CSExpress - Lyle School of Engineering

Issue 5
CSExpress
The Journal of Southern Methodist University’s Computer Science and Engineering Department
40
Fall 2007
40
40
Page 1
CSE Celebrates 40 Years of Teaching and
Research Excellence: 1967-2007
underway for Caruth Hall. The old building will
be torn down and a bigger and better building
will replace it. We are preparing to have a new
home for CSE in the new Caruth Hall (see picForty years ago,
tures on page 2), expected to be completed in
SMU was a pioneer
fall of 2009. On November 9, 2007, we had
in creating one of
the wonderful opportunity to celebrate the
the first Computer
success of the department, the accomplishScience departments
ments of our alumni, and the contribution of
in the nation. As
our industry friends. We started the day with a
you know, Comdistinguished alumni symposium, in which six of
puter Science is a
our alumni discussed the major milestones in
relatively young disthe different fields of computing in the last 40
Dr. Hesham El- cipline compared to
years and offered their predictions for the fuother well estabRewini, CSE
ture. The CSE 40th Anniversary Banquet was
lished fields. At the
Department
held in the evening and was attended by 200
time, Computer
Chairman
people representing alumni, students, industry
Science courses
representatives, and university leaders.
were offered in Math and Electrical EngiDuring the banquet, Dr. Bruce Shriver delivneering departments but
ered a distinguished speech
there was no separate
“… as we are celebrat- followed by a presentation
entity for computer sciof the 40th Anniversary
ing the 40th anniversary Awards.
ence education.
We recognized
In 1967, some visionary
nine of our distinguished
of the department
individuals at the SMU’s
and three out(1967 – 2007), great alumni
Institute of Technology,
standing companies that
which is now the School
plans are underway for have contributed consideraof Engineering , took a
bly to the CSE department
bold step to establish an
Caruth Hall. “
and the entire school of
autonomous entity to
engineering
house the new computer
These
are
indeed
exciting times and this 40th
science program at SMU. That was the
Anniversary Celebration is truly a highpoint for
Computer Science Center (CSC), which
the Department of Computer Science and Engihas evolved through a number of name
neering. I am so optimistic about what the fuchanges to what we have today as Comture holds for our department. Our faculty will
puter Science and Engineering (CSE). This
continue to conduct world class research that
step has greatly helped shape the discipline
will contribute to the betterment of mankind.
and form the CSE identity as we know it
Our academic programs will be continually
now.
revised to reflect emerging societal needs and
The birth of the department was on the
the interdisciplinary and global nature of our
third floor of Caruth Hall, and as we are
th
changing world.
celebrating the 40 anniversary of the department (1967 – 2007), great plans are
Message From the Chair
In This Issue
New CSE
Post-Doctors
2
New CSE Faculty
3
CSE Introduces
Doctor of
Engineering
Degree
3
CSE at SMU – The
First Decade
4
CSE Departmental
Timeline
5
Recent CSE
CSE Graduates
9
CSE News Briefs
10
Martian Rover
11
Project
ACM@SMU
11
CSE Alumni and
Company Award
Recipients
12
Fall 2007 IAB
Meeting
14
CSE Distinguished 15
Alumni Symposium
CSE Anniversary
Banquet
15
CSE and Banc of
America
Collaboration
16
Page 2
CSExpress
Computer Science and Engineering 40
Years of Personal Education, Boundless
Innovation
Front (top) and
rear views of
the new Caruth
Hall. The new
building will be
located at the
current Caruth
Hall site. It is
expected to be
completed in
fall 2009.
A grant from the Caruth Foundation of Communities Foundation of Texas provided the seed
money for the new building which will provide
much-needed new and improved space for
teaching, research and innovation.
CSE Welcomes 4 New Post-Doctors
for 2007-2008
Mihaela Iridon received her MS and
Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science
from Southern Methodist University
(’97, ’99) with focus on algorithms and
graph theory. From 1999 until 2007,
Mihaela was employed as a senior software engineer for Verizon where she
worked in the areas of computer telephony integration,
becoming an SME in OOAD/UML, .NET and J2EE. Her
current research interests include computational geometry,
social networks and A.I.
Salah Abdel-Mageid received his
Bachelors degree in Systems and Computers Engineering from Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt. He received his
M.S. and Ph.D. in Systems and Computers Engineering from Al-Azhar University in 2002 and 2005, respectively.
Since 2005 he has served as assistant
professor in Systems and Computers Engineering at AlAzhar University and an instructor in CISCO academy,
Egypt. In addition, he is an assistant director of Information
Systems and Networks Unit (ISNU) at Al-Azhar University.
His research interests include Mobile Computing, Cellular
Networks, and Sensor Networks.
Ahmed Khedr is an Assistant professor in the Department of Computer
Science and Engineering in Al-Azhar University, Egypt. Ahmed was funded by the
Egyptian government to visit SMU and
conduct research in Mobile Computing
with the PDA Mobile research group.
Ahmed's research area is focused on
wireless multimedia sensor networks,
with emphasis on image transmission over wireless networks.
Shinyoung Lim received his PhD
degree in Computer Science from Korea
University in 2001. He was employed at
Electronics and Telecommunications
Research Institute as a principal research
scientist for 19 years before joining Dr.
Sumi Helal’s research group at SMU.
Among his accomplishments, Dr. Lim has
managed 18 funded research projects
totaling $49.4M, transferred 12 cutting-edge IT technologies
to 27 organizations, registered 16 intellectual properties and
published or peer-reviewed 63 academic papers in pervasive
computing, artificial intelligence and information security.
CSExpress
New CSE Faculty
LiGuo Huang received her M.S.
and Ph.D. in Computer Science at the
University of Southern California. She
was a graduate research assistant for 5
years in the Center for System and Software Engineering at USC where she
worked with Dr. Barry Boehm. She
credits Professor Boehm for leading her
into the field of software engineering
research.
Before joining SMU, Dr. Huang worked for IBM as a methodology researcher. Her research interests include software
quality, value-based software engineering, software metrics,
software process modeling and high dependability computing. Her research at IBM gave her an appreciation for the
impact of Value-Based Software Engineering on the software
industry.
