Computer Science

Introduction

Specialized software for scientific and technical computing for desktops, laptop computers, and mobile devices are transforming the world rapidly and irreversibly. Search engines and social networking sites are forging connections among people worldwide, while advances in scientific and medical disciplines routinely produce vast datasets. This affords opportunities and in some cases a need for not only advances in hardware and software but necessitates new approaches for the storage and analysis of data, and for effective ways for people of all backgrounds and capabilities to interface with software and hardware tools. Advances in areas such as robotics, video games, multicore computing, virtual reality, machine learning, and cyber security are central to the discipline of computer science. Other fields such as genetics, atomic physics, renewable energy, and health care depend upon computers for advancement as well. The increasing reliance on computers in our modern technological society makes the study of computer science exciting and challenging.

Graduates of Western’s Computer Science Department are employed by industry giants such as Microsoft, Boeing, Google, Amazon, and Dell, while others have gone on to work for small start-ups and government research labs. Some have started their own companies. Our alumni create a rich network of contacts which current students often utilize to land paid internships and lucrative, challenging jobs right out of college. There is no shortage of exciting career opportunities available to graduates of computer science.

Computer science at Western is composed of core classes organized around the study of design and analysis techniques used to write software in various application domains along with details about the internal workings of computers and networks. Elective classes in areas such as artificial intelligence, mobile device programming, data science, robotics, graphics, web programming, bioinformatics, computer security, mobile app development, virtual reality, and video game programming allow students to explore areas of individual interest.
Faculty research interests span diverse areas of computer science including robotics, natural language processing, multiprocessing, cyber security, information retrieval, graphics, optimization algorithms, video games, bioinformatics, computer networks, machine learning, computer vision, and human computer interaction. Members of the department are involved in collaborative projects with government agencies, local industry and other academic units at Western.

Faculty

FILIP JAGODZINSKI (2015) Chair and Professor. BS, Columbia University; MS, Villanova University; PhD, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
SHAMEEM AHMED (2015) Associate Professor. BS, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology; MS, Marquette University; PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
SELINA AKTER (2020) Instructor. BS, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology; MS, PhD, Washington State University.
JUSTICE BANSON (2018) Senior Instructor. BS, University of Education; MEd, University of Cape Coast.
MICHAEL J. BOOCK (2022) Instructor. BS, Cornell College; MA, Naval War College; JD, University of Iowa School of Law; Masters of Laws, University of Washington School of Law.
ARAN CLAUSON (2014) Instructor and Director, Corporate Alliance Program. BS, MS, Western Washington University; PhD, University of Oregon.
WESLEY DENEKE (2017) Associate Professor. BS, PhD, University of Arkansas.
MARIE DESCHENE (2018) Instructor. BS, Athabasca University; MBA, MSIS< City University of Seattle; PhD, Capella University.
HANXIANG DU (2023) Assistant Professor. BA, MA, Zhongshan University; MS, Texas Tech University; PhD, University of Florida (2024).
YASMINE ELGLALY (2020) Assistant Professor. BS, Suez Canal University; MS, Ain Shams University; PhD, Virginia Polytechnic and Institute State University.
ERIK FRETHEIM (2016) Senior Instructor and Director, Computer and Information Systems Security Program. BS, United States Military Academy; MBA, Long Island University; MSEE, PhD, Air Force Institute of Technology.
QIANG HAO (2017) Associate Professor. BS University of Hong Kong; MS, PhD University of Georgia.
CAROLINE HARDIN (2019) Assistant Professor. BS, MS, & PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison
KAMERON HARRIS (2017) Assistant Professor. BA, MS, University of Vermont; PhD, University of Washington.
HSIANG-JEN HONG (2023) Assistant Professor. BS, National Taipei University; MS, PhD, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology.
FUQUN HUANG (2023) Assistant Professor. BSE, PhD, Beihang University.
BRIAN HUTCHINSON (2013) Professor. BA, BS, MS, Western Washington University; MS, PhD, University of Washington.
TAREK IDRISS (2019) Assistant Professor. BS, University of Balamand; MS, University of Balamand & University of Louisiana at Lafayette; PhD, University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
MICHAEL KOEPP (2022) Instructor. BS, Colorado State University; MBA, Western Washington University.
YUDONG LIU (2013) Professor. BS, MS, Jilin University; PhD, Simon Fraser University.
SHRIRANG MARE (2020) Assistant Professor. BE, Birla Institute of Technology and Science; PhD, Dartmouth College.
MICHAEL MEEHAN (1996) Professor. BS, Birmingham-Southern College; MS, PhD, University of Alabama-Huntsville.
PHILIP A. NELSON (1987) Professor. BS, Pacific Union College; MS, University of California-Davis; PhD, University of Washington.
DUSTIN O’HARA (2019) Senior Instructor and Director of Internet Studies Center. BA, University of California, Los Angeles; MFA, University of California, Santa Cruz; PhD, University of California, Los Angeles.
BLAKE PEDRINI (2022) Instructor. BS, Western Washington University.
KRIS ROBINSON (2022) Instructor. MS, University of Maryland Global Campus.
MOUSHUMI SHARMIN (2015) Associate Professor. BS, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology; MS, Marquette University; PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
SEE-MONG TAN (2020) Instructor. BS, University of California-Berkely; MS, PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
MICHAEL TSIKERDEKIS (2017) Associate Professor. BS, Aristotle University; PhD Masaryk University.
AARON TUOR (2021) Instructor. BA, MS, Western Washington University.
SCOTT WEHRWEIN (2018) Associate Professor. BA, Middlebury College; MS, PhD, Cornell University.
PIPER WOLTERS (2022) Instructor. BS, MS. Western Washington University.

