Computer Science News

Prof. Suthaharan to Present at Professional Group

Mon, 10 Feb 2013 09:39:21 GMT

Prof. Suthaharan will be talking about Big Data classification techniques and technologies at the Triad Developer's Guild meeting on February 19. Big Data classification is one of the challenging problems in the emerging field of Big Data Science and Engineering. Technologies such as Apache Hadoop with Apache Hive are currently used for addressing such problems; however, techniques that can be integrated with these technologies are still needed, leading to extensive research and development objectives. Machine Learning (ML) techniques are being revisited to explore and develop data representation learning techniques for solving Big Data classification problems. In his talk, Prof. Suthaharan will discuss characteristics of Big Data and show that network intrusion traffic satisfies the properties of Big Data. He will also discuss some of the modern ML techniques that can help to solve Big Data classification problems. Finally, he will present some resources that are in the public domain which may help people advance their knowledge in Big Data Science and Engineering. For more information, see the Triad Developer's Guild web site.

Industry Events for CS Students

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 09:39:21 GMT

On November 30, the department's Industry Advisory Board will be on campus, and will hold a panel discussion for students at 2:30 in Petty 313. The industry members will talk about the current job market, and skills or characteristics industry is looking for in potential hires. This is a great opportunity for Computer Science students! Following the panel discussion, in Petty 223 there will be a reception and informal discussion with students who are completing and presenting their senior projects. All students are invited to attend and see what our seniors have accomplished! Information on these events is available on the event flyer.

New Data Analytics Class Offered Spring 2013

Tue, 9 Oct 2012 09:39:21 GMT

Dr. Suthaharan will be offering a special topics class in "Big Data Analytics and Machine Learning" in the Spring 2013 semester. Students will treat network intrusion datasets as Big Data and analyze the datasets using modern Machine Learning (ML) techniques. Several datasets in the public domain will be studied and analyzed. Students will have an opportunity to build an Intrusion Detection System in the Petty 214 lab, generate massive datasets and analyze them for Big Data classification. Students will learn the ML techniques in an algorithmic style rather than mathematically. Undergraduate students should sign up for CSC 495, while graduate students should register for CSC 663. In addition to the regular classwork, the graduate students will read at least two recent papers on the related topics and report their comparison study through class presentations and technical reports. For more information, contact Dr. Suthaharan.

Advising and Spring Registration Approaching!

Tue, 23 Aug 2012 09:39:21 GMT

The advising period for Spring 2013 registration begins Wednesday, October 17. Students should contact their advisor to sign up for an advising appointment, and at that meeting they will receive a registration code from their advisor. For more information, see the department's web page on Academic Advising.

UNCG Students Attend STARS Celebration! in Hampton, VA

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 09:39:21 GMT

Students from the UNCG Department of Computer Science and the Department of Information Systems and Supply Chain Management program traveled to Hampton, Virginia for the annual STARS Celebration! conference. The students in UNCG's chapter of the STARS Computing Corps work to broaden participation in computing through a variety of outreach and service activities. The participating students attended a variety of workshops and lectures at the conference to help kick off the new academic year's Computing Corps activities.

Former UNCG STARS president, Simone Stephens, was awarded the national Outstanding Corps Student award for leadership and contributions to the Corps mission, and the UNCG chapter was runner up for the best chapter award. The STARS Alliance is an NSF funded project to advance innovation and broaden participation through regional partnerships.

UNCG Faculty Visit Chinese Universities

Tue, 7 Aug 2012 09:39:21 GMT

While the UNCG campus slows down over the summer, two UNCG Computer Science professors were busy working to establish international collaborations between our department and some Chinese universities. Professors Lixin Fu and Jing Deng visited several Chinese Universities and gave research seminars in May and June 2012. Both Drs. Fu and Deng visited the Electrical and Electronic Institute and Software Institute at Dalian University of Technologies, and Dr. Fu went on to visit Nankai University while Dr. Deng visited Tsinghua University, Jilin University, and Xi Dian University. Through research meetings, lab visits, and discussions with faculty members and students, they highlighted UNCG, UNCG computer science undergraduate and M.S. programs, and faculty research. We hope to build upon these relationships through collaborative research and possibly student or faculty exchanges.