Besides software engineering research, she enjoys swimming, sketching and calligraphy.
Before coming to SMU Dr. Abdelsalam (Sumi) Helal was a Professor at the Computer and Information Science and Engineering Department at the University of Florida. His
research interests span the areas of
Pervasive Computing, Mobile Computing and networking and Internet
Computing. He directed the Mobile
and Pervasive Computing Laboratory
and leads the technology development of the NIDRR-funded
Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Successful
Aging. He was co-founder and director of the Gator Tech
Smart House, an experimental home for applied pervasive
computing research in the domain of elder care. Additionally, he is founder, President and CEO of Phoneomena, Inc.,
a mobile application and middleware company, and founder
and President of Pervasa, Inc., a University of Florida start-up
focused on platform and middleware products for sensor
networks.
Outside of his teaching and research, Dr. Helal is a cofounder and an editorial board member of the IEEE Pervasive Computing magazine. He is the Editor of the magazine's
column on Standards, Tools and Emerging Technologies. He
is also an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transaction on Mobile
Computing. He has published over 200 books, book chapters, journal articles, and conference or workshop papers.
He is a Senior member of the IEEE, and a member of the
ACM and the USENIX Association.
Dr. Helal earned his B.E. and M.E. degrees in Computer
Science and Engineering from Alexandria University, Egypt,
in 1982 and 1985 respectively. He earned his Ph.D. in Computer Sciences from Purdue University in 1991.
Page 3
CSE Introduces Doctor of
Engineering Degree
The Computer Science and Engineering Department
started offering a Doctor of Engineering (DE) degree in Software Engineering in Fall 2007. The DE in Software Engineering is motivated by the need for technical leaders who
have both a solid foundation and depth in software engineering as well as breadth across a range of engineering disciplines. The primary goals of the Doctor of Engineering program are to:
• Provide depth in software engineering practice
• Provide breadth across engineering disciplines
• Provide a significant and industrially relevant engineering
innovative experience through the Doctor of Engineering praxis.
The degree format and approach is designed around the
needs of the working professional, much like the Master’s
degree in Software Engineering. Individuals with an MS in
Software Engineering will be able to obtain the Doctor of
Engineering degree by taking 36 hours of course work beyond the MS degree and engaging in 12 credit hours of praxis
project work
Praxis is a term that means the practical application of
knowledge. All students will perform a suitable engineering
praxis proposed by the student and approved by the praxis
advisor and the supervisory committee. The praxis must
include a significant, innovative, and industrially-relevant engineering experience, revolving around a well-defined project using software engineering best practices.
Both the Doctor of Engineering and PhD are doctorates
counted by accrediting agencies. The PhD is a research degree where one must demonstrate a significant addition to
the body of scholarly research. The DE is a degree based on
one’s ability to do significant practical work. Doctor of Engineering students can more easily plan in advance how long
the degree will take since there are a well-defined number of
milestones.
The 12 praxis hours are non-classroom hours; one gets
credit for these hours by scheduling meetings and exchanging email with one’s advisor over the course of the semester. The grade given is typically Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory. Most of the required coursework for the Doctor of
Engineering degree can be done via distance education.
40
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Page 4
CSExpress
Computer Science and Engineering at SMU – The First Decade
Dennis J. Frailey
Assistant Professor, 1970-74; Associate Professor, 1974-77;
Adjunct Associate Professor (1977-80); Adjunct Professor (1986-present)
It was 1967 – a time of student
the Center continued to grow in both faculty size and
demonstrations against the Vietcourse enrollments. Most of the original faculty were apnam war, long hair, protest music
plied mathematicians who used computers in their work,
and societal upheaval. Yet the
often in the field of operations research (OR), thus somefactor that would have the greatwhere in 1969-70 the department changed its name to the
est impact on the next 50 years –
CS/OR Center.
the digital computer – received
The Bachelor of Applied Science and the Master of Aplittle attention from the mainplied Science in Computer Science were first formally ofstream media or the public at
fered in the Fall of 1970. This academic year also marked a
large. Computers were merely
major transformation of the faculty. Robert R. Korfhage,
big
machines
to
process
data
and
who had served on the CS faculty at Purdue, became head
Dr. Frailey at SMU
perform massive computations
of the Center. Along with him he brought the first faculty
circa 1973
for engineers and scientists. Purmembers with actual degrees in computer science: Jim Kalan
due and Stanford, thanks to major grants from the NSF, had
(a numerical analyst) and Dennis Frailey (a systems software
first-class computing facilities and had recently begun the
specialist). Steve Szygenda, an electrical engineer with
only available doctoral programs in computer science, alstrong experience in computer aided design, also joined in
though Penn, Illinois, and a handful of others had computer
1970 as did Alan Wheeler, an OR specialist. Leon Cooper,
options within their electrical engineering
Martin’s new Associate Dean, also had a
programs. There were virtually no individu- “For those who joined faculty appointment in CS/OR. The four
als with Ph.D.s in the field, but a few farnew CS faculty added several courses and
sighted universities, SMU included, started
the SMU faculty in this refined the structure of the undergraduacademic departments because they saw the
ate and masters programs in computer
era, the format for
emerging importance of computing as a field
science – a structure with remnants that
of study. Local industry was very supporteaching most graduate persist today.
tive of this development.
For those who joined the SMU faculty
courses seemed highly in this era, the format for teaching most
SMU had academic computers on campus as early as 1957 but the Fall of 1967
courses seemed highly unusual.
unusual. One would graduate
saw the birth of a new era – academic recOne would lecture in a television studio
ognition. An IBM 360/44 was installed in
lecture in a television instead of a regular classroom, using a 5
the Bradfield Computing Center, Thomas L.
by 8 pad of paper instead of a blackboard.
studio instead of a
Martin became Dean of the SMU Institute of
In addition to 20-30 students in the stuTechnology (today’s School of Engineering),
regular classroom…” dio one might have an equal or larger
and Ron Gue was named by Martin to head
number watching via a live microwave
the Computer Sciences Center – the parent
broadcasting system called TAGER. I still
of today’s CSE department. In those days the school had a
remember my very first SMU course – Systems Programmatrix structure with departments and centers – departming – taught in 129 Caruth. I was often startled during my
ments handled administrative aspects of various degrees
first lectures when a disembodied voice would suddenly
whereas centers housed faculty and research activities. The
emanate from nowhere – a distance student asking a quesfaculty were responsible for teaching all courses and defining
tion or a video operator warning of a problem. Exams and
their content, thus the founding of the Computer Sciences
assignments had to be adjusted to accommodate the disCenter constituted academic recognition of computer scitance students.
