.

ON THE EDGE WITH CS & MATH

Volume Issue Newsletter Date: July 2018

Fall 2017 / Spring 2018 GRADUATES

2018 Faculty Searches in Computer Science & Mathematics

New Faculty 1

Fall 2017/Spring 2018 1

Houston TX / G2

2

Math Tournaments 2

2

Alumni Survey 3

My State, My Country 3

UG Research Symposium 3

CPR / Grad Program

Visiting Scholar

Wei Li

4

4

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Congratulations Computer Science, Information Technology, and Math Graduates!

School of Computing & Mathematics

Upsilon Pi Epsilon

Summer & Fall 2017 Spring 2018

We welcome Dr. Sai Kiran Mukkavilli to the position of Assistant Professor

in the Computer Science Department. Dr. Mukkavilli has a Ph.D. in Computer &

Information Systems Engineering from Tennessee State University (2016), and a M.E,

in Electrical Engineering from Old Dominion University (2010). He came to us from

Wake Forest University (NC), where he was a Visiting Assistant Professor in the

Department of Computer Science. Dr. Mukkavilli’s research interests are in

Computer Networking, Network Security and Cloud Computing.

We would also like to welcome Mr. Joshua Slatton to the position of Math Lecturer

in the Mathematics Department. Mr. Slatton has a Master’s Degree in Mathematics

and Statistics from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Before coming to GSW, he worked as High School Math Teacher

at Williston Middle High School in Williston, Florida.

We are very excited to welcome Dr. Mukkavilli and Mr. Slatton to the

School of Computing & Mathematics!

Bachelor of Science in

Computer Science

Parker Sloan

Bachelor of Science in

Information Technology

Meghann Perry

Bachelor of Science in

Web-Based

Information Technololgy

Haley Duplechin

Tommy Travis

Master of Science in

Computer Science

Janak Chapagain

Kalyan Reddivari

Brenton Bazemore

Bachelor of Science in

Computer Science

Madison Helms

Oscar Martinez

Bachelor of Science in

Information Technology

Mason Davis

Nicholas Dowdy

Jonathan Hobbs

Wordie Hubbard

Sabrina Jordan

Curtis Landers

Daryl Pilgrim

Braxston Stewart

Thomas Swan

Bachelor of Science in

Mathematics with

Computer Science Minor

Sara Moriarty

Pagie Thomas

Master of Science in

Computer Science

Latrez Cheeks

Kai Fan

Hyukpyo Hong

Corey Lamb

Robert Smith

Outstanding Undergraduate Computer Science

Outstanding Graduate in Computer Science

Upsilon Pi Epsilon is an honor society whose membership consists of outstanding undergraduate and graduate students in Computing Science. To be eligible for membership, undergraduate students must

be at least a Junior or Senior with a minimum GPA of 3.0, or a graduate student with at least 18 hours and a minimum GPA of 3.5.

To find out more information about UPE, or to join as an alumni member, please contact Karen Cook at (229) 931-2818 or karen.cook@gsw.edu

UPSILON PI EPSILON

The Department of Mathematics organizes two math tournaments every year:

a high school math tournament and junior high math tournament.

The Jay Cliett and Bill Kipp High School Math Tournament -2018

This year's Jay Cliett and Bill Kipp High School Mathematics Tournament

was held on February 13, 2018. There were more than 500 students, teachers and

sponsors from 42 high schools. From this year, the tournament is named after

Dr. Jay Cliett and Dr. Bill Kipp to honor their contribution for the

establishment of this tournament.

GSW Junior Math Tournament - 2018

The Junior Math Tournament was held on March 3, 2018. The campus was flooded

with young mathematicians. There were more than 1100 students competing in the

Tournament which represented 60 schools. Most of the students came with their

parents and grandparents. Some students participated from as far away as Florida and

Alabama. The tournament was a great success and is one of the biggest events

on campus, which brings 2500+ people to our Universtiy in a single day.

The Math Tournaments are getting more popular every year and this is happening only with

the support of GSW and many volunteers. The Math Department truly appreciates

everyone’s efforts that help make the tournaments a success.

MATH TOURNAMENTS

Dr. Kailash Ghimire, Associate Professor and Department Head of Mathematics

and Dr. Manoj Thapa, Assistant Professor of Mathematics,

attended JNGI 2018 Annual Gateway Course Experience Conference

on March 25-27, 2018, Houston, TX. They also did a presentation entitled

“Early Identification and Intervention for Students Lacking Prerequisites.”

The presentation was based on the preliminary results from their

ongoing research about early identification and intervention

of students lacking prerequisite of College Algebra and Calculus I.