New Introductory Class Being Offered Fall 2012

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 09:39:21 GMT

A new introductory computer science class will be offered in Fall 2012. The new class, CSC 100: The Beauty and Joy of Computing, is designed for beginning computer science majors and for non-majors who want to learn about the fundamentals of computing, with a focus on student creativity and a high-level view of the breadth of computer science. The class will include programming in a visual animation-based programming environment, discussions of the impact of computing in changing the world, and includes topics as varied as graphics, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and more. More information, including a detailed syllabus, can be viewed at the class information page.

UNCG to host High School Programming Contest

Wed, 4 Apr 2012 09:39:21 GMT

The UNCG Department of Computer Science and the UNCG ACM Student Chapter will be hosting a programming contest for area high school students on Saturday, April 21. Students may compete in teams of two or three, with one computer per team. During the contest, teams will be given a set of five or six problems that are to be solved by writing a program (in Java or C++) — the team that correctly solves the most problems in the least amount of time will be the winner. For more information about the contest, including sample problems and instructions for registering a team, email Prof. Tate at srtate@uncg.edu.

UNCG Team Wins First Place at Programming Contest

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 09:39:21 GMT

On Saturday, March 17, 2012, computer science students Lance Everhart, Luke Eldridge, and Dayyan Borhanian took first place in the Triad Regional Programming Contest hosted by NC A&T University. Thirteen teams from 8 schools competed at the contest, and this UNCG team was the only one to complete all nine problems during the 4 hour competition. They narrowly defeated the second place team from High Point University, who completed 8 of the 9 problems. Everhart and Borhanian were also on the team that took first place at the 2011 competition, and this year's win extends UNCG's 1st-place winning streak at the Triad Programming Contest to three years.

Learning Community Opportunity for CS Majors

Wed, 4 Jan 2012 09:39:21 GMT

UNCG has proposed establishment the AToMS (Achieving Together in Mathematics and Science) "learning community" specifically for first-year students interested in majoring in Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, and Physics. Students in these majors take many of the same classes during their freshman year, and a learning community groups students together into a "cohort" so that they build a peer support group for these courses, establish a sense of community with like-minded students, and participate in activities that connect classes and learning across the different disciplines. If you are starting at UNCG in Fall 2012 as a Computer Science major, this is a great opportunity — you can find more information about this learning community, including how and when to apply, at the AToMS web site.

Tejaswi Panchagnula presents at Sigma Xi Annual Meeting

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 09:39:21 GMT

Computer Science Master's student Tejaswi Panchagnula presented his project "Evaluation of intrusion detection datasets for accuracy with respect to relevance feature selection," supervised by Dr. Suthaharan, at the Sigma Xi 2011 Annual Meeting and International Research Conference at the Raleigh Convention Center. The event was well-attended, and Tejaswi had the opportunity to describe his work to many interested attendees.

Computing Day @ UNCG

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 09:39:21 GMT

The UNCG STARS Leadership Corps is organizing a "Computing Day" event to be held at UNCG on December 3, 2011, with generous sponsorship from the Greensboro Jaycees. Area high school students are invited to come out for fun computing activities using SCRATCH and WebStarts for Web Design. Following these activities will be two competitive rounds to showcase your awesome skills using these programs, with prizes for the winners! There will also be lunch provided and a keynote speaker who will talk about opportunities in the tech world, and how to find a good path to meet your own interests. High school teachers are also invited to come join other area teachers in activities organized by the CSTA (Computer Science Teacher's Association) to share tips on teaching computing and programming topics, and to learn what's new in computing education. For more information and to register for the student events, visit the STARS Leadership Corps event page, and if you are a teacher that would like to register for teacher events please visit the CSTA event page to register. (See also the UNCG Press Release.)

New Classes Available for Spring 2012

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 09:39:21 GMT

Three new courses have been added to the Computer Science class schedule for Spring 2012. Visiting faculty member Mike Wilson will be offering CSC 539 - Introduction to Compiler Design - a course listed in our catalog that we have not been able to offer in many years, and will also be offering a special topics class (CSC 495/663) on "Overlay Networks and Network Innovation". Another special topics class, CSC 495 - Problem Solving and Programming, will be offered by Prof. Tate. For more information about these classes, please see the descriptions on our Spring 2012 Special Classes page.