ence on the SMU campus. In that first year the faculty grew
SMU was a pioneer in many aspects of engineering and
to include Robert McClure, Clay McFarland, Richard Nance,
computer science education including distance education. In
Michael O’Hagan and B. Lynn Turlington, to be joined in Fall
that first decade of the CS department, the courses were
of 1968 by Harvey Greenburg and Bill Pierskalla. Daniel
broadcast to local industrial companies, military bases, and
Scott, Theodore Booth, and several others were also briefly
other local universities. The TAGER system, donated to
involved in teaching computer science courses during those
SMU and other universities by Collins Radio Corporation in
formative years.
about 1967, was copied by Stanford University when it set
Interest in computer related courses was explosive, thus
up its own distance education program a little later. One
(continued on page 8)
CSExpress
Page 5
CSE Departmental
Timeline
1911
• SMU was founded by what is now the United
Methodist Church
• Physicist Robert Stewart Hyer, the president of
Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, is
elected first president of SMU
1915
• SMU officially opens on September 22 with 706
students, 37 faculty members, 5 buildings, an
endowment fund of $279,178, and three schools: the
College of Liberal Arts, School of Music, and School of
Theology.
1920
• Hiram Abiff Boaz is installed as SMU’s second president
1923
• Charles Claude Selectman is installed as SMU’s third
president
1925
• School of Engineering established at SMU with input
from the Technical Club of Dallas and the North Texas
Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
• A new framing building just north of Dallas Hall houses
classrooms and laboratories for the entering class of
120 aspiring engineers.
1939
• Umphrey Lee (class of 1916)—who had been the first
SMU student body president—is elected the fourth
president of the University. A Methodist minister and
dean at Vanderbilt University, Lee is also the first SMU
president to have earned a doctoral degree
1949
• Caruth Engineering Building opens
1954
• Dr. Willis McDonald Tate installed as SMU’s fifth
president.
1956
• The Umphrey Lee Students Center opens.
1957
• Bradfield Computer Center opens
• Drs. Paul Minton and Finley Tatum serve as codirectors of the SMU Computing Center
• Remington Rand Univac Division sets up a $1,000,000
Univac
computing
system on the
SMU campus.
The Univac
Scientific
Computer can
add nearly
30,000 numbers
per second.
Computer is to
be used jointly
by SMU and private industry.
1961
• Science Information Center opens
1965
• Sophus Thompson becomes Acting Dean School of
Engineering
1966
• Ronald Gue becomes Director of the SMU Computing
Center
1967
• IBM 360/44 installed in the Bradford Computing
Center. This
was the first
large-scale
computer to
be available to
faculty and
students for
their exclusive
use.
• Dr. Thomas L. Martin becomes Dean of the SMU
Institute of Technology.
• Computer Science Center is established. This is
considered the beginning of the computer
science program at SMU. Ronald Gue is
department chair. The department was housed
on the 3rd floor of Caruth
(continued on page 6)
Page 6
CSExpress
CSE Departmental
Timeline
(continued from page 5)
• The School of Engineering changes its name to the
Institute of Technology
1968
• William P.
Pierskalla,
Richard
Nance, Mike
O’Hagan, B.
Lynn
Turlington,
and Harvey
Greenberg
join the Computer Science Center
1969
• SMU has 80 buildings, an on-campus enrollment of
7,000, a faculty of 650, and an endowment of $24.709
million on a campus of 155 acres.
• U. Narayan Bhat joins the Computer Science Center
• William P. Pierskalla becomes department chair
• University removes the IBM 360 and leased space in
Bradfield for a Univac 1108, run by University
Computing Company. The computer’s resources were
sold commercially and SMU was given whatever time
was left over.
1970
• Name changed to CS/OR Center and Robert A
Korfhage hired from Purdue as the chair
• Bachelor of Applied Science in Computer Science
established. The CS/OR Center also offers a Bachelor
of Applied Science in Industrial Engineering (which had
existed for several years). Faculty include: Robert A
Korfhage, U. Narayan Bhat , Harvey Greenberg,
Richard E. Nance, Michael O’Hagan, and B. Lynn
Turlington.
• Leon Cooper hired as Associate Dean and Professor of
CS/OR.
• Stephen A. Szygenda hired as Associate Professor of
Electrical Engineering and CS/OR.
• Alan Wheeler hired as
Assistant Professor of
OR.
• Dennis Frailey and
James Kalan hired as
Assistant Professors
of CS. They are the
first faculty with
PhDs in computer
science.
• Mary Kateley was the department’s administrative
assistant and stayed in that role for at least a decade.
1971
• Williab C. Nylin joins the department as Assistant
Professor of CS.
• Courses in telecommunications first offered.
1972
• U. Narayan Bhat becomes Director of the Computer
Science/Operations Research Center.
• SMU aquired a Control Data Cyber 72 computing
system as its academic mainframe. This remained
SMU’s academic system for many years.
• Jeff Noyes was director of the Bradfield Computer
Center.
• Myron Ginsberg and Robert Smith hired as Assistant
Professors of CS.
1973
• The CS/OR Center becomes the CS/OR Department
as the Institute of Technology changes from a matrixed
“Center” and “Department” structure to a traditional
“Department” structure.
• Robert R. Korfhage is Chairman Computer Science
Curriculum
• M.S.. in Computer Science and Industrial Engineering
are established, along with B.S. and M.S. in Management
Systems and Operations Research.
• Jeff Kennington joins department along with T.R.N. Rao
and Larry LeBlanc.
1974
• David Matula hired as CS/OR Department chairman
• John Fike and Bill Day join the department .
• CS Department moves to the Bradfield Computer
Center
• PhD and Doctor of Engineering in Computer Science
and Operations Research are established.
