Google Student Blog

‘Paying It Forward’ in honor of Black History Month

February 22, 2017

Challenge Spotlight: ‘Paying It Forward’ in honor of Black History Month
BGN_Friday Group 01.jpg

Are you a social change agent in your community or know someone who is? If so, we invite you to join Google’s fourth annual “Pay It Forward” Challenge. The deadline to submit an application is March 10, 2017, at 11:59 pm PST.
At Google, we value diversity and inclusion, and we support individuals who do the same. In honor of Black History Month, undergraduate and graduate students are invited to showcase how they have positively impacted and influenced their local communities within the US. In particular, we’re seeking leaders whose work has demonstrated a commitment to expanding access and opportunities for the Black community.
Last year, we showcased the work of two groups paving the way for leadership in their communities; the Spelman College section of the National Council of Negro Women and the Detroit Revitalization and Business Initiative (Detroit R&B) at the Ross School of Business.
To apply:

Please review our Pay It Forward FAQ

Then complete this entry form and tell us how you have positively impacted the Black community

Criteria to apply:

Individuals who:

Currently attend an undergraduate or graduate school at an accredited college or university in the United States

Demonstrate a commitment to expanding access and opportunity for their local community

Submissions will be judged by a team of Googlers who will be assessing the innovation, scale and the short- and long-term effects of your impact. The organizations that are chosen will be featured here on the Google Students Blog to amplify their voice, and will have the opportunity to receive mentorship from a Googler to take their impact to the next level!
To both enter the challenge and get more info, visit our 2017 Black History Month website.
If you have questions about the challenge, please email payitforward@google.com.
We look forward to seeing your submission! The Google Programs team

A Day in the Life: Computer Science Summer Institute/Generation Google Scholarship — Applications open

February 13, 2017

There’s less than a month left to apply for Generation Google Scholarships and CSSI, so submit your applications now!
In today’s blog post, we’re giving you a look at a day in the life of Riya, one of our Computer Science Summer Institute (CSSI) students from this past summer. We’ll walk you through her schedule, giving any Generation Google and CSSI applicant a better idea of what the experience is like.

8:45am: I use my badge to get in and head into the classroom with my fellow CSSIers before class starts, where sitting on the tables I see boxes of donuts waiting for us!
9am: Class starts. This morning, we’re learning about object oriented programming in Python.
10:30am: Break for a snack (of more donuts and fruit snacks) and an icebreaker to wake us up.
10:45am: Head back into the classroom and go through a few Python Labs with my partner.
12pm: Lunch time. I head to the cafeteria with the rest of the CSSIers where they’re serving wings. I wait in line and of course have to head over to the panini station to make my own custom sandwich. We then head upstairs to the roof to enjoy lunch in the sun before playing a competitive game of baggo (beanbag tossing!). Afterwards, we go back down to grab a quick yogurt bowl and take it back to the classroom.
1pm: We trickle back into the classroom for the afternoon workshop. Each day, a new person comes to talk to us about different development topics. Today, we’re talking about Impostor Syndrome and how to address this issue.
2pm: Back to OOP in Python. We are working on coding a Ninja game!
3:30pm: We stop for a break where we play Google trivia. The winning students get Google swag — pillows, socks and android toys!
3:45pm: We finish coding the Ninja game and then are tasked with breaking up into groups and implementing a harder version of the Ninja game.
4:30pm: We break into smaller groups to work on the project, and a TA assists when we need help.
5:30pm: Exit survey and daily meme time! At the end of each day a meme is posted by Jessie, the lead for our Chicago site, and we fill out snippets to let the instructors and CSSI program managers know what topics we’re finding challenging, what we thought of the development workshop and overall how we’re doing.
6pm: Over and out. Heading home to get some rest and relaxation!
A big thanks to Riya for sharing her day!

Intern Impact: Brotli compression for Play Store app downloads

February 6, 2017

This month, the Google Play team in our London office was hyped to welcome back Anamaria Cotîrlea, a former intern who is now a full-time software engineer. She joins us from Romania, where she studied in the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics at Babeș-Bolyai University. As a software engineer at Google, Anamaria will be building upon the incredible impact she made as an intern on the Play team this past summer, when her work resulted in saving users an expected 1.5 petabytes (that's 1.5 million gigabytes) of data each day.

