A Vision of Computer Science at UNB Virendrakumar C. Bhavsar Professor and Director, Advanced Computational Research Laboratory Faculty of Computer Science, University of New Brunswick Fredericton, NB, Canada February 5, 2003

Outline - My Background - Computer Science Discipline - Computer Science at UNB - Conclusion

Educational Background (Born – Sept. 1950) B. Eng. (Electronics and Telecommunications) University of Poona, India Project: 4-bit Adder/Subtractor/Multiplier M.Tech. (Electrical Eng. - specialization: Instrumentation, Control, and Computers) Indian Institute of Technology (I.I.T.), Bombay, India Dissertation – Special Purpose Parallel Computers Ph. D. (Electrical Eng.) I.I.T., Bombay, India Thesis –Design and Analysis of Parallel Algorithms

Teaching Experience 1974 – 1983: Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay Research Associate, Lecturer Assistant Professor to date: UNB Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor Developed many new courses Short courses: industries and academia – 24 7 four-day courses offered at Washington DC, Ottawa and Boston UNB Merit Awards (1992, 1999) for outstanding contributions to UNB

Research Experience Areas Electronics, Microcomputer hardware and software, computer architecture, OS, algorithms, compilers, parallel processing, simulation, computer graphics, pattern recognition, artificial neural networks, learning machines, multimedia for telelearning, multi-agent systems, multi- lingual systems, software eng., and bioinformatics Publications Refereed Journal Papers 22, Conference Papers 90, Edited Volumes 3, Technical Reports/Communications 26, Conference Posters 3, Conference Demonstrations 2, Conference Abstracts 11, Video Productions 2, Manuscripts submitted to Journals 2. Graduate Theses Supervised 60 (56 MCS/MSc + 4 PhD) Post-Doctoral Fellows/Research Associates: 5

Research Experience -Collaborations Academic Collaborations UNB – Statistics (Banerjee), ECE (Luke), ME (Hussein) - CS: Aubanel, Evans, Fritz, Ghorbani, Goldfarb, Gujar, Horton, Pochec, Ware NRC, Ottawa – Marsh Univ. of Illinois, Urbana – Gallivan Univ. of Southern California – Madhukar Manitoba/Wright State U. – d’Auriol Univ. de Moncton - Almhana C-DAC, Pune - Anupam I.I.T. Bombay – Isaac, Sarda, Krishnamoorthy, … Univ. Of Pune – Ogale, Kanhere Consulting to Industries: Many in India; Few in Canada Established First Research Group in CS –1986 Compiled First Annual Research Report of CS -1989

Administrative Experience : Associate Warden (Don), Hostel 8, I.I.T., Bombay. (Hostel (Residence) ~ 200 students) : Director of Graduate Studies (now called Asst. Dean (Graduate Studies)) - compiled the first Graduate Handbook - Poster with Dr. Ware - revised and designed new forms and procedures - inter-campus relations to date: Director, Advanced Computational Research Laboratory (ACRL) - $330,000 CFI grant; NSERC MFA Grant - new NOI for $3,000,000 for ACRC - founding member of AC3 - resource usage: UNBF and UNBSJ, MTA, UdeM, STFX

Professional Experience Executive Committee Member –HPCnet Founding Member –C3.ca Association, Inc. Member, Board of Directors Executive Committee Member Many Committees Founding member of AC3 and ACEnet Chair, IEEE New Brunswick Section - rejuvenated 4-5 year defunct section - organized a meeting of IEEE Canada BoD at Fredericton Member, Advisory Board, International Institute of Information Technology, Pune, India Involved in - Meetings with the Province for NRC at Fredericton Conference/Workshop organization: 21

Computer Science Discipline and Challenges -Dynamic and changing -Boundaries between Computing and Other disciplines blurred (e.g. biology and physics) -Human, security, privacy and legal issues -IT is now pervasive in society -Computing as a profession -Lifelong learning -Exciting and challenging field - …  One of the top 10 CS programs in Canada  Innovations in Undergraduate and Graduate Programs  Research Collaborations  Vibrant partnerships with Industries, NRC, Govt.  Faculty and staff development

Computer Science at UNB Active and Capable Faculty Dedicated and Capable Technical and Office Staff Collegial Atmosphere Undergraduate Program and Co-op -well established, however, continual tuning and innovations required -provide excellent learning environment -recruitment Software Eng. Program -growth required Graduate Program - attract exceptionally well qualified students -increase PhD students Professionalism ACM, CIPS, IEEE, …

Computer Science at UNB (cont.) Information Technology Center (ITC) -broadening scope and participation of faculty Research -foster collaborations within CS and outside CS -Interdisciplinary -more funding required CRC and Other Chairs National and International Visibility -regional, national and international conferences -Programming Competitions

Conclusion My Experience Balance of {Teaching, Research, Professional Work, Administrative Work, Service} Diverse experience, multi-disciplinary approach Vision UNB CS – within top 10 in Canada Academic –Focused Programs, Chairs Research- Intra-university and Inter-University, Govt. Industry Collaborations Chairs Continual Faculty and Staff Development Funding – NSERC, CFI, Industries, Govt. - financial resources to turn potential into reality