1975
• Operations Research is separated into a new
Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations
Research with U. Narayan Bhat as chair. Faculty
include Cooper, Day, Kennington, LeBlanc, Matula
(joint).
• CS Faculty include Matula, Fike, Frailey, Ginsberg,
Korfhage, Rao, Smith.
• Leon Cooper becomes acting dean of the Institute of
Technology
• CS Department moves to Patterson Hall
1976
• Institute of Technology changes name to School of
Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS)
• Leland Beck joins CS faculty.
• Narayan Bhat becomes Acting Dean SEAS
• Karl Willenbrock becomes Dean of SEAS
CSExpress
CSE Departmental
Timeline
1977
• Bill Applebee joins the CS Faculty
1979
• Computer Science department changes name to
Computer Science and Engineering (CSE)
• B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Computer Engineering
established (Previously, computer engineering was only
available as a track within the Electrical Engineering
curricula).
1980
• William F. Leonard becomes interim chair of CSE
• L. Donald Shields installed as SMU’s eighth president
1981
• Steve Stepoway joins the CSE faculty
1982
• Robert R. Korfhage becomes acting chair of CSE
• Robert Fossum becomes dean of SEAS
• CSE Department moves to the 3rd floor of the Science
Information Center.
1983
• David Y.Y. Yun becomes chair CSE
1984
• Margaret H. Eich (Dunham) joins the CSE department
1985
• Received ABET accreditation for the undergraduate
Computer Engineering program
1987
• A. Kenneth Pye installed as SMU’s ninth president
1989
• Someshwar Gupta is acting dean of the SEAS
• Jeff Kennington becomes chair of CSE
• Campus-wide library catalog automated
1990
• Andre G. Vacroux becomes dean of SEAS
• Sukumaran Nair joins CSE faculty
1991
• Frank Coyle joins CSE faculty
1994
• M.S. in Software Engineering established
• Dan Moldovan becomes chair CSE
1995
• Jeff Tian joins CSE faculty
• Beth Minton joins CSE staff
• R. Gerald Turner installed at SMU’s tenth president
1996
Page 7
• Debra McDowell joins CSE staff
• The university updates photo identification badges by
adding a magnetic encoding
• Project Pegasus installs Smart terminals and now offers
credit card payment options. Students are now also
able to register on the World Wide Web
1998
• Richard V. Helgason becomes interim chair of CSE
1999
• Don Evans joins CSE faculty
• SMU works overtime to update all computers to be
Y2K compliant
2000
• Judy Etchison joins CSE faculty
• Stephen A. Szygenda returns to SMU as Dean of the
School of Engineering and acting chair of CSE
• Peter-Michael Seidel joins CSE faculty
• SEAS changes its name to School of Engineering
2001
• Hesham El-Rewini comes to SMU as chair of CSE
• CSE Industry Advisory Board created
2002
• Mitch Thornton, Saadeddine Mneimneh and Fatih
Kocan join CSE faculty
• Jerry Junkins building opens
2003
• Received ABET first-time accreditation for the
undergraduate Computer Science program and reaccreditation for Computer Engineering program
• Tracks added to the undergraduate CpE program.
• First issue of CSExpress, the departmental newsletter,
is published.
2004
• Geoffrey C. Orsak becomes Dean of the School of
Engineering
2005
• M.S. in Security Engineering established
• Mark Fontenot joins CSE faculty
• Tracks added to the undergraduate CS program.
2006
• Embrey building opens
2007
• Doctor of Engineering in Software Engineering
established
• CSE department moves back to Caruth Hall
• Sumi Helal and LiGuo Huang join CSE Faculty
A special thanks to Joan Gosnell, SMU’s University
Archivist, for her help with the CSE Timeline.
Page 8
CSExpress
(continued from page 4)
side-effect was that most graduate courses were eventually
offered in the evening so industrial and military students
could attend them without disrupting their work days.
SMU’s computer science courses were sometimes used by
other local universities in those days to fill gaps in their curricula, for no other local school had as extensive a CS program as SMU. The emphasis on distance education graduate
programs persists to this day, although the technology has
advanced through several generations.
In its first decade, the department's primary computing
resources were "mainframe" systems, initially accessed via
punched cards and later via remote terminals. The first five
years were particularly tumultuous as the university changed
academic computers several times in attempts to save
money while providing adequate computing facilities. First
we would have a large system shared with many industrial
users, then a small system all to our own but inadequate to
handle the load, and then back again to a shared facility that
we didn’t control. Finally in 1971 a committee consisting of
Frailey, Kalan, Korfhage and Jeff Noyes was appointed to
recommend a more stable and capable computer for the
academic needs of the campus. This effort was championed
by support from Mark Shepherd, CEO of Texas Instruments
and a member of the SMU Board of Governors, as well as
by Dean Thomas Martin and certain key faculty from other
university departments. After an extensive benchmarking
process the team recommended a Control Data "Cyber 72"
system, which was delivered in late 1972 and served as the
primary academic system for nearly a decade.
The next five years involved more changes although
none so dramatic as those of the first five. In 1973 the Institute of Technology changed from a matrix organization
(with Centers) to a traditional department oriented structure, thus the CS/OR Department was born and, with it,
responsibility for the administrative side of several academic
degree programs: the BS and MS in CS, and the Industrial
Engineering Bachelors and Masters degrees. The Department also formally began BS and MS degrees in Management
Systems and Operations Research.
The Ph.D. in Computer Science, which had been offered
without the CS name for several years, was formally recognized by the Institute’s faculty in 1974. Another key development that year was splitting into two departments (CS
under David Matula and IE/OR under U. Narayan Bhat).
There were also two changes in location in that era. In
1974, at the time of the department split, the CS department moved from the third floor of Caruth Hall to the back
office area of the Bradfield Computing Center. About a
year later it moved to the second floor of Patterson Hall,
the Physical Plant building. The IE/OR department also
moved a few times and eventually became today’s Department of Engineering Management and Information Systems.
