Department of Computer Science, Harold Frank Hall, Room 2104;
Telephone (805) 893-4321
Web site: www.cs.ucsb.edu
Chair: Tevfik Bultan
Vice Chair: Chandra Krintz
Vice Chair: Ben Hardekopf
Overview
Many of the greatest challenges facing our world today are increasingly reliant on computing their solutions — from conquering disease to eliminating hunger, from improving education to protecting the climate and environment. Information is key to all of these efforts, and computer scientists make it possible to visualize, secure, explore, transmit, and transform this information in ways never before thought possible. Solving problems through computation means teamwork, collaboration, and gaining the interdisciplinary skills that modern careers demand. Our goal with the Computer Science curriculum at UCSB is to impart to students the knowledge and experience required for them to participate in this exciting and high-impact discipline.
Mission Statement
The Computer Science department seeks to prepare undergraduate and graduate students for productive careers in industry, academia, and government, by providing an outstanding environment for teaching and research in the core and emerging areas of the discipline. The department places high priority on establishing and maintaining innovative research programs that enhance educational opportunity.
The Department of Computer Science offers programs leading to the degrees of Bachelor of Science in computer science, and the M.S. and Ph.D. in computer science.
One of the most important aspects of the Computer Science program at UCSB is the wealth of “hands-on” opportunities for students. UCSB has excellent computer facilities. Campus Instructional Computing makes accounts available to all students. Computer science majors use the workstations in several computing facilities on campus. Students doing special projects can gain remote access to machines at the NSF Supercomputing Centers. Additional computing facilities are available for graduate students in the Graduate Student Laboratory. Students working with faculty have access to the specialized research facilities within the Department of Computer Science.
The undergraduate major in computer science has a dual purpose: to prepare students for advanced studies and research and to provide training for a variety of careers in business, industry, and government. Under the direction of the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies, academic advising services are jointly provided by advisors in the College of Engineering, as well as advisors in the department. A faculty advisor is also available to help with academic program planning.
Computer Engineering Major
This major is offered jointly by the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. For information about this major, please refer to the section on Computer Engineering.
Program Goals for Undergraduate Programs
The goal of the computer science undergraduate program is to prepare future generations of computer professionals for long-term careers in research, technical development, and applications. Graduates of the B.S. program that wish to seek immediate employment are prepared for a wide range of computer science positions in industry and government. Outstanding graduates interested in highly technical careers, research, and/or academia, might consider furthering their education in graduate school.
The primary computer science departmental emphasis is on problem solving using computer program design, analysis and implementation, with both a theoretical foundation and a practical component.
Program Outcomes for Undergraduate Programs
The program enables students to achieve, by the time of graduation:
An ability to apply knowledge of computing and mathematics appropriate to computer science.
An ability to analyze a problem, and identify and define the computing requirements appropriate to its solution.
An ability to design, implement, and evaluate a computer-based system, process, component, or program to meet desired needs.
An ability to function effectively on teams to accomplish a common goal.
An understanding of professional, ethical, and social responsibilities.
An ability to communicate effectively.
An ability to analyze the impact of computing on individuals, organizations, and society, including ethical, legal, security, and global policy issue.
Recognition of the need for and an ability to engage in continuing professional development.
An ability to use current techniques, skills, and tools necessary for computing practice.
An ability to apply mathematical foundations, algorithmic principles, and computer science theory in the modeling and design of computer-based systems in a way that demonstrates comprehension of the trade-offs involved in design choices.
An ability to apply design and development principles in the construction of software systems of varying complexity.
Admission to the Major
Students interested in computer science who apply to UCSB should declare the computer science major when they apply. Computer Science majors have priority when registering for all Computer Science courses. UCSB students in majors other than computer science may apply for change of major consideration into the Department of Computer Science once the minimum requirements are met (specified on the departmental web pages). The change of major application process is extremely competitive and a limited number of applications will be approved. No exceptions are made for the minimum requirements, and meeting the requirements does not guarantee admission to the major.
Students admitted to the computer science major are responsible for satisfying major requirements in effect when they declare their major. Upper and lower division courses required for the major that are offered by the Department of Computer Science or any other department must be taken for letter grades.
