News & Events

Computer Science

Upsilon Pi Epsilon

Ten Computer Science (CPSC) and Computer Engineering (CPEN) students were recently inducted into Gonzaga's Upsilon Pi Epsilon honor society chapter.  Dr. DePalma and Dr. Bowers awarded the students certificates and congratulated them on their academic achievement. 

UPE Eligibilty Requirements:

• Pursuing a Computer Science, Math/Computer Science, or Computer Engineering major
• Completed 45 semester hours, including 15 hours of credit in CPSC and/or CPEN courses
• Hold and maintain a GPA of at least 3.0 over all classes

• Hold and maintain a GPA of at least 3.3 in all CPSC/CPEN classes

First Annual Freshmen Social A Success!

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  The Department of Computer Science hosted a BBQ for incoming freshmen students to welcome them to the program.  About 25 new and returning students visited and took home door prizes from corporate sponsors Avista, LabVolt & Itron.  The event of the evening was definitely the "Guess the Faculty" game. Freshmen were asked to identify which door prizes belonged to which faculty.  Some of the prizes? Movie tickets (one of the CS faculty had a bit part in a movie once) and a working light saber (a certain robotics instructor's contribution).  The event was such a hit that faculty are already planning their door prize for next year.  Welcome Freshmen!

  
  
  

  Welcome Dr. Bowers!

  
  Dr. Shawn Bowers joins the Computer Science Department as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Bowers brings a strong research background with experience as a Project Scientist at the UC Davis Genome Center in the Data and Knowledge Systems Lab and as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the San Diego Supercomputer Center at UCSD.

  Dr. Bowers research interests are broadly in the area of database technology (conceptual modeling, data discovery, data integration) and scientific data management (observation models and scientific workflows). He is currently involved in the following projects.

  Student Research- NASA, Google and More…

  
  Jacob Pfeiffer, ‘08, received a paid research internship at the National Aeronautics Space Administration’s Ames Research Center after graduation. The Center is a leader in information technology research with a focus on supercomputing, networking and intelligent systems, Ames conducts the critical research and develops the enabling technologies that make NASA missions possible.  Jacob will be working on programs to improve the speed in which air traffic controllers can adjust to a new air space sector.

  Ann Kilzer, ‘08, accepted a prestigious paid internship with Google Systems after graduation. The Platforms team designs and builds the software, hardware, computing platform and networking technologies that power all of Google's services.

  Thomas Jones, ‘09, participated in a National Science Foundation program at the Colorado School of Mines. The REU was held in Hong Kong, giving Thomas the opportunity to study abroad this summer.

  
  
  

  New Computer Cluster

  
  The School of Engineering and Applied Science received a large donation of network servers and components ($778,000) from Intel. The Intel gift will be part of the Intel Corporation Computational Science Laboratory (ICCSL).  This gift will provide a state-of-the-art computational presence that undergraduate students will be able to use for research projects.

  The ICSL will provide the computational tools necessary for faculty and students at Gonzaga University to fulfill their research agenda and plan larger scale research in the future.

   
  
  

  2010 Senior Design Teams

  
  B-Hive Test: Nertney, Rob; Pfeifer, Scott; Strohmeyer, Matthew
  Power Data: Funston, Justin; Kudo, Jay; Lavrisha, Michael
  IT-Lifeline: Edwards, Andrew; Hamblen, Joshua; Kraber, Elliot

  
  
  

  Dr. Yerion Publishes in International Research Journal

  
  Gonzaga Computer Science faculty, Kathie Yerion, PhD, will have an article published in the international research journal, Nonlinear Analysis: Real World Applications.  Her article, “A Finite Difference Method for Modeling the Formation of Animal Coat Patterns” used a math model to create patterns that might be seen in animal coats.  The results were then compared to real patterns found in various animal species.  Two GU students, Eileen Bassiri and Margaret George, are listed as co-authors and received funding through a research grant to run the computer experiments with Yerion. 

  
  
  

  The math model created possible patterns for animal appearances and the frequency that certain patterns might appear in the animal kingdom.  This research created some interesting results by combining animals like zebras and raccoons into the same pattern group while showing that certain patterns on snake skins can be quite common across different genus of reptiles.

