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Seminar Schedule

We bring in a variety of speakers to campus to talk about things that might not normally be covered in our classes.

When possible, these seminars are recorded and made available to current students and faculty/staff in this Google Drive folder (requires 1Hope login).

Unless otherwise noted, all seminars take place from 11–11:50 a.m. in VanderWerf room 102.

Fall 2025

September 4 — Summer project presentations part 1

Eleanor Koh, Raighen Ly, Bryson Quakenbush, Denisse Ramos Guzman will present their work on ASPIRES: The Academic Skills, Planning, and Intentional Relationships for Engagement and Success application.

Alem Kemal will present his work on Classifying patient handling tasks to reduce risk of muskulosleletal injury in nursing students.

September 18 —Summer project presentations part 2

The following student teams will present their work:

Gillian Donley and Camila Medrano
Sam Buck and Jonathan Jun Han Chia
Caiden Sunlin and Connor Vachon

October 2— discussion groups on AI use in CS (Schaap 1118)

This seminar has been postponed until Spring Semester.

Several years ago a group of computer science students and faculty collaborated to draft a policy on AI use in computer science classes. At this combination seminar/lunch, you'll have a chance to help refine this policy through your feedback.

October 16 — Brian Tol, Mutually human

The Intent Pyramid: Why Software Engineers Are More Valuable Than Ever in the Age of AI

As AI tools become increasingly capable of generating code, many CS students wonder whether they're studying for jobs that will soon disappear. This talk reframes that anxiety using the Intent Pyramid framework: software projects flow from abstract business goals down through features, architecture, and finally to code—with each layer multiplying decisions exponentially. While AI excels at the bottom of this pyramid (generating implementation details at superhuman speed), humans remain essential for shepherding intent, maintaining alignment across layers, and ensuring that thousands of technical decisions ultimately serve their intended purpose. You'll learn why your role is evolving from code writer to intent shepherd—a promotion, not a demotion—and discover practical strategies for thriving in this AI-augmented future where your impact is about to explode.

October 30 — Dr. Catie Welsh

Title and abstract to be determined.

November 13 — Mike Harris, Worksighted

Title and abstract to be determined.

December 4 — Student independent study presentations

More information to be provided at a later date.