Course Catalog: Introduction

The field of computer science is pervasive. The growing availability of relatively inexpensive high performance computing capabilities, the ever increasing memory capacities, and high speed networking have created a technology-driven restructuring of the way much of society and almost all professions now operate. Information, and its associated processing and transport, is the commodity upon which corporations are built and fortunes made. At the center of this revolution, making it happen, are those who study computer science.

Because computer science is a highly diverse and broadly applied field, studying it can proceed in many different directions. Accordingly, the undergraduate and graduate programs in the Department of Computer Science at Johns Hopkins are designed to accommodate a wide range of student interests. Programs are not only academically rigorous, but also sufficiently flexible so that students can create a computer science program to satisfy their own needs. Whether the ultimate goal is a mainstream career in computer science or a desire to be empowered by computer science in conjunction with another area, a student at Johns Hopkins can pursue appropriately customized versions of the following computer science programs: Minor, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts, Masters of Science in Engineering, and Doctor of Philosophy. Most of this catalog section is devoted to details regarding these programs.

There are several closely related programs which involve significant coursework and faculty involvement from the Department of Computer Science. A Minor in Computer Integrated Surgery is administered by the Engineering Research Center for Computer Integrated Surgical Systems and Technology. Details on this program may be found in the printed catalog following the Minor in Computer Science (or at cisstweb.cs.jhu.edu). Undergraduates with a strong interest in system design and performance may elect to pursue either a Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts in Computer Engineering. This field of study includes coursework in computer science, as well as electrical and computer engineering. Students may be advised by specific program faculty in either of those departments. Although jointly administered by both departments, specific goals and requirements of the computer engineering degrees may be found in the catalog section pertaining to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering only (or at www.ece.jhu.edu). Lastly, the Masters of Science in Security Informatics (MSSI) is a new program offered through the Information Security Institute (ISI) in the WSE. The field of security informatics is fundamentally based on information security and assurance technologies (hardware, software, and networks) as related to issues such as policy, management, privacy/trust, health care, and law, from both national and international perspectives. Interested students can obtain detailed information regarding the MSSI on-line at www.jhuisi.jhu.edu or in the ISI section of the printed catalog.

The Department of Computer Science focuses its teaching and research programs in three major areas: analysis, systems, and applications. The faculty offers theoretically and/or experimentally oriented courses in these areas at the introductory, intermediate, and graduate levels. Five interdisciplinary research centers in the university have direct relationships with faculty associated with the Department of Computer Science: the Information Security Institute, the Center for Algorithm Engineering, the Center for Networking and Distributed Systems, the NSF Engineering Research Center for Computer-Integrated Surgical Systems, and the Center for Natural Language and Speech Processing. All faculty in the Department of Computer Science have research laboratories in which individual projects are available for undergraduate and graduate students. Examples of these laboratories include, but are not limited to: networks and distributed systems, graphics, vision, algorithm engineering, computer-integrated surgical systems, security, systems research and natural language processing. An important component of the educational process in the Department of Computer Science at Johns Hopkins is the opportunity for student participation in the research programs of the faculty. Particularly in the graduate program, original research in close association with individual faculty members is emphasized.

Current Research Activities

Computer science research activities include the following areas: algorithm design and analysis, human-computer interaction, machine learning, computer vision and image processing, computer graphics, computational geometry, geometric modeling, programming languages, natural language and speech processing, information retrieval, internet computing, cryptography and information security, secure and robust systems, fault-tolerant computing, networks and distributed systems, robotics, computer-integrated surgical systems and computational biology.

Facilities

The computing facilities include over 40 Unix (mostly Linux and some Solaris) workstations and servers for research; a laboratory of 18 Linux workstations and 26 Pentium IV workstations running Windows 2000; multiple high-speed laser printers including color PostScript printers. Focused research laboratories have significant resources that provide greater specialization than the general department resources. Specialized equipment such as high-resolution graphics devices and an assortment of optical equipment are also available. The facilities are tied together by Ethernet and access to specialized hardware in other departments and institutions is available via the Internet. Modem access is available to many of the systems. In addition, the University maintains several server systems on which all students may receive accounts and email.