University of Victoria Computer Science Department

The Department of Computer Science at the University of Victoria was founded in the Faculty of Arts and Science in 1980. It is located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and attracts over $7 million in research funding per year. The Department currently has 33 faculty members, 360 undergraduate students, and 137 postgraduate students. The Chair of the Department is Sue Whitesides.
History
Computer Science courses had been offered through the Department of Mathematics since the university's inception in 1963. M.Sc. degrees were first offered in 1971, and a B.Sc. in Computer Science was first offered in 1975.
In 1988 the Department moved from Arts and Science to the new Faculty of Engineering, joining two other computation intensive departments to form an information technology based faculty. The formal Ph.D. program was approved this same year.
The Department moved into a new office building in 1990, and the adjacent laboratory building housing all of the Department's teaching and research labs opened in 1995.
The Computer Science Department and the Engineering & Computer Science/Math Co-op and Career Services moved into the new, state-of-the-art, green Engineering/Computer Science Building in May 2006.
Research Groups
The Department's research groups are: Her current research involves computer graphics, perceptual psychology, and computational vision.
*Nigel Horspool: invented the Boyer-Moore-Horspool algorithm, co-invented dynamic Markov compression, and is co-editor of the journal Software: Practice and Experience. His current interests include compilers and programming language implementation, document conversion software, and lossless data compression.
*Frank Ruskey: his papers have appeared in American Mathematical Monthly, Journal of Computational Geometry, Journal of Combinatorial Theory, and Algorithmica. His current research focuses on algorithms for exhaustively listing discrete structures, combinatorial Gray codes, Venn and Euler diagrams, combinatorics on words, and enumerative combinatorics, and he recently co-discovered the largest simple symmetric Venn diagram ever.
*Andrew Schloss: a pioneer in computer-music technology, he has developed and expanded the Radiodrum, a three-dimensional MIDI controller. He has worked at IRCAM and the CCRMA, and currently heads the MISTIC research group with two other professors.
*Sue Whitesides: Chair of the Department and program co-chair for the 2012 Symposium on Computational Geometry. Her research interests include graph drawing, motion planning, visualization, brain imaging, graphics, and microfabrication.
Undergraduate Program
The Computer Science Department offers various undergraduate degree programs, including , Major, Major with Option, General, and Minor.
Major students can choose an Option in:
*Bioinformatics
*Communications and Networks
*Graphics and Gaming
*Software Engineering
*Theory
The Department also offers Combined BSc, BFA, and Honours programs such as Computer Science and:
*Mathematics (BSc or BSc Honours)
*Physics (BSc or BSc Honours)
*Statistics (BSc or BSc Honours)
*Geography/Geomatics (BSc)
*Health Information Science (BSc)
*Psychology (BSc)
*Music (BSc or BFA)
*Visual Arts (BSc or BFA)
Graduate Program
The Department offers three types of graduate programs: MSc, PhD, and Interdisciplinary. In the Master's degree program students can choose:
*a Thesis Option
*a Project Option
*an Industrial Option
Students can propose an Interdisciplinary program at both the MSc and PhD level. Some past examples include Computer Science and:
*Biochemistry
*Biology
*Geomatics (Geography)
*Health Information Science
*Music
*Physics
*Psychology
*Sociology
*Visual Arts
*Women's Studies
Co-operative Education Program
The Department offers a Computer Science Co-operative Education Program to undergraduate and graduate students. Undergraduate students complete four work terms, Master's students complete two, and doctoral students complete three. Past employers include:
*AbeBooks
*Amazon.com
*Canadian Institute for Health Information
*Electronic Arts Canada
*Ericsson
*Gemini Observatory
*Google Inc
*HSBC Bank Canada
*IBM Canada Ltd
*Incognito Software Inc
*Intel Corporation
*Max Planck Institute
*National Research Council of Canada
*Research in Motion

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