Season of NuPIC

Current Season

Student registration is closed for Season of NuPIC 2014.

For more info, see Season of NuPIC Frequently Asked Questions.

What is SoN?

Season of NuPIC (SoN) was proposed as a cool way for students to participate actively in NuPIC related projects, similar to Google’s Summer of Code (GSoC). The idea is to conform to a similar format as GSoC, where Numenta is the mentoring organization. Interested parties do not have to be students in order to participate but do have to make a reasonable time commitment. Numenta will pair up students with mentors for accepted projects, so it’s a great way to learn more about NuPIC and contribute at the same time.

Season of NuPIC takes place during the summer months of the Northern Hemisphere, typically between March and September.

Incentive

Students who successfully take part in SoN receive a certificate of participation in the program, signed by senior Numenta personnel. They will also receive a few modest gifts related to NuPIC, including a T-shirt and other shwag.

Phases of SoN

There are several phases of the SoN program.

1. Ideas

During the first phase, and before student application is open, the NuPIC community converges to create an “Idea List” for the upcoming Season. This idea list contains tasks that need to be solved, features the community would like to see added to NuPIC, and/or orthogonal projects that relate to the NuPIC universe. This idea list is moderated by SoN staff. For an example, see the 2014 idea list.

All ideas must have a mentor assigned before it can be accepted.

2. Student Application

During this 1-2 week phase, students are expected to complete an application form with some personal information and details about their proposal. They may propose to work on an idea defined in the idea list, or they may choose to propose an original idea.

These applications will be reviewed by the SoN staff and approved or denied in a timely fashion. Students may only submit one proposal. Many students may be chosen to work on one idea from the idea list during the Season and expected to cooperate on the development.

3. Community Bonding

For 2-4 weeks before coding starts, the NuPIC community invites all students accepted into the current SoN program to join us on our mailing lists and IRC channel. We continue our business-as-usual, but hope to see some extra conversation, questions, and discussion from SoN students.

4. Coding

During this time, students should be involved in designing, implementing, and debugging their proposals with the guidance of their mentors and the rest of the NuPIC community. This period will last between 2-3 months, and includes a “mid-term” progress report from each mentor reporting back to the SoN Staff.

5. Project Reports

After coding is complete, each student (with the help of their mentor) will submit a report of his/her progress, which references any completed work, pull requests (whether merged or not), documentation, wiki pages, features, etc. they have accomplished during the Season.

6. Post-Mortem Report

Numenta will produce a complete report of the success of the entire Season on the numenta.org blog, with links to each student’s report for posterity.

Mid-Term Progress Report

Mentors of SoN projects are responsible for working with their students to put together a short mid-term progress report. This report should include critical details of the project, including (if applicable):

  • code repository location
  • any further documentation for the project
  • current status of the project, especially related to the goals of the proposal
  • will the project be complete by the end of the season?
  • issues preventing progress

Roles in SoN

All participants of SoN, no matter the role they play, are volunteers.

Mentors

Mentors are trusted people within the NuPIC community who volunteer their time to guide students as they attempt to implement their proposal.

Students

“Students” do not have to be students. No proof of enrollment is required to participate in SoN. We might generally say they are “students of NuPIC”.

Staff

Some individuals within the NuPIC community are chosen to help administer the SoN program. These staffers help set up each Season, moderate the idea list, and review student applications.

Code of Conduct

As with all Numenta-sponsored events, our standard code of conduct applies.

SoN History

  • 2014 (in progress)