Today I finished my last exam of my undergraduate career. Next Saturday, my five years at Northeastern University will culminate with graduation at the Boston Garden (formerly the FleetCenter). Where I will go from here, is still very much in the air–industry, academia, New York, California, or just staying right here.
A Brief Look Back
Me during my freshman year
In the fall of 2000, when I brought that first cart load into Stetson West, 2005 seemed a great ways off. Much like today, seeing the banner for “Welcome Class of 2010” seems like a far off time. I look at this picture of me taken for COM1121 (freshman intro class for Co-Op) and am shocked at how young I feel like I look–considering how these past five years seem like such a blur at this point. (For comparison here is a recent photo)
My three years at Harvard as a Co-Op, while great times, are quickly moving further away. It is odd to think that it was a year ago that I left.
The strangest part of graduating is knowing that I will have no real need to come back to campus. This campus has evolved so much and continues to do so that when I do come back to visit I’ll probably barely recognize anything. But hopefully I’ll return for the christening of the Haggerty Usability Lab, a joke my HCI lab friends always made.
What’s Next
Throughout my college career, I was never truly free of obligations. With the Northeastern schedule I was either in classes or on Co-Op year round. Even last summer I took on some freelance work to fill my days. It is a bit exhilarating knowing that I am out of the Northeastern routine. But now, I’m left with the daunting task of discovering my career path.
With attendees fashioning wearable computers and discovering that other people, independently of myself, were taking pictures of the MAX’s accessibility features, it was apparent that CHI was in town. Today the CHI conference’s main events began, featuring presentations on full and short papers, interactive expositions, and companies show their wares and recruiting.
Opening Plenary
Randy Pausch of CMU opened the conference with a powerful talk on pushing for greater interdisciplinary work. Although, his talk overall was laden with hints at how great CMU is–not to say that was a bad thing. Randy showcased a lot of great work that they were doing, projects which are way beyond what our lab could do at this time.
What I got out of his talk was his ideas about working collaboratively across fields. Artists working with scientists or designers working with engineers and all the other various combinations which could be made. A lot of it comes down to having trust and faith in other people–people who are strong in areas which you may be weak. The challenges we hope to tackle cannot be solved if we continue to only work amongst ourselves.
Sessions
Aside from the presentations from our lab, which went very well, there was some other interesting work presented that I got a chance to hear about:
- An Evaluation of Landmarks for Re-Finding Information on the Web discussed a novel way of basically augmenting bookmarks by allowing the user to make “landmarks” out of specific information on a page. Typically you bookmark a page either because you frequently visit the site or you want to save a particular piece of information. The landmark concept allows you to catalog those bits of information.
- Location Disclosure to Social Relations: Why, When, & What People Want to Share spoke of the degree to which people are willing to reveal information to a person, typically over the phone, based on their location. Not surprisingly people’s managers were the least likely to get the truth from a person.
CHI Reception
Attendees met at the Hilton conference hotel for a police escorted CHI parade, lead by drummers, to head to the reception venue. Confused Portlanders looked on as a socially reserved crowd traversed the city streets.
The reception took place at the Crystal Ballroom, known apparently for its bouncy wooden floor–a floor which creeped me out most of the night. Although, the food and craft beers were enjoyable.
Related Links
We were up and about early today to get what appears to be our only day for exploring the city of Portland. Luckily the weather provided a mild sunny day as the backdrop for our trek throughout the city.
Downtown Portland
Portland has turned out to be more urban than I had thought. Being a more modern city, in relation to Boston, the urban planning made getting around quite easy. I still cannot get over how much I’m in love with Tri-Met (Portland’s public transit system). Some of their methods probably would not work in Boston, such as the honor system based fare collection. But, at the very least I think Tri-Met employees actually enjoy their jobs and want to help their customers.
Powell’s bookstore, a location that many Portlanders seem to pride themselves in, definitely was a great place to visit. Aside from the six stories of books there is an art gallery which featured works from some local artists. Art is actually fairly prominent in the city, as there are many sculptures throughout the city squares.
Japanese Gardens
Just outside downtown are the Japanese and rose gardens. While the roses have yet to come out, the Japanese gardens were a beautiful sight. The area also provided a magnificent view of the city’s skyline.
Local Brews
Jun and I headed out to the Hawthorne area of town with another tourist to get a taste of the local brews. At the Bridgeport pub we enjoyed the craft brews sampler–an assortment of their best beers. You can’t beat some good beer with some liberal political talk.
Up Next
Tomorrow, the main conference begins–presentations, meetings, and hopefully some parties (does that happen?).
Related Links
After a bit of an ordeal with flights, today we arrived in “green” Portland Oregon. While only being able to do a limited amount of exploring, it seems that Portland has a lot going on. Pre-conference events have begun and there is certainly an HCI vibe pouring out into the streets.
Flight Madness
Upon arriving at Logan airport this morning for my 7:35 Northwest Airlines flight I was informed of a delay, which in turn meant I would miss my connecting flight. Northwest booked me on an American Airlines flight but I had little time to get from terminal E to terminal B. Just my luck too, I was detained for additional screening at security. Fortunately, I made it to the gate for last call.
The View of Portland
Exploring has been limited mainly to the areas around the Oregon Convention Center, but Portland truly is a “green” city. I cannot believe how clean the streets and trains are. Almost everything says it was made from recycled materials. The train schedules even go as far as to ask you to return the schedule once you are finished.
Our view from the hotel room looks directly upon the convention center. It looks pretty amazing at night with the spires lit up. In many ways it reminds me of I.M. Pei’s glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris.
On Tap for Day 2
The CHI events for tomorrow mostly include workshops and tutorials, all of which require additional fees–fees that the university would not cover. Therefore, I’m spending most of tomorrow doing some traveling around Portland and checking out the city a little more. The main events of conference run from Tuesday through Thursday so Monday will really be my only free time during my stay.
Related Links
Northeastern University’s College of Computer and Information Science HCI Research Lab, a lab I’m a part of, is headed off to Portland, OR for the CHI conference to present some of our most recent research work. Aside from attending the presentations and networking with colleagues, hopefully I’ll get a chance to check out the Portland area.
What is CHI and What are We Doing There?
CHI 2005 is the premier international conference for human-computer interaction.
Peter Tarasewich, Jun Gong, and I will be presenting our work on text entry methods for mobile devices:
Additionally, my colleague, Andrea Grimes, will be taking part in a workshop on Social Implications of Ubiquitous Computing. Primarily looking at privacy concerns in the mobile context.
Portland Skyline
Portland, OR
Flickr provides a pictorial view of Portland which I’ll be adding to during my visit.
I’m still in the processing of deciding what sights and areas I want to explore. Unfortunately according to the weather forecast for next week, it’s going to be raining for the extent of my trip.
The developing agenda includes visiting some local breweries and Japanese gardens, possibly taking part in a walking tour of Portland.
The Hotel
I’ll be staying at the Red Lion Hotel which is in close proximity to the convention center. A9 provides a less glamorous view of the hotel.
Job Searching
With graduation approaching in just under a few weeks, I’m in the process of searching for a full time job. CHI should be a great opportunity for me to network with others from my field, as well as get a chance to speak with some great companies.
What’s to Come
Throughout the conference I’ll be reporting on the events, posting pictures, and most importantly enjoying a long over due trek out of Boston.
Related Links
