| layout | description |
|---|---|
home |
Faculty webpage of Wade Fagen-Ulmschneider, Teaching Associate Professor of Computer Science at The University of Illinois |
My name is Wade Fagen-Ulmschneider -- I am faculty in the Department of Computer Science in the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois (UIUC). My passion is at the intersection of systems, data, and creating tools to nerd out with both systems and data -- particularly through interactive tools and data visualizations. In my work, I work to educate, encourage, and inspire you to change the world.
In the past decade, I have had the honor to teach over 200,000 students between my open-access courses at Illinois and my MOOCs/specalization on Coursera. In 2023, my DISCOVERY platform work with Prof. Karle Flanagan was selected as one of the campus investments for growth to establish Illinois as a national leader in data science education.
When I'm not teaching, my passion is visualizing data in a way that readers can nerd out with for hours. You can find my work in visualizations of GPAs at the University of Illinois, my data-forward, interactive visualizations of COVID-19 as part of my 91-DIVOC project, or any of my other visualizations.
Finally, I love being an ILL-INI 🧡💙 and I am always working on a project to highlight Illini and make our Illinois courses more visible. Recent projects have included the Illini LinkedIn Banner Generator, Queue@Illinois, and others.
<style> .card-title { font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; } </style>
{% card November 4, 2024 — GPA Visualizations + Dataset Updates %}
The GPA Visualizations have all been updated for Spring 2025 registration: 🎉
- Grade disparity between sections at UIUC
- GPAs of Every Course at The University of Illinois
- Every Gen Ed at UIUC, by GPA
- Additionally, the underlying CSV file of the raw data is updated at @wadefagen/datasets
{% endcard %}
{% card July 3, 2023 — National Leadership in Data Science Education Supporting a Significant Visible Social Impact %}
"Projects chosen [...] demonstrate the spirit of collaboration, innovation and immense promise to impact our campus community and beyond."
The vision and initial work on Data Science DISCOVERY was selected as one of the campus-wide 2024 Investment for Growth projects, and I'm honored to have the support of campus as we continue to grow Data Science at Illinois!
- News Article: "DISCOVERY platform funded as part of FY24 Investment for Growth project"
- Chancellor Robert Jones: FY24 Investment for Growth projects announced
{% endcard %}
{% card January 23, 2023 — Interview with Illinois Alumni Magazine %}
"Ten years from now, things we can’t even imagine will be commonplace because of data science."
Late last year, I sat down with Mary Timmins with the Illinois Alumni magazine! Check out her profile of my work in the article "Data Driven" that appears as part of the In Class section of the Winter 2022 Illinois Alumni Magazine!
{% endcard %}
I believe that education should be available and accessible. To the further extent possible, my teaching at Illinois has been archived online and open for anyone to nerd out. You can find links to my courses dating back to 2013:
- Fall 2024: Data Science Discovery (CS 107 / STAT 107 / IS 107)
- Previously at Illinois: CS 340: Intro Systems (fa20-sp23), CS 423: Operating Systems (sp21), CS 225: Data Structures (fa17-sp19), CS 105: Intro CS (sp14-fa16), and CS 241: Systems Programming (fa08-fa13)
- On Coursera: Object-Oriented Data Structures in C++, Ordered Data Structures, Unordered Data Structures, and Accelerated Computer Science Fundamentals Specialization,
- Previous Courses, Teaching Philosophy, and More on Teaching...
Most of my scholarly work is exploring engagement through data visualization systems and similar art, and much of this work is done in collaboration with undergraduate students and faculty from other domains. If I have done a good job, you'll be able to spend hours nerding out with data in these visualizations:
- Historic Snowfall and Snow Depth
- 91-DIVOC Project (Data-forward, interactive COVID-19 Visualizations)
- "GPA Visualizations" of UIUC GPA Data
- All Visualizations...
Beyond data visualizations, I work on open source tools and software to make life a bit nicer, easier, or more enjoyable. A few recent tools:
- Canvas External Grade Import Tool - New tool in Sept. 2021
- Illinois LinkedIn Banner Generator
- More Tools: Software Tools I've Built...
- More Projects: d7: Data Science Research Collaborative...
I have been able to share data and knowledge with many through the use of my tools, talks and workshops at conferences, and more.
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