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| February 2005 Edition | |
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Greetings from the CSE Chairman |
Dear CSE Students, 
As Chairman of the Computer Science and Engineering Department, I welcome you to this inaugural issue of the CSE Student Newsletter. We hope to issue two newsletters every semester to inform you of upcoming departmental activities and classes. Our next newsletter will be published before Summer registration and will include information about our Summer schedule. It will also highlight the changes in our CSE Department course numbers for Fall 2005. For now, I would like to bring your attention to the various activities listed below for the upcoming National Engineers Week. You are invited to attend all the events during that week, but I especially invite you to join us for our luncheon on Thursday, February 24, 2005 at 12:00 p.m. in the Atrium of our Research Park building. The College of Engineering is providing this free lunch to celebrate EWeek. If you are a junior or senior and considering graduate studies, please plan to attend the Graduate Programs Open House on Wednesday, February 23, 2005 beginning at 12:00 p.m. in our CSE Conference Room, F223. Scroll down for more information about this Open House. I realize that some of these activities may happen during class time. If you plan to attend an event during class time, please inform your instructor in advance that you will not be in class because you will be attending a certain EWeek event. We want this newsletter to be an informative guide for our CSE students. If there are items that you would like to see included in this forum, please let us know. Again, I welcome you to our first issue of the CSE Student Newsletter. I hope you participate in the activities during National Engineers Week. Be a strong supporter of our CSE Department and UNT. Sincerely, Krishna M. Kavi | |
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Department of Computer Science and Engineering News |
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CSE Department Celebrates National Engineers Week February 21-25, 2005 |
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The UNT Computer Science and Engineering Department will celebrate National Engineers Week as part of its second year in the College of Engineering. The celebration will kick off with a keynote address by Dr. Raymond A. Paul on Tuesday, February 22, 2005. Scroll down for more information about Dr. Paul. On Thursday, February 24, 2005, the CSE Department has invited Professor Harvey Cragon to speak about his research on code breakers during World War II. Following his speech, the College of Engineering will serve a free lunch for current students, faculty, and alumni in the Atrium of the Research Park. The CSE Department is sponsoring several activities during National Engineering Week. For more information about these and other activities planned for EWeek, please scroll down. | |
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Dr. Raymond A. Paul, U.S. Department of Defense, to Give Keynote Address |
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Dr. Paul’s speech is entitled “Will You Do What I Need? – From Interconnectivity to Interoperability.” While new technologies have been developed to address this question, an overall framework is lacking. His talk will address the key ideas and issues in developing an interoperability framework. Currently, Dr. Paul serves as the technical director for command and control (C2) policy in the office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense Network Integration and Interoperability. In this position, Dr. Paul supervises command and control systems engineering development and architecture engineering capabilities for measurements concerning the status of software/systems engineering resources and evaluates project outcomes to support major investment decisions. Dr. Paul holds a doctorate in software engineering and is an active Fellow member of the IEEE Computer Society. He has published more than 89 articles on software engineering in various technical books, journals and symposia proceedings, primarily under Department of Defense and IEEE sponsorship. | |
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Professor Harvey Cragon to Speak About Code Breaking in World War II |
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Harvey Cragon is Professor Emeritus at UT Austin and Adjunct Professor at UT Dallas. Prior to his academic career, he was with Texas Instruments for 25 years in Dallas and Austin. For over 35 years his research interests have been in high-speed computers and computer architecture design methodology. Professor Cragon received his BSEE from Louisiana Polytechnic Institute in 1950. He was presented the IEEE Emanuel R. Piore Award in 1984 and the ACM/IEEE Eckert-Mauchly Award in 1986. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Life Fellow of the IEEE, and a Fellow of the ACM. | |
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Graduate Studies Open House on February 23, 2005 |
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Have you been thinking about continuing your education by attending graduate school? Juniors and seniors are invited to attend the Graduate Studies Open House hosted by the Graduate Program of the Computer Science and Engineering Department on Wednesday, February 23, 2005 at 12:00 in Room F223 at the UNT Research Park. Following the presentations, a pizza lunch will be served. The CSE Department offers M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science. Beginning in Fall 2004, the CSE Department began offering a new M.S. degree in Computer Engineering. Take advantage of this opportunity to find out more about getting your graduate degree in Computer Science and Engineering at UNT. If you cannot attend, but would like more information about our graduate degree programs, please check our website HERE. If you have further questions, please contact Dr. Robert Brazile, Graduate Advisor, at brazile@cse.unt.edu. | |
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CSE Students Learn from "Professor for a Day" |
