91-DIVOC: Flip the script on COVID-19
I recently made a visualization showing the COVID-19 website, allowing you to customize the scale, data, and more to nerd out on this data with me. Updated daily, using Johns Hopkins dataset:
91-DIVOC: An interactive visualization of the exponential spread of COVID-19 >>
d7 - Data Science Research Collaborative
I have started organizing my work with students as part of a Data Science Research Collaborative called d7. We’re just getting this collaborative started, but already have some fantastic work and so much more in the pipeline!
d7: Data Science Research Collaborative >>
Fall 2020 – CS 240: Introduction to Computer Systems
In Fall 2020, I am scheduled to teach CS 240: Introduction to Computer Systems. This course is a new course that I believe will help you more in your journey as a Computer Scientist than any other course – we’ll explore the introduction of cloud computing, system programming, and the underlying architecture behind it all!
Course Catalog & Registration >>
Data Visualizations
Short Bio
Wade Fagen-Ulmschneider is a Teaching Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). With a passion for data, he often teaches thousands of students each year in his courses on Data Structures, Data Visualization, and Data Science. He was selected as one of the National Academy of Engineering’s Frontiers of Engineering Education scholars, awarded the Collins Award for Innovation Teaching, and has been consistently ranked as an excellent instructor by his students for the past ten years. His work on data visualizations has been used by governors of multiple states, featured by websites including Popular Mechanics and The Verge, and has been viewed by millions of readers.
Teaching
Current & Recently Courses Taught
- CS 240: Introduction to Computer Systems [Fall 2020]
- STAT 107 / CS 107 / IS 107: Data Science Discovery [Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019]
-
Three-course Accelerated Computer Science Fundamentals Specialization (Online MOOCs with Coursera):
- Course #1: Object-Oriented Data Structures in C++; a month-long course (4.8/5.0 from 250+ reviews)
- Course #2: Ordered Data Structures; a month-long course (4.8/5.0 from 100+ reviews)
- Course #3: Unordered Data Structures; a month-long course (4.9/5.0 from 70+ reviews)
- CS 225: Data Structures [Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017]
- CS 305: Data Driven Discovery [Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015]
- CS 105: Intro to Computer Science (Non-Majors) [Fall 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014]
- CS 241: System Programming [Fall 2013]
Teaching Philosophy
I believe that world-class education is education that is worth sharing. If you are going through your life sharing the meals you eat, the sunset in the evening, and other ordinary things, your educational experience should be at least among those experiences (and, hopefully, exceptionally better).
Toward that end, classes I teach contain major components that are a sharable experience. More on this soon. :)
Independent Study / Senior Thesis
I believe the best education experience is a small group experience. When I advise an independent study or senior thesis, I am making a commitment to you to work with you as we explore something new and interesting. Similarly, I expect you to be fully committed to the project.
If you have completed CS 225 and are interested in working on an independent study, let’s chat about it!
Accolades
-
Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching; 2020
The top teaching honor given at The University of Illinois, given by the Office of the Provost
-
Scott H. Fisher Computer Science Teaching Award; 2019
The top teaching honor given by the Department of Computer Science at The University of Illinois, in recognition of Scott H. Fisher
-
Chi Omega’s Outstanding Faculty Award; 2018
"A University-level award for excellence in teaching and mentoring." – Chi Omega National Chapter
-
Engineering Council's Award for Excellence in Advising; 2018
College of Engineering at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
-
Collins Award for Innovative Teaching; 2017
"This award recognizes outstanding development or use of new and innovative teaching methods." – The University of Illinois' Grainger College of Engineering
-
Invited Guest:
National Academy of Engineering's Frontiers of Engineering Education (FOEE); 2016
"The Frontiers of Engineering Education (FOEE) Symposium brings together some of the nation’s most engaged and innovative engineering educators in order to recognize, reward, and promote effective, substantive, and inspirational engineering education." – National Academy of Engineering
-
Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students; 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2008
Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning at The University of Illinois
Recent Impact, Media, and Research
Invited Talks
I love sharing my passion of Computer Science and inspiring others to do amazing things. A few recent talks I have been honored to be invited to give:
-
Monthly Data Science Meetup with the Champaign-Urbana Data Science User Group, June 2020
• Title: d3.js and 91-DIVOC
-
Department of Computer Science at The University of Texas at Dallas, May 2020
• Title: Data Visualization and the 91-DIVOC Project
-
Speaker, Annual Faculty Retreat at The University of Illinois, March 2020
• Segment #1: The Emotion of Discovery with Karle Flanagan
• Segment #2: The Emotion of Competition & Winning with Karle Flanagan -
Professional development with Alpha Phi Omega (APO), October 2019
• Live Visualization Creation: Perception of Words Describing Sizes of Groups
-
Data Science SPRINT with Illinois International's Global Education & Training, August 2019
• The best of Data Science and Visualization all within 2.5 hours, co-taught with Karle Flanagan
-
Illinois Business Council (BC), April 2019
• Title: Data Science and The University of Illinois
-
Statistics Seminar with the Department of Statistics, March 2019
• Title: Data Visualization, Storytelling, and Data Science at The University of Illinois
-
Monthly Data Science Meetup with the Champaign-Urbana Data Science User Group, February 2019
• Title: Data Visualization and Storytelling [Slides]
Media Coverage
A collection of some recent media coverage of some of the things I've worked on:
- CBS This Morning (Manuel Bojorquez), June 2020; Manuel Bojorquez’s segment on the coronavirus includes a video interview with Fagen-Ulmschneider regarding COVID-19 data.
- Popular Mechanics (Esther Landhuis), May 2020; "These Data Science Wizards Tell Us What's Really Happening With Coronavirus" quotes Fagen-Ulmschneider; covers 91-DIVOC as "the easiest way to make sense of essential data".
- The News-Gazette (Jeff D'Alessio), May 2020; "UI honors top teachers with Campus Awards for Excellence, Part 1" quotes Fagen-Ulmschneider in their coverage of the Campus Awards for Excellence in Instruction.
- View more >>
Creations
A few of the projects I have created or helped create:
-
91-DIVOC: Data visualizations in the COVID-19 era.
Updated daily with the latest COVID-19 data. Used by multiple governors; featured in Popular Mechanics, The Washington Post, Gizmodo, and others. - Illinois Open Source Queue: Used to hold office hours, advising meetings for over 8,000 students /semester at The University of Illinois, The University of British Columba (UBC), and in trail at other universities.
- Illinois' LinkedIn Banner Image Generator: Used to create Illinois-specific professional banners for LinkedIn profiles.
- GitHub Educational Repository Creator: Used to create student repositories for coursework on the University of Illinois' GitHub server. Used by over 5,000 students /year across over a dozen courses.
Contact Me
The best way to reach me is by e-mail (waf@illinois.edu). Alternatively:
- Phone: +1 (217) 300-2812
- Office: 2215 Siebel Center
-
Physical Address: 2215 Siebel Center M/C 258
201 N. Goodwin Ave.
Urbana, IL 61801