Student Group Involved in Leadership and Outreach

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 09:39:21 GMT

A new UNCG student group, the STARS Leadership Corps, has been formed as a joint effort between the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Information Systems and Operations Management (ISOM). The group is affiliated with a national STARS Alliance, and consists of 10 CS and ISOM students who are dedicated to serving the community. Activities include outreach visits to area middle and high schools, and the students are planning for a large event to be hosted at UNCG for K-12 students interested in computing and technology careers. For more information, the group can be contacted at uncgstars@gmail.com

New Visisting Assistant Professor

Fri, 2 Sep 2011 09:39:21 GMT

The Department of Computer Science is happy to welcome a new face to our faculty: Mike Wilson is a Ph.D. student at Washington University in St. Louis, and is teaching here at UNCG while he puts the final touches on his doctoral dissertation related to network processing. This Fall, Mike is teaching Foundations of Computer Science I, Advanced Data Structures, and Software Engineering. Mike has an interesting background in both academia and industry, and brings that perspective to his teaching.

Dr. Suthaharan elected to Sigma Xi

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 09:39:21 GMT

Dr. Shan Suthaharan has been elected to the membership of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society. For over 120 years, scientists and engineers from a wide range of disciplines – including over 200 Novel Laureates – have united under the auspices of Sigma Xi as companions in zealous research. All members of Sigma Xi pledge "to encourage original investigation in science, to foster companionship and cooperation among scientists, and to maintain honor, integrity and honest in all scientific activities."

Dr. Deng visits Sweden for Research Collaboration

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 09:39:21 GMT

Dr. Jing Deng visited Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden June 2-14, 2011. In his research visit to the School of Electrical Engineering hosted by Dr. Panos Papadimitratos, Dr. Deng gave two seminars on subjects of wireless security and wireless networks, titled "Balancing Transmission Redundancy and Robustness in the Wireless Network Key Establishment Process" and "Analyzing Multi-Channel MAC Schemes in Wireless Networks," respectively. Dr. Deng also interacted with several faculty members and graduate students on research problems related to wireless network, information assurance, and secure social networks.

Workshop for High School Girls

Wed, 8 Jun 2011 09:39:21 GMT

The Department of Information Systems and Operations Mangement and the Department of Computer Science are collaborating to offer a summer workshop to introduce high school girls to the range of possibilities open to them in IT careers. The workshop is free of charge, and has space for up to 80 girls. During the workshop, participants will engage in a variety of hands-on activities ranging from programming animations and simple games, programming Android mobile apps, developing web sites, and learning about security and safe Internet usage. For more information, see the Broadening the Role of Women in IT web site.

2011 Graduates and Honors

Tue, 17 May 2011 09:39:21 GMT

A reception was held May 6, 2011 honoring Computer Science Graduates, and we saw our largest graduating class in several years. In total for the 2010-2011 academic year, 31 students earned computer science degrees (18 earning a Bachelor of Science, and 13 earning a Master of Science). The reception was a great time, bringing together faculty, students, family, and friends. Two students were recognized with awards: Ben Wyatt received the "Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award," and Xiaocheng Zou received the "Outstanding Graduate Student Award." For more pictures from the graduation reception, see the PicasaWeb photo album. We know all of our graduates will go far and wish them the best for the future!

UNCG Students Excel at Triad Programming Contest

Sat, 9 Apr 2011 09:39:21 GMT

UNCG sent two teams to the Triad 2011 Triad Programming Contest, hosted by NC A&T University, placing first and third out of the 11 teams competing (a team from High Point University came in second). While teams could have up to three students, UNCG's teams managed to take two of the top three spots with only two students on each team. The first-place team consisted of Lance Everhart and Dayyan Borhanian, and the team that took third consisted of Jeff Stringfield and Alex Kilgore. Congratulations to the teams!

Computer Science Students Win Honors

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 09:39:21 GMT

Three computer science students have received significant university honors. Ben Wyatt, a graduating senior, has won a UNCG Student Excellence Award, UNCG's highest academic honor for undergraduates. In addition, Lance Everhart and Jacob Bowman have been elected to and inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the prestigious nationwide honor society. Only 46 students at the university were elected to Phi Beta Kappa this year (out of UNCG's 14,310 undergraduate students), so this is a very significant achievement. The Department of Computer Science is privileged to have such talented students in our department, and congratulates them on their accomplishments!