A significant academic advance was the introduction of
minicomputers in 1974, thanks to generous donations of
model "980" computers from Texas Instruments. Students
could finally get "hands on" and the faculty were quick to
devise courses that utilized this capability. Students could
learn more directly about device interfaces, interrupts, and
other details of real computers. Along with this, the Control Data mainframe offered the option of interactive access
via remote ("dumb") terminals. Punched cards were soon a
thing of the past but students still had to go to the computing center to access the computer and sign up for time slots
on the terminals. Remote access from faculty offices was
soon added but it was a long time before students could
access the computer from their dorms and even longer for
off-campus access.
The student ACM chapter was formed at about this time
and one of its early services was to provide escorts for students uncomfortable walking across campus late at night or
early in the morning to get to or from the computing center. This phenomenon was common across the country on
campuses with computer science programs.
There were numerous faculty additions and changes during the 1970’s. In addition to those mentioned above, the
following joined the department during that time but later
left for other positions: Bill Applebee, Leland Beck and John
Fike, Bill Day, Myron Ginsberg, Larry LeBlanc, William
Nylin, T. R. N. Rao, and Robert Smith. Ever since Robert
McClure left in 1969, the department had carried out a
search for the "holy grail" - a "senior software expert." The
senior faculty lacked degrees and experience in computer
science and software development and the faculty who had
such degrees and experience were deemed too junior.
Eventually some of the existing faculty grew more senior
and this objective was met largely from within.
A development in the late 1970's was introduction of the
computer engineering program (B.S., M.S., and PhD) in
1979. (These programs had formerly been offered as specialties within the EE degree by the EE Department.) This
was accompanied by another name change – to the present
Computer Science and Engineering.
Growth in student enrollment continued throughout the
1970's and the 1980’s and was characterized by a relatively
large number of female computer science majors. Ellen Allen, currently an instructor in the SMU Cox School of Business, was one of the undergraduate CS students in that era.
At one point women numbered almost 40% of the typical
graduating class. Numerous students from that era, both
men and women, are now in highly responsible positions in
industry and academia, including our own Richard Helgason
(EMIS faculty) and Margaret Dunham (CS faculty), both former department graduate students.
The tumult of the first decade is typical of a new program
in a newly emerging discipline. Few would want to return
to those days of mainframe computers in large rooms with
huge air conditioners and the need to trudge over to the
computing center late at night to gain access. But the end
result was a solid foundation on which the department grew
and prospered over the ensuing 30 years. •
CSExpress
Page 9
Congratulations to Our Recent CSE Graduates!
December 2006
BS in Computer Engineering
Hill, James August
Nguyen, Manteiv A.
BS in Computer Science
Lapio, Lacy Denise
Moreno, LaRisa A.
Nguyen, Sarah Anh-Minh
BA in Computer Science
Lanning, Christine F.
Vickers, Jolene Elaine
MS in Computer Engineering
Chutikanont, Suvimol
Kim, Jang Lyul
MS in Computer Science
Abraham, Daniel
Al-Qudah, Bilal Ibrahim
Desai, Milap Vinodchandra
Lari, Mohammad A
MS in Security Engineering
Babb, Bruce A.B.
MS in Software Engineering
Aziz, Mukaram
Bashir, Kamal
Jones, Thomas Lawson
Kalia, Tarun
Kelm, Matthew Gary
Kornblum, Stephen Lawrence (Exec)
Kruppa, Jason Alan (Exec)
Ley, Charles
Luchini, Mark
Rhodes, Romona
Rossi, Anthony Michael
Sherif, Nabila (Exec)
Sreekanth, Shridhar
Tiwari, Lee Rebecca
Venkateswaran, Kartik
May 2007
BS in Computer Engineering
Fultz, Eric Alan
Moldovan, Andrew Jason
Tipton, Daniel David
Ziska, Tristan Thomas
BS in Computer Science
Hanzi, Steven Robert
Jordan, Christopher H.
Loyd, Paul David
McBride, Emily Anne
Meehan, William R.
Nix, Bryan David
Rafales, Stefan Leandro
Varner, Richard Reid
Yeh, Paticia
MS in Computer Engineering
Bilbrey, Clifford Franklin
Edwards, John Charles
Goel, Abhishek
Goodman, David Blake
Malaika, Majid Ahmed
MS in Computer Science
Al-Khateeb, Tahseen Mahmoud
Batra, Nishant
Burkhart, David Stuart
Desai, Tushar Girish
Jadhav, Ashwin Avinash
Miller, Lee Alan
Myers, Tangela Shenee
Plewes, Patrick Dean
MS in Security Engineering
Khan, Muhammad Amir
Krishna, Archana
MS in Software Engineering
Addala, Ravi Varma
Alvarado, Ying Gao
Bowman, Vaughn
Campbell, Gregory Robert
Daga, Anuradha
El Youssef, Rami
Fernandes Anil, Raymond
Jain, Jatin
Jensen James C.
Lopez, Maria deJesus
Mielinski, Daniel Aaron
Moudy, Christopher Paul
Niemiec, Renee Lynn
Ravuru, Manoj Kumar
Rene, Marc A.
Rumao, Vijay Louis
Salido-Moreno, Adrian
Satake, Mark Shiro
Singh, Dhirender Pratap
Smith, Kathryn Anne
Trella, Christopher Michael
Veerappan, Venkatesan
Ph.D. in Computer Science
Ma, Li
Meng, Yu
Meyer, Jason Joseph
Ramadan, Rabie Abd El Tawab
(continued on page 10)
Page 10
CSExpress
(continued from page 9)
Congratulations to Our Recent CSE Graduates!
Summer 2007
MS in Computer Engineering
Davis, Jason Lee
Hawkins, Kelly Patrick
MS in Computer Science
Furtney, Daniel Lee
MS in Security Engineering
Spell, Terrill Brett
MS in Software Engineering
Cleary, Michele Donna
Granger, Clifford Price
McCall, Gale
Nguyen, Van Min
Pham, Jodee Minh Chau
Pham, Trang Minh
Pham, Winston Nguyen Minh
Porter, Alphonse D.
Speicher, Steven Scott
Tran, Anh Q
Williams, Ryan Patrick
Ph.D. in Computer Science
Kikkeri, Nikhil Divakar
Fall 2007
BS in Computer Engineering
Cole, Tori Malise
Moldovan, Andrew Jason
Parks, Kyle Phillip
Rankin, Ryan Noel
Sanvictores, Giorgio A.
