Sophomore starts student chapter of Association for Computer Machinery

Above: The first meeting of the Central State University chapter of the Association for Computer Machinery took place in November at Hallie Q. Brown Memorial Library. Pictured are Isabella Wynter Mitchell, Emdad Ahmed, Ph.D., Sharnelle Coicous, Samuel Miller, Dylan Damiano, and Jarvis Lane. 

Central State now boasts chapter of the global Association for Computer Machinery 

Kettering, Ohio, native Dylan Damiano, a Central State University sophomore majoring in Computer Sciences and Mathematics (Honors College), has spent the last few months establishing a chapter of the global Association for Computer Machinery (CSU ACM) that will officially kick off in the 2024 spring semester.  

With sponsorship by faculty adviser and Associate Professor of Computer Science Emdad Ahmed, Ph.D., CSU ACM is set to meet every third Wednesday of the month from 4-5 p.m. The specific location of the future meetings will be determined soon.  

The club has already hosted a preliminary meetup on Nov. 29 at the Hallie Q. Brown Memorial Library and will hold an invitation-only celebratory kickoff event on Feb. 8 from 2-3:30 p.m. in the Joshua I. Smith Center for Education & Natural Sciences Auditorium. 

The monthly CSU ACM club meetings will, according to Damiano, act as a networking hub for students interested in computer science and programming. Special guests will be brought in both remotely and in person for pertinent discussions, and club members will also have the opportunity to learn and share information about the ever-changing industry that has over the past four decades become so integral to society at large. 

Damiano was first introduced to Central State during a two-week summer Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) workshop he took on campus after graduating from Kettering Fairmont High School. After a year of community college, Damiano transferred to Central State for the 2022 fall semester and immediately began devising a way to form the CSU ACM chapter on campus. 

“What I like about computers is how flexible they are, and how you can really make them do just about anything once you have the right experience and knowledge,” Damiano, who has been working with computers since fifth grade, said.

“You can do activities related to data science, machine learning, game development, website development, or just do your schoolwork on it.” 

Damiano also advocates for computer science because he feels the real-world applications regarding future vocational possibilities are “a pretty broad umbrella.” He is especially interested in the growing field of quantum computers, advanced systems that make computing capabilities far more efficient and expedient. Such advances can speed up the timeframe of certain scientific research that might take years for a traditional computer to process to months or even days. 

ACM is the largest scientific and instructional computing society worldwide, harkening back to the early 1900s at the dawn of the first inklings of computer science itself.  

According to its website, “ACM’s reach extends to every part of the globe, with more than half of its more than 100,000 members residing outside the U.S.  Its growing membership has led to Councils in Europe, India, and China, fostering networking opportunities that strengthen ties within and across countries and technical communities. Their actions enhance ACM’s ability to raise awareness of computing’s important technical, educational, and social issues around the world.” 

When Damiano spoke with Ohio State University’s ACM chapter president about the club, he began considering how a chapter could be started at Central State.  

“I thought, ‘If other universities like OSU can have an ACM chapter, why can’t we have one here on campus, as well?’” Damiano said. “I then founded the club here and am currently the president. Currently, we have 16 members, mostly majoring in Computer Science, but also one majoring in Business and one majoring in Music.” 

Being a sophomore himself and getting the word out about CSU ACM mostly through “word of mouth” at this time, the majority of members are also second-year students.  

“Recruiting up until now has been a face-to-face process,” Damiano explained. “I just went around and asked people in my classes if they wanted to join the club and get on the mailing list so that I could get them more information as we get it.” 

In addition to bringing guest speakers to campus, Damiano hopes CSU ACM will create a forum that goes beyond vocational opportunities and corporate partnerships to chances for Marauders to meet and speak with representatives from computer science programs at various graduate schools. This will hopefully help to create a bridge between undergraduates at Central State to master’s and doctorate programs in the field.  

There will also likely be “hackathons,” socialized coding events that bring together computer programmers to improve upon or build a new software program in a kind of fever-pitch race to the finish of sorts, as popularized in films such as Facebook origin story, “The Social Network.” It’s Damiano’s aspiration that such hackathons could result in prizes for winners that could include scholarships to graduate study programs. 

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“I think there’s a lot of room for growth in the Computer Science program at Central State,” Damiano said. “I feel like I can help push that through this club.” 

Although Damiano’s goal is for CSU ACM to be ardently “for students, by students,” joining Ahmed as secondary faculty adviser is Interim Chair and Professor of Computer Science Deng Cao, Ph.D.

“This is the most prestigious of computer science organizations, and it’s been around for more than 75 years,” Ahmed said. “Dylan is one of the best students in the program and very fit for all of this.” 

Ahmed added that with more and more corporate partners, such as Intel, getting involved with expanding Central State’s vocational network, this was an ideal time to launch an ACM chapter on campus. 

“The reason to establish this club is that computer science is growing, and we need to attract more people in this area,” Ahmed concluded. “From this club, we’ll have opportunities for a lot of mentorships and for students to learn from each other and help each other to understand and learn more about the field. That is what is most important: to build a network of these students.”   

More information about the CSU ACM, including location details and dues pricing, is available by contacting Damiano at ddamiano.csu@centralstate.edu.