Tuesday, December 28, 2010

SSTD Testimonial: Betsy George, Oracle Spatial

Attending the SSTD '07 conference in Boston as a student to present a paper was easily one of the most outstanding experiences during my PhD years. To present a paper to an audience that consisted of most pioneers in the area of spatial databases was an invaluable experience. The encouragement and the feedback I received from the experts in Spatial databases helped me define my research problem more clearly and sharpen the focus of my research. The conference provided me with ample opportunities for one-on-one discussions with well-known researchers, who have done path-breaking research in the area of Spatial network databases, which was the focus of my PhD thesis. The relatively smaller size of the conference (around 250 attendees) made these interactions possible and easy. The extremely valuable discussions I had with Prof Guting, who pioneered the research in Graph databases still stand out in my memory. The conference also provided opportunities to meet members from organizations such as ESRI and Oracle Corporation who work in the real world implementations of Spatial databases. It was extremely motivating to discuss and learn about the applications of the research I was involved in and these discussions definitely played a great role in my evaluation of various career choices after my graduation.

Betsy George, Oracle Spatial

Edit: Typo in SSTD year.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

SSTD Testimonial: B. M. Kazar

I attended SSTD 2007 with great pleasure. I had many chances to meet many big names within the conference, I had chance to meet Dr. Jiawei Han, Dr. Cyrus Shahabi. The reception of the conference was good time as ice-breaker event and had good discussions with conference organizers and participants about the conference. The demos and the keynote talks in the conference were very interesting and brought interesting discussions in the conference. Discussions after the demos were very helpful and they continued after the conference.

-B. M. Kazar

Monday, December 13, 2010

Minnesota in August!

The Science Museum of Minnesota, founded in 1907, is a large regional science museum located on the banks of the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul. The Science Museum's programs combine research and collection facilities, a public science education center, extensive teacher education and school outreach programs, and an Imax Convertible Dome Omnitheater to provide science education to our audience of more than a million people per year.

MN Renaissance Fair! - The Minnesota Renaissance Festival is celebrating it's 40th Anniversary this year! Come and be a part of this long-standing tradition by visiting the festival grounds in Shakopee, MN. Experience:

August 17 - 22 - Steele County Free Fair, Owatonna - Celebrate with the State in 2010. The Steele County Free Fair is much more than a county fair...it's a family affair! (800) 423-6466 (6120)

August 18 - 22 - Swift County Fair, Appleton - (6121)

August 20 - 2010 Gustavus Oratorio Festival, Gustavus - Gustavus Choir and Symphony Conductor Gregory Aune leads the first annual Gustavus Oratorio Festival in Christ Chapel. High school choirs attending the event will spend the day in rehearsals, vocal masters classes and clinics as they prepare for an evening performance of oratorio masterworks with the Gustavus Symphony Orchestra. 507-933-7347 Christ Chapel & Schaefer Fine Arts Center (6111)

August 26 - September 6 - Minnesota State Fair , St. Paul - (651) 288-4427 (6122)