Faculty

Dr. Wei Jin

Dr. Harold Ramcharan

Mr. Anozie Nebolisa

Mr. Chen Zhang

W. S. A. Johnson, Jr., Ph.D. Department Chairman

Degrees Offered
- Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
- Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems

Computer science is one of the most dynamic and progressive intellectual enterprises of our age. At Shaw University our focus is on the structure, design, and fundamental properties of computers and computer programs and on methods for using computers to solve significant problems.

We use mathematics extensively in the design and analysis of problem-solving techniques and the exploration of fundamental properties of computation, and draw heavily on techniques from engineering and from the natural sciences as well.

There are four main areas of study: Artificial intelligence, Programming languages and Systems, Business and Scientific computing, and Theory of computation.

Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence is the study of computational models of the mind. At Shaw University there is a plan to offer a wide variety of topics studied, including vision, robotics, planning, learning, and computational neuroscience.

Artificial Intelligence develops programs to do mathematics, predict the presence of mineral deposits, use TV cameras to see the world and identify what is there, verify the designs of electronic components, play backgammon, and much more. Nevertheless, such examples are misleading in two ways. First, the uninitiated tend to read too much into their capabilities. To us, the difference between, say the ability to weld a car body together and the ability to do light housework does not seem that great. Welding, if anything, seems more difficult. Yet while there are car-welding rots already at work, there will not a general household robot for a long time. "There is a big need for women in this field of artificial intelligence."

Programming Languages
Programming languages are the main vehicles for man-machine communication. They provide a way to express an algorithm as a program and impact the way we think of a computer system. At Shaw University the study of languages focuses on related ideas such as computational logic and program transformation.

Bridging the gap between Computer Science and Mathematics is the tangible networks over which information flows. Research on modern computer systems and data networks concentrates primarily on speed, efficiency, and bandwidth, yet must also address the interface of the hardware to higher-level software, such as operating systems and compilers. And of course it must also be correct: verification of proper behavior is an essential part of computer systems design.

Other areas of study include efficient compilation of higher-level languages, software engineering, program-development environments, new computer architectures, and intelligent tools for reasoning about secure systems.

Business and Scientific Computing
In the past four years computers have dramatically changed business, education, government, medicine, and science. It is now possible to test thousands of designs and run thousands of trials without first building a prototype for each product or conducting an elaborate experiment for each trial. The impact of this new ability, this power to simulate the real thing, is easy to imagine. Reliability, flexibility, efficiency, and often-attractive cost have placed scientific computation as the keystone between theory and applications.

Research in business and the scientific communities use concepts and methodologies from numerical linear and nonlinear algebra and boundary value problems for differential equations. In addressing these areas, computing at Shaw University emphasizes algorithm development, theoretical analysis, system modeling, and programming considerations. Algorithm development is concerned with finding new, fast, and/or parallel methods.

Theoretical analysis evaluates such questions as rates of convergence, stability, optimality, and operation counts. Systems' modeling examines the performance implications of the interactions between computationally intensive algorithms, operating systems, and multiprocessor machines. Programming considerations include coding efficiency, numerical accuracy, data structures, and machine independence.

Theory of Computation
Theory of computation involves the use of powerful mathematical tools to obtain deep insights into fundamental problems of computation. Not being constrained by the current state of technology, research in this area is free to explore both ``what is imaginable'' as well as ``what is.''

At Shaw University theory and research is concentrated in the areas of discrete mathematics, complexity theory, algorithms, cryptography, and distributed computing. Complexity theory looks at the relation between algorithm and computing device and attempts to determine the inherent difficulty of a computational task. Algorithms involve the invention and analysis of algorithms for sequential and parallel models of computation. Two concepts there are fundamental areas of computer science. They are computing devices and algorithms.

A computing device may be a computer, a network of computers, a circuit, a robot, or a software simulator or interpreter. An algorithm is a precise description of how some task is to be executed by a computing device. The curriculum in theory of computation is designed to provide a solid theoretical basis for the understanding of computing devices and algorithms.

There is considerable contact with discrete mathematics, graph theory, number theory, mathematical logic, probability and statistics, operations research, economics, computational finance, and other related areas of study.

Projections for The Department of Computer Information Science
The Department of Computer Information Science at Shaw University started in the fall of 2002. There are four members of the department and hopefully their will be ten regular faculty members, ten adjunct or affiliated faculty, and seven research scientists; with more than two hundred undergraduate majors, and more than fifty graduate students by the year 2005. The department offers more than twenty-five different undergraduate courses each year, all taught by faculty.

Computer Information Systems
Computer information systems focuses on the technological foundation of computer information systems including areas such as database systems, human-computer interaction, data and computer communications, computer security, software engineering, and object-oriented programming. The major is designed to give students a thorough knowledge of the field and to provide an enduring foundation for future professional growth. The program blends theory and practice into a learning experience that develops skill.

Computer Science
The computer science major offers instruction and performs research in the essential areas of computer science including software, Web and Internet computing, networking, hardware systems, operating systems, compilers, parallel and distributed computing, theory of computing, and computer graphics. This major is designed to prepare students both for graduate study in computer science and for technical careers in software development, computational science, networking, information systems, and electronic commerce.