People

• Professor John Boyland chairs our computer science department.
• Dean’s Office
• Undergraduate Advising
• Undergraduate Tutoring and Academic Support
• Graduate Academic Support

The mission of the Industry Advisory Board is to advise the department chair and faculty on the effectiveness of current curriculum in preparing graduates for the workforce. The board is comprised of a select membership from local industry partners.

• Steven Aspenleiter, Northwestern Mutual
• Allen Baylor, Miller Coors
• Aly Farooqui, IBM
• Pete Ikusz
• Jeff Krueger, Dedicated Computing
• Perry Lea, Microsoft
• John Lehsten, Astronautics
• John Morency, Trisept Solutions
• Nicholas Stay, Rockwell Automation

Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
Focus: Intelligent systems that learn from data and support decision-making.

• Natural Language Processing (NLP)
• Machine Learning & Applied AI
• Autonomous Agents
• Text Mining & Information Extraction
• AI for Health & Biomedical Informatics
• User Modeling & Information Retrieval

Representative faculty: Rohit Kate, Jake Luo, Susan McRoy, Amol Mali, Zhen Zeng

Data Science & Health Informatics
Focus: Large-scale data analysis with real-world impact, especially in healthcare.

• Health Big Data & Predictive Analytics
• Biomedical & Health Informatics
• Data Science Methods
• Scientific Computing in Biomedicine

Representative faculty: Jake Luo, Rohit Kate, Zeyun Yu

Algorithms, Theory & Foundations of Computing
Focus: Core computational theory that underpins reliable and efficient systems

• Algorithm Design
• Graph Algorithms & Graph Theory
• Combinatorial Optimization & Combinatorics
• Logic & Formal Methods

Representative faculty: Christine Cheng, John Boyland

Programming Languages & Software Systems
Focus: Tools and languages for building correct, efficient, and secure software

• Programming Languages
• Compilers
• Type Systems & Type Inference
• Static Analysis
• Domain-Specific Programming
• Concurrency

Representative faculty: John Boyland, Tian Zhao

Cybersecurity & Secure Intelligent Systems
Focus: Security, trust, and resilience in modern AI and distributed systems

• AI System Security
• Edge Intelligence & Security
• Secure Distributed Computing
• AI & Cybersecurity Education

Representative faculty: Zhen Zeng

Computer Vision, Graphics & Visualization
Focus: Visual computing and geometric modeling for science and medicine

• Image Processing & Analysis
• 3D Geometric Modeling
• Visualization
• Virtual & Augmented Environments

Representative faculty: Zeyun Yu, Jerald Thomas

Human–Computer Interaction & Virtual Reality
Focus: Immersive, interactive technologies that enhance human experience

• Virtual Reality (VR)
• 3D User Interaction
• Immersive Collaboration
• VR-Assisted Therapy

Representative faculty: Jerald Thomas

Robotics, IoT & Intelligent Systems
Focus: Connected, autonomous, and intelligent physical systems

• Internet of Things (IoT)
• Robot Motion Planning
• Autonomous Systems
• Intelligent Game & Simulation Environments

Representative faculty: Amol Mali

Nano-Enabled Computing & Intelligent Devices
Focus: Computing and sensing at the nanoscale

• Nano-Electronic Materials
• Intelligent Sensors
• Communication & Energy-Harvesting Devices

Representative faculty: Nikolai Kouklin