SFSU Computer Science Department

1. SFSU Computer Science Department October 2007 Prof. D. Petkovic dpetkovic@cs.sfsu.edu

2. WELCOME

3. Outline • SW trends driving markets, jobs and education • About CS Department • About the program • QA • www.cs.sfsu.edu

4. Trends in Software Development • Global development of computer software through international cooperation and outsourcing are the main characteristics of current and future software engineering development process • Increased emphasis on building SW from components and services developed globally • Everything is getting connected with WWW and wireless • Critical need for making systems easy to use, on time and budget, and with adequate performance, with geographically dispersed teams • Open source software community is another example of global collaborative approach to SW development. • New areas: games, sensor networks, biotech, personal devices…

5. Computing and Life Sciences • Biotechnology, bioinformatics and related applications are considered next frontiers for computer science, both technically and in terms of business opportunities • Bay Area is one of the world centers of bioinformatics and bio technology • SFSU has outstanding programs related to biology and chemistry/biochemistry and skills and interests from Math • Every major university is having or will have programs in this area • Increased focus by funding agencies, government, politicians and university executives • Strong interest among students and faculty

6. New attractive areas at SFSU CS Department • Mixing CS and business education (IT management, technology management, product management, marketing) • Games including serious games for education and training • Both areas are in our plans this year, starting with graduate program

7. Motivation for updating the curricula with new types of skills • ACM study on SW outsourcing and globalisation specifically mentions the need to train SE students in so called “soft skills”, teamwork, communication, SE process organization and issues related to globalisation Aspray W., Mayadas F., Vardi M.Y., Editors: “Globalisation and Offshoring of Software, A Report of the ACM Job Migration Task Force”, ACM 2006, http://www.acm.org/globalizationreport/

8. Jobs • Jobs are plenty • SW Engineering voted best job by Money magazine in 2006 • http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestjobs/2006/ BUT • New skills are needed

9. Motivation: more than technical skills required – example job adv. • Sr. Software Engineer • Job DescriptionThe Software Engineer will work as part of an agile multi-disciplinary team to develop the software components of an enterprise-scale hospital information system. The individual must be a team-player and willing to function as a designer, developer, tester, and an analyst as required to achieve the goals of the team. • Specific Responsibilities: • • 5+ years of professional experience developing commercial or enterprise-scale software products• 3+ years of development experience with Java and J2EE (EJB, Servlets, and JSP) • XP, Agile development experience is preferred• Healthcare domain knowledge is preferred• Exposure to multiple DBMS systems is preferred • Understands concepts of the software development lifecycle • Ability to function as a designer, developer, tester and to some degree, an analyst • Must possess strong organization and communication skills • Must exhibit a sense of and demonstrate responsibility, focus on delivery, and ability to work independently with appropriate technical direction• Comfortable in a fast-paced, team-oriented environment• Strong written and verbal skills from both business and technical perspectives

10. About the Department • Main CS WWW site www.cs.sfsu.edu • Mission and Objectives • http://cs.sfsu.edu/mission.htm • About 400 undergrads and about 100 graduates • 12 full time faculty and about 9 lecturers • http://cs.sfsu.edu/People/people.html • Strong accomplishments and nationally recognized faculty • http://cs.sfsu.edu/RecentAccomplishments.htm • Strong links with local industry • Strong research activity http://cs.sfsu.edu/externalpubs/2004pubs.htm • Center for Computing for Life Sciences http://cs.sfsu.edu/ccls/index.html

11. Link to undergraduate program page • Here you will find most of the info you need • http://cs.sfsu.edu/undergrad/undergraduate.html • Forms • http://cs.sfsu.edu/forms/forms.html

12. Changes in undergraduate curriculum  driven by market forces and IEEE/ACM recommendations • Increase project and teamwork content (vs. individual homework) • Provide more depth in programming, with supplemental classes for those who need help (CSC 203, 209, 211, 217) • Modernize the curriculum (multimedia, C#, Internet, Data Mining, Bioinformatics, Games) • Team up undergraduates with graduate students on projects • More internships with local industry • Classes on SW Engineering process (SW development process, teamwork, project management, global SW development) CSC 640/848

13. Other opportunities for students • Get involved in some project with graduate students • Individual or team projects get you great experience and help you get the job • Center for Computing for Life Sciences http://cs.sfsu.edu/ccls/index.html • New Dell Cluster Computer http://ccls.lab.sfsu.edu/bin/view/Cluster/DellPowerEdgeCluster

14. New initiatives this year • Work on some combination of CS and business program • Increase focus on games • Create advanced programming Studio club via ACM

15. New advising polices Advising has been shown to significantly increase success in studies NEW: • Attend Chair’s welcome group meeting at the beginning of each semester during CS Advising Day • No more general SFSU advising day • Mandatory advising for new and transfer students upon enrolment in 413and 213 – check with the office on who to see • Peer advising by CS students (does not replace faculty advising) • CS Advising page http://cs.sfsu.edu/advising.html

16. Important links • Undergraduate WWW page • http://cs.sfsu.edu/undergrad/undergraduate.html • Major program • http://cs.sfsu.edu/undergrad/under-major.html • Prerequisite chart • http://cs.sfsu.edu/undergrad/under-prereq.html • Suggested plan of study • http://cs.sfsu.edu/undergrad/under-rec-sequence.html • CS Advising page • http://cs.sfsu.edu/advising.html • DARS report: http://www.sfsu.edu/~admisrec/reg/dars.html • Cheating and plagiarism http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/plagarism.html

17. Consult CS WWW page all the time • Before asking the office or advisors, check our WWW page • It has all the info, forms and policies • Check WWW page at least once a week • Check e-mail from the office

18. Jobs • We encourage summer internships • We have good links with local industry • Plenty of jobs locally • Check our links for external jobs and TAships http://cs.sfsu.edu/jobs.html • We offer a class on job search via ACM and you can use resources on our employment page and SFSU Career Center

19. If interested to transfer • Talk to CCSF transfer advisors • Talk to CCSF Chair Prof. Boegel or SFSU CS Chair D. Petkovic • Contact SFSU CS Department transfer advisor • http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/People/advising.html

21. For future graduate students • MS degree becoming a key for advancement • Ability to work with geographically dispersed teams and multidisciplinary teams is increasingly important • Combination of general CS skills, domain depth and “soft” skills is critical • Jobs are good!

22. About the Department • Main CS WWW site www.cs.sfsu.edu • Mission and Objectives • http://cs.sfsu.edu/mission.htm • About 400 undergrads and about 100 graduates • 12 full time faculty and about 9 lecturers • http://cs.sfsu.edu/People/people.html • Strong accomplishments and nationally recognized faculty • http://cs.sfsu.edu/RecentAccomplishments.htm • Strong links with local industry • Strong research activity http://cs.sfsu.edu/externalpubs/2004pubs.htm • Center for Computing for Life Sciences http://cs.sfsu.edu/ccls/index.html

23. Link to graduate page • Here you will find all the info about the program and polices • http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/grad/graduate.html • Department forms • http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/forms/forms.html