Computer Science

Career potential

Few areas in modern society are untouched by computer science. Computer science is present everywhere from health care, telecommunications, and entertainment, to transportation, education and defense. As a computer science graduate from the University of North Texas, you will have many career choices. Among them are well-paid positions such as database analyst, systems programmer, systems analyst, software engineer, security specialist and many others.

Computer science explores the fundamental nature of computation, asking questions such as: What can or can't be computed? How fast can problems be solved? How can we approach problems that are too complex to solve exactly?

Topics studied in computer science span from theoretical to applied, and computer science majors at UNT become well grounded in timeless, fundamental issues and in current technologies used in industry.

According to projections by the Bureau of Labor Statistics at the U.S. Department of Labor, some of the fastest growing jobs through 2014 are computer related. UNT's Career Center can help you prepare to pursue your career. The center has information about jobs and employers, and the staff can help you with resume and letter writing, job search strategies and interview preparation.

Majoring in computer science

UNT's Department of Computer Science and Engineering offers a bachelor of science degree with a major in computer science. As a computer science major, you may receive research experience and academic credit by working in a UNT laboratory or research center.

Within the computer science major, you will acquire a background in computer systems, organization and architecture, algorithms and data structures, principles of software design and operating systems. In addition to acquiring knowledge in these fundamental areas, you will select and complete at least five additional advanced computer science courses, such as games programming, database design, networking or artificial intelligence, among others.

In support of this, the computer science program provides you with a well-rounded education that includes university core courses and a significant amount of course work in mathematics, physical and life sciences and oral and written communication.

Upon earning a bachelor's degree from UNT, you will:

• have a broad knowledge of computer science necessary to create computer solutions to real problems
• be prepared for a technical position in high-tech industry or be prepared for graduate study
• have the ability to write technical documents such as specifications, user manuals or technical papers
• have the ability to effectively make technical oral presentations
• be cognizant of ethical, legal and social issues of computing

Laboratories

In addition to facilities provided for instructional purposes, the department supports several laboratories to provide you with an opportunity to learn from faculty at work in research areas.

• Center for Information and Computer Security helped UNT earn the designation of "Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education" from the National Security Agency for its strong computer and information security program.
• Computational Epidemiology Research Laboratory applies computational science patterns to public health to provide tools for epidemiologists and public health researchers.
• Computer Privacy and Security Laboratory conducts research on improving privacy and security of computer systems.
• Computer Systems Research Laboratory focuses on issues related to multi-threaded computing, cooperative architecture and compiler techniques for intelligent memory devices, hardware/software co-design, computer-aided design for field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) and application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), and development of high-level design tools in electronic system level design.
• Computer Vision and Intelligent Systems Laboratory focuses on computer vision problems such as image fusion, target recognition, and pattern classification.
• Geometric Computing Laboratory conducts research to improve the theoretical effectiveness and efficiency of algorithms for problems with a geometric nature.
• Intelligent Distributed Software Systems provides the software and hardware infrastructure for research and graduate teaching in intelligent mobile agents, distributed artificial intelligence and Internet programming.
• Laboratory for Recreational Computing is a center for research and education on game development and entertainment computing.
• Language and Information Technologies Laboratory fosters research on various aspects of natural language processing, including text understanding, machine translation, natural language learning and information retrieval.
• Multimedia Information Laboratory conducts research on multimedia material processing, multimedia information extraction, and multimedia information modeling and retrieval. This includes video and image segmentation, motion and color analysis, image quality analysis, and object recognition by region clustering and classification.
• Network Research Laboratory conducts research in high-speed networking techniques and applications.
• Network Security Laboratory was established to increase general wireline and wireless network security awareness of computer science and engineering graduates, to produce skilled security specialists, and to conduct research and development activities to advance the state-of-the-art in wireline and wireless network security and communication.
• VLSI Design and CAD Laboratory carries out research in low power design and CAD for nanoscale VLSI circuits.
• Wireless Sensor Laboratory was established to increase general wireless communications awareness among computer science and engineering graduates, produce skilled wireless specialists, and conduct research and development activities to advance the state-of-the-art in wireless sensors.

Accreditation

UNT's computer science program has been accredited by ABET, Inc. [111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, Md. 21202, telephone 410-347-7700]. This accreditation means that the program has passed strict academic standards for excellence in education.

Student organizations

As a computer science major, you can participate in one of several professional organizations that are associated with the department. The organizations include:

• Association for Computing Machinery
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• IEEE Computer Society
• UNT Robotics Society
• UNT Amateur Radio Club
• Council of Engineering Organizations
• Society of Women Engineers
• National Society of Black Engineers

Getting hands-on experience

Upon completion of 12 semester hours at UNT with at least a 2.5 GPA, you may work in a job related to your major through UNT's office of Cooperative Education and Internships. You may earn academic credit and money and gain valuable work experience.

Preparing for UNT

If you are a high school student, we suggest you prepare for college by becoming computer proficient and taking:

• English … 4 years
• Math … 4 years
• Social science — economics, geography, government, history … 4 years
• Science … 3 years
• Foreign language … 3 years
• Fine arts … 1 year

You will need to take courses in most of these subjects under the university core curriculum required of all undergraduates, in addition to your major courses. Talk with your high school counselor about preparing for college, including the entrance exams (SAT Reasoning Test or ACT) that you should take during your junior year.

As a benefit for transfer students, UNT participates in the Texas Common Course Numbering System. This system makes it easier to transfer credits for general academic courses from one Texas institution to another.

If you're attending a Texas community college, you should consult the UNT Transfer Guide, the UNT Undergraduate Catalog and an academic counselor/advisor to discuss your degree plan. Proper planning will help you receive the maximum amount of transfer credits.

Charting your path with academic advising

Faculty members in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering will help you select courses necessary to earn your degree. They also will give you career guidance and advice. The department office is in UNT Research Park, Suite F201.

Curious about courses and other features of this major?
See the current catalog.