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Computer Science & Engineering

Focus Areas

The Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln introduces Focus Areas for its computer science majors. The goal of the Department is to equip our graduates with advanced skills focused in specific areas to better position them for successful careers. In today’s professional world, computing and computational problem solving skills are ubiquitously in demand in a host of advanced technology and scientific applications.

The Department encourages students to take advantage of this opportunity by

  1. officially recognizing students’ initiatives and effort in pursuing these advanced topics, and
  2. regularly sequencing courses of the focus areas in addition to the required core courses.

Specifics

  • To receive a Focus, you must, in addition to meeting all computer science requirements, receive a grade of C or better in each of three courses from your focus area of choice. Customized Focus Areas are also possible.
  • A focus can be obtained without having to take additional credit hours for your study. This will not add significant cost of tuition to you.
  • You will be able to study in-depth, an important computer science topic, interacting with graduate students who will also be in those courses.
  • You will receive an official departmental letter recognizing your achievement in one of the focus areas. This will allow you to officially list the focus area on your resume, improving your career outlook and graduate applications.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Focus Area

Description

From John McCarthy, widely regarded as Father of Artificial Intelligence (AI): “AI is the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programs. It is related to the similar task of using computers to understand human intelligence… Intelligence is the computational part of the ability to achieve goals in the world.” AI has continued to play a significant role in advanced software and hardware solutions for today’s applications such as monitoring, detection, and preventive systems, adaptive control systems, decision support systems, and multimedia and visualization systems.

Courses

  • CSCE 421 - Foundations of Constraint Processing (Spring of Odd Years)
  • CSCE 475 - Multiagent Systems (Fall of Odd Years)
  • CSCE 476 - Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (Spring of Even Years)
  • CSCE 478 - Introduction to Machine Learning (Fall of Even Years)

Foundations Focus Area

Description

The roots of computer science trace back over a century, long before the electronic computer was invented, to a time when mathematicians began designing models of hypothetical machines that could automatically compute solutions to logical and mathematical problems. Unconstrained by the physical limitations of today’s technology, they explored the limits of computability by machine and, according to one famous theorem, also of the human mind. This ongoing theoretical study has produced and continues to produce many important and very relevant results that impact computer science today.

Courses

  • CSCE 340 - Numerical Analysis I (Fall)
  • CSCE 421 - Foundations of Constraint Processing (Spring of Odd Years)
  • CSCE 423 - Design and Analysis of Algorithms (Spring)
  • CSCE 424 - Computational Complexity Theory (Spring of Even Years)
  • CSCE 428 - Automata, Computation and Formal Languages (Fall)

Informatics Focus Area

Description

Informatics is the science of information, information processing, and information systems engineering. It is an area that equips you with hands-on experience and advanced knowledge and skills for today’s Information Technology (IT) world. It has diverse flavors inspired by different disciplines and applications, ranging from data mining to information retrieval; from database systems to computer graphics; from image processing to computer vision; from geoinformatics to bioinformatics.

Courses

  • CSCE 413 - Database Systems (Fall of Even Years)
  • CSCE 471 - Introduction to Bioinformatics (Spring of Odd Years)
  • CSCE 472 - Digital Image Processing (Fall)
  • CSCE 473 - Computer Vision (Spring of Odd Years)
  • CSCE 474 - Data Mining (Fall of Odd Years)

Networking & High-End Computing Focus Area

Description

This area explores cutting-edge research topics in developing future Internet and high-performance computers. This area is increasingly relevant due to advances in cluster computing and multi-core computer architectures, and the demands for supercomputing for large scale data analyses and complex simulations. Topics range from parallel programming to cluster programming; network and data security to optical networks.

Courses

  • CSCE 430 - Computer Architecture (Spring)
  • CSCE 432 - High-Performance Processor Architectures (Fall of Odd Years)
  • CSCE 434 - VLSI Design (Fall of Even Years)
  • CSCE 435 - Cluster and Grid Computing (Fall of Odd Years)
  • CSCE 455 - Distributed Operating Systems (Spring of Odd Years)
  • CSCE 456 - Parallel Programming (Fall of Even Years)
  • CSCE 462 - Communication Networks (Spring)