Programs

The Computer Science Department offers a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science which is accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET, www.abet.org. The department also offers a Data Science Bachelor of Science, and a Bachelor of Arts in Education, Computer Science - Secondary. The department also offers a Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity in Bellingham, Poulsbo, and Kirkland, which is a 2+2 program in cooperation with Western’s Cybersecurity partner colleges. Alternatively, the Computer Science Department cooperates with the Department of Mathematics to offer a combined major, Mathematics/Computer Science, BS. The department also offers two minors – one in Computer Science and one in Computer Systems. At the graduate level, the department offers a Master of Science in Computer Science.

Students from all majors can pursue an interdisciplinary minor in Internet Studies, and three certificate programs: Web Content Development, Web Programming, and E-commerce. This minor and the certificate programs are designed so that computer science majors, as well as non-computer science majors, may gain the technical and communication background necessary for developing, maintaining, and managing websites and resources.

Declaring a Computer Science Major

Students interested in majoring or minoring in one of the CS majors, minors, or certificate programs, are advised to connect with the appropriate advisor, to formulate a balanced academic plan. The contact information for all advisors, is available on the CS website, which also includes links to major application forms, their deadlines, and our policies.

Internet Studies Center

The Internet Studies Center (ISC) provides an adjunct program to a regular degree program. The center offers courses in website development and management that enable students to apply their major field in the world of web-based communications and enterprise. Students completing a sequence of these courses are eligible for certification. The courses follow three different tracks. Students from a wide variety of liberal arts and science majors pursue the Web Content Development track. This certifies that students have sufficient technical knowledge and skill to work effectively as web content producers in a development team where they must work with programmers and project managers to produce a professional website. The Web Programming certification track provides a deeper technical program for CS majors to master programming skills pertinent to content delivery in large, dynamic websites. Finally, the E-commerce certification track, offered in conjunction with the Finance, Marketing and Decision Sciences department of the College of Business and Economics, provides students with in-depth knowledge of large website management for e-commerce and other enterprise applications.

Those students interested in Web development but not seeking certification may take a set of courses that leads to a minor in internet resource creation and management. This minor complements degrees in disciplines outside computing, providing students with the ability to publish and maintain material on the World Wide Web. This minor will enhance students standing in applications to entry-level positions and helps increase the marketability of their major degree. The curriculum for this minor and all of the ISC-sponsored courses adapt to changes in internet technology as the internet evolves.

