Amar Gupta Welcome Breakfast at University Club

It is a bit of Pace folklore that in the 1960’s when asked why an accounting school should include an English department the then president Dr. Edward J. Mortola replied “because I want our accountants to have the best written reports”. It is in this same spirit of interdisciplinary support that current President Friedman places a large emphasis on making sure that all Pace students are outfitted with the information technology skills they will need for the 21st century.

It is a bit of Pace folklore that in the 1960’s when asked why an accounting school should include an English department the then president Dr. Edward J. Mortola replied “because I want our accountants to have the best written reports”. It is in this same spirit of interdisciplinary support that current President Friedman places a large emphasis on making sure that all Pace students are outfitted with the information technology skills they will need for the 21st century.

The man he has picked to spearhead this approach is Dr. Amar Gupta the new Dean of the Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems. A reception was held for him at the University Club on Tuesday January 8th 2013. At the reception he gave a speech entitled “Emerging Innovative Applications of Information Technology”.

Dr. Gupta comes to Pace University from the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona in Tucson where he held an endowed professorship and was known for his role in nurturing new research and interdisciplinary programs, including one that allowed students to receive two graduate degrees and a certificate in entrepreneurship. He was a visiting scientist at MIT where he served as the founding co-director of the Productivity from Information Technology (PROFIT) initiative and has worked with large organizations such as IBM and the United Nations.

President Friedman praised Dr. Gupta saying that he joins the university at a pivotal moment in history and that he is very confident in his abilities. Dr. Gupta began his speech by talking about his “24-Hour Knowledge Factory”. An initiative that he developed it focuses on dividing a project into parts that are then passed off from team to team across the globe. Work may begin during the day in an American office, be passed off to an Australian or Chinese colleague, then to a colleague in Europe and finally back to the American office. The initiative promises to revolutionize how organizations approach problem solving since it allows the same number of man hours to produce products much more quickly in calendar time. As Dr. Gupta put it this new approach challenges the 1000 year old paradigm that distance is an impediment to business, instead it may serve as an asset by harnessing the best and brightest from across the globe.

Dr. Gupta also spoke about the need for interdisciplinary approaches to solve current problems such as healthcare. He gave several examples of the benefits of Telemedicine, which uses current information technology to connect patients with doctors that can help them treat their symptoms. This approach is particularly useful in rural parts of the nation where patients may be very far away from skilled medical practitioners.  He compared the current problem to previous issues he encountered working with Citibank and IBM on check processing technology.

Dr. Gupta closed the speech by showcasing his plans for improving the university which include dual degree programs that reflect industry needs and setting up consortiums with large organizations and students. He also placed a great emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches to problem solving, bidirectional national flows of information and the importance of innovation.

People may rarely see the value of new technology initially but the value of Dr. Gupta to Pace University is clear and we are glad to have him on board.

 

 

Faculty Spotlight, Dr. Sung-Hyuk Cha

Computer science has had an enormous impact on the forensic science field, ranging from court case information retrieval to Fingerprint, Handwriting, Speaker detection, Lie detection, etc. Among many sub-fields of computer science, artificial intelligence, computer vision, pattern recognition, and robotics have received great attention in Forensic Science. These interests gave a birth to a new emerging interdisciplinary field in Computational Forensics. Professor Sung-Hyuk Cha at Seidenberg has been a faculty member of Computer Science department at Pace University since 2001. His main interests include computer vision, data mining, pattern matching & recognition. Prof Cha was involved in a challenging project, “Handwriting Verification and Identification”, which was granted a U.S. Patent in 2009. He is teaching in both graduate and undergraduate levels in fields of computational mathematics, Data structure, programming languages.

Computer science has had an enormous impact on the forensic science field, ranging from court case information retrieval to Fingerprint, Handwriting, Speaker detection, Lie detection, etc. Among many sub-fields of computer science, artificial intelligence, computer vision, pattern recognition, and robotics have received great attention in Forensic Science. These interests gave a birth to a new emerging interdisciplinary field in Computational Forensics. Professor Sung-Hyuk Cha at Seidenberg has been a faculty member of Computer Science department at Pace University since 2001. His main interests include computer vision, data mining, pattern matching & recognition. Prof Cha was involved in a challenging project, “Handwriting Verification and Identification”, which was granted a U.S. Patent in 2009. He is teaching in both graduate and undergraduate levels in fields of computational mathematics, Data structure, programming languages.

