Student Work
Senior Addie Beseda became a joint Math and Computer Science major because it gave her a chance to explore two fields she was interested in without committing to only one. “I knew I was interested in computer science and programming, but I also had an interest in math and wanted to develop it further. I could see the two disciplines working really well together. It gave me a chance to do both without specializing in either, and it left room to explore electives as well, where a full major in either would’ve eaten up most of my credits.”
Addie is planning on going onto graduate school and focusing on computer science. She is specifically interested in programming language, and human and computer interaction. “I was leaning toward math at first, but computer science is actually a better fit for me. Even if I hadn’t fallen in love with one or the other, the math-computer science joint major provides a well-rounded knowledge base.”
“Initially I was just going to do computer science,” explains Senior Scott Biersdorff. “But then I enjoyed my math class so much I decided to do both.”
Scott discovered that the math problems generated by computer science are what interest him most. “There is a lot of interesting theory built around computer science math problems, but there’s still a lot more we can do. That is really exciting to me.”
Selected Faculty Work
Professor Sarah Douglas, computer and information science department head, 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.
Professor Stephen Fickas researches and develops software agents, called “bots,” that will someday operate in cyberspace as robots. This means that a human could, conceivably, negotiate the Internet in an entirely new way through the bot.
Assistant Professor Anthony J. Hornof works with the Interactive Systems Group on the design, implementation, evaluation, and use of interactive software.
Professor James Isenberg works in partial differential equations and differential geometry with emphasis on applications in mathematical physics. He is focusing on solutions of Einstein’s equations and the relationships (via heat flows) between topology and geometry. The author of more than seventy papers, he has held visiting positions at Oxford, Paris, and Canberra as well as many places in this country.
Professor Kent Stevens 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.
Professor Marie Vitulli’s work encompasses areas of algebraic geometry and commutative algebra. She is working on problems in valuation theory—many having their origins in algebraic number theory.
Career Prospects
Graduates with this major can enter industrial positions that require computer science skills and mathematical problem-solving abilities. They are particularly well suited for positions developing the software tools for large-scale scientific computation in the high-performance computing industry. The combination of mathematics and computer science forms an excellent professional background for secondary-school mathematics teachers, and the major provides a solid foundation for actuarial, financial, and related professions. Graduates are prepared to enter advanced programs of study in either mathematics or computer science, or in applied areas such as biological computational science.