Facilities

The department has state-of-the-art laboratories that support the computer science department and the several degree and certificate programs. The general-purpose labs support the teaching of first-year classes and beyond. These labs contain modern dual-monitor desktop workstations running Windows and Linux, and have specialized software installed that is available nowhere else on campus. Additionally, special purpose labs and equipment support education and research in robotics, computer graphics, mobile app development, virtual reality, computer vision, human computer interaction, multi-processor computing, computer security, data mining and information retrieval.

Advice to Transfer Students

We welcome transfer students each quarter. The following courses provide the best foundation for transferring to study Computer Science:

• CSCI 141 Computer Programming I
• CSCI 145 Computer Programming & Liner Data Structures (Java)
• MATH 124 Calculus I and MATH 125 Calculus II
• One lab science series chosen from:
  • BIOL 204, BIOL 205, and BIOL 206;
  • CHEM 161, CHEM 162, and CHEM 163;
  • PHYS 161, PHYS 162, and PHYS 163;
  • GEOL 211, GEOL 212, and one of GEOL 308, GEOL 309, GEOL 314, GEOL 315, GEOL 316, GEOL 340
• CSCI 241 Data Structures
• MATH 204 Elementary Linear Algebra

Once admitted to Western, you may contact our Computer Science transfer advisor for recommendations on what to register for in your first term at WWU or to evaluate the equivalency of any Computer Science courses. Students should be aware that like-named 200-level community college courses may not transfer as equivalent.

We do not offer direct admission to any of the Computer Science majors. New transfer students with CSCI 141 or CSCI 145 credit may be eligible to sign-up for a pre-major and should meet with an advisor immediately upon transferring to WWU.

Contact Information

Department of Computer Science, Communication Facility 495, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225- 9165. Please direct questions to the departmental office: The phone is 360-650-3805 or correspond by e-mail to cs.dept@wwu.edu. Up-to-date information about advising is on the Academic and Resources page of the Computer Science website at cs.wwu.edu.

Advising

Advising is available for prospective and transfer students, declared pre-major and major students. Contact information for advisors is available on the Resource Section of the Computer Science Department website at cs.wwu.edu.

Programs

• Computer Science — Secondary, BAE
• Computer Science, BS
• Cybersecurity, BS
• Data Science, BS
• Mathematics/Computer Science, BS (see Mathematics Department)

• Computer Science Minor
• Computer Systems Minor
• Cybersecurity Minor
• Internet Resource Creation and Management Minor
• User Experience (UX) Design Minor (in Moratorium) (see Engineering and Design Department)

• Computer Science, Non-Thesis, MS

• Content Development Certificate
• Cybersecurity Certificate
• E-Commerce Developer Certificate
• Web Programming Certificate

Courses

Courses numbered X37; X97; 300, 400, 500 are described in the University Academic Policies  section of this catalog.

