Student Work
Silas Snider, who is double majoring in computer and information sciences and math, also recently added a minor in linguistics. Wait, linguistics? “So much syntax in math and computer science comes from linguistics,” Snider says. “I wanted to understand why and how that works.”
But it was computer programming that infatuated Snider since he was a child. “I’ve been programming since I was eight,” he says.
In addition to being a charter member of the CIS department group called the Student Interest Group in Computer Science, and volunteering as an assistant in a CIS class, Snider hosts tutoring sessions once a week, which are open to anyone who wants to talk about math and computer science problems.
When senior Jesse Wakeley first came to the UO, he was interested in a major in music, but decided to change his major to Computer and Information Science because he wanted to understand how and why computers affect our lives. “And I wanted a challenge,” Wakeley says. “I got what I asked for.”
As the UO president of the Association for Computer Machinery, Wakeley works to host workshops and tours for members to see how computer science is applied in the real world. Wakeley is also a member of Upsilon Pi Epsilon (the international CIS honor society), and founded Eugenescene.net, an online community that is similar to MySpace.com.
But Wakeley has not abandoned his ties to music. He is in a band called the Cocky Pedestrians, which he says is “the only jaywalk-themed rap supergroup in Eugene.”
When senior Erik Brown decided to go back to school after years of working in the software industry, he quickly found his niche within the CIS department.“It’s a fairly small group and everyone is great,” Brown says. “You get to know everyone.”
At the UO, Brown has been helping associate professor Anthony Hornof with his research into human-computer interfaces. “We research search screens in order to help people use computers more effectively,” Brown says. Hornof and Brown’s research delves into how people use computers through tracking eye movements and how sound affects human interfaces with computers.
“It’s a creative process,” Brown says, “because there are a million ways to write any one program. When you come up with an elegant solution to a problem, it’s a lot of fun.”
Selected Faculty Work
Professor Sarah Douglas studies human-computer interaction. She looks at human behavior with user interfaces and how to make the computer respond more sensitively to the user. This research could streamline computer function by matching it more closely with the user.
Associate Professor and Department Head Michael Young’s work is focused on combining and integrating techniques for analysis and testing of software, and the environment infrastructure that makes integrated tools and techniques practical and fruitful.
Assistant Professor Jun Li’s research is targeted toward network security, distributed systems, Internet protocols, and network simulation and performance analysis. His ongoing research projects include automatic defense against unknown self-propagating Internet worms through distributed monitoring; detecting and tracing attacks against the BGP routing protocol; robust communication architecture for security monitoring and warning systems; and secure data sharing among data clients.
Professor Kent Stevens has developed the Dino-Morph Project, a 3-D skeletal visualization of dinosaur movement. He has served as a consultant to the British Broadcasting Corporation on a factual television series called Walking with Dinosaurs. The program shows digitally rendered dinosaurs superimposed on live-action footage of places where the flora closely resembles that found 100 million years ago.
Career Prospects
A background in computer and information science prepares a student for many types of careers. From research to web design to truly futuristic interactions between humans and machines, students in this field are on the cutting edge of prospective careers.
A major in CIS would allow you to manage computer network systems in departments or even large companies. You would also have the knowledge and skills necessary for creating complicated computer graphics and designs. With a major in CIS you will also be able to handle information systems and networks within an organization.The major is practical, versatile, and easily applied to a number of modern careers.