BS in Computer Science
Harder, Jonathan Henry
Stanley, Bradley Alan
BA in Computer Science
Teal, Collin Richard
MS in Computer Engineering
Arnold II, Terry
Kulkarni, Pallavi Anil
Padilla Cano, Salvador Homero
MS in Computer Science
Anand, Arvind
Athawale, Arpit Hari
Gadikota, Praveen Kumar
Gupta, Ankit
Jain, Madhur
Mantravadi, Kalyan Chakravarthy
Nix, Bryan D.
Sampathkumar, Badhrinath
MS in Security Engineering
Liang, Edmund
MS in Software Engineering
Atwood, Jonscot R.
Devasigamoney, Tejovathi
Durrani, Anaf F.
Gunawardena, Duminda Abeysinghe
Hardy, Amber
Kumar, Dharmendra
Lizardi, Anthony Louis
Martin, Tanya
Sandberg, Michael
Shaikh, Nadeem
Shaw, Justin David
Turner, Rita Marie
Ph.D. in Computer Science
Aziz, Abdul
Westermann, William E.
CSE News Briefs
CSE Receives NSF Grant
CSE to Host ISMVL Conference
Jeff Tian, Hesham El-Rewini and Suku Nair have received a
planning grant from NSF I/UCRC (National Science Foundation Industrial-University Collaborative Research Centers)
program to establish the SMU Research Site of an NSF Embedded Systems I/UCRC. The research site will focus on
net-centric software and systems as part of a consortium
formed with 7 other universities and several high-tech companies. Industrial members are actively being recruited to join
the consortium. An NSF sponsored planning meeting for this
I/UCRC will be held in Dallas area February 22-24, 2008.
Attendance of all interested parties is encouraged. Current plans are for the NSF I/UCRC to be in place at SMU
by Summer 2008. For additional information, contact Jeff
Tian at tian@engr.smu.edu or 214-768-2861.
The 38th Annual IEEE International Symposium on Multiple-Valued Logic will be held on the campus of SMU and
hosted by the CSE Department from May 22-24, 2008.
This annul symposium alternates yearly between Europe,
Asia, and North America. A proposal to hold the conference in Dallas was first presented to the IEEE Technical
Committee on Multiple-Valued Logic by Mitch Thornton
in 2004 and he will serve as the General Chair for the
symposium this May. The symposium attracts top researchers in fields such as CAD algorithms, quantum
computing, discrete mathematics, and computer arithmetic typically with over 15 different countries represented.
This symposium has also served to spawn off several
other well-known conferences in the computer science
and engineering fields such as the ACM Symposium on
the Theory of Computing (STOC).
40
40
40
CSExpress
Martian Rover Project
The clock starts
ticking as the students hit go. All eyes
in the Stemmon’s
Atrium are fixed on a
contraption that is
situated on the large
pad of green Astroturf.
The robot
makes its first turn
and the
crowd
erupts in cheers of
excitement and as(L to R) Tanya West (ME), Paul tonishment.
What
Knezevic (CSE), Natalie Davies just happened here?
(EE), and their rover
It was the beginning
of the Mars Rover
Competition.
First-year students enrolled in CSE 1341H (Principles of
Computing I - Honors), ME 1202 (Introduction to Engineering), and EE 1382 (Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering)
participated in an interdisciplinary 6-week-long project to
design and implement a system capable of locating a target
object (e.g. a golf ball) and delivering that object to a destination. The scenario is that of a Mars Rover Mission.
Teams of 6 – 7 students worked together to achieve the
following:
The 06-07 school-year was a busy one for ACM@SMU,
the student chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery. ACM@SMU hosted several events throughout the
year and attended the annual International Collegiate Programming Competition sponsored by ACM and IBM.
ACM@SMU hosted two well-received lectures. The first
lecture of the year was given by Chris Davis of ForeScout
Technologies and entitled “Emerging Trends and Challenges
in Information Security”. Chris holds the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certifications. Mr. Davis
spoke on security domains, hacker culture and organized
crime, controlling network access, as well as other exciting
security topics. The second lecture was given by Professor
Scott Douglas of SMU’s Electrical Engineering Department.
In his lecture entitles “HD-DVD & Blu-Ray: What’s the Big
Deal?”, Professor Douglas discussed some of the similarities
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• Design and implement a vision system using a HDwebcam that is capable of providing location coordinates of the objects on the playing field in real time
(Mars reconnaissance satellite system).
• Design and fabricate a chassis for the robot using various motors and a circuit board provided (Mars rover
robot).
• Design and implement software capable of communicating wirelessly with the robot and the vision system
(Mission Control).
Nearly all real-world projects require coordination and
organization of varied
viewpoints and skill
sets in order to be
successfully
completed.
The Mars
Rover project not
only exercised the
student’s technical
abilities, it required
them to use soft skills
such as team-work,
communication, planning, and time-management. Students
were also thrilled that they got to see theory in action.
One student from CSE 1341H commented, “I really liked
this project because I got to use calculus outside of calculus
class.” Even though there was a great deal of work associated with this project, students were energized by being
able to put classroom learning into action.
and differences in these two formats and their associated
video-game platforms.
Using a commercially-available
player, Dr. Douglas also demonstrated interactive content.
The group also hosted several Xbox Gaming Nights during the year. Xbox Gaming Nights provide a way for student Xbox (and general gaming) enthusiasts to come together and participate in a friendly evening of competition.
One of the exciting aspects of the Xbox Gaming Nights is
that several game consoles are networked together so that
students can compete in larger groups than afforded by just
one console. Additionally, the consoles are connected to
projectors to provide more exciting gaming than perhaps
available on a standard TV.
The 06-07 ACM@SMU Executive Board consists of the
following: Chris Christensen, President; Michael Pierce,
Vice President; Bill Meehan, Secretary. Faculty sponsor of
the group is Mark Fontenot.
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CSExpress
CSE Alumni and Company Award Recipients
On the evening of November 9 at the CSE 40th anniversary
celebration banquet, the following CSE alumni and corporations
were honored for their outstanding contributions to CSE and to
the field of computer science and computer engineering.
many awards and honors including the Presidential Professorship Award from OU and the National Residence Hall
Awards for Outstanding Leadership, Scholarship, and Service.