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As part of the Engineering Week activities in the Computer Science and Engineering Department, a variety of individuals from the local area have been invited to serve as "Professor for a Day" in both Graduate and Undergraduate courses throughout the week. The program provides students a glimpse of the many and varied ways that the topics and techniques they are studying are being applied in the "real world." The "Professors" will discuss topics related to those of the course they are attending, as well as sharing their own educational and professional experiences. Each participant will coordinate with the regular course Professor in preparing and presenting their course materials. Students will also have an opportunity to ask questions and engage in open discussion with the visitors to their classes. Each volunteer Professor for a Day will receive a certificate commemorating their service to the CSE Department and the College of Engineering. For a current schedule of all the activities for National Engineers Week, including Professor for a Day, please go to http://www.cse.unt.edu/~dkeathly/Eweek. The schedule will be updated weekly until the start of Engineering Week on February 21, 2005. | |
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Career Fair Scheduled for February 25, 2005 |
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Are you looking for an internship? Are you wondering what job opportunities await you after graduation? Then you should attend the Career Fair from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Friday, February 25, 2005. The Career Fair will introduce prospective employers to UNT students with the purpose of helping students obtain internships or permanent employment. Prospective employers will have the opportunity to interview many UNT students and the students will be able to meet many prospective employers. The College of Engineering is sponsoring the Career Fair as part of National Engineers Week. The Career Fair will be held in the Atrium of the UNT Research Park. | |
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Shadow Day Introduces Students to Computer Science and Engineering Careers |
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Shadow Day, organized by the UNT College of Engineering, introduces computer science and engineering students to the working life of an engineer by allowing students to follow around or “shadow” an engineer for a day or a few hours. Students will benefit from being exposed to the field of computer science and engineering from an industrial point of view, instead of an academic view. The engineer will benefit by meeting the students that attend the UNT College of Engineering and serving as a mentor to students interested in the field of engineering. If you would like to participate in Shadow Day, please contact Ms. Leticia Anaya, Lecturer, at (940) 565-2366 or email her at lanaya@unt.edu. Shadow Days are scheduled between Monday, February 21, and Friday, March 4, 2005. | |
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ACM to Sponsor Two Contests for Students |
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The ACM Student Chapter will sponsor two contests for students during National Engineers Week. On Thursday, February 24, from 1:45 to 2:15 p.m., students are invited to bring their Best Box with lights, liquid cooling, and action to F205. Students are invited to show off their rig and win some great prizes and, more importantly, tech-savvy respect. Following the Best Box Contest, students can "frag one, frag all" in a Gaming Contest to be held from 2:30 to 3:45 p.m. on Thursday, February 24, in the LARC, F206. In this tournament featuring Counter Strike, students can compete with their peers for a chance to win some cool prizes. | |
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EWeek Events Sponsored by IEEE Computer Society |
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The IEEE Computer Society will sponsor three contests during National Engineers Week. Students are invited to compose a poem in any programming language for the Programming Poetry Contest. Statements must be syntactically correct. Bonus points will be awarded if it executes. All entries are due by 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 22, in F201J, located in the main office of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Remember "Name that Tune?" IEEE will sponsor a Name that Program Contest. Students must solve the problems provided in the shortest number of lines of code to win. All entries are due by 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 22, in F201J. A Thinking Outside the Box Contest will be held on Wednesday, February 23. Students are invited to take the Brain Twisters Quiz in the CSE Help Lab, F205. Two times are available: either from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. or 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. All winners will be announced at the luncheon on Thursday, February 24, and prizes will be awarded. | |
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Open House for Schools on March 3, 2005 |
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The UNT College of Engineering will host an Open House for schools on Thursday, March 3, 2005. From 9:00-11:00 a.m., student groups are invited to visit labs, classrooms, and facilities at the Research Park. High school students will meet our students and faculty here at the College of Engineering. The following contests will be held for the high school students: 9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Egg Drop Contest -- Who can package the egg with the least amount of packaging and not cause it to break when dropped from a high elevation? (NTRP G134) 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Drinking Straw Towers Contest -- Who can build the strongest straw tower? It's a weight ratio contest where the ratio is defined as the weight of the load/weight of the straws used. Construction materials will be provided. (NTRP G134) 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Analytical and Creativity Contest -- Written test on math, science, and analytical skills. Middle school students and high school students are given separate tests. A chance for bright students to shine! (NTRP B155) 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Paper Airplane Contest -- Who can build the paper airplane that can travel the most distance? (NTRP HALLWAY) From 12:00 noon to 1:15 p.m., students will enjoy free food and refreshments with faculty and college students. Student speakers will talk about college life and challenges in the Atrium of the UNT Research Park. At 1:15 p.m., awards will be given to recognize the winners of the above contests in the auditorium, B155. If you would like to represent the CSE department during this Open House, contact David Keathly at (940) 565-4801 or email him at dkeathly@unt.edu. | |
