• Message From the Department Head

Welcome to the Computer Science & Computer Engineering department at the University of Arkansas.  Our goal is to provide a quality education to our undergraduate and graduate students while conducting research with real impact.  I have only been at the University of Arkansas for a short while, but I am impressed with the energy of our faculty and the enthusiasm of our students.  I was fortunate to join the department just after it moved into the new J. B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. Center for Academic Excellence.  With new facilities and new faculty hiring underway, this is an exciting time for our department.

 

One of the best things about my discipline is that the world is constantly changing, so there is always something new to learn.  Computer professionals are never bored!  Providing an up-to-date education that will equip students for a long, successful career is a challenge in the fast-moving world of high technology.  I believe that we can do this by focusing on why certain technologies exist (and why others do not), and how they got designed, rather than what the technologies do.  By understanding the effects of current constraints on technology, we can help students adapt to the future, predict the effects of the removal of those constraints, and even cause the changes themselves. 

 

In an era when every student walking around campus has several computers with them (laptop, cell phone, PDA, MP3 player, etc.), it is a mystery that more students do not pursue careers in high-tech.  Whenever I meet with professionals in local or national companies, they all mention that there are not enough graduates to meet their hiring needs.  In spite of what some media stories report, there are more IT jobs available now than prior to the Internet bust of the late 1990s.  I encourage students with an interest in technology, and an aptitude for problem solving, to consider getting the education that will allow them to pursue a rewarding, challenging, and dynamic career.  I also encourage students with an interest in research to consider continuing their education beyond the B.S. degree – graduate school allows you to focus on an area of interest and gives you a chance to define, and solve, a problem of your own choosing.

 

Susan Gauch

Rodger S. Kline Leadership Chair
Professor and Department Head
Computer Science & Computer Engineering