Annual Report 2009-2010

SEIDENBERG SCHOOL OF
COMPUTER SCIENCE AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Annual Report 2009-2010

Highlights

Academic year 2009-2010 was another busy year for the Seidenberg School. Of particular note, was the merging of the Information Systems and Technology Systems Departments to form a new Information Technology Department (IT) in New York City and in Westchester. With the intent of attracting students with a wide range of interests, faculty in the new IT departments developed an exciting interdisciplinary program—the new BS in Information Technology—to be offered in Fall 2010. This year also brought with it a significant increase in grants totaling more than $1,000,000. And after an absence of a year, a FIRST Lego tournament returned to campus in the form of the Lower Hudson Valley FIRST Tech Challenge for high school students. Several new events enhanced the school's visibility in New York City. They included, “The Next Big Thing: New York as the Emerging Center for Internet Startups” and “Are You Serious?” sponsored by The Hatchery, a venture collaboration forum, adding to existing lectures, seminars, and conferences focusing on technological innovation, entrepreneurship and cutting edge software development.

Events

• After an absence of a year, the school repositioned itself and hosted another regional robotics competition – the Lower Hudson Valley FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) – on February 21 on the Pleasantville Campus. Only this year, the event was for high school students ages 14–18 rather than for middle school children as in the past.
• As a follow-up to the Lower Hudson Valley FIRST Tech Challenge, the school hosted VeryHotShot! an “off-season” challenge designed to keep students engaged and their robots in shape.
• The school honored Jay Dweck, managing director, global head of strategies and modeling at Morgan Stanley, at its 15^th Annual Award Reception for Leadership and Service in Technology, the school's primary fund-raising event. Mark Lobel, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, gave a provocative keynote on computer security. The event was held at PricewaterhouseCoopers headquarters in Midtown.
• Chosen from over 130 applicants, 24 high school students about to enter their senior year – 8 young women and 16 young men – once again came to take part in the annual Seidenberg Summer Scholars Experience where students participate in a challenging but fun-filled academic experience, meet other like-minded students, and enjoy a taste of the Big Apple.
• The school hosted a seminar titled “The Next Big Thing: New York as the Emerging Center for Internet Start-ups” in early December. The standing room only event featured Carl Lavin, managing editor at Forbes.com, as keynote speaker with Dan Hunter from New York Law School, Ernest von Simson, EDGE technology expert and venture capitalist, and Matthew Knell, Seidenberg alumnus and social media expert, serving as panelists.
• The Seidenberg School co-sponsored the first in a series of events called “Are You Serious?” along with The Hatchery, a venture collaboration forum. Participants have the opportunity to pitch their start-ups in search of constructive feedback and financial backing.
• For the third consecutive year, the school hosted the Annual Gotham Ruby Conference – GoRuCo – for over 180 professional developers who are interested in “Ruby on Rails,” an open source Web application framework.
• Fourteen students comprising five teams from three area community colleges – Orange, Rockland and Westchester – participated in the Seidenberg-sponsored First Annual Community College Programming Contest held on the Pleasantville campus in April.

Faculty and Students

• Darren Hayes, DPS, an expert in computer forensics, appeared weekly on Internet TV's “Computer Forensics Case Studies” disseminated by NYC InfraGard, an infrastructure protection agency sponsored by the FBI.
• Richard “Rick” Kline, PhD, received a one-year appointment as associate dean to focus on cultivating interdisciplinary partnerships, identify and facilitate funding opportunities, and coordinate the academic schedule to better serve students.
• Constance Knapp, interim dean, received the Kenan Award for Teaching Excellence at the New York City undergraduate commencement ceremony held at Radio City Music Hall in May.
• James Lawler, DPS, was named the 2009-2010 recipient of the Pace University Bronze Medal Jefferson Award in recognition of his ongoing commitment to community service specifically in connection with AHRC New York City, a nonprofit dedicated to serving individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
• Francis “Frank” Marchese, PhD, shares the co-directorship of the Pace Digital Gallery with Professor Jillian McDonald (Dyson). While Professor McDonald was on sabbatical, he made his curatorial debut by mounting an exhibit titled “Digital Marginalia – Annotation, Illumination and Appropriation.”
• Christalle Scharff, PhD, returned to Senegal again in January to conduct another boot camp in mobile application development and Web design. While there, she also attended an award ceremony for a nationwide competition that she had initiated in partnership with faculty from the Ecole Superieure Multinationale des Telecommunications (ESMT) for the creation of socially relevant mobile applications.
• Through the efforts of Lixin Tao, PhD, and as a result of his participation in IBM's Academic Initiative Program, the University was given an IBM BladeCenter, a sophisticated piece of computer hardware used to support graduate-level research and course development.
• The school continues to provide a welcoming environment for women interested in studying computing. Women comprise 31 percent of the Seidenberg student body which is considerably above the 20 percent enrolled in computing programs nationwide.
• Anastasia “Staci” Burke (MS/IS '10), received an all expense paid scholarship from Google to attend the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference held in Tucson, Arizona in October. At the gathering, she participated in a “Birds of a Feather” panel discussion on “Non Trads: Women Following a Non-traditional Path in Pursuit of a Technical Degree and Career” with several women she met at last year's event.
  
