(Photo of Dan) Me | Travel | Schedule | Awards | Activities | Fun | Skool | 6-month Plan | Life Plan | Contact

Dr. Dan Garcia : Full Frontal Nerdity

Dr. Dan Garcia
ddgarcia@cs.berkeley.edu

There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart...pursue those.
-- Anonymous
Dan and Yuan Garcia @ 3 years @ Jasons Wedding

Who am I? (Hi-from-Dan Sound) (short biography, curriculum vitæ)

I'm a Lecturer SOE in the Computer Science division of the EECS department at the University of California, Berkeley. I graduated with a Ph.D. from the same department in May 2000, where I worked with the OPTICAL project doing Computer Graphics and Scientific Visualization. On the personal side, I'm married to the beautiful and brilliant Tao Ye and have two wonderful children: son Yuan and daughter Talia.

Teaching

In the Spring of 2012 I'll be teaching a wonderful, new introductory computing course: CS10 : The Beauty and Joy of Computing (chosen as one of 5 national Advanced Placement pilot courses!), EECS302 : Designing EECS Education, and coordinating the self-paced classes. We (co-PIs Lecturer SOE Brian Harvey and Prof Tiffany Barnes of UNCC) just received two NSF CE21 grants to train local Bay Area teachers and 100 more nationwide in our AP CS Principles Beauty and Joy of Computing course using the awesome Snap! (Build Your Own Blocks) graphical programming environment and the Blown to Bits book. I'll also be taking this course online as CS10w, as we were chosen to be one of the 25 pilot courses for the OIPP initiative.

Service

I'm deeply interested and active in computer science education, having presented at the SIGCSE annual conference every year since 2001. I'm actively involved with a 3-year (2008-2011) Ensemble NSF project to bring computing to the family of NSDL Pathway projects. I currently serve on the ACM Education Board (chairing the Technology that Educators of Computing Hail [TECH] project), the College Board's AP Computing Advisory Group, the GRE Computer Science Committee, and the faculty advisor for BFOIT, a wonderful Berkeley outreach effort. I'm co-guest-editor (with Moti Ben-Ari and Tom Murphy) of the upcoming TOCE journal Special Issue on Concurrent, Parallel and Distributed Computation. I'm the faculty advisor for our local chapter of Eta Kappa Nu, the EECS honor society. Finally, I do everything I can to help our local CSTA chapter (CA-Golden Gate) thrive through monthly meetings I facilitate on campus (and running CS4HS workshops every summer).

Active RAD (Research, Art & Development) Student Groups and Projects

I'm quite enthusiastic about the RAD (research, art & development) groups I advise. If you're interested in joining one of these groups (shown below), check their schedules for times and locations.

Game Theory
(GamesCrafters)
Graphics
(UCBUGG)
Mac Programming
(MS-DOS X)
CS Illustrated Ensemble
Computing Portal

(often wacky!)

(who are often wacky!)

(who are often wacky!)

(who are often wacky!)

(who are often wacky!)
Spring 2012 Mtgs
MWF 11am-noon in 606 Soda
[First mtg 2011-01-18]
Spring 2012 Mtgs
TuTh 7-9pm in 200 Sutardja-Dai Hall
[First mtg 2011-01-17]
(Taught as a Decal)
Spring 2012 Mtgs
TuTh 5-7pm in 200 Sutardja-Dai Hall
[First mtg 2011-01-17]
(Taught as a Decal)
Spring 2012 Mtgs
F 12-1pm in 777 Soda
Spring 2012 Mtgs
F 3-4pm in 777 Soda

