March 2011 Dean's Update

School of Computing and Software Engineering
Southern Polytechnic State University
Dean's Update March 2011

WALKER TO RETIRE

CSE prides itself, and justifiably so, on the ever improving quality of its teaching and research labs. The quality of the labs is to no small extent due to our CSE Lab Manager, Mr Ray Walker. It is therefore with great trepidation that I have to report that Ray is retiring. His many years of service to CSE are of course greatly appreciated and I know that I speak for all when I say that I am immensely thankful for what he has done, and wish him well in his retirement.

We will be celebrating Mr Walker's contribution to CSE on March 30 from 11:00 until 1:00 in the Library Rotunda. I would like to invite you to attend. However, if you plan to attend, could you let Paula Stadnicki, the Dean's Administrative Assistant, know? She can be reached on 678-915-5572 or as pstadnic@spsu.edu.

MORRISON TO PURSUE PHD AT GEORGIA TECH

Briana Morrison, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, and program coordinator for our undergraduate programs in Computer Science and Software Engineering, has been accepted into the Georgia Tech PhD program and will start in the fall. Fortunately, she will be able to continue on a part-time basis in the School.

This presents an excellent opportunity for Ms Morrison and I wish her every success in her endeavor.

BATH TUB RACES

As you may recall, last year SPSU re-instituted its bath tub races. This year we will continue this tradition. The races will take place on April 2 on campus. There will be time trials at 10:00 with real races starting at 12:00. The starting line will at the volley ball fields on the in front of the court yard apartments while the finish line will be at the bottom of the hill. The event promises to be a lot of fun and may give many of you the opportunity to renew old acquaintances.

ACM SOUTHEAST

ACM Southeast, one of the largest regional conferences held under the auspices of the ACM, was held from March 24 to March 26 at Kennesaw State University. Members of the School of Computing and Software Engineering made an important contribution to the conference, not only through their presentations and tutorials but also through their role in organizing the conference itself. Dr Venu Dasigi, Dr Sheryl Duggins, Dr Bob Harbort, Dr Dan Lo, Dr Sarah North, and Dr Jon Preston all took on important roles in ensuring that the conference was successful. My appreciation goes out to all of them.

Our students also made an important contribution to the conference. A number of them presented their research at the conference itself, and our gaming students James Smith, Billy Olden and Aaron Roberts, performed extremely well in a gaming expo that was organized in connection with the conference. Congratulations to all.

NATIONAL CYBERSECURITY AWARENESS EVENT

On March 22, the School of Computing and Software Engineering, in cooperation with the Center for Information Security Education, hosted Mr Timothy Fraser , Director, National Cybersecurity Awareness Campaign, US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Mr Fraser addressed a crowd of around 200 students, faculty and staff as part of the DHS's "Stop. Think. Connect." campaign to improve the public's understanding of cyber threats and engage citizens to develop safer cyber habits to improve information assurance and security. After a brief introduction on the role of the DHS in cybersecurity, Mr Fraser provided a series of examples of actions each of us should take or avoid to help ensure the security of our information, and ended with a call to all attendees to spread the word about the importance of the responsibility of each individual to ensure their own and other's cyber security.

I would like to thank Dr Andy Wang and Dr Sarah North for bringing this event to campus. It was good to see so many attendees.

KARAM TO TEACH WORKSHOP AT MARIETTA MIDDLE SCHOOL

Over the next six weeks, Dr Orlando Karam will teaching Game Maker to two groups of students at the Marietta Middle School. Game Maker (http://www.yoyogames.com/gamemaker/) is a high level tool to build computer games. The hope is that exposing the Marietta Middle School students to the tool will increase their interest in our computing programs in general and our program in Computer Game Design and Development in particular. While they are obviously still a few years away from going to college, early exposure to our programs will help us improve enrollments in the long run.

Thanks are due to Dr Karam for taking on this important outreach activity.

AND FINALLY ...

If you see something in this update that you want to comment on, please send me an email at hreichge@spsu.edu or call me on 678-915-7399. Also, if you know of somebody who might be interested in receiving the Dean's updates, please ask them to send me an email. We will gladly add them to our mailing list. Finally, if you prefer not to receive the Dean's updates, please let me know as well.

Han Reichgelt
Dean, School of Computing and Software Engineering