Queen's School of Computing

The Queen's School of Computing (QSC) is a unit of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Queen's University responsible for research, as well as undergraduate and graduate education in computing and technology.

Graduates of the undergraduate program at the QSC receive a Bachelor of Computing, or B.Cmp, degree.

The Director of the QSC is Selim Akl.

History

The Department of Computing and Information Science (CISC) was founded in 1969, as part of the Faculty of Arts and Science at Queen's University. More recently, the department became the Queen's School of Computing. Existing as a school rather than a department allowed for more internal control of admissions, and the creation of the B.Cmp. degree. This change also necessitated the creation of the Computing Students' Association (COMPSA), officially ratified in March 2004.

Building

The Queen's School of Computing currently makes its home in Goodwin Hall, in the northeast corner of Queen's University campus in Kingston, Ontario. The building is shared with Mining Engineering, and is joined to Walter Light Hall, the home of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Many undergraduate lab resources are shared between these departments and buildings.

Research

Research is currently happening in the School of Computing in a variety of areas, from Computational Geometry to Software Engineering. An area of particular strength and recent growth is Bioinformatics and Medical Computing. Cutting edge research into computer-aided surgery happens at the School of Computing, much of it in co-operation with the nearby Kingston General Hospital. Undergraduate students can become involved in research through summer research positions.

At 135 graduate students, the QSC currently has the largest complement of graduate students of any department at Queen's. It also has the highest grad/undergrad ratio of any department/school at Queen's.

Undergraduate program

The School of Computing has a strong undergraduate program, and is particularly outstanding in the specialization options it offers students. In addition to a Computing Science degree, undergraduate students can pursue specializations in Software Design, Biomedical Computing, and Cognitive Science. These three specializations are the most popular programs in the School, and are all interdisciplinary in nature. Software Design allows students to develop their skills in effectively designing and implementing software systems. Biomedical Computing combines studies in computing with courses in life sciences, as well as specially designed courses at the intersection of these disciplines. Biomedical Computing students can learn about medical imaging, bioinformatics, computational biology, medical informatics, and much more. This specialization is currently the only one of its kind in Canada [ [http://www.cs.queensu.ca/biomed/ Biomedical Computing at Queen's University] .] ; while many universities now offer programs in bioinformatics and computational biology, no other university offers an undergraduate degree that encompasses medical informatics, imaging, and other applications of computers to medicine (e.g., drug discovery). Cognitive Science allows undergraduate students to integrate cognitive psychology and computing, and focus in particular on artificial intelligence.

Undergraduate students at the School of Computing are represented by their student government, the Computing Students Association (COMPSA).

References

External links

* [http://www.cs.queensu.ca/ Queen's School of Computing Website]
* [http://compsa.queensu.ca/ Computing Students' Association at Queen's University]