Not-so-active recent RAD Projects

Weiner Lecture Archives (WLA) Time-lapse HD

Upcoming Travel

* 2012-01-19 - 2012-01-22: (Week 01    RFSS) Caribbean Computing Center for Excellence (CCCE) NSF site visit in San Juan, PR
* 2012-02-02 - 2012-02-04: (Week 03    RFS ) 2012 Computing Education for the 21st Century (CE21) PI and Community Mtg in Washington, DC
* 2012-02-13 - 2012-02-13: (Week 05 M      ) Round Table BJC at Educating for Careers Conference in Sacramento, CA
* 2012-02-16 - 2012-02-19: (Week 05    RFSS) CS GRE Meeting in Princeton, NJ
* 2012-02-29 - 2012-03-03: (Week 07  TWRFSS) SIGCSE 2012 in Raleigh, NC
* 2012-03-15 - 2012-03-16: (Week 09    RF  ) NSF Workshop in Computing for Underrepresented Ethnic Minorities and People with Disabilities in Atlanta, GA
* 2012-03-23 - 2012-03-24: (Week 10     FS ) CCSC-SW 2012 in Stockton, CA
* 2012-03-29 - 2012-03-30: (Week 11    RFS ) CCSC-CP 2012 in Springfield, MO
* 2012-04-13 - 2012-04-13: (Week 13    RFSS) Summit on Transforming High School Computer Science Education in Puerto Rico in San Juan, PR
* 2012-04-26 - 2012-04-27: (Week 15    RF  ) EECS Faculty Retreat in Lafayette, CA

Spring 2012 Tentative Schedule

Dan Garcia : Schedule
proposed
items
in italics
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
10:00 CS302
Staff Mtg
777 Soda

Working from home

(off-campus)

Self-Paced
Staff Mtg
200 Sutardja-Dai

Working from home

(off-campus)

Luke Segars
Mtg
777 Soda
10:00
10:30 10:30

11:00

GamesCrafters
Meeting
606 Soda
GamesCrafters
Meeting
606 Soda
GamesCrafters
Meeting
606 Soda

11:00

11:30

11:30

12:00

Faculty
Lunch
Woz
FRABJOUS CS
Lunch Mtg
Northside
CS Illustrated
Staff Mtg
777 Soda

12:00

12:30

12:30

1:00

CS302
Class
606 Soda
FRABJOUS CS
Lunch Mtg
Northside

1:00

1:30

1:30

2:00 CS10
Staff Mtg
777 Soda
All Classes
Office Hrs
777 Soda

2:00

2:30

2:30

3:00

CS10
Lecture
10 Evans
CS10
Lecture
10 Evans
Ensemble
Staff Mtg
777 Soda

3:00

3:30

3:30

Teaching Awards

* 2011 CS10 : The Beauty and Joy of Computing chosen as a NSF CE21 grant winner (2 years after we started offering it)
* 2011 CS10 : The Beauty and Joy of Computing chosen as a UC Online Pilot (2 years after we started offering it)
* 2010 CS10 : The Beauty and Joy of Computing chosen as one of five National Pilots for new non-majors computing course AP CS : Principles by College Board (2 years after we decided to create it)
* 2006 Highest HKN Teaching Effectiveness rating (6.7) of any EECS LowerDiv instructor, ever (2 years after the previous high mark)
* 2005 UC Berkeley Everyday / Unsung Hero (2 years after my promotion to PSOE)
* 2005 CS Division IT Faculty Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2 years after my promotion to PSOE)
* 2004 Highest HKN Teaching Effectiveness rating (6.6) of any CS LowerDiv instructor, ever (tied w/1 other) (2 years after the McEntyre Award)
* 2002 CS Division Diane S. McEntyre Award for Excellence in Teaching (2 years after my UCB CS Ph.D.)
* 1997 EECS Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor (2 years after my UCB CS M.S.)
* 1992 UCB Outstanding CS Graduate Student Instructor (2 years after my MIT CS B.S.)
 