  After the coat patterns were broken into categories and studied, co-author, GU Professor Rob Bryant, worked with Yerion to create graphics from the initial research.  Dr. Yerion handled the underlying numerical method for approximating solutions to a system of nonlinear partial differential equations but credits the research team for a great outcome. Yerion said she wasn’t surprised by the study results, but was pleased that the math model worked as they hoped. She says, “These patterns and animal images are good evidence that our model and method can produce a variety of real life animal coat patterns.”

  
  
  

  Datteri Chosen as Finalist

  
  Ryan Datteri ('08) is a finalist in the prestigious Michael B. Merickel Best Student Paper competition.  Ryan’s research paper, Local Versus Global Texture Analysis for Lung Nodule Image Retrieval, was chosen from nearly 80 submissions from around the world.

  Ryan worked on the medical imaging software while serving on a National Science Foundation internship at DePaul University last summer. He built an application for radiologists to use that, when queried concerning a lung nodule that the radiologist isn't certain is cancerous, will return similar lung nodules whose results are known so the radiologist can compare the questionable nodule to them. The competition is offered by SPIE, an international society advancing an interdisciplinary approach to the science and application of light.

  
  
  

  Dr. Crowley Receives New Grant

  
  

  (Crowley, 3rd from left, helps Computer Science 121 students rebuild computers for elementary school children in Africa)

  GU faculty, Patricia Crowley, PhD, has received a $75,000 grant from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.  She will work with colleagues at the University of New Mexico to  create a robust network of sensors that can be reprogrammed during a failure caused by WMD (weapons of mass destruction).

  Dr. Crowley's research group at Gonzaga, SESL (Scalable and Embedded Systems Lab), is working on improving the framework used to program sensors to allow for reprogramming.  She says the research will focus on a sensor network that will allow military or emergency personnel better access to information during an emergency.  Currently, sensor networks send information back from crisis areas to databases in the US for processing.  If the network that moves the data back to the US is compromised, the people that are on the ground can get no information from the sensors (like the nature and path of a chemical plume for example).

  Crowley states, "This new technology would hopefully allow people who are local to get information from sensors that are local when there is a failure or an emergency so that personnel can use the information to get out of harm's way.  The ultimate hope for active data management is to save lives."

  The funding will equip a small sensor network laboratory and pay student researchers to complete the fundamental infrastructure needed for active data management.

  
  
  

  Computers for Kids in Africa

  
  

  Gonzaga students combined computer science study with social justice this fall. Computer Science 121 students rebuilt donated computers for technologically-disadvantaged elementary schools in Kenya and Nambia.

  Assistant Professor, Patricia Crowley, came up with the idea because students expressed interest in curriculum with real-world application and meaning. She hopes this project will meet those interests while teaching students the basics of computer hardware.

  She adds that one concern facing the computer science industry is the lack of women interested in the field. "One of the reasons we believe women are not choosing computer science is that they are intimidated by the machine itself."

  She hopes that tearing machines apart and rebuilding them, "Will demystify the machine and allow any student who is not comfortable with technology to realize that there is no magic involved; just good problem solving and a screwdriver."

  
  
  

  Dr. Crowley Receives NASA Grant

  
  

  Computer Science faculty, Patricia Crowley, Ph.D., has received a grant from NASA to conduct computer research. Dr. Crowley's project is to create a way of handling the bulk transfer of large amounts of data using inexpensive, small machines.

  The $40,000 grant comes from the National Aeronautical Space Administration (NASA) Small Business Innovation Research Program. NASA selects research proposals that will meet specific research and development needs of the federal government while supporting small businesses.  The program awarded approximately $25 million to qualified projects in one year.

  Dr. Crowley's project was one of more than 200 projects chosen from 1,709 applications.  She is working with SeaFire, Inc. in Massachusetts to study Grid computing.  She says the project will, “research the efficacy and fairness of a protocol-bypass approach to offloading UDP.”  The project is important to allowing businesses to use both UDP and TCP protocol without expensive hardware.