CSE Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients
Alex Casimiro (M.S. ’97)
Alex Casimiro is Director of IT at
Texas Instruments. Alex has global
responsibilities for the company’s IT
function supporting its manufacturing
and supply chain operations. Alex has
contributed significantly to diverse
operations across TI. He has successfully led efforts to create a consolidated, global manufacturing IT organization aligned with TI’s manufacturing
and business operations. Alex is involved in numerous
business and community events and projects. These include
the IEEE, the RosettaNet Consortium, the YMCA Board,
internal company leadership development programs, and
many local youth educational programs in his hometown of
McKinney.
Krishna Kavi (M.S. ’77, Ph.D. ’80)
Krishna Kavi is currently Professor
and Chair of the Computer Science and
Engineering department at the University of North Texas. He takes pride in
the successes and achievements of his
students. He has supervised 12 doctoral
dissertations and 40 MS theses. Krishna
also served as a Program Director at the
National Science Foundation. His tenure
at NSF led to collaborations between NSF and DoD on
Compiler Infrastructure, as well as innovative architectures.
Krishna is happily married to Theresa. In his free time, he
enjoys reading mystery novels.
Donna Kastle Dunaway (Ph.D. ’72)
Donna Kastle Dunaway is CEO of
The Dunaway Group. She was a senior member of the technical staff at the
Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University from 1992 to
2002 and a Visiting Scientist from 2002
to 2005. She co-authored the book
“CMMI Assessments – Motivating Positive Change” with Marilyn Bush which
was published in February 2005. She
taught graduate computer science courses at The University
of Texas at Dallas and East Texas State University. Donna
is the proud mother of a daughter and son and the grandmother of four wonderful grandchildren.
Le Gruenwald (Ph.D. ’95)
Le Gruenwald is a Program Director
at the National Science Foundation. She
is also the David W. Franke Professor
and Director of the School of Computer
Science at University of Oklahoma. She
has published over 140 research articles
and is currently the area editor of the
Encyclopedia of Database Systems and
co-editor of IEEE Computing – the Special Issue on Data Stream Management. She has received
William McCain Lively, III (Ph.D. ’71)
William McCain Lively III is a professor
at Texas A&M University in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering where he is the Director of the Laboratory for Software Research. Dr. Lively
is a Co-PI on the IBM Shared Software
Infrastructure Project which provides
assistance to universities in developing
Project Courses with IBM and Open
Source tools. He is also a co-founder of
the Institute for Software Engineers (ISE), and the recipient
of IEEE service award. Mac is happily married to Cathy
and has two children Jenny and Scott and two grandchildren
Avery and McCain
Debjit Sarma (Ph.D. ’95)
Debjit Das Sarma is a Principal Member of Technical Staff at AMD in Sunnyvale, CA. He is the lead architect responsible for the micro-architecture
and design of floating-point, integer, and
multimedia processing units. He has
played significant roles in the design of
the Opteron and Barcelona microprocessors. Debjit is considered to be one
of the leading researchers in computer arithmetic, multimedia, and graphics algorithms, and an industry-wide recognized expert in commercial FPU architecture. Debjit is
married with two sons. His other interests include solving
mathematical puzzles, playing cricket, traveling, and cooking.
CSExpress
Academic Accomplishment Award Recipient
Bella Bose (M.S. ’79, Ph.D. ’80)
Bella Bose is the Associate Director of
the School of EECS at Oregon State University. He has advised more than 50
graduate students including 19 Ph.D. students. His research interests are in error
control codes, computer networks and
parallel processing. Bella has designed all
the error control codes used in the Intel
Paragon and other parallel machines.
Some of the codes in the literature are
named after him such as Bose codes, Bose-Lin codes, BosePradhan codes, and Tallini-Bose codes. The 'Bose-Lin' codes
will be implemented in all PMC-Seirra MIPS microprocessors. Bella was a distinguished visitor of IEEE Computer Society. He is a Fellow of both IEEE and ACM.
Page 13
Company Awards
Pioneer Award Recipient
Donna Kastle Dunaway (Ph.D. ’72)
See picture and biography on page12
Outstanding Contribution Award Recipients
Raytheon
Raytheon has been an outstanding
contributor to CSE for many years.
Raytheon is a defense electronics firm
with a major presence in the Dallas
area. Of its 8,000 local employees,
nearly 1/3 are engineers. Raytheon
has been a great partner with CSE in
many areas including providing employment and internship opportunities to
CSE graduates, contributing to collaborative research projects, and participating in the industry
advisory board. Some of CSE’s most outstanding adjunct
faculty members come from Raytheon. We are happy that
CSE has been able to provide education opportunities to
hundreds of Raytheon employees here on campus, via distance, and on-site through our executive MS program. Receiving the award on behalf of Raytheon is Dr. Dennis
Frailey, who is a Principle Fellow at Raytheon.
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award Recipient
Anthony Lekkos (Ph.D. ’72)
Anthony Lekkos is a successful entrepreneur who has made great contributions both to industry and academia.
After working for Bell Labs for four
years, he joined the Computer Science
faculty for the University of Houston at
Clear Lake. He has published numerous
articles in requirements definition and
object oriented methodology. In
1985, he founded ProtoSoft, a software
company specializing in object oriented design tools. Paradigm Plus, one of the design tools developed by ProtoSoft,
went on to become the industry standard for over ten
years. After ProtoSoft was acquired by Platinum Technologies, he joined the University of Houston faculty as an adjunct professor.