JNGI 2018 Annual Gateway Course Experience Conference

In an effort to better understand how our programs prepare our graduates for entering the work force,

we are asking that all of our alumni fill out an Alumni Survey. This information will allow us to assess

our programs and make changes if needed to our current standards, policies, and procedures.

We would greatly appreciate your input and comments.

Please use the appropriate link below to fill out a survey:

Bachelor of Science degrees: http://gsw.edu/Assets/SchoolofComputingandMath/files/Alumni_undergraduate.pdf

Master of Science degrees http://gsw.edu/Assets/SchoolofComputingandMath/files/Alumni_graduate.pdf

Alumni Survey

GSW Undergraduate Research Symposium

“My State, My Country” Presentation

During Fall Semester on November 15, 2017,

Khushbuben Patel gave a presentation about

her home country of India.

Both presentations

were very interesting.

Some topics discussed

were art,

language,

culture,

traditions,

and religion.

GSW held it’s First Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium on April 13, 2018.

The following School of Computing & Mathematics students & faculty participated and presented.

Brenton Bazemore, Computer Science Major presented, sponsoring Faculty was Mrs. Tatiana Baeva.

Title: Future CMS Solutions for GSW Website

Jason Kelly, Computer Science major presented, sponsoring Faculty was Dr. Simon Baev.

Title: How To Stay Safe from Drive-By Style Web Attacks in Today’s Online World

Tabias Pittman, Computer Science major presented, sponsoring Faculty was Dr. Linqiang Ge.

Title: Using Machine Learning Algorithm to Predict Housing Prices with Multi-Feature Data

Kenesha Roberts, Math with Computer Science & Engineering,

sponsoring Faculty was Dr. Manoj Thapa.

Title: Age-Structured Population Dynamics of Malaria in Africa

During Spring Semester on April 16, 2018,

Phuong Nguyen gave a presentation on her

home country of Vietnam.

Comprehensive Program Review of Graduate Program

The Department of Computer Science has recently passed a Comprehensive Program

Review (CPR) of our Master of Science in Computer Science (MSCS) graduate program. The

process started back in Fall 2017 from preparation of a self-study documentation

where answers to the most challenging questions about program strengths and weaknesses were

given. The internal review team was comprised of members of graduate faculty,

selected graduate students, and GSW administration, who met several times to discuss

the expectations of the CPR process from the University System of Georgia perspective.

A few editions of the self-study documentation were made to address such expectations.

In the final stage, the external reviewers team lead by Dr. Michael Bartolacci,

Professor of Information Sciences and Technology at Penn State Berks,

examined self-study materials and came up with a recommendation

of extending program coverage to the area of Information Security.

The recommendation was accepted in favor of making a few changes to the

Program's curriculum and the implementation of a more appealing marketing strategy.

VISITING SCHOLAR Wei Li Wei Li is an associate professor in Computer Science (CS) from Zhoukou Normal University (ZNU)

in Zhoukou, China. He came to the Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) in February for six

months to teach multimedia and conduct research on data visualization. At ZNU, Li teaches

multimedia to CS majors. Usually he teaches several classes with about 100 students in each class.

At GSW, he is involved in teaching one online class with 16 students.

"Teaching a smaller class is a gift," Li said. "The smaller class size allows me to

spend enough time with my students, attending to their academic needs." Li is the first professor

from ZNU to come to GSW as a visiting scholar in the Computer Science major.

Li said he had always wanted to teach in America and first learned about GSW through the

cooperation between ZNU and GSW which started couple of years ago. "GSW is a wonderful

university. It pays a lot of attention to its students and getting them to give their best effort," Li said.

Dr. Linqiang Ge, Chair of the Department of Computer Science at GSW, said that having Li as a

visiting scholar opens a door to another world for students. "GSW prepares students to be leaders

in a regional, national and a global society," Dr. Ge said. "In these efforts, it is helpful for our students,

particularly those who may not be able to study abroad, to benefit from exposure to, and instruction

from, international faculty who can introduce our students to

features of cultures otherwise unfamiliar to them. As an ex-

perienced CS teacher, I know a lot about teaching practices in

China." Li said. "I can compare

different teaching and learning practices between students at

GSW and ZNU, as well as textbooks, proficiency and lesson

retention. I think this program offers me a great chance to

grow academically in teaching CS classes, as well as taking

what I learn here back to ZNU."

Li has learned from other professors that some visiting

scholars often feel a little lost, a little out of place. He said he

hasn't felt that way here. "To me, this feels just like home," Pictured left, Wei Li (ZNU), right Dr. Linqiang Ge

(GSW) enjoying an Atlanta Braves baseball game.