Student Advising for Fall 2011

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 09:39:21 GMT

The advising period for Fall 2011 registration begins today, Monday March 21. Students should contact their advisor to sign up for an advising appointment, and at that meeting they will receive a registration code from their advisor. For more information, see the department's web page on Academic Advising.

Dr. Green Organizing Symposium at Stanford

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 09:39:21 GMT

Dr. Nancy Green is co-organizer of a symposium on Artificial Intelligence and Health Communication, to be held at Stanford University March 21-23, 2011 as part of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence 2011 Spring Symposium Series. Design of effective health communication systems faces major challenges in terms of accessibility, trust, expert-to-lay knowledge translation, and persuasiveness. It is proposed that some of these challenges can be addressed by use of AI techniques in combination with empirically-based theoretical frameworks from the field of health communication and related areas. This symposium will bring together an interdisciplinary group of scholars to identify possible solutions.

ACM Holding Spring Kick-off Event

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 09:39:21 GMT

The UNCG ACM chapter is holding a social event Thursday, February 10, from 7:00 to 10:00, to get together current members and to welcome any new students and potential ACM members for the Spring semester. There will be games on several XBox 360's (Black Ops, Kinect, Rock Band) as well as a Gamecube (Smash Bros. Melee), and Pizza will be provided. The event is in the EUC 2nd floor auditorium lobby – come out for a fun-filled night of gaming, trash talking, and all around fun!

Leading Computer Science Educator to Speak

Fri, 31 Dec 2010 09:39:21 GMT

Dr. Owen Astrachan from Duke University will be speaking at UNCG on Tuesday, January 25 (4:30-6:00 in Petty 213). Dr. Astrachan is one of only two NSF-designated CISE Distinguished Education Fellows, and he is a leading voice in the Computer Science education community. He will be speaking about current directions in C.S. education and a project in which he and his collaborators are creating a new AP course called Computer Science Principles. This talk is sponsored by the UNCG RISE (Research and Instruction in STEM Education) Network.

Dr. Suthaharan Elected as Fellow of IET

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 09:39:21 GMT

Dr. Shan Suthaharan was recently elected as a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), an international organization with more than 150,000 members in 127 countries. Fellowship of the IET is awarded to members who have "demonstrated superior individual responsibility, sustained achievement and significant professionalism during their career." Congratulations to Dr. Suthaharan for this international recognition!

New Courses Offered

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 09:39:21 GMT

The Department of Computer Science has added several classes to the Spring 2011 schedule. Based on student interest, we have added CSC 521 (Computer Graphics) and CSC 526 (Bioinformatics), as well as an exciting new class in parallel algorithms/programming that is not one of our regular course offerings (available as CSC 495 for undergraduates and CSC 693 for graduate students). In addition, there is an exciting new interdisciplinary course being offered that is cross-listed between Art and Computer Science - the course is "Art and Code" (CSC 343) and the course explores using programming within a graphical design package.

New Scholarship Opportunity

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 09:39:21 GMT

UNCG has received funding from the National Science Foundation to start a scholarship program called "STAMPS Scholars," where STAMPS stands for "Science, Technology, and Mathematics Preparation Scholarships." There will be a round of applications accepted this Fall (due October 29) and another in the Spring, and annually thereafter while funding lasts. Computer Science students are encouraged to apply, and can find more information at the STAMPS web site.

Computer Science Welcomes Two Visiting Faculty

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 09:39:21 GMT

The Department of Computer Science is happy to welcome two new visiting faculty members for the 2010-2011 academic year. Dr. David Sturgill (Visiting Associate Professor) is joining us after having been on the faculty at Baylor University for a number of years, and will be teaching Software Engineering, Algorithms, and Theory of Computing. Dr. Leong Lee (Visiting Assistant Professor) just finished his Ph.D. at Missouri University of Science and Technology and will be teaching Foundations of Computer Science I, Advanced Data Structures, and Database Systems. We look forward to a great year with these new additions to our faculty.

2010 Graduates and Honors

Mon, 17 May 2010 09:39:21 GMT

A reception was held May 14, 2010 honoring Computer Science Graduates, and the 60-seat room was filled to capacity with students, family, and friends. Hard work and dedication was recognized as five CS Undergraduates and twelve Graduate Students received their degrees. Two students were recognized with awards: Carolyn McCann received the "Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award," and Yuan Kong received the "Outstanding Graduate Student Award." We know all of our graduates will go far and wish them the best for the future!