Back in 2015, Anamaria did her first internship with Google in Krakow, Poland. The technical skills she honed at that time set her up for her second Google internship this past summer with the Google Play team. During that internship, she integrated Brotli compression with the Google Play Store in order to streamline app installs and updates. This is hugely meaningful because Android users download tens of billions of apps and games on Google Play — totalling over 65 billion times (and growing), in fact!
It takes a lot of data to download new apps and updates to your existing apps, and we know users care about how much data their devices are using. Play is continually investing in making these installs and updates smaller, and in December 2016, we announced that we started using a new approach to delivering updates, known as File-by-File patching, which reduced the average update size to 65% smaller than the full app.
Anamaria’s project was to add support for Brotli for both new app installs and app updates. Brotli is a compression algorithm developed by Jyrki Alakuijala and Zoltán Szabadka of the Compression Team at Google Research Europe. Brotli was initially launched in 2015, offering enhancements in generic lossless data compression, especially when used for HTTP compression. Its compression rates, speed, and memory usage have been continuously improved, and it has proven to be a powerful tool for app compression, generally outperforming GZIP.
During her internship, Anamaria evaluated Brotli’s performance on our app library and made the changes necessary to our servers and the Play Store app to deploy Brotli for app delivery.
Here are a few examples of Brotli’s compression rate compared to GZIP’s:

Description	GZIP download size (MB)	Brotli download size (MB)	Percent Brotli saves over GZIP
Update Pinterest	4.64	3.70	20.27%
Update WhatsApp	5.75	4.73	17.63%
Install WhatsApp	13.95	13.04	6.52%
Install Pinterest	24.76	24.14	2.51%

Not only is this great news for our Android users, but it is also a terrific example of the real-life problems that Google interns are helping to solve, as well as the impact a Google intern can have in just a few short months. Brotli compression for app downloads is rolling out now, and users should start to enjoy the benefits over the coming weeks.

**A previous version of this blog didn't make it clear that Anamaria is now a full-time Googler. She is, and we've edited the blog to reflect that**

Sign up today for Hash Code 2017!

January 13, 2017

Calling all developers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa: our programming competition Hash Code is back for its fourth year of challenging programmers to solve a real Google engineering problem. Think you could optimize the layout of a Google Data Center? Or how about scheduling a fleet of drones to make deliveries around the world? If you’re up for the challenge, sign up to compete today at g.co/hashcode.
Hash Code 2017 kicks off on 23rd February with the Online Qualification Round. The top 50 teams from this round will then be invited to Google Paris, in the City of Light, to battle it out for the coveted title of Hash Code 2017 Champion.

52 teams from 22 countries competed side-by-side during the Hash Code 2016 Final Round at Google Paris

To make things even more exciting, students and professionals across the region are signing up to host Hash Code hubs where local teams can come together to compete for the Online Qualification Round. So far, more than 250 hubs are being organized across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Participating from a hub is a great way to meet new people and add a little extra fun and competition to the contest. Don’t see a hub near you? You can still sign up to host a hub in your university, office or city on our website.
Whether you’ve just started coding or you’re a programming competition aficionado, Hash Code is a great chance to flex your programming muscles, get a glimpse into software engineering at Google and have some fun. Take a look at previous Hash Code problem statements to see the engineering challenges participants have tackled in the past.

Teams compete in the 2016 Online Qualification Round from a Hash Code hub

We can’t reveal this year’s problem statements, but we will have some other fun announcements leading up to the Online Qualification Round. Keep in touch with Hash Code by joining our Google+ community and Facebook event.
Are you up for the challenge? Sign up today at g.co/hashcode and we’ll see you online on 23rd February!
Lindsay Taub University Programs Team

CSSI Three-Day Takeover! Day Three: Catching Up With Googler (and former CSSI'er) Kenechi

January 12, 2017

Today we’re speaking with a CSSI alumni, Kenechi from the class of 2008 (our first iteration of CSSI) who currently works at Google as a Software Engineer. Below, she shares her experience at CSSI and how it put her on the path to Google. Click here if you're ready to apply to CSSI!

Before CSSI, what was your experience with Computer Science? And why did you apply to the program? I’ve wanted to write software since my first experience with Word 95 when I was little. I took a course on QBASIC in high school but didn’t have an opportunity to take AP Computer Science because it only had 1 offering a year. I took my first full programming course my first semester at CMU. I applied to CSSI because the program’s description sounded cool and I wanted the opportunity to visit Google’s headquarters.
What was your favorite moment during the program? The final presentations were a great moment for me. It was amazing how much content was covered in two-and-a-half weeks and how much I had gotten to know the other students.
What's the most important lesson you learned? The most important lesson of CSSI for me was one of validation. After CSSI a career in software engineering became a reality. For two weeks I was able to see what it was like to be at Google; I had the opportunity to meet and learn from dozens of full-time engineers. Even though I was already a CS major at CMU, CSSI formed the foundation for the rest of my career. It was there that I got the confidence and network necessary to succeed as a software engineer.
How did this help you for college going forward? There was another CMU student in my CSSI class, after CSSI we started a study group. We would meet daily to study and go to office hours together. It really helped having a study group for the rest of time at CMU, especially as the courses got increasingly difficult.
What was your journey to Google? My journey to Google started with CSSI. I returned as an intern for back to back summers, the first summer in the Engineering Practicum program. After graduating I worked at Microsoft for over two years and then returned to Google.
How did this prepare you for work? And specifically, how did this prepare you to for Google? The summer after CSSI I had the opportunity to be an EP intern. My internship helped me to experience what day to day software development would be like. CSSI opened the door to that opportunity. CSSI also introduced me to a whole new network of other computer science majors from across the country; I came to depend on that network as I continued on in my career at both Google and even Microsoft.

