Why study Computer Science?

Why Study Computer Science? Variety of job titles ■ Software Engineer (Applications or System), System Programmer, System Engineer, System Analyst/Programmer, Database Administrator, Network Systems and Data Communication Analyst, Network Programmer/Administrator, Web Developer/Administrator, Computer Scientist, and Information Technology Specialist. A Bachelor's degree in computing is required for high-pay IT positions. ■ According to U.S Department of Labor Statistics and Predication, very good opportunities are expected for college graduates with at least a bachelor’s degree in computer science and with practical work experience.

Why Study CS and engineering? Some of the Highest Paid Degrees We need more people in technology!

Why Study Computer Science? Fast–growing IT jobs ■ According to the U.S Government Labor Department job statistics and predications, the professional IT workforce is projected to add over a million new jobs between 2004 and 2014, an increase of about 30 percent. ■ According to the U.S Government Labor Department job statistics and predications, software engineers are projected to be one of the fastest growing occupations over the period 2004-2014. ■ Money Magazine May 2006 : Software Engineer is the #1 best job and the forecasted 10-year job growth is 46.07%. ■ CNNMoney.COM quotes an ACM study as saying that “Despite all the publicity in the United States about jobs being lost to India and China, the size of the IT employment market in the United States today is higher than it was at the height of the dotcom boom.”

Some Degrees Offered Computer Science Information Technology Software engineer Software system designer Systems administrator Project management Database designer/administrator Network manager Network security analyst

Computer Engineering More hardware oriented More physics and math courses Cell phones and PDAs Embedded Systems Robotics Biomedical Devices Computer Engineering Tracks Architecture Networking VLSI Real-Time and Embedded Systems

Computer Science More software oriented More programming courses Game Programming Information Security Database Design Artificial Intelligence

Information Technology What the ‘IT Person’ does – everything Database management, programming Security, project management, web-dev Supports many other majors Very flexible Information Security Pre-Law Pre-MBA Game Development Computer Animation

What This Isn’t Video game testing An easy degree If you don’t enjoy logic and solving puzzles, you will struggle

Software Engineering Begins with An Introduction to Object Oriented Programming in Java Representing the World through Software Objects Programming With Intelligent Agents

Software Engineering The CSCE 1040 Tank War Program Your Player’s Artificial Intelligence When to Move, Attack, Drop Mines and Pillage the Enemy Base All Programs Do Battle in a Tournament Last Tank Alive Wins Prizes

Wireless Computing & Security Investigating Security Vulnerabilities in Wireless Protocols Impersonation Eavesdropping

Game Programming 1:15 AM Game Demo Offered as a degree or course at many colleges 1:15 AM Game Demo

Natural Language Processing Language and Information Technologies (LIT Lab) Machine Learning applied to NLP and Information Retrieval Multi-lingual text processing Story telling and understanding Intelligent Information Retrieval All the things needs

Computer Security Mission: Increase general security awareness Produce skilled security specialists Conduct research to advance the state of the art in computer security Facilities include a safe environment for experimenting with potentially dangerous software

Computer Security Many colleges have NSA certification for Computer Security courses Topics covered: Cryptography Intrusion Detection Mobile Agent Security E-Commerce Security

Computer Architecture Computer Systems Research Lab Uses advanced hardware and software design tools to achieve: Better performance Lower power requirements Equipment that is less expensive to manufacture Example: Speculative Execution Trying to guess what the computer will need in the future to speed access

Computer Architecture Intelligent Memory Devices (IRAM) Processing unit embedded in the memory chip Embedded Computing New devices Stringent power requirements

VDCL vdcl.cse.unt.edu Very Large Scale ICs Design and CAD Lab Preparing the next generation tools to produce nanometer circuits Considering physical phenomena such as cross-talk and interconnect delays, while reducing power requirements. vdcl.cse.unt.edu

Computing Facilities Cyviz Visualization Wall Mac and PC General Access Labs An ADM-3A 300 bits per second!

Why Study Computer Science? Creativity Intellectual Challenge Programming is extremely challenging Helping Others Produce artifacts which make people’s lives easier Flexibility Telecommuting, working at home, … Lifelong Learning Computer scientists must master a moving target.

Why Study Computer Science? Summary ■ Bright future for computer science graduates ■ Computer scientists will always be in demand ■ Available top-paying positions for computer science graduates are increasing and student enrollment has been steady for the last few years. Therefore, opportunities abound!

Your turn Investigate some careers in computer science http://computingcareers.acm.org/