RAD Activities (archived)

* Computer Science Education (along with course development and diversity / community outreach)
LEGEND
* Birds of a Feather
* Special Session
* Workshop
* Paper
* Poster
* Invited Talk
* Panel
2012
* Garcia, Daniel D. The Beauty and Joy of Computing (bjc), AP CS Principles, and the CS 10k effort (Invited Talk), Rutgers Computer Science Colloquium, New Brunswick, NJ, Jan 2012.
* Astrachan, Owen; Briggs, Amy; Uche, Chinma; Dovi, Rebecca; Garcia, Daniel D.; Simon, Beth; and Chakravarty, Auditi. AP CS Principles (Panel), 2012 CE21 PI and Community Meeting, Washington, DC, February 2-3, 2012.
* Garcia, Daniel D. and Harvey, Brian ROUND TABLE: The Beauty and Joy of Computing (BJC), AP CS Principles, and the CS 10K Effort in Educating for Careers High School CTE conference (Special Session), Sacramento, CA, 2012-02-13
* Garcia, Daniel D.; Ginat, David Demystifying Computing with Magic (Special Session), SIGCSE 2012, Raleigh, NC, March 1-3, 2012.
* Garcia, Daniel D.; Ericson, Barbara; Goode, Joanna; and Lewis, Colleen Rediscovering the Passion, Beauty, Joy, and Awe: Making Computing Fun Again, part 5 (Panel), SIGCSE 2012, Raleigh, NC, March 1-3, 2012.
* Harvey, Brian; Garcia, Daniel D.; Paley, Josh; and Segars, Luke Snap! (Build Your Own Blocks) (Workshop), SIGCSE 2012, Raleigh, NC, March 1-3, 2012.
* Garcia, Daniel D.; Harvey, Brian; Titterton, Nathaniel; Segars, Luke; Lemon, Eugene; Morris, Sean; Paley, Josh AP CS Principles and The Beauty and Joy of Computing Curriculum (Workshop), SIGCSE 2012, Raleigh, NC, March 1-3, 2012.
* Garcia, Daniel D. and Segars, Luke. Technology that Educators of Computing Hail (TECH): Come, share your favorites! (Birds of a Feather), SIGCSE 2012, Raleigh, NC, March 1-3, 2012.
* Garcia, Daniel D., Paul, Jody; and Sherriff, Mark S. Teaching Track Faculty in CS (Birds of a Feather), SIGCSE 2012, Raleigh, NC, March 1-3, 2012.
* Garcia, Daniel D. The Beauty and Joy of Computing (bjc), AP CS Principles, and the CS 10k effort (Keynote), Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges : Southwestern Region conference 2012, Stockton, CA, March 23-24, 2012.
* Garcia, Daniel D.; Paley, Josh; and Segars, Luke Snap! (Build Your Own Blocks) (Workshop), Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges : Southwestern Region conference 2012, Stockton, CA, March 23-24, 2012.
* Garcia, Daniel D. The Beauty and Joy of Computing (bjc), AP CS Principles, and the CS 10k effort (Keynote), Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges : Central Plains Region conference 2012, Springfield, MO, March 30, 2012.
* Garcia, Daniel D. Snap! (Build Your Own Blocks) (Workshop), Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges : Central Plains Region conference 2012, Springfield, MO, March 30, 2012.
* Garcia, Daniel D. The Beauty and Joy of Computing (bjc), AP CS Principles, and the CS 10k effort (Keynote), Summit on Transforming High School Computer Science Education in Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR, April 13, 2012.
* Garcia, Daniel D. Snap! (Build Your Own Blocks) (Workshop), Summit on Transforming High School Computer Science Education in Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR, April 13, 2012.
* Computational Game Theory (I developed Gamesman under Prof. Elwyn Berlekamp!)
* Berkeley Graphics Recreational Computer Graphics & Animation (Here is some CGI I've done with textures and icons)
* Programming Mac OS X, iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads

