Department Growth

Courses

The computing technology sector is changing rapidly, and Rowan Computer Science continues to add new courses to address emerging needs.

• Advanced Learning Assistant Experience in CS
• Bioinformatics – Computational Aspects
• Cyber Security: Fundamentals, Principles, and Applications
• Data Warehousing
• Principles of Network Security
• Web and Text Mining

Concentrations

In addition to our current undergraduate degree concentrations, the Computer Science Department has
added the following concentrations:

• Cybersecurity
• Data Analytics
• Mobile Application Development

New Faculty

The Department of Computer Science is committed to providing a competitive, yet fun learning
environment. To this end, we have hired many new faculty members that bring their own
vibrancy to our growing department.

2016 brought us Dr. Anthony Breitzman and Dr. Shen-Shyang Ho. Dr. Breitzman received his
Ph.D. from Drexel University. His teaching interests include data mining, web and text mining,
and foundations of computer science. Dr. Ho received his Ph.D. from George Mason University
in 2007 and teaches IOOP, advanced data management, artificial intelligence, and reasoning
with objects among other courses.

Even though the Computer Science Department already had a cybersecurity concentration and
multiple courses related to cybersecurity, we were looking to expand our cybersecurity research
and education. In 2017 we welcomed Dr. Vahid Heydari. Dr. Heydari earned his Ph.D. in
computer engineering from the University of Alabama, Huntsville. Since his arrival at Rowan
University Dr. Heydari has developed and implemented three new courses, while also updating
the cybersecurity curriculum, started Rowan Cybersecurity Center for Education and Research,
started Rowan Cyber Club for students, started Rowan Cybersecurity lab, submitted five grant
proposals, submitted five curricular proposals, visited six cybersecurity centers in other schools,
published a journal paper, a book chapter, two conference papers, and a poster.

Dr. Bo (Beth) Sun was also welcomed to the department in 2017. Dr. Sun received her Ph.D.
from Old Dominion University. Before joining Rowan, she was former chair of Department of
Computer Science at Lincoln University and an assistant professor at Dept. of Bioinformatics and
Computer Science in University of the Science. For the past 10 years, she has committed her
research to developing visualization methods for Data Analysis, particularly extracting and
visualizing “useful” data from digital images using image processing method and computer
vision technology. Dr. Sun’s current research interests also include Computer Vision and
Simulation using Serious Gaming and Immersive Technologies.

We are pleased to announce the addition of 2 new faculty members to the Department of
Computer Science for fall 2018. We welcome to our full time staff, Dr. Chenxi Qiu and Dr. Ning
Wang.

Dr. Qiu received his B.S. degree in Telecommunication Engineering from Xidian University, Xi’an,
China, in 2009, and Ph.D. degree in Computer Engineering from Clemson University in 2015. His
research interests include cybersecurity, networking, and Internet-of-Things (IoT). He received
the Harris Outstanding Researcher Award in 2015 from the Department of ECE at Clemson
University and the Best Paper Award of IEEE CloudCom in 2016. Currently, he has published over
20 papers in top journals and conferences, including ToN, TMC, TC, TPDS, INFOCOM, AAMAS,
and ICDCS.

Dr. Wang has completed a 5th year Ph.D. in the Department of Computer and Information,
Temple University, USA. He received his B.Eng. in Electrical Engineering from the University of
Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China in 2013. His research focuses on
algorithmic optimization in the Internet of Things (ioT), Smart Cities, cloud computing, etc.

In 2017, the department welcomed Professor Chia Chien, M.S. Drexel University, as a department lecturer. Professor Chien has taught CS Learning Community (LiBBy), IOOP, OOPDA, Introductory Learning Assistants Seminar, Advanced Learning Assistants Seminar, Computer Field Experience. She has been instrumental in the implementation of the department’s co-op program which allows our students to gain valuable experiential learning through a full-semester in a technical position at one of our industry partners such as Lockheed Martin, ASRC Federal, RunSignup, or Cooper University Health Care. The CS Co-op Program is continually growing as we develop new partnerships with other corporate members in the area.

To round out the additions to our staff, we welcome for fall 2018 the following department
lecturers:

Professor Darren Provine, B.S. University of Maryland-College Park; M.A. Rowan University. In
addition to teaching courses in computer literacy, computing environments, computer lab
techniques, computer organization, data structures, web programming, introduction to
programming, and introduction to scientific programming, Prof. Provine conducts a yearly high
school programming contest. Competitors from the Philadelphia area, including New Jersey,
Delaware, and southeastern Pennsylvania, compete for prizes, fun, and fame.

Professor Mike Chu, M.A. Temple University. Computer Science & Programming, Web
Programming, Intro to Programming, Computer Organization, Advanced Programming
Workshop, Introduction to Networking are just a few of the courses he teaches.

Professor Mohamed Mansaray comes to us from Lockheed Martin. As a software engineering
professional with over 20 years of experience, Professor Mansaray has a proven record of
designing and managing software test verification, system integration, system test engineer,
technical writing, and project management. He is an instructor in IOOP, OOPDA, CS & P,
Computer Organization and PDS.

Professor Jacob Levy, M.S. Rowan University. Since his arrival at Rowan University, Professor
Levy has taught Introduction to Scientific Programming, Advanced Programming Workshop,
Principles of Data Structures, and Object Oriented Programming and Data Abstraction (OOPDA).

Professor Patrick McKee, M.S. Rowan University. One of the newest members of the computer science
department, Professor McKee teaches Principles of Data Structures, Operating Systems,
Designing/Implementing Operating Systems, and Object Oriented Design.