• CSCI 101 - Computers and Applications
• CSCI 102 - Computer-Mediated Communications
• CSCI 103 - Introduction to Computer Game Development
• CSCI 104 - Software Installation, Operation and Configuration of Personal Computer Systems
• CSCI 105 - Introduction to Digital Humanities
• CSCI 120 - Exploring Computer Science
• CSCI 138 - Programming Fundamentals in Visual Basic
• CSCI 140 - Programming Fundamentals in C++
• CSCI 141 - Computer Programming I
• CSCI 145 - Computer Programming and Linear Data Structures
• CSCI 172 - Introduction to Robotics
• CSCI 202 - Dynamic Web Pages
• CSCI 241 - Data Structures
• CSCI 247 - Computer Systems I
• CSCI 300 - Directed Independent Study
• CSCI 301 - Formal Languages and Functional Programming
• CSCI 302 - Adv Internet Resources w/lab
• CSCI 305 - Analysis of Algorithms and Data Structures I
• CSCI 321 - Game Programming
• CSCI 330 - Database Systems
• CSCI 342 - Web Scripting
• CSCI 343 - Programming Workshop
• CSCI 345 - Object Oriented Design
• CSCI 347 - Computer Systems II
• CSCI 348 - Web Development Fundamentals
• CSCI 351 - Windows Software Development
• CSCI 367 - Computer Networks I
• CSCI 372 - Robotics: Applications of Artificial Intelligence
• CSCI 380 - Numerical Computations
• CSCI 400 - Directed Independent Study
• CSCI 401 - Automata and Formal Language Theory
• CSCI 402 - Artificial Intelligence
• CSCI 403 - Internship in Internet Studies
• CSCI 404 - Natural Language Processing
• CSCI 405 - Analysis of Algorithms and Data Structures II
• CSCI 410 - Programming Languages
• CSCI 412 - Mobile Device Programming
• CSCI 415 - Parallel Computation
• CSCI 424 - Social Network Analysis
• CSCI 426 - Principles of Human-Centered Technology Design
• CSCI 430 - Database Theory
• CSCI 436 - Technology for Social Good
• CSCI 440 - Virtual Worlds
• CSCI 442 - Advanced Web Programming in Java
• CSCI 447 - Operating Systems
• CSCI 450 - Compiler Theory and Design
• CSCI 461 - Computer Security
• CSCI 462 - OS Device Drivers
• CSCI 463 - Cyber Defense
• CSCI 467 - Computer Networks II
• CSCI 471 - Advanced Machine Learning
• CSCI 474 - Bioinformatics
• CSCI 476 - Computer Vision
• CSCI 477 - Data Mining
• CSCI 479 - Spoken Language Processing
• CSCI 480 - Computer Graphics
• CSCI 481 - Deep Learning
• CSCI 490 - Senior Research
• CSCI 491 - Senior Project 1
• CSCI 492 - Senior Project 2
• CSCI 493 - Senior Project 3
• CSCI 494 - Professional Work Experience
• CSCI 495 - Capstone Seminar
• CSCI 496 - Undergraduate Research
• CSCI 498 - Teaching Practicum
• CSCI 500 - Directed Independent Study
• CSCI 509 - Operating System Internals
• CSCI 510 - Automata and Formal Language Theory
• CSCI 511 - Analysis of Algorithms
• CSCI 512 - Design and Implementation of Computer Programming Languages
• CSCI 513 - Systems Programming and Operating Systems Internals
• CSCI 514 - Research Methodology in Computer Science
• CSCI 515 - Parallel Computation
• CSCI 520 - Advanced Compiler Design
• CSCI 525 - Advanced Topics in Operating Systems
• CSCI 526 - Principles of Human-Centered Technology Design
• CSCI 527 - Embedded Systems
• CSCI 530 - Advanced Database Theory
• CSCI 536 - Technology for Social Good
• CSCI 540 - Virtual Worlds
• CSCI 570 - Artificial Intelligence
• CSCI 571 - Advanced Machine Learning
• CSCI 572 - Robotics
• CSCI 573 - Computational Linguistics
• CSCI 575 - Information Retrieval
• CSCI 576 - Computer Vision
• CSCI 577 - Data Mining
• CSCI 578 - Cryptography
• CSCI 579 - Spoken Language Processing
• CSCI 580 - Computer Graphics
• CSCI 581 - Deep Learning
• CSCI 584 - Scientific Visualization
• CSCI 585 - Image Processing
• CSCI 590 - Graduate Seminar I
• CSCI 591 - Graduate Seminar II
• CSCI 601 - Area of Specialization Research Experience I
• CSCI 602 - Area of Specialization Research Experience II
• CSCI 603 - Area of Specialization Research Experience III
• CSCI 692 - Area of Specialization Research Experience

Courses numbered X37; X97; 300, 400, 500 are described in the University Academic Policies  section of this catalog.

• CISS 247 - Computer Systems I
• CISS 301 - Discrete Structures for Cybersecurity