Fun Interests

* Heart Candy (friends)
* Tao Ye, mi amor y esposa
* Dr. Michael Rehl, my best friend (since 1977!), who's now a Walnut Creek Chiropractor!
* Family and friends, although keeping up with email is difficult
* GTAT: Angie Schuett, Drew Roselli, Dan Rice and Fielding Mellish
* Jaycito Cofresi, my second cousin from 'da Bronx
* Ronnen Levinson, my fellow upstate NYer ex-housemate
* Would you believe I'm not the only Dan Garcia!
* (Icon of CCS Alumni) Cooperstown Central School (NY) Alumni
* Eye Candy (Television and Movies)
* Thu 30 Rock
* Thu Parks and Recreation
* Thu The Office
* Anything by Aardman Animations (like Wallace & Gromit)
* Body Candy (Sports and Recreation)
* Golf! (low:93, avg:100) My swing w/iron and wood 1, 2, 3 times has changed!! I once hit two birdies!
* Ultimate
* Hoops My high school hoops team finished fourth in the state and has been inducted into the school's athletics Hall of Fame!
* Rock Climbing at the RSF, Tilden Park and nearby parks
* Softball. My ex-teams: Badness 10000 and NP Complete Idiots (who went 8-0 in league play!). I batted, uh, pretty well
* Juggling I learned to do a 5-ball cascade!
* Brain Candy (Puzzles and Games and Learning)
* Puzzles (logic, math, programming, etc.) Books, videos and CDROMs I own
* My Atari 2600, 7800 & emulators. Wanna trade carts?
* Computer Games: TIM, Firestorm, Smart Games, MacMAME.
* Ear Candy (Music and Humor)
* Listening to Monty Python and memorizing sketches
* Jazz, Salsa, Classic Rock, Folk, Rap, Classical, Opera
* Woody Allen films, books, CDs Moose Kidnapped Eyesight
* Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, Cheech & Chong, Eddie Murphy, Smothers Brothers, and other classic comedians
* Random comedy. (e.g. the real and faked "bambulance")
* Random Candy
* My Apple 3.0GHz 8-core 16GiB-RAM 3TB-HD Mac Pro and 3.06GHz 17-inch 8GiB-RAM MacBook Pro (Ferris Sound)
* (Icon of SPAM) SPAM (the food)
* Puerto Rico (PR Flag) ¡Soy Borinqueño (de Nueva York)... Soy ¡Nuyorican!

Education

* Fatherhood! 2005, 2009
* Ph.D. in Computer Science UCB 2000
* M.S. in Computer Science UCB 1995
* B.S. in Computer Science (VI-III) MIT 1990 (entered in Class of 1989) Baker House
* B.S. in Electrical Engineering (VI-I) MIT 1990 (entered in Class of 1989)
* N.Y.S. Regents Diploma from Cooperstown (NY) Central HS 1985
* Public Grade School Education from Public School 94 in 'da Bronx, NY (just like comedian Robert Klein!)

Six month plan

* Be a great mentor to my Master's student Luke Segars.
* Teach CS10 (The Beauty and Joy of Computing), CS302 (Designing EECS Education), and the self-paced courses
* Polish the Technology that Educators of Computing Hail (TECH) site for eventual full-scale launch by adding a reward system.
* Build Ensemble, the NSDL Computing Pathway
* Be a great EECS / CITRIS AV Czar

Life plan (Monty Python Sound)

* Be a super dad to my two children, a super husband to my wife Tao, and a super [grand]son to my [grand]parents.
* Be the best computer science instructor I can be.
* Research my family genealogy
* Reduce personal entropy.
* Break 90 on the links (previous low: 93 on par 72 course)


Dan Garcia (ddgarcia@cs.berkeley.edu) This page last modified: 2012-02-09@18:07:27 PST
Office: 777 Soda Hall, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720-1776 (o) 510-517-4041 (f) 510-642-5775
Computer Science Dept., UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, (Bay Area)

Made With Macintosh | Berkeley | Computer Science View Dan Garcia's profile on LinkedIn

(Dan Picture) This is the representative icon for this page. If you ever see it on other pages, clicking on it will bring you back here.