Department of Computer Science and Engineering

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Head: Nasir Memon

Mission Statement

The Department of Computer Science and Engineering is committed to preparing undergraduate and graduate students for leadership roles in professional and research activities in the information-technology sector. The department fosters an environment that encourages lifelong learning in the Information Age. Graduates lead and grow in diverse working environments and apply the theories and skills of computer and information science to real-world problems. Toward this end, the department conducts state-of-the-art research in theoretical and applied computer science and maintains strong educational programs that emphasize breadth and depth in technical knowledge and proficiency in spoken and written communication skills. The environment encourages Invention, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (i²e).

The Department

Computers are now used in practically every area of human endeavor and are radically changing both the way people live and how they view the limits of human capabilities. Job opportunities in computer science and engineering are challenging and diverse. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, current job growth in computer science is among the highest of any technical profession.

NYU-Poly’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering offers programs leading to the BS, MS and PhD in Computer Science , and the MS in Cyber Security.  The department offers joint programs with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering , leading to the BS and MS in Computer Engineering and the MS in Telecommunication Networks. The department also offers an advanced certificate in software engineering and cyber security.

The Department of Computer Science and Engineering is active in research in several key areas of computer science. The department’s research strengths are in these areas: Internet and Web research, which includes peer-to-peer networking; cloud services and networking; Web search, Web mining and social networks; multi-player games and online virtual worlds. Cyber security is one of the most important areas of computer science and engineering at NYU-Poly. Cyber security includes vulnerability analysis; peer-to-peer security; multimedia forensics; biometrics; watermarking and digital rights management; wireless security; steganography; fault-tolerant distributed cryptography; and usable security; graphics, visualization. Vision and image processing has revolutionized the world of technology. It includes computer graphics and visualization; computer vision; and image processing. Lastly, theoretical computer science includes data structures; computational geometry; computational learning theory and combinatorial optimization and approximation algorithms.

The faculty works closely with NYUPoly’s Center for Advanced Technology in Telecommunications (CATT) and has relationships with industries that support research and activity in their special interests.

NYU-Poly has been designated as a Center of Excellence for Information Assurance Education for research by the National Security Agency (NSA) and operates the Scholarship for Service Program (SFS) in Information Assurance.

The department provides students with a wide variety of advanced computer and software systems. These support PC and UNIX technology along with highly distributed networks. The department has four dedicated computer-science laboratories (virtual lab) for upper-level undergraduate students. They are the Software Engineering Laboratory, Parallel and Distributed Systems Laboratory, Visualization and Graphics Laboratory and Computer System and Security Integration Laboratory. Multimedia and Web-based laboratories are also available.

Contact

Polytechnic Institute of NYU
Five MetroTech Center
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Tel: (718) 260-3440
Fax: (718) 260-3609
E-mail: cis@poly.edu
Web: www.poly.edu/academics/departments/computer

Degrees Offered

Bachelor of Science

• Computer Engineering, B.S.*
• Computer Science

Master of Science

• Computer Science
• Cyber Security

Doctor of Philosophy

• Computer Science

Graduate Certificates

• Cyber Security
• Information Security Professional
• Information Systems Administration
• Software Engineering

* Offered in conjunction with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Undergraduate Programs

For undergraduates, the department offers two degrees: a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science (BS CS) and a Bachelors of Science in Computer Engineering (BS CompE). The Bachelor of Science in Computer Science is a rigorous program that not only covers fundamental computer science subjects, such as object-oriented programming, computer architecture and operating systems, but also provides a number of exciting avenues for specialization including computer and online game development, cyber security, Internet/web systems and applications, bioinformatics, graphics and vision, digital media and management and entrepreneurship. Strong students can also apply to the BS/MS Program where it’s possible to earn the BS and MS in computer science at the same time.

The department jointly administers the Bachelors of Science in Computer Engineering with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. It draws on the two departments’ strengths to provide a focus on computer system design with integrated understanding of computer hardware and software.

Master’s Programs

The MS in Computer Science permits students to take courses either on a full-time or part-time basis. The curriculum has been designed for maximum flexibility. It includes fundamental courses in computer science as well as electives in specialized advanced courses on topics including computer and network security, distributed systems and networking, computer graphics, databases and web search technology. By electing the masters-thesis option, students may also pursue research with faculty members who are internationally recognized in their fields.

The MS in Cybersecurity is a new and highly innovative program that provides students with the critical knowledge and skills to become experts in cybersecurity, the science of protecting vital computer networks and electronic infrastructures from attacks. The program responds to the growing demand for security specialists in industry as well as government organizations.

PhD Program

The PhD program develops graduate skills in a broad range of areas as well as expertise in one or more specific areas and the ability to think critically and conduct independent research. Outstanding PhD students are advised to apply for financial aid in the form of teaching assistantships, research assistantships or partial-tuition remission.

