Chair's Welcome

Founded in 1967 by computing pioneer Dr. Anthony Ralston, UBCSE was one of the first computer science departments in the nation. By coming to UBCSE, you join a strong tradition of excellence in education and research, as well as unique outreach opportunities for students, faculty, staff, collaborators and industry partners.

At UBCSE, you will have an opportunity to learn from and work with more than 50 world-class faculty members. Included among our faculty are many Fellows of professional societies such as ACM, IEEE, IAPR and AAAS, and recipients of numerous prestigious national and international awards. Our faculty conduct cutting-edge research in today’s most relevant topics, such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML), Internet of Things (IoT), Mobile Systems, Robotics, Cyber Security, Multimedia Forensics, Big Data Analytics, Bioinformatics and Computer-Assisted Education, to name a few.

We provide a friendly, inclusive and collaborative working environment for faculty, both within and outside the department, and embrace a tradition that recognizes academic excellence. Our department also benefits from a welcoming and supportive staff who help our faculty and students achieve success and add to our collaborative and friendly environment.

UBCSE offers comprehensive, yet flexible, educational programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. This allows more than 2,000 students to customize their courses to meet their interests and fully realize their potential. At the undergraduate level, we have three programs: the BA and BS degree programs in Computer Science and the BS in Computer Engineering. All three programs are aligned with the highest national standards for computing curricula set forth by the ACM, IEEE Computer Societies and the International Computer Engineering/Computer Science Education Accreditation board, ABET.

At the graduate level, we offer two highly ranked programs, the PhD and MS degrees in Computer Science and Engineering.  Independent educational ranking agencies view our programs favorably:

• The US News and World Report on Best Global Universities ranked our graduate program 21st in the US in 2021.
• CSRankings.org, a metrics-based ranking of top computer science institutions around the world, ranked us 30th from 2019 to 2022.
• Scholar rankings, a ranking of US doctoral programs in Computer Science based on faculty citations, ranked us 29th in 2017.
  

Our excellent undergraduate and graduate students actively participate in research and activities, tackling some of the today’s toughest global challenges in a variety of ways. Students have the opportunity to get involved with a number of clubs and organizations including:

• Inven[s|t] UB club, an organization that aims to spur entrepreneurship.
• UB’s Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) student club, which hosts hack nights and other events
• UB DivTech, which promotes diversity in computing
• Society and Computing (SoCo), which analyzes the impacting computing has on our everyday life
• UB Hacking, CSE's student-run hackathon
• CSE Undergraduate Student Advisory Board (CSE SAB) organizes and hosts our CSE Kids Night, a kid-friendly event that features interactive projects designed to promote computer science to the next generation
• CSE Graduate Student Association organizes special interest groups and deep learning activities for our graduate students

Our alumni have gone on to work for some of the world’s leading tech companies including Google, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft, or to hold academic positions at some world-renowned institutions such as Cornell University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Many of their great achievements have had a positive impact on society. Among our alumni you will find prize-winning researchers and CEOs of some of the fastest-growing information technology companies around the world. A number of them have stayed in touch with our department, by serving on advisory committees, mentoring students, and hiring our graduates. Some also returned to their alma mater in 2017 to celebrate our 50th anniversary.

In closing, with excellent alumni, faculty, staff and students, and world-class research and education programs covering state-of-the-art science and technology, UBCSE has something valuable to offer to everyone, whether you are a faculty candidate, student applicant, a potential employer, a program manager from a funding agency, or someone interested in learning more about the fascinating field of computer science and engineering. I invite you to browse through our website to learn more about our department.

Sincerely,

Jinhui Xu, PhD

Professor and CSE Department Chair

“Stronger CSE at UB, Better You and Me.”