The field of computer science continues to grow in importance and popularity as software-enabled devices and services permeate every aspect of society while AI-enabled services reach heights once only imagined in science fiction. As a result, computational thinking and programming have become essential skills for all students, regardless of their major, akin to mathematics, reading, and writing. This has led to an unprecedented demand for our department to satisfy computing needs at MSU and beyond. I am proud to say that our faculty, staff, students, and alumni have risen to the occasion, providing leadership and innovative solutions across all of our missions of education, research, and outreach, despite facing numerous challenges.
In education, we are expanding our offerings to meet the growing interest in computer science among majors and non-majors at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Two examples of this strategic expansion are two new degree programs, namely, the Bachelor of Science in Computational Data Science, and the Master of Science in Data Science, offered in collaboration with CMSE and STT departments. With well over 2000 undergraduate students as of Fall 2022, our programs are now the largest in the College of Engineering and one of the largest across MSU. We ensure a high-quality educational experience through a carefully tailored blend of fundamentals and cutting-edge technologies. Learning fundamental underlying principles helps our students build successful life-long careers in today’s rapidly changing world. Working with state-of-the-art technologies helps our students obtain high-quality first jobs. Our students and graduates are in high demand by local, state, national, and international companies and elite graduate programs.
In research, we are leaders in applying computational approaches to solve significant hardware, software, and data problems across various disciplines. Our faculty conduct research on a wide variety of topics including artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, big data, biometrics, internet of things, security, digital organisms, and telemedicine to name just a few. Many of our faculty collaborate with researchers across campus, the country, and the globe, providing the computational leadership needed to solve many of the world’s interdisciplinary research challenges.
In outreach, we are committed to building and maintaining a diverse and inclusive community. Our faculty and students participate in numerous programs and activities to attract and retain students from diverse backgrounds. We also provide technical leadership to improve the educational systems used across MSU.
We are particularly proud of our graduates. Whether near or far, our alums are active, developing innovative technologies and solving challenging multidisciplinary problems. We kindly request our alums to share their success stories with us; your accomplishments are a source of great inspiration to our students and us. Selected stories will be highlighted on our website to showcase the excellence of our alums. Furthermore, we extend our heartfelt appreciation to those who give back to our capstone course, providing the next generation of CSE graduates the chance to gain real-world experience.
It is indeed an exciting time to be a computer scientist. I am extremely honored and humbled to lead our department into the future as we continue to move forward to embrace new opportunities and overcome new challenges.