  Also in attendance were Victoria Rodriguez (MS/CS) and Virginia Tormey (MS/IT) who were Seidenberg's official representatives this year.
• Andrew Harris, who earned both a BS and an MS in Computer Science from Seidenberg under the Department of Defense's Information Assurance Scholarship Program (IASP), has taken a position in the Department of Defense's Defense Information Systems Agency.
  
  This year, Elaine Tatis (MS/IS) also became a recipient of an IASP scholarship that covers full tuition, fees, books and travel to conferences. In addition, IASP scholars are placed in summer internships and are eligible for a full-time position after graduation. IASP scholarships are made available to qualified students through the Seidenberg School's National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education.
• Stiliyan Lazarov (BS/CS '10) participated in IBM's 2009 Master the Mainframe Contest where he was declared a winner in Parts I and II and received honorable mention in Part III. Jay Thomas (BS/PTS) was also named a Part II winner.
• Federico Younes (BS/CS '10) was one of two undergraduate students nationwide to be awarded a $1,000 UPE Scholarship from Upsilon Pi Epsilon, the only international honor society for the computing and information disciplines. This is the first time a Pace student applied for consideration.
• Twenty-eight Seidenberg students, including baccalaureate, master's and doctoral candidates, were inducted into Upsilon Pi Epsilon (UPE) Honor Society in February. UPE is the first and only international honor society for the computing and information disciplines.

Awards, Grants and Points of Distinction

• The Seidenberg School ranked #1 in awarding Master of Science degrees to Hispanics according to the 2009 Study of Top Degree Producers conducted by Diverse Issues in Higher Education.
• Both the BS in Computer Science and the BS in Information Systems were reaccredited by ABET, Inc., the nationally recognized accreditor of college and university programs in applied science, computing, engineering and technology.
• Nineteen Thinkfinity grants were awarded to faculty for the development of new courses and activities, many of them interdisciplinary, in conjunction with faculty from Dyson and Lubin.
• Three National Science Foundations (NSF) grants were awarded this year. Li-Chiou Chen, PhD, was principal investigator (PI) for two of them. One was for a project titled “Collaborative Project: Secure Web Development Teaching Modules.” The project will be undertaken in collaboration with the City University of New York – City College. The total amount awarded was $149,900 with $99,956 going to Pace as the lead institution.
  
  The second NSF grant in the amount of $435,174 will fund scholarships for students interested in studying information insurance in the context of an interdisciplinary curriculum under the Federal Cyber Service Scholarship for Service Program.
  
  The third NSF grant for $169,977 went to Anthony Joseph, PhD, and James Lawler, DPS, in support of the development of a new Technology Entrepreneurship concentration to be offered beginning Spring 2011 as an option in the BA in Computer Science program.
• Paul Benjamin, PhD, received a grant from the Army Research Office in the amount of $294,944 to further his research in cybersecurity.
• Jonathan Hill, assistant dean and director of special programs and projects, and the school's Web Solutions Development Team were the recipients of a $90,000 grant to assist in the development of a centralized Web portal for entrepreneurs sponsored by the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

Programs, Courses and Partnerships

• The newly created Information Technology (IT) Departments developed an exciting new degree – the BS in Information Technology. This degree allows students to explore any area of interest and combine it with a firm foundation in technology leading to satisfying and in-demand careers.
• Having returned from a year in Senegal where she worked on several projects to help promote social change through the use of mobile computing, Christelle Scharff, PhD, introduced new courses on the subject such as Mobile Application Development.
• Dr. Scharff has also forged connections with academic institutions in Cambodia, India, Senegal and Thailand so that students in her software development classes can collaborate with students in different countries across different time zones on realistic software development projects..
• Fifteen students from AOL/India, who pursued an MS in Internet Technology online, were awarded degrees this December. Constance Knapp, interim dean, and Westchester department chairs Daniel Farkas, PhD, and Narayan Murthy, PhD, were in attendance at a special commencement ceremony held in Bangalore.
• Microsoft, Inc. welcomes Pace students and high school groups organized by Jonathan Hill, assistant dean and director of special programs and projects, on an ongoing basis. Visiting students tour Microsoft's high tech facility in midtown and learn about cutting edge technology.
• Ten Seidenberg students participated in a field study trip to Brazil during spring break as part of a service learning experience. The students addressed issues related to the “Digital Divide,” visited an elementary school founded 30 years ago by Pace Latin American Studies Professor Emeritus Jordan Young, and visited environmentally sensitive sites.

