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, social networking sites, and AI are forging connections among people worldwide, while advances in scientific and medical disciplines routinely produce vast datasets. This affords opportunities and a need for advances in hardware and software, and also 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, 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, Facebook, Boeing, Google, Amazon, and Dell, while others have gone on to work for various 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 include robotics, natural language processing, cyber security, operating systems, 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.
MARIE DESCHENE (2018) Senior 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) Associate Professor. BS, Suez Canal University; MS, Ain Shams University; PhD, Virginia Polytechnic and Institute State University.
QIANG HAO (2017) Associate Professor. BS University of Hong Kong; MS, PhD University of Georgia.
CAROLINE HARDIN (2019) Associate Professor and Director of BAE Computer Science. BS, MS, & PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison
KAMERON HARRIS (2017) Associate 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 and Director of Data Science. BA, BS, MS, Western Washington University; MS, PhD, University of Washington.
TAREK IDRISS (2019) Associate 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) Associate Professor. BE, Birla Institute of Technology and Science; PhD, Dartmouth College.
PHILIP A. NELSON (1987) Professor. BS, Pacific Union College; MS, University of California-Davis; PhD, University of Washington.
ALEXANDRA NILLES (2024) Assistant Professor. BS, Colorado School of Mines; PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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.
MOUSHUMI SHARMIN (2015) 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. The department also cooperates with the Department of Mathematics to offer a combined major, Mathematics/Computer Science, BS. Several minors are also offered. At the graduate level, the department offers a Master of Science in Computer Science.

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.

Facilities

The department has state-of-the-art academic and research laboratories in two buildings – the Communications Facility and Kaiser Borsari Hall – that support the department’s degree and certificate programs. The academic labs support the teaching of first-year classes and beyond. Labs contain modern dual-monitor desktop workstations running course applicable Windows or Linux operating systems, and have specialized software installed that is available nowhere else on campus. Several classrooms are designed specifically for active learning which utilizes collaborative workspaces. Additionally, special purpose research labs provide equipment for research in robotics, computer graphics, mobile app development, virtual reality, computer vision, human computer interaction, computer security, and others.

The department operates a HTC (high throughput computing) cluster, allowing students of the department to utilize expanded resources, including multiple GPUs and several H100s, for computation research.

A senior research space, a robotics laboratory, and multiple active learning spaces are the newest additions in Kaiser Borsari Hall, which add to our existing resources in the Communications Facilities building.

Advice to Transfer Students

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

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, please contact the Computer Science office which will direct you to the transfer advisor, who will make recommendations on what to register for in your first term at WWU and to set you on a path to success. Students should be aware that like-named 200-level community college courses may not transfer as equivalent to CSCI courses.

We do not offer direct admission to any of the BS 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 CS Pre-Major Advisor Mary Hall 360-650-2300, hallm22@wwu.edu upon transferring to WWU.

Computer Science Distinguished Scholars (CSDS)

Admission to CSDS, which is a form of direct admit, is for first-year students who demonstrate academic excellence with an interest in pursuing a Computer Science or Data Science major. Applications are accepted at the time when high school students apply for admission to Western. Benefits of CSDS include a reserved seat in all-pre major classes, and guaranteed admission to the Computer Science or Data Science major upon satisfactory completion of all pre-major requirements.

Contact Information

Department of Computer Science, 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.

Advising

Advising is available for prospective and transfer students, as well as 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

Undergraduate Major

Undergraduate Minor

Graduate

Computer Science, Non-Thesis, MS

Certification

Courses

Computer Science

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

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