Outstanding Chapter Activity 2011-2012

Name: University of Peloponnisos ACM Student Chapter

Address    Tripolis, Greece

About the chapter

The University of Peloponnisos ACM Student Chapter was founded in 2005 by the Department of Computer Science and Technology in Tripolis. The Chapter's aims are to promote the interest and education in various aspects of Computer Science among the students of the University, and to provide a means for communication and networking for individuals interested in computing. Furthermore, the Chapter motivates students to take part in computing conferences and contests so as to promote research at undergraduate level.

The chapter is officially composed of the officers and about 20 active members. Moreover there are also a lot of supporting students, who are not members of the chapter but attend most of our events. 

About the University and the Department

The University of Peloponnisos was established in 2000 and its operation started in 2002 with the launch of the Department of Computer Science and Technology and the Department of Telecommunications Science and Technology of the Faculty of Science and Technology in Tripolis, Arcadia. The University of Peloponnisos is a multidisciplinary university, also comprising the Schools of Humanities and Culture Studies, of Social Sciences, of Management and Economics, of Fine Arts, and of Human Motion and Quality of Life Sciences.

The Department of Computer Science and Technology has as its mission the cultivation of the science and technology of computer information processing systems and their applications, as well as the training of computer scientists according to the needs of the economy, research, industry and education. The Department offers a modern curriculum of undergraduate studies covering cutting-edge issues such us embedded systems, virtual reality, internet technology and artificial intelligence. It also offers the opportunity for postgraduate studies and research. The Department accepts 90 students each year.

Outstanding Chapter Activities

The board and the members of our chapter are all very active, trying our best in order to organize and promote various activities.

We have organized several events and activities the last two years. The previous year 2010-2011 has gone unexpectedly well and all our events have been very successful. Some of the events that we conducted were:

1. Algorithmic thinking 
   http://uop.acm.org/algorithmic%20thinking.html
2. 802.11 security. How to secure your wireless network. Analyzing WEP security
   http://uop.acm.org/WEP.html 
3. 802.11 security. Analyzing WPA/WPA2 security
   http://uop.acm.org/WPA.html
4. Introduction to shell programming 
   http://uop.acm.org/Shell%20prog.html
5. Introduction to the Linux OS. Set up and use of Ubuntu 
   http://uop.acm.org/Linux%20os%201.html
6. Introduction to HTML and Javascript 
   http://uop.acm.org/Javascript.html
7. Introduction to LaTeX
   http://uop.acm.org/Latex.html
8. Xilinx Spartan 6. Learn how to program and use
   http://uop.acm.org/xilinx%20spartan.html
9. Libre office writer capabilities 
   http://uop.acm.org/Libreoffice.html
10. Participation in FOSSCOMM 2011 (a greek open source conference)
11. Participation in OpenFest 2011 (a greek open source conference)

Among them the most interest gathered the two 802.11 security events (100 attendees), as well as the ones on Shell programming, Javascript and Linux.

So, the current year 2011-2012 we tried to give our best in order to strengthen our chapter activities and to not disappoint our followers. Let's take a look at our activities:

1)    The computer from scratch – Assembling a Computer

University courses are mostly theoretical, so we wanted to show our fellow students some more practical things about computers. We took all the parts out of a computer case and showed them how to put them all inside in the right way. We also showed them how to choose the parts they need wisely when it's time to build their own computer. This event had 40 attendees. 

            http://uop.acm.org/Pc%20from%20scratch.html

2)    Phishing – How to protect from hackers

Nowadays computer safety is at great risk. Everyone should be interested in the safety of his computer and his files. In this seminar we demonstrated the audience how easily someone can access their files through the internet. Then we showed them what they should do in order to be protected and prevent the hackers from “stealing” their files. 45 students attended this seminar.

            http://uop.acm.org/Phishing.html

3)    Beginning with the Linux OS

Our chapter is highly interested in open source programs and operating systems. Furthermore in our department it's highly recommended to use Linux in order to program in C, C++, Java, etc. This seminar presented the process of installing the Linux OS. We also showed the most common system tools and applications available on Linux. We had 30 attendees.

            http://uop.acm.org/Linux%20os%202.html

4)    Linux installfest

            At this event we installed Linux OS on many people's laptops, and showed them            how to use this operating system. 10 attendees.

            http://uop.acm.org/Installfest.html

5)    Discovering the BIOS

Having already demonstrated how to build a computer, in this seminar we showed what the BIOS is, how it works, and what can be achieved by modifying some of its parameters. There were 40 attendees.

            http://uop.acm.org/BIOS.html

6)    Overclocking

Continuing on the hardware topics, the next seminar had to do with overclocking some parts of our computer such us CPU and RAM. We took an old computer and we showed live how to tweak BIOS settings in order to achieve better performance. There were 30 attendees.

            http://uop.acm.org/OC.html

7)    Remote access

This seminar continued the one on “Phishing – How to protect from hackers”. It showed the techniques that the hackers use in order to access our files without our noticing them. There were 20 attendees.

            http://uop.acm.org/Remote%20access.html

8)    Is there free will? Ramifications for computer science

This seminar combined psychology and computer science. It showed the catalytic role that psychology has when creating computer programs, especially ones designed for use in virtual reality and artificial intelligence. There were 35 attendees.

            http://uop.acm.org/free%20will.html

9)    Participation in the open source conference FOSSCOMM 2012

FOSSCOMM is an open source conference organized each year by a different  CS university department in Greece. The chapter is promoting FOSSCOMM 2012 at our university and several members of the chapter are going to attend the conference. Next year we plan to propose to organize it at our department!

            http://fosscomm.gr

 

Our semester is not over yet. So we will be organizing more activities in the remaining weeks. These are:

1. How to use Photoshop

2. Presentation of RaspBerry Pi http://www.raspberrypi.org/

3. Showing school children how to behave responsibly online and protect themselves from the dangers all over the Internet. 
   This is an activity that we have been organizing all this year. We have made an agreement with local authorities in order to authorize us to present this material in primary and secondary schools of the area, we have prepared the relevant material, and we are about to begin the presentations in the coming weeks. But you will probably hear more about this community activity next year!