Software Engineering Certificate

The advanced certificate in software engineering comprises a series of five graduate-level courses to give students the knowledge and skills needed to compete successfully in the software-development arena. Students who want to continue their studies can apply these courses to the MS program in computer science.

Cyber Security Certificate

The graduate certificate allows technical professionals to obtain key bodies of knowledge and specialization in cyber security. Students acquire an understanding of various technologies in emerging areas of security such as computer and network security, digital forensics, cryptography and biometrics. Students who want to continue their studies can apply all courses taken toward the MS program in computer science.

Faculty

Professors

Boris Aronov, Professor of Computer Science
PhD, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University
Algorithms, computational and combinatorial geometry

Phyllis G. Frankl, Professor of Computer Science
PhD, New York University
Software analysis and testing

Juliana Freire, Professor of Computer Science
PhD, State University of New York at Stony Brook
Data Analysis and visualiztion, Big Data, provenance management and analytics, scientific data management, large scale information, web information retrieval and analysis, web crawling, hidden web

K. Ming Leung, Professor of Computer Science
PhD, University of Wisconsin
Scientific computing, computer simulation, neural networks

Nasir Memon, Department Head and Professor of Computer Science
PhD, University of Nebraska
Data compression, image and video processing, computer security, multimedia computation and communication

Keith W. Ross, Department Head and Leonard J. Shustek Distinguished Professor of Computer Science
PhD, University of Michigan
Computer networking, Internet research, multimedia networking, scholastic modeling

Claudio T. Silva, Professor of Computer Science
PhD, State University of New York at Stony Brook
Big Data and Urban Systems, Visualization and Data Analysis, Geometry Processing

Associate Professors

Yi-Jen Chiang, Assistant Professor of Computer Science
PhD, Brown University
Computer graphics: out-of-core scientific visualization, isosurface extraction, surface simplification, virtual reality, air traffic control. Computer algorithms: I/O algorithms, computational geometry, graph algorithms, approximation algorithms, data structures

Lisa Hellerstein, Associate Professor of Computer Science
PhD, University of California at Berkeley
Computational learning theory, machine learning, algorithms, complexity theory, discrete mathematics

John Iacono, Associate Professor of Computer Science
PhD, Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey
Computational geometry, data structures, algorithms

Katherine Isbister, Associate Professor of Digital Media and Computer Science and Engineering
PhD, Stanford University
Social psychological and affective approaches to human computer interface, with special attention to games and other leisure and social technologies; embodied conversational agents and computer game characters

Torsten Suel, Associate Professor of Computer Science
PhD, University of Texas at Austin
Design and analysis of algorithms, database systems, parallel computation, experimental algorithmics

Joel Wein, Associate Professor of Computer Science
PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Scheduling, parallel and distributed computing, combinatorial optimization, data mining, algorithms

Edward K. Wong, Associate Professor of Computer Science
PhD, Purdue University
Computer vision, image analysis, pattern recognition, computer graphics

Assistant Professors

Enrico Bertini, Assistant Professor of Computer Science
PhD, Sapienza University of Rome
Information Visualization, Human Computer Interaction and

Justin Cappos, Assistant Professor of Computer Science
PhD, University of Arizona
Practical security, virtualization, cloud computing, software update systems, testbeds

Andy Nealen, Assistant Professor of Computer Science
PhD, TU Berlin
Computer Graphics, Game Design and Game Engineering

Industry Faculty

Haldun Hadimioglu, Industry Professor of Computer Science
PhD, Polytechnic University
Computer architecture, parallel processing, reconfigurable systems and application specific processors

Thomas Reddington, Industry Associate Professor
MS Physics, University of Pittsburg, PA

John B. Sterling, Industry Associate Professor
MS, New York University
Game programming, software development

Fred J. Strauss, Industry Associate Professor and Director of CSE programs in Melville Campus-Long Island
MS, Polytechnic Institute of New York
Software engineering, project management, distributed systems

Research Faculty

Gad M. Landau, Research Professor of Computer Science
PhD, Tel-Aviv University (Israel)
Serial and parallel algorithms for problems related to strings, computation biology, pattern recognition, communication networks

Nitesh Saxena, Research Professor of Computer Science
PhD, University of California, Irvine
Computer and network security, applied cryptography

Instructors

Evan Gallagher, Instructor of  Computer Science
MS, New York University

Daniel Katz-Braunschweig, Instructor of Computer Science
MS, Iona College

Faculty Emeriti

Henry Ruston, Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
PhD, University of Michigan

Martin L. Shooman, Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
DEE, Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn

Richard Van Slyke, Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
PhD, University of California at Berkeley
Combinatorial optimization especially applied to telecommunications systems, distributed optimization

Stuart A. Steele, Professor Emeritus of Computer Science
PhD, Pennsylvania State University
Software engineering and management, programming languages

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