From Caitlin M., University Programs Specialist, Google Waterloo, Canada:
Hi Derek and Patrick, Derek - it was great to be a part of the WatPD session with yourself and Dan yesterday. Really important and meaningful information shared with students! On that note of meaningful information - while we can't distribute a UW questionnaire internally, I did in fact just recently run focus groups with our UWaterloo alumni here at Google (across all offices), and have some key SE course related feedback I'm happy to share as you Curriculum plan: Key theme areas that came from our feedback: Data Structures and Algorithms, Real-Time Programming, Compiler Construction and Intro to Graphics are core course areas that influence Googlers work. Third year Operating Systems class, either of the Algorithms classes (341 or 466/666) or any of the special "Topics in Computer Science"/"Readings in Computer Science" courses are also very relevant. Key Courses that UWaterloo alumni highlighted: [Note: not every course listed below is currently part of the SE Curriculum, but all are courses pointed out by Googlers from UW Math & Eng degree backgrounds, as influential to their current careers at Google]. CS240 (Data Structures and Data Management); fundamental required course - every Software Engineering at Google should know the content. CS245 (Logic and Computation) CS246 (Object-Oriented Software Development); helpful for technical interviewer preparation CS341 (Algorithms); reflective of GREAT technical interview prep CS343 (Concurrency and Parallel Programming); still referenced by current Googlers as a resource CS350 (Operating Systems); quite relevant for coding abilities CS365 (Models of Computation) CS444 (Compiler Construction); good teamwork experience CS452 (Real-time Programming) CS454 (Distributed Systems) CS488 (Computer Graphics) CS486 (Introduction to Artificial Intelligence); important course! Google is an AI-first company. MATH239 (Introduction to Combinatorics); extremely relevant ECE222 (Digital Computers) ECE454 (Distributed Computing) STAT230 (Probability) STAT231 (Statistics) Hope this information proves helpful. If you have any follow-up questions, please don't hesitate to let me know. Would love to hear how your SE curriculum planning shakes out with this feedback in mind. Look forward to staying connected. Have great weekends! Caitlin On Fri, Mar 31, 2017 at 7:50 AM, Derek Rayside wrote: Hi Caitlin, Thank you for joining Dan Davison and myself at yesterday's 1B SE class prof hour to talk about Google's perspective on the importance of professional/soft skills. That industrial perspective from a lead employer really helps deliver the message. At lunch you mentioned that Google has some internal data from employees who are also UW alumni about which courses they currently recognize as influencing their work. That is information that SE Director Patrick Lam is currently trying to gather from our alumni, to inform our SE Curriculum Committee planning. Any information that you can share would be appreciated. Alternatively, would it be possible for us to distribute Patrick's questionnaire to UW alumni who are currently Google employees? thanks! Derek.