CSSI Three-Day Takeover! Day Two: Catching Up With CSSI'ers

January 11, 2017

Today, we’re catching up with a few of our CSSI students from this past summer. We’ve asked the students to share highlights from their time at CSSI and how the program impacted them for their future academic and professional careers.
view

Haven is a first year student at University of Arkansas where she’s majoring in Computer Science and Mathematics.
Why did you apply to CSSI?
To be honest, I’d never taken a class in computer science and I didn’t have internet at home, so my only experience is in what I picked up troubleshooting tech problems for teachers and watching videos on Khan Academy. My goal for the summer was to gain some hands on experience with software.
What shocked you the most about the program?
I was surprised that there were so many people like me, I stick out with my family and friends and it was nice to belong. It was nice to develop a community that you can talk to about work, personal life, and share your thoughts because I don’t run into people like that in my day to day. Meeting people that were like me encouraged me to pursue CS.
What’s the most important lesson you learned?
I’m one of six kids, the middle child, single mom, poor family, so I felt like I blended in and didn’t think I was going to go far. I wanted to do amazing things, but I thought it’s not really going to happen. Getting into Google gave me the confidence that I can go far.
Now, Haven is pursuing a double major in Computer Science and Mathematics at the University of Arkansas. Great job, Haven!

view

Jay is a first year student at the University of Alabama where he’s majoring in Computer Science. Below, he shares his thoughts about his three weeks in Cambridge at the CSSI.
How did you become interested in Computer Science and CSSI?
In middle school, I developed a love for technology and was the go-to person at my school who assisted teachers with IT. This combined with my passion for giving back to my community led me to Computer Science. I wanted to pursue a subject where I’m able to build technology that will impact underserved populations and help others. What was the most important lesson you learned at CSSI?
That it’s best to work in teams. During the project week, I was paired with two other CSSI classmates and together we built a web app. We leaned on each others’ talents to make it possible. Now at school, I meet weekly with my CS classmates preparing for technical interviews and we help each other with internship applications. It’s really helpful because not as many people are as social as I am, but it’s something we can all relate to and can feed off of each others' energy. They’re shooting technical questions at me and telling me what to improve on and I can tell them how to talk to people.
What were you most shocked by?
The amount of talent that I was surrounded by … the instruction and the accelerated students who all had ideas about how they wanted to change the world. I was the only student at my High School who was interested in Computer Science, so being able to come to a place where there are 29 other students who are just like you, interested in the same stuff and they’re thinking about how they can use it to change the world was really meaningful to me.
Thank you for sharing your CSSI memories with us, Haven and Jay! Click here to apply today!

CSSI Three-Day Takeover! Day One: Computer Science Summer Institute and Generation Google Scholarship Applications Are Open

January 10, 2017

We are now accepting applications for the 2017 Computer Science Summer Institute, as well as the 2017 Generation Google Scholarship. Learn more about both programs below and apply today!
view

What The Computer Science Summer Institute (CSSI) is a three-week introduction to computer science for graduating high school seniors with a passion for technology. Students will learn programming fundamentals directly from Google engineers, get an inside look at some of Google's most exciting, emerging technologies, and even design and develop their very own application with fellow participants.
The Generation Google Scholarship helps aspiring computer scientists from underrepresented groups excel in technology and become leaders in the field. Selected students will receive 10,000 USD (for those studying in the US) or 5,000 CAD (for those studying in Canada) for the 2017-2018 school year. As part of the scholarship, current high school seniors who are entering their first year of university in Fall 2017 will be required to attend CSSI in the summer of 2017.
Where & When We offer two types of sessions at CSSI: commuter and residential. In the residential camps, housing and transportation will be provided. In the day camps, students will be provided with a travel stipend and expected to commute into the respective Google offices for each day of CSSI. Students within a specified mileage distance from the respective day-camp offices will automatically be considered for those sites. The sites will be taking place in Mountain View, CA, Los Angeles, CA, Chicago, IL, New York, NY, Pittsburgh, PA, Atlanta, GA, Cambridge, MA, and Seattle, WA.
view

Who We are looking for students eager to spend a few weeks immersed in the Google life -- tackling interesting technical problems, working collaboratively and having fun. The program is committed to addressing diversity in the field of computer science and is open to all qualified high school seniors who intend to major in computer science at a four year university in the US or Canada.
Why Google is committed to increasing the enrollment and retention of students in the field of computer science. These programs offer an intensive, interactive and fun experience that seeks to inspire the tech leaders and innovators of tomorrow. We want students to leave empowered, heading into their first year of college armed with technical skills and a unique learning experience that can only be found at Google. We aim to expose selected students to key programming concepts while enabling them to tackle the challenging problems in CS by creating a safe, comfortable environment to learn, play, break, and build.
view

Apply Visit our Google for Education website for more information and to apply. The application deadline is March 2, 2017. Final decisions will be announced in early May.
Questions? Give us a shout at cssi@google.com or generationgoogle@google.com.