Faculty
Divyakant Agrawal, PhD, State University of New York, Stonybrook, Professor (distributed systems and databases)
Prabhanjan Ananth, PhD, UC Los Angeles, Assistant Professor (cryptography, complexity, security)
Jonathan Balkind, Assistant Professor
Elizabeth Belding, PhD, UC Santa Barbara, Professor (mobile wireless networking, network performance monitoring and evaluation, Information and Communications Technology for Development (ICTD), computing for social good)
Michael Beyeler, PhD, UC Irvine, Assistant Professor (visual computing; computational neuroscience; applied AI; human-computer interaction; virtual/augmented reality) Joint appointment with: PSY
Tevfik Bultan, PhD, University of Maryland, Professor (software verification, program analysis, software engineering, and computer security)
Shiyu Chang, PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Assistant Professor (machine learning, natural language processing, computer vision)
Phill Conrad, PhD, University of Delaware, Senior Lecturer SOE (computer science education, software engineering education) Joint appointment with: CRSTU
Yufei Ding, PhD, North Carolina State University, Associate Professor (programming systems, compiler and architecture, machine learning system, quantum computing system)
Amr El Abbadi, PhD, Cornell University, Professor (Information and data management; distributed systems and cloud computing)
Yu Feng, PhD, University of Texas at Austin, Assistant Professor (programming languages, program verification, program analysis, program synthesis, data visualization, and software security)
Frederic Gibou, PhD, UC Los Angeles, Professor (High resolution multi-scale simulation, scientific computing, tools and software for computational science and engineering, engineering applications? to "High resolution multiscale simulation and data analysis of multiphase flows, high temperature materia) Joint appointment with: ME
Arpit Gupta, PhD, Princeton University, Assistant Professor (last-mile networks, network measurements/analytics/ML systems, digital equity solutions)
Trinabh Gupta, PhD, University of Texas, Austin, Assistant Professor (operating systems, security, and privacy)
Ben Hardekopf, PhD, University of Texas, Austin, Professor (programming languages: design, analysis, and implementation)
Tobias Hollerer, PhD, Columbia University, Professor (human computer interaction; augmented reality; virtual reality; visualization; computer graphics; 3D displays and interaction; wearable and ubiquitous computing)
Kate Kharitonova, PhD, University of Arizona, Lecturer Potential SOE (Computer Science education, Data Science, Computer Vision and Machine Learning)
Chandra Krintz, PhD, UC San Diego, Professor (programming systems, dynamic and adaptive program analysis and optimization, Internet of Things (IOT), web services, distributed systems, cloud computing)
Christopher Kruegel, PhD, Vienna University of Technology, Professor (computer security, program analysis, operating systems, network security, malicious code analysis and detection)
Lei Li, PhD, Carnegie Mellon University, Associate Professor (machine learning and data mining, natural language processing, machine translation, AI drug discovery)
Daniel Lokshtanov, PhD, University of Bergen, Professor (Algorithms, Complexity, Graph Theory, Combinatorics)
Maryam Majedi, Lecturer Potential SOE
Ziad Matni, PhD, Rutgers University, Lecturer Potential SOE (Computer Science education, Data Science, Computational Social Science)
Diba Mirza, PhD, UC San Diego, Lecturer SOE (Computer Science Education, Embedded Systems, Computer Architecture)
Linda Petzold, PhD, University of Illinois, Professor (modeling, simulation and data analysis of multiscale systems in systems biology, engineering and medicine) Joint appointment with: ME
Timothy Sherwood, PhD, UC San Diego, Professor (computer architecture, secure hardware, superconducting accelerators, embedded systems, program analysis and characterization)
Ambuj Singh, PhD, University of Texas, Professor (machine learning and data mining, network science, social networks, databases, bioinformatics, chemoinformatics) Joint appointment with: BMSE
Misha Sra, PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Assistant Professor (human computer interaction; augmented reality; virtual reality; spatial interaction design; haptics, applied AI)
Jianwen Su, PhD, University of Southern California, Professor (data management, business workflow management, and complex event processing)
Subhash Suri, PhD, Johns Hopkins University, Professor (algorithms, computational geometry, networked sensing, data streams, game theory)
Giovanni Vigna, PhD, Politecnico di Milano, Professor (computer and network security, vulnerability analysis and security testing, web security, smartphone security, cybercrime, malware detection)
Eric Vigoda, PhD, UC Berkeley, Professor (randomized algorithms, MCMC algorithms, statistical physics phase transitions)
Yu-Xiang Wang, Associate Professor
Richert Wang, Lecturer SOE (computer science education, computer networks, distributed systems) Joint appointment with: CRSTU
William Wang, PhD, Carnegie Mellon University, Professor (machine learning, natural language processing, artificial intelligence, data science)
Yuan-Fang Wang, PhD, University of Texas, Austin, Professor (machine learning, computer vision, artificial intelligence)
Rich Wolski, PhD, UC Davis, Professor (cloud computing, high-performance distributed computing, computational grids, and computational economies for resource allocation and scheduling)
Xifeng Yan, PhD, University of Illinois, Urbana, Professor (data mining, data management, machine learning, bioinformatics, information networks)
Lingqi Yan, Assistant Professor (computer graphics)
Tao Yang, PhD, Rutgers University, Professor (parallel and distributed systems, internet search and high performance computing)
Emeriti Faculty
Kevin Almeroth, PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology
Peter Cappello, PhD, Princeton University
Omer Egecioglu, PhD, UC San Diego
John Gilbert, PhD, Stanford University
Teo Gonzalez, PhD, University of Minnesota
Oscar Ibarra, PhD, UC Berkeley
Dick Kemmerer, PhD, UC Los Angeles
Terry Smith, PhD, Johns Hopkins University (spatial data processing, spatial analysis, spatial databases, knowledge-based approaches to geographic information systems) Joint appointment with: GEOG
Matthew Turk, PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Joint appointment with: MAT
Wim van Dam, PhD, University of Amsterdam Joint appointment with: PHYS
Affiliated Faculty
Francesco Bullo, PhD
Shivkumar Chandrasekaran, PhD
Miguel Eckstein, PhD
B. S. Manjunath, PhD
Nina Miolane
Pradeep Sen, PhD
Simon Todd, PhD
Zheng Zhang, PhD