Publications

• The Pace/SkillPROOF IT Index (PSII) Report that tracks the IT job market in both Manhattan and Westchester County on a quarterly basis, continues to serve as a source of information for publications such as Crain's New York Business, The Journal News and Wall Street and Technology, among others.
  
  The 2^nd quarter 2010 edition of the PSII reported that job growth was exceptionally strong in both New York City and Westchester County suggesting that the IT industry in the NY metro area is recovering from the current recession
• Darren Hayes, DPS, had his book Skills for Success with Microsoft Access 2010, Comprehensive co-authored with Kris Townsend published by Prentice Hall in August.
• Information security expert, Bel Raggad, PhD, had his book Information Security Management: Concepts and Practicepublished by CRC Press in January.

Seidenberg Scholars

• Eight exceptional new students, from as near as Brooklyn and as far away as Soldotna, Alaska, joined the ranks of Seidenberg Scholars in fall 2009, bringing the total number to 18. The Seidenberg Scholars Program was created at the request of Ivan G. Seidenberg, the CEO of Verizon Communication, Pace alumnus and the benefactor of the school, who is seeking to identify and support young talent in an effort to keep the U.S. at the forefront of technological innovation.
• Julie Gill and Jeremy Pease, both sophomores majoring in computer science, put their considerable Web design talents to use and collaborated to create a clever and highly praised electronic holiday card for the school.
• Igor Pokryskevskiy (MS/CS) was the first Seidenberg Scholar to spend a semester abroad. In spring 2009, he opted to study at the American University in the small city of Blagoevgrad in Bulgaria.
• At the invitation of Larry Perlstein, group vice president of Gartner's Ombudsman Program and Seidenberg School advisory board member, 17 Seidenberg Scholars travelled to Gartner, Inc. headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut in January for an information-packed morning. Gartner, a leading information technology research and advisory company, provides objective information to a varied clientele.

Alumni

• Steven Caporale (BS/CS '86), his wife Amelia (BBA/Accounting '88) and brother Robert (BBA/MIS '85), established the Caporale Family Scholarship for current use. Each year, two fortunate recipients – one in Seidenberg and one in Lubin – will receive a $3,500 renewable scholarship.
• Inspired by his experience in CIS 102W Web Design for Nonprofit Organizations, Ian Cook (BS/Technology Systems '05), decided he wanted to dedicate himself to helping others better their lives. After a brief stint with a nonprofit organization in Manhattan, he decided to join the Peace Corps and found himself in Usakos, Namibia. With much to be done and limited resources at hand, Ian decided to publicize the plight of his community by creating a charity event and promoting it on a Web site in the hope that he could raise sufficient funds to establish an environmental resource and education center. Lacking sufficient time to develop the site on his own, he turned to his former professors – James Lawler, DPS, and Jean Coppola, PhD. Today, with the additional assistance of Jonathan Hill, assistant dean and director of special programs and projects, and Anita Nixon, a Dyson student studying digital art, Ian has an attractive Namibia Charity Climb and Ride Web site that is fully functional.
• Aaron Gregg (BS/PCS '07), along with partner Dawn Bovasso, established the UX Test Kitchen, a nonprofit, interactive organization that provides professional Web site and media development services to other nonprofits free of charge.
   
• Initiated by Matthew Knell, (BS/IS '00), the Seidenberg School sponsored Internet is People: Women and Entrepreneurship, a panel discussion and Q & A session featuring four innovative entrepreneurial women. This event is the first in a series of bi-monthly events focusing on sharing stories as to how the Internet has inspired individuals to think creatively and start their own successful businesses.

Pace Computer Learning Center

• With the availability of federal funding to help displaced workers acquire new technology-based skills or sharpen old ones, many adult learners are enrolling in courses offered by the Pace Computer Learning Center that last from 14 days to 12 weeks. They include: Business Analysis, Hands-on Project Management, Web Design, and Web Application Development.
• With stimulus monies channeled through the New York State's Department of Labor's Workforce New York Program, the Pace Computer Learning Center offered a 40 hour, week long, hands-on workshop in the design and installation of solar panel arrays as part of the University's “Career Forward” initiative for adults.
• With offerings such as iPhone Application Development, Developing Web Sites Using Content Management Systems, and Android Application Development, the Center is at the forefront of the burgeoning field of mobile computing applications.