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Faculty News |
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Dr. Ian Parberry Receives Three Awards |
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In December, Dr. Parberry was honored at a reception by the UNT Division of Equity and Diversity for planning, supporting, and contributing to programs that promote diversity awareness in the Denton and surrounding communities. Microsoft recently recognized Dr. Parberry with a Most Valuable Professional award for his extraordinary efforts in guiding his peers in Windows – DirectX technical communities. Dr. Parberry was saluted by Microsoft for promoting the spirit of community by helping other people realize their potential through technology. On January 28, 2005, the NT Daily featured Dr. Parberry in an article entitled: “‘Geek’ brings gaming to NT.” To read that story about Dr. Parberry and his classes on video game programming, please click HERE. | |
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New Laboratory Established by Dr. Mohanty |
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The research focus is on preparing the next generation EDA tool to produce nanometer VLSI circuits considering physical phenomena, such as cross-talk, power supply noise, and interconnect delays, while reducing both static and dynamic power. We are looking for both masters and Ph. D. students to carry out such research. Students with strong electrical or computer engineering background and programming experience are preferred. For more information about this new laboratory, contact Dr. Saraju Mohanty at smohanty@cse.unt.edu. | |
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Language and Information Technologies Laboratory |
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Current active members include faculty from the Computer Science and Engineering department (Rada Mihalcea and Paul Tarau), faculty from the School of Libraries and Information Sciences (Jianping Chen and Elizabeth Figa), and about 13 students (Ph.D., M.S., and undergraduate) working on various projects. The lab occasionally hosts events (invited talks, workshops, symposia), and we have weekly research meetings. More details on the lab are available at http://lit.csci.unt.edu. Everyone interested in research related to natural language processing is more than welcome to join us! | |
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CERL Established by Dr. Armin R. Mikler |
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The field of Computational Epidemiology has emerged only recently as a response to the threat of bioterrorism. Its primary goal is to utilize computational methodologies in the development of tools that facilitate the tasks of epidemiologists. Dr. Mikler is the Director of CERL and an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at UNT. To learn more about CERL, go to http://www.cerl.unt.edu. Dr. Mikler’s CSE website is at http://fermat.csci.unt.edu/~mikler/. | |
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College of Engineering News |
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Dean Oscar Garcia named to IEEE Board |
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Dr. Garcia will be an IEEE division director. This division will be assigned to the IEEE Computer Society, the largest unit within the institute. He is a Life Fellow in the IEEE and former president of the IEEE Computer Society. To read more about Dr. Garcia’s election to the IEEE Board, click HERE. | |
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Electrical Engineering Program Begins at UNT |
 First Electrical Engineering class at UNT Back row: Justin Bryant, Damiri Young, Leslie Murphy, David Jackson, Edwin Wambwa, Donald Harrison Front row: Megan Myles, Elizabeth Keswani, Mahboubeh Hamikzadeh, Tara Conroy In Spring 2005, the College of Engineering at UNT started a new Electrical Engineering department. UNT recently received approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) to offer a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering in Spring 2005, and an M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering in Fall 2007. The department's faculty includes Dr. Hai Deng, Dr. Oscar Garcia, Dr. Parthsarathy Guturu, Dr. Xinrong Li, and Chairman, Dr. Murali Varanasi. The department is housed in brand new quarters on the second floor of the College of Engineering at UNT Research Park. The department is very excited to offer an innovative program in Electrical Engineering. Key features of the program include:
The department has accepted ten students into its charter class in the picture shown above. For more information about the program, please contact: Dr. Murali Varanasi, Chair, Electrical Engineering department, University of North Texas, P.O. Box 310470, Denton TX 76203-0470, or contact the Engineering Advising Office at 940-565-4201. | |
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The CSE Student Email Newsletter was assembled and produced by Genene Murphy and Don Retzlaff. It is a publication of the UNT Computer Science and Engineering Department. Contact the department at newsletter@cse.unt.edu. http://www.cse.unt.edu UNT Computer Science and Engineering Department |
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Dr. Raymond A. Paul will deliver the keynote speech for National
Engineers Week at the College of Engineering on Tuesday, February 22,
2005 at 11:00 a.m. in the auditorium, B155, at the UNT Research Park,
3940 North Elm Street. This program will also be available via live
videoconference at the UNT Dallas Campus (8915 S. Hampton Rd), Room 210
and the Universities Center at Dallas (1901 Main Street), Room 412 in
Downtown Dallas.
The VLSI design and CAD Laboratory was established at the Computer
Science and Engineering Department (F231) in Fall 2004. The
laboratory homepage is located at 
The Language and Information Technology Laboratory was established in 2002 by
Rada Mihalcea to foster research on various aspects of natural language
processing and computational linguistics, including text understanding,
machine translation, information retrieval, and speech technologies.