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments has been a vital supporter of SMU, the School of Engineering,
and the CSE department. Over the years,
TI has served as a catalyst to the growth
and development of Dallas. And during
the last 50 years, TI has employed thousands of SMU students, provided industry-university collaboration opportunities
to our faculty, and contributed greatly to
our success. Our students enjoy the
classrooms and labs in the Jerry R. Junkins Building which
was made possible by the Texas Instruments and the Jerry
R. Junkins family. Receiving the award on the behalf of
Texas Instruments is Mr. Lewis McMahan - Prior to retiring, Lewis was VP of Worldwide Facilities. He is also a
1969 graduate of the SMU Engineering School and a current member of SMU's Engineering School Executive Board
Emerging Leader Award Recipient
Rob Oshana (M.S. ’95)
Rob Oshana is the Director of Engineering for Developer Technology at
Freescale Semicondutor. He leads an
international team of 250 hardware and
software engineers developing innovative
software technology for the automotive,
wireless, and networking industries. He
also is the chairman of an international
IEEE standards group developing the
next generation debug specification for embedded microprocessors. Rob speaks internationally at conferences including the Embedded Systems Conference where he also
serves on the Advisory Board. Rob has been an adjunct
professor at SMU for many years. He received the Outstanding Executive Faculty award in 2006.
T-System, Inc.
Another company that has made
outstanding contributions to CSE is TSystem. Founded over a decade ago by
two Dallas emergency physicians, TSystem is one of the most recognized
company names in emergency medicine.
More than 40% of emergency departments in the US use their products. TSystem has been a great partner with
CSE over the years including funding graduate scholarship in
bio-informatics, providing financial awards to student competitions, participating in industry/academic collaborations
and offering board leadership to the CSE IAB.
Receiving the award on behalf of the T-System family is
Co-Founder and Co-Chairmen Dr. Rob Langdon.
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CSExpress
Thank you HP!
In celebration of the Computer Science and Engineering’s
40th Anniversary and through the efforts of Joe C. Dyoub,
Solutions Manager for Hewlett-Packard, HP has gifted the
CSE department with an HP Color LaserJet 2840 All-inOne printer, an Officejet 6300 All-in-One printer and five
HP Compaq 6715b Notebook PCs.
Dr. Bruce Shriver delivered a distinguished
speech titled “Where to
from Here?” followed by
a presentation of the 40th
anniversary awards at
the CSE 40th anniversary
celebration banquet.
Thank you 40th Anniversary
Celebration Benefactors!
Advanced Micro Devices
Basavaraj Patil
Muhammad and Afreen al-Amin
G. Mark Cullum
Galia Ivanov
Texas Instruments
Emily McBride
T-System
Doug and Nancy Nies
Yongqio Xiao
Matthew Osterberg
Mac Lively
SMU Mechanical Engineering
SMU Electrical Engineering
SMU Environmental & Civil Engineering
CSE Holds Fall 2007 IAB Meeting
The Fall 2007 meeting of the CSE Industrial Advisory Board was held on November 10 in the Hughes-Trigg
student center on the SMU campus. At the meeting Drs. Sumi Helal and LiGuo Huang, both new members
of the CSE faculty, each gave an overview of their areas of expertise and plans for future research at SMU.
Undergraduate CSE majors Greg Standerfer and Harrison Reid gave a presentation about their work on the
Martian Rover competition. CSE department chair Hesham El-Rewini and SoE Dean Geoffrey Orsak unveiled
plans for the new Caruth Hall which will house the Computer Science and Engineering Department and be located at the current Caruth Hall site. In addition, individual IAB committees gave reports on their activities
during the past 6 months and future plans.
CSExpress
CSE Distinguished Alumni Symposium
CSE Anniversary Banquet
Page 15
CSExpress
CSE and Banc of America
Collaboration
It was in the Fall of 2005 term when Reinier van Rooyen,
chief technology officer for Direct Access Financial Services,
and Ken Leder, senior manager for InstaQuote Trading Systems, of the Banc of America Securities, L.L.C. (Frisco) discussed developing a pilot internship program with SMU and
the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. The
program was designed to provide students with as much
exposure to the different technical areas in the world of
financial services as possible.
The first two interns in this unique program began in the
Spring of 2006. Lacy Lapio, B.S. (CS) '07 and current graduate student in security engineering, and Rabie Ramadan,
Ph.D. (CS) '07, were hired to develop tools to reduce research time to find cause in production-level trading issues.
Lacy developed GUI tools to automate server and system
configurations to read log files, including intelligent searches
Pictured left to right: Giorgio Sanvictores, Jason
Moore, Ken Leder, Lacy Lapio and Rabie Ramadan
that would maximize production of trade. Rabie was assigned to develop a server level widget that would monitor
the production servers and report server statistics (e.g.;
memory usage, drive capacity, the number of applications
running, etc.) to a central monitoring system used by the
software operations team to maintain the overall efficiency
and health of the production system. Having gained a
deeper understanding and breadth in the area of technical
financial services, both Lacy and Rabie were invited to join
Banc of America as full-time employees last year. Rabie is
currently working in the Middleware team which is responsible for adding production functionality to the system as
well as aiding in the implementation of the first prototype of
a new compression feed into the Middleware Server applications. Lacy decided to join the InstaQuote GUI team and is
Page 16
assisting in developing a new generation application framework. She has expanded her log viewing application to handle over 5 versions of log data and expanded the search
criteria to show full order chains. Additionally, due to
Lacy's eagerness and willingness to assist her colleagues and
supervisors in her group, she was nominated to receive the
Direct Financial Access Technology Sprit Award for Q2.
With the successful internships of both Lacy and Rabie,
Banc of America agreed to continue this pilot program and
hire two more SMU students this Summer. These students
are Jason Moore, M.S. (CS) '05 and current Ph.D. in CS, and
Giorgio Sanvictores B.S. (CpE) degree candidate for Fall
2007. Currently, Jason and Giorgio are working on a project to quantify and statistically analyze current client feed
logs. Their work will be used to identify customer issues in
accessing system monitoring and making the necessary corrections over time.
With the success of this internship project, Banc of
America plans to grow the program and begin next year by
hiring interns for other groups outside of the Direct Access
Financial Division.
Who Are These People?
(the picture is from 1994)
CSExpress is a publication of the Department of Computer
Science and Engineering at Southern Methodist University.
P.O. Box 750122
Dallas, Texas 75275-0122
Phone: 214-768-3083
FAX: 214-768-3085
http://engr.smu.edu/cse
CSExpress Editor: Don Evans (devans@engr.smu.edu)
CSExpress Contributors:
Frank Coyle, Hesham El-Rewini, Dennis Frailey, Joan
Gosnell, Mark Fontenot and Marc Valerin