceptance address. Here's an SJSU PR article about his award and it's got a better pic.)

Not that we're surprised. Those of us who know him always thought he should get it and it was just a matter of time. Finally the rest of the campus figured out what a smart, talented and dedicated teacher he is and made it official. Yay!

For those of you who haven't had a chance to be in class with him, let me tell you he's always working like crazy trying to make the student experience the best it can be. He has amazing Silicon Valley contacts that he brings into the classroom, he takes students up to the Web 2.0 conference in SF every years and gets them special admission to presentations, he works with the student club leadership council and takes them on camping retreats in the redwoods–he's a real asset to the campus and the university and we're lucky to have him.

Stop by his office sometime or send him a congrats email if you get a chance. Oh and try to get into his MIS elective (or his 188 sections if you're not an MIS student), but good luck. They tend to be packed, of course. Wish he had a twin we could hire, too.

you mean summer's actually...over? (oops!!!)

Sorry about the long hiatus from posting. Been a crazy summer and got a much needed, totally disconnected break in Italy for awhile. This pic is in a piazza (former Roman amphitheater) where gladiators (like me) once fought to the death (hmm...not so like me?) So I was totally in vacation zone but back now with a bunch of postings to catch up on. Lots of good stuff that went on and is going on in Il MIS Departmentino so more to come soon. CFN. (Ciao for now)

fall registration update: surge in demand for MIS courses!

We've got a buzz going! MIS is hot (as it should be) and showing an unexpected surge in enrollments already for Fall with some sections full or near full already. We are tracking the numbers and will do our best to make accommodations but please go ahead and get on waiting lists so we know how much demand we really have. 

Note: Bus 92 (or equivalent) is a PRE-requisite for 110A and this WILL be enforced by the instructor, even though the system allows you to register for both concurrently. There are many programming courses at the local community colleges that qualify as a 92 equivalent. (at least 3 units, hands-on computer programming assignments, any standard programming language) and it may be possible to take one yet this summer. (Check w/BSAC or MIS professors Albert or Aggarwal to be sure.)