Upcoming events

The CS-IDEA Committee is hosting a self-defense seminar for students, researchers, and staff in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering. There will be some physical contact with others during the seminar, mainly wrist grabs. We are hosting this event early in the semester to give students the opportunity to join the semester-long course if they are interested.

The event will be held on Monday, January 27 from 10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. at the University Recreation and Wellness Center - Multipurpose Room 6. 

Pizza and beverages will be provided at the conclusion of the event for participants. The event is free, but registration is required; please RSVP by Wednesday, January 22. 
 

The Computer Science & Engineering (CS&E) department is committed to supporting and recruiting a diverse community of students, staff, and faculty and helping everyone in this community to thrive. This requires deliberate work to build an inclusive and supportive environment for those from historically underrepresented and non-traditional backgrounds. The Computer Science Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Advocacy (CS-IDEA) committee aims to attract and retain diverse students, staff, and faculty in computer science and engineering and help all students, staff, and faculty thrive within the Department of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Minnesota.  

RSVP today!.

During each session, the graduate staff will review:

• Requirements (general)
• Applying
• Prerequisite requirements
• What makes a strong applicant
• Funding
• Resources
• Common questions
• Questions from attendees

Students considering the following programs should attend:

• Computer Science M.S.
• Computer Science M.C.S.
• Computer Science Ph.D.
• Data Science M.S.
• Data Science Post-Baccalaureate Certificate

The computer science colloquium takes place on Mondays from 11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. This week's speaker, Ken Goldberg (University of California, Berkeley), will be giving a talk titled "Is Data All You Need?: Large Robot Action Models and Good Old Fashioned Engineering".

Abstract

Enthusiasm has been skyrocketing for humanoids based on recent advances in "end-to-end" large robot action models. Initial results are promising, and several collaborative efforts are underway to collect the needed demonstration data. But is data really all you need?

Although end-to-end Large Vision, Language, Action (VLA) Models have potential to generalize and reliably solve all problems in robotics, initial results have been mixed.  It seems likely that the size of the VLA state space and dearth of available demonstration data, combined with challenges in getting models to generalize beyond the training distribution and the inherent challenges in interpreting and debugging large models, will make it difficult for pure end-to-end systems to provide the kind of robot performance that investors expect in the near future. 

In this presentation, I share my concerns about current trends in robotics, including task definition, data collection, and experimental evaluation.  I propose that to reach expected performance levels, we will need "Good Old Fashioned Engineering (GOFE)" – modularity, algorithms, and metrics.   I'll present MANIP, a modular systems architecture that can integrate learning with well-established procedural algorithmic primitives such as Inverse Kinematics, Kalman Filters, RANSAC outlier rejection, PID modules, etc. I’ll show how we are using MANIP to improve performance on robot manipulation tasks such as grasping, cable untangling, surgical suturing, motion planning, and bagging, and propose open directions for research.

Biography

Ken Goldberg is William S. Floyd Distinguished Chair of Engineering at UC Berkeley and Chief Scientist of Ambi Robotics and Jacobi Robotics. Ken leads research in robotics and automation: grasping, manipulation, and learning for applications in warehouses, industry, homes, agriculture, and robot-assisted surgery.  He is Professor of IEOR with appointments in EECS and Art Practice.  Ken is Chair of the Berkeley AI Research (BAIR) Steering Committee (60 faculty) and is co-founder and Editor-in-Chief emeritus of the IEEE Transactions on Automation

Science and Engineering (T-ASE). He has published ten US patents, over 400 refereed papers, and presented over 600 invited lectures to academic and corporate audiences. http://goldberg.berkeley.edu

RSVP Link
Thursday, May 8, 9 - 11 a.m.
University Recreation and Wellness Center - Beacon Room

All graduating students from the Computer Science, Data Science, and Bioinformatics and Computational Biology graduate programs, as well as their families and friends are invited to join the Department of Computer Science & Engineering in celebrating their accomplishments. This is a casual event to mingle with other graduates, take photos, and listen to speakers.  There will be light snacks and beverages at the event. This does not include a ceremony where names will be read and a stage crossing takes place.

College/University Commencement

Master's and Doctoral Degree Student Commencement 
Thursday, May 8 starting at 1 p.m.
3M Arena at Mariucci

Questions: [email protected]
Event website

RSVP Link
Thursday, May 15th, 9 - 11 a.m.
University Recreation and Wellness Center - Beacon Room

Graduating undergraduate students and some of their families and friends are invited to join the Department of Computer Science & Engineering in celebrating their accomplishments. This is a casual event to mingle with other graduates, take photos, and listen to speakers.  There will be light snacks and beverages at the event. This does not include a ceremony where names will be read and a stage crossing takes place. 

College/University Commencement

2025 College of Science & Engineering Undergraduate Commencement

Thursday, May 15, 2025
3M Arena at Mariucci
Noon - Doors open to graduates and guests
1 p.m. - Ceremony begins

Ceremony will also be streamed live.
Formal Invitation (pdf)

Questions: [email protected]
Event website

2025 College of Liberal Arts Undergraduate Commencement

Sunday, May 18, 2025
3M Arena at Mariucci

Two ceremonies (according to CLA major): 11 am and 4 pm. Details will be released early in the Spring 2024 semester (check the CLA event page below for updates).

Questions: [email protected]
Event website
CLA Commencement FAQ Page