the mobile montage

a collection of scattered thoughts on mobile technology and related topics…

Hello GVSU, Hello World!

Posted on | August 26, 2009 | 2 Comments

Hello GVSU School of Computing, College of Engineering, faculty, students, friends! After almost two decades of working in industry, I’ve recently joined the faculty at this wonderful institution. In some ways, I’m not very new around here. I actually graduated with my B.S. here way way back in 1987 before went off to graduate school at MSU (go Spartans!). Since 2002 I’ve occasionally served as an Adjunct Prof., teaching courses in the School of CIS graduate program. However, in other ways, I’m very new around here. GVSU is far from the tiny liberal arts college nestled in the pastures of Allendale, MI that I knew back in the mid-80s. Today it is Michigan’s fastest growing public university (~ 24k students) with a number of absolutely drop dead gorgeous new campuses spread around the various communities of West Michigan.  Along with all these new and grand facilities are of course a lot of new faces.  Most of the faculty who inspired me over two decades ago are now retired (thanks Bruce, Georgi, Ken and many others – you all were great teachers who had enormous impact on thousands of young budding computer scientists!) and replaced with yet more young, bright, and able faculty members from all over the globe.  I look forward to meeting and collaborating with my many new colleagues here in the School of CIS and across the university community.

Part of my new adventure here at GVSU involves heading up the new Mobile Applications and Services Laboratory. Our goal is to provide an environment in which students and faculty in the School of CIS can explore, innovate and conduct original research in the new and exciting area of mobile technology. We view this lab as a sort of sandbox in which experimental application research can be conducted by students and faculty but also a facility which can be leveraged by our computer science curriculum moving forward.

Hello also to the rest of the world out there! In addition to this page serving as my obligatory faculty “homepage” here at GVSU, it will also serve as my blog. Moving forward, on these pages you will find fresh details on what we are doing here in our lab at the university, and we also hope to share our perspective on what’s going on out there as well.

If you are part of the GVSU community, please stop by and say hello! My office is in C2-215 Mackinac Hall.  If you are part of the mobile technology community please check in as well.  You’ll find links on the right to the various communities I engage in.  Looking forward to hearing from you all!

Comments

2 Responses to “Hello GVSU, Hello World!”

  1. philip trosko
    September 9th, 2009 @ 10:38 am

    John,

    Am excited for you, your enthusiasm for computing and computer science never ends! I haven’t visited grand valley during the daytime yet, possibly I will look you up whilst visiting my aunt in grand rapids.

    This fall if you are around MSU or the lansing area, I would enjoy seeing you. Our paths have been quite different, I still enjoy computer science, however more of a problem seeker than solver these days. IF any of our old classmates are around I would enjoy speaking with or receiving them too here at the home.

    phil of sylvan glen…

  2. GVSU’s fabulous skyline is getting even better! : the mobile montage
    November 13th, 2009 @ 2:37 pm

    […] on | November 13, 2009 | No Comments When I recently returned to my roots here at GVSU, I not only had to an assimilate an amazingly altered campus from what I left behind back in 1988, […]

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    Jonathan Engelsma

    Jonathan Engelsma is a computer scientist, programmer, teacher, mobile technology enthusiast, inventor, beekeeper and life long learner. He is currently a Professor in GVSU's School of Computing, where he leads the GVSU Mobile Applications and Services Laboratory.

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