Professor Cha is currently pursuing research in face recognition and identification systems. He is working closely with NYPD and FBI to improve systems in crime scene investigation that capture evidence. This is done with the help of robotics and support from students for NYPD. Pace University has fully equipped facilities for forensic chemistry and biology, including a new state-of-the-art DNA sequencing lab, specialized laboratories for virtual crime scene reconstruction and forensic microscopy.

Forensic science is a rapidly growing discipline and the tools available to forensic researchers are also evolving quickly. The proliferation of crime involving computers has led to a need for specialists trained in the field of computer forensics, the scientific analysis of communications and data on computer storage devices. Specialists in computer forensics unite technical expertise with investigative skills and legal knowledge, a combination, which is essential for computer crime investigations. Students can turn into investigators. The trends in forensic careers are growing in vast fields of investigation. Pace University has fully equipped facilities for forensic chemistry and biology, including a new state-of-the-art DNA sequencing lab and specialized laboratories for virtual crime scene reconstruction and forensic microscopy.

Students interested in computer science fields of forensic science can explore their studies with professor Cha. He is also looking forward for students to work for him both at graduate and undergraduate levels.

Fell free to contact him:  http://csis.pace.edu/~scha/index.html

Helsinki Again! Seidenberg School Launches Year Two of the Product Design Project Research Initiative

Extending last year’s acclaimed partnership with Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland, the Seidenberg School is collaborating for a second year in the Product Design Project (PDP) Based at Aalto University, PDP brings together students from more than a dozen universities around the globe to develop real products for companies including Ericsson, UNICEF, ABB and ExerBlast who are searching for innovative cooperation with the next generation of IT experts. At the start, much attention is directed to the formation of highly motivated interdisciplinary teams.

Extending last year’s acclaimed partnership with Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland, the Seidenberg School is collaborating for a second year in the Product Design Project (PDP) Based at Aalto University, PDP brings together students from more than a dozen universities around the globe to develop real products for companies including Ericsson, UNICEF, ABB and ExerBlast who are searching for innovative cooperation with the next generation of IT experts. At the start, much attention is directed to the formation of highly motivated interdisciplinary teams. A project typically includes all phases of planning, requirements gathering, the creative process, software design, usability and marketing.

Led by Associate Dean Jonathan Hill and Program Manager Wilfredo Pena, Seidenberg Students Drew Cimino (CS ’13), Prachaya Sinsuwan (MS CS ’14), Julie Gauthier (CS ‘15), Michael Cornell (CS ’15), Bryn Haffey (MS CS ’14) and Keith McPherson (CS ’13) were joined by Lubin student Shervin Browne (MBA ’14) and Dyson Communications major Jessie Mishavsky (BA ’13)

Utilizing lessons learned from the concept of distributed teams, the project goes through the phases of  requirements gathering, product design, manufacture, assembly, and testing to create a unique and valuable learning experience. As the sun rises in Australia, students at Swinburne University in Melbourne begin iteration of their specified part of the project, as the day continues at Tianjin University in Shanghai, students continue the process and pass the results to the next stop, the Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur. The project is then picked up and further developed by students at Aalto University and as the sun moves from Helsinki to New York, Pace University students contribute their day’s work and then conclude their day by passing the baton back to their Australian colleagues. Team meetings are held weekly, via Skype, where students learn to negotiate differences in time, culture and project flow. After a full academic year of designing, coding and building, the international teams gather for a final ‘gala’ presentation in Helsinki where the students celebrate their accomplishments.

“This is truly one of the best educational experiences that I can imagine” said Jonathan Hill. “The students work as a distributed team on a very complex, but ultimately deeply satisfying projects with other top students from around the world. The experiences they have replicate what they will be asked to do as professional developers: ask questions, solve problems, create, get feedback, react to their clients changing needs and learn to negotiate time zones, different cultures and different learning styles”.

