Clubs and Organizations¶
A directory of student groups that matter to UofA CS students, plus the events worth putting in your calendar. Every entry was checked against the group's own site. Clubs change executives every year, so if a link is dead, tell us via a correction.
Last verified: October 2026.
Pick one to start¶
- Want friends in your program? UACS. Hang out in the lounge.
- Want to get good at interview-style problems? UAPSPC.
- Into ML? UAIS.
- Want to ship something with a team? A hackathon (HackED Beta in November is the low-stakes first one) or a design team.
CS groups¶
| Group | What they actually do | Who it's for | How to join |
|---|---|---|---|
| UACS (Undergraduate Association of Computing Science) | The CS undergrad society, founded 1978, with 8 elected execs. Represents students at select faculty meetings; runs Doughnut and Coffee Society events (people working after graduation), Buck-A-Burger, LAN parties. Lounge in UCOMM 1-130 with rentable lockers; office in CCIS L1-339. Co-runs UAPC. | Every CS undergrad | Drop by the lounge or office; events on uacs.ca |
| UAPSPC (Problem Solving and Programming Club) | Weekly competitive programming meetings; teams of three for ICPC and other contests. Co-runs UAPC. | Anyone; you don't have to compete to attend | Join the mailing list on the Getting Involved page (gets you the Discord) |
| UAIS (Undergraduate AI Society) | Talks, workshops, term projects, interviews with researchers and alumni, and its own hackathon, SillyCon Valley. 500+ members. | First-years to research-level | Become a member; Discord |
| Ada's Team | Promotes diversity in computing (women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, other underrepresented groups). Free CMPUT/MATH/STAT tutoring, mentorship with upper-years and industry, open-source dev team, and fully funded trips to conferences like the Grace Hopper Celebration and the Canadian Celebration of Women in Computing. Club room: UCOMM 2-136. | Anyone, especially underrepresented students | Join page: mailing list and Discord |
| The Games Den | Game design club (video, board, card, tabletop). Weekly in-person meetups in SUB basement, game jams and anthologies (itch.io). | Any faculty, any skill level | Discord |
| CHADS (Cybersecurity, Hacking, and Digital Security) | Security workshops, industry sessions, and CTF play; runs its own CTF, HTCOTB. | Anyone curious about security | Discord |
| CSGSA (CS Graduate Students' Association) | Advocacy to the department chair, workshops, socials, industry connections, and a graduate student guide. | CS grad students | CSGSA site or csgsa@cs.ualberta.ca |
The department's own list is on its student groups page (its room numbers for UACS and Ada's Team are out of date; trust the club sites).
Want course credit for competitive programming? CMPUT 303 and CMPUT 403 share lectures; 403 adds contest-level material and needs a 300-level CMPUT course. You can't take both.
Groups outside CS that CS students join¶
| Group | Why a CS student would care | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Computer Engineering Club | Runs HackED and HackED Beta; does resume reviews in its Discord (#resume-review) and keeps a resources repo of internship boards and interview prep. | compeclub.com |
| Engineering design teams | Real embedded and autonomy software on a team: ARVP (autonomous submarine, RoboSub), AlbertaSat (CubeSats, open-source flight hardware), UAARG (autonomous drones). | Full list |
| eHUB | UofA's entrepreneurship centre: Ideas Lab co-working space in HUB Mall, mentorship, and the eClub. Apply to become a member. | eHUB |
For everything else, the Students' Union lists 450+ groups and runs a Clubs Fair each fall and winter (SU student groups).
Annual events calendar¶
Months are typical; dates shown are the most recent confirmed edition. Check the link before you plan around it.
| Month | Event | What it is | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| September | Careers Day | UofA's largest career fair, all faculties. 2026: Sept 23, Van Vliet Complex. Free resume reviews on site. | Career Centre |
| September | UAIS Fall AGM | Kickoff event; 2026 featured Michael Bowling. | uais.dev |
| September | Alberta Game Jam | 48-hour province-wide jam; Edmonton site at Edmonton Unlimited. 2026: Sept 25-27. | itch.io |
| Oct/Nov | ICPC Rocky Mountain Regional | Alberta's ICPC regional; top teams advance to the North America Championship. 2026: Oct 31. 2025: Nov 8. Compete through UAPSPC. | RMC |
| November | HackED Beta | 24-hour beginner hackathon by the CompE Club. 2025: Nov 15-16, DICE 8th floor. | hackedbeta.compeclub.com |
| January | Engineering Career Fair | Run by the Engineering Students' Society, aimed at engineering students; free, no registration. 2026: Jan 6-8, ETLC Solarium. | ESS |
| Late Jan | Global Game Jam Edmonton | 2026: Jan 30 to Feb 1 at Edmonton Unlimited. | GGJ Edmonton |
| February | Spring Hiring Fair | Second campus-wide fair. 2027: Feb 9, Dinwoodie Lounge (SUB). | Career Centre |
| February | SillyCon Valley | UAIS's AI hackathon ("build the silliest thing you can with AI"). 2026: Feb 13-14, DICE 8th floor. | uais.dev/hackathons |
| February | HackED | The CompE Club's main 48-hour, beginner-friendly hackathon; hybrid, software and hardware tracks. 2026: Feb 20-22, DICE, 332 registered. | hacked.compeclub.com, Devpost |
| March | UAPC | Programming contest for Alberta university, college, and high school students; teams of 1-3, four divisions including an intro division. Free lunch in person. 2026: Mar 7, DICE 8th floor. | UAPC |
| May | Upper Bound | Amii's AI conference at the Edmonton Convention Centre. 2027: May 18-21. Sold out in 2026, so register early. | Amii |
For off-campus meetups (DemoCamp, AI Tinkerers, OWASP), see Networking.
Why bother¶
Organize, don't just attend. HackED's organizers recruit sponsors from the same companies you'll apply to, and "ran sponsorship for a 300-person hackathon" is a better interview story than "member, 2025-26". Exec spots open every year: the CompE Club, for example, elects junior execs in September and senior execs in April (compeclub.com).