“I love my team” said Julie Gauthier, a sophomore computer science major from Connecticut. “I am the developer among mechanical and electrical engineers, designers, and MBA’s. They have been so welcoming and so helpful and I can’t wait to see what we build”.

This year’s collaboration includes the addition of a New York City based start-up which will bring four Aalto students to Pace for a week of on-site research, activities and workshops that support co-creation. Pace University and Exerblast, a digitally enhanced youth exercise and gaming concept, are working together to build new interactive experiences on their website and play space located in Tribeca.   This project will give the students an opportunity to pursue interdisciplinary ideas at the cross point of computer science, engineering production and communications.  Besides working on the project it will also be an opportunity to reciprocate the hospitality they’ve received during their visit to Aalto.  Our visitors will arrive in time to attend a New York Tech Meetup (NYTM) monthly gathering among other events that showcase the thriving tech scene in New York.

If you would like to participate in helping us make this a great experience for our Aalto U guests, stay tuned for information on their arrival.

Dr. Lawler’s AOK CIS 102W Completes Another Consecutive Semester

Dr. Jim Lawler of the Seidenberg School completed another consecutive semester of the AHRC New York City – Pace University Catching a Dream Program in which undergraduate students of the university are engaged in mentoring high school students of the AHRC New York City Middle / High School in Brooklyn, New York, on multimedia person-centered planning projects of visual storytelling.

Dr. Jim Lawler of the Seidenberg School completed another consecutive semester of the AHRC New York City – Pace University Catching a Dream Program in which undergraduate students of the university are engaged in mentoring high school students of the AHRC New York City Middle / High School in Brooklyn, New York, on multimedia person-centered planning projects of visual storytelling.  The undergraduate students performed earlier community service with this non-profit organization in Dr. Lawler’s AOK CIS 102W courses in the Seidenberg School. This program will be continuing in the spring semester 2013.

 

Pictured in the photograph (left to right): Dr. Lawler, Karina Moscoso, Tali Altholz, Pema Choki, Angela Martin, Melina Jovani, Abigale Anderson and Lorela Myftiu.

Seidenberg Student Wins Mobile App Contest

On Thursday, December 6th, an interdisciplinary group of Pace University students gathered together at the new Lubin Entrepreneurship Lab. The occasion? To design innovative mobile apps at the Mobile App Design Contest—an open exhibition in which the finalists were decided by a public vote. Participants included students from computer science, marketing, art, business, and more

On Thursday, December 6th, an interdisciplinary group of Pace University students gathered together at the new Lubin Entrepreneurship Lab. The occasion? To design innovative mobile apps at the Mobile App Design Contest—an open exhibition in which the finalists were decided by a public vote. Participants included students from computer science, marketing, art, business, and more. It was an exciting exhibition, showing off the variety of issues students are able to tackle from a mobile perspective. The ideas ranged from a Pace-based textbook exchange app to an at-your-fingertips concession stand app. Apps were judged based on aesthetic appeal, innovative features, complexity of problem space and ease of use. The winner, Julie Gauthier, designed an app called “We Go Together.” The main goal of “We Go Together” is to act as a socially enhanced scheduling app, allowing the users to share calendars, see what their friends are up to, and to keep up with upcoming local events. She said that, “I worked extremely hard to have a great presentation, because I didn’t know what kind of format it would be, or who would be there. It was a fantastic opportunity for me to gain experience pitching my ideas.” For further descriptions of the apps presented at the Mobile App Design Contest, please visit this page.

Four Seidenberg Students are Finalists in Mobile App Contest

Four Seidenberg students are finalists in the Lubin Mobile App Contest.

The Pace Mobile App Design Contest – Open Exhibition & Vote will be held on Thursday, December 6th 2012, from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Pace Entrepreneurship Lab, 163 William Street 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10038.

Four Seidenberg students are finalists in the Lubin Mobile App Contest.
The Pace Mobile App Design Contest – Open Exhibition & Vote will be held on Thursday, December 6th 2012, from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Pace Entrepreneurship Lab, 163 William Street 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10038.
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