School of Computing – College of Science and Mathematics

Following Her Own Code: A Journey in Computer Science

wiesea — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:33:39 +0000

The visit, organized as part of an opportunity for Computer Science Students at �鶹��ý��, allowed her to see firsthand how computer science operates at the core of the financial system. As she walked across the NYSE floor, she quickly realized it would not function without software engineers.

The exchange wouldn’t work without them. Losing time means losing money.

What surprised her most was learning that software engineers in finance are not constantly building flashy new programs. Instead, much of their responsibility involves maintaining and improving existing systems. They must understand multiple programming languages and ensure that critical infrastructure runs efficiently and without interruption. For Paola, this shifted her perspective entirely.

You don’t always need to create new things. Sometimes you restore old things and make them more efficient.

Before this experience, she had never seriously considered the finance side of technology. Though she admits feeling nervous about stepping into a new space, the trip expanded her career aspirations. She was especially interested in the engineers’ daily routines, what languages they use, what problems they solve, and how their roles sustain such a high-stakes environment.

The experience also reinforced a notion she strongly believes, networking matters. “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” she says, emphasizing the importance of building relationships with classmates, professors, and professionals who share similar interests.

That openness to opportunity reflects Paola’s broader academic journey. As she prepares to graduate with her bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from �鶹��ý��, she looks back on a path defined by persistence, courage, and a fundamental belief that knowledge is power.

She also emphasizes something she believes is critical in technical fields, “Definitely ask for help,” she says. “Even if people don’t look like you.” In a field where women are still underrepresented, she is acutely aware of the disparity, and motivated by it.

I would like to be the change-maker. I hope to be a trailblazer.

Her courage stems from her upbringing. Paola’s family came to the United States from Colombia, and built their life from the ground up. She understands the feelings of not belonging, but instead of shrinking in those moments, she leaned in,

Anything I’ve wanted to do, I’ve done

For Paola, the message is clear: Stay curious, build connections, keep trying, and above all, remember that knowledge is power.

The NYSE Trading Floor

School of Computing Students Place at ISC2 Capture the Flag for Novices Hackathon

wiesea — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 16:57:20 +0000

On March 21, 2026, students from the School of Computing at �鶹��ý�� participated in the , hosted at in Jersey City, NJ. The event brought together approximately 200 participants from over 20 colleges, universities, and organizations across the state for a full day of interactive learning and challenges in cryptography, web exploitation, digital forensics, and network defense. The hackathon emphasized problem-solving, teamwork, and practical cybersecurity skills.

�鶹��ý�� student teams demonstrated strong technical ability and collaboration, earning first place and third place among dozens of competing teams. This marks a significant improvement from the University’s fourth place finish at the same event in 2025, reflecting the continued growth of the university’s hands on cybersecurity education and experiential learning programs. The teams competed across challenges in network defense, forensic analysis, and web exploitation areas identified as critical skill gaps in the national cybersecurity workforce.

Student Teams and Placements

The Hawkers – First Place

Samuel Reyes
Edwin Benitez
James Barrera
��
Temi Salami

CyberHawks – Third Place

Dina Mansour
Fernanda Castro
Krishita Vaghani
Tushar Moradiya
Benita Prince

Multiple teams of students were organized, trained, and mentored by Ramy Othman, Assistant Director of Technology and Infrastructure in the College of Science and Mathematics. Othman prepared the students through hands-on workshops in applied cybersecurity techniques, including network traffic analysis, vulnerability assessment, and forensic investigation leveraging the university’s dedicated Cybersecurity and AI research labs, which he built and manages. These labs provide students with enterprise-grade computing and give them direct experience with the tools used in industry and government cybersecurity operations.

The university’s participation was coordinated in collaboration with the ISC2 New Jersey Chapter, with Darryl Carpenter helping facilitate the team’s engagement with the event.

�鶹��ý�� Organized the 2025 IEEE International Workshop on Intelligent Systems and Interdisciplinary Applications

wiesea — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 18:35:52 +0000

On October 10, 2025, �鶹��ý�� organized the , bringing together scientists, engineers, educators, practitioners, and industry experts to explore the cutting-edge advancements in intelligent systems and their applications across multiple domains. This workshop aims to foster a collaborative platform where participants can exchange knowledge, discuss emerging challenges, and identify innovative solutions that bridge disciplinary boundaries. By integrating insights from science, engineering, and domain-specific expertise, the workshop facilitates holistic approaches and solutions for designing, deploying, and optimizing intelligent systems for real-world interdisciplinary impact.

ISIA 2025 features international invited talks, panel sessions, IEEE student poster competitions, networking with industry leaders, and IEEE student branch activities and celebrations. This full-day workshop engaged about 120 participants, including IEEE Life Fellows, IEEE Fellows, IEEE staff, IEEE professional members, IEEE student members, �鶹��ý�� faculty and students, �鶹��ý�� alumni, industry professionals, and faculty and students from neighboring institutions.

After a brief program overview by the organizing chair Dr. Weitian Wang, ISIA 2025 commenced with keynote welcome remarks from Dr. Lora Billings, Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics. Dr. Billings extended a warm welcome to all guests and participants and highlighted �鶹��ý�� robotics, AI, and intelligent systems research and education in recent years. Followed by speeches from IEEE leaders, including IEEE Region 1 Director Bala Prasanna, IEEE North Jersey Section Chair Dr. Emad Farag, and IEEE AP-S Global CAC Chair Dr. Ajay Poddar. Director Prasanna commended �鶹��ý��’s strong engagement, leadership, and contributions to IEEE.

Keynote welcome remarks from Dean Billings

The morning continued with the celebration of the inauguration of IEEE �鶹��ý�� AP-S Student Branch Chapter, led by Chair Stephania Ivanov and Vice Chair Alex Chornyak, marking a significant milestone in student engagement and professional development at �鶹��ý��. It also highlights �鶹��ý�� students’ growing leadership and involvement in the IEEE community.

Student organization celebration and speech by IEEE leaders

Following the inauguration, the workshop featured international invited talks from leading experts in intelligent systems and interdisciplinary applications, including Dr. Branislav Notaros, Dr. CJ Reddy, Dr. Naresh Chand, The Honorable Judge Sohail Mohammed, and Dr. Ulrich Rohde. The “Learning Through Engagement” panel session brought together an impressive lineup of international experts and IEEE leaders, who shared their experiences and insights into how to foster student engagement, promote professional development, and advance interdisciplinary collaboration with participants.

Invited speakers and experts across universities and industries

During the afternoon session, attendees took part in a networking lunch that brought together participants from academia, industry, government, and non-profit organizations to foster future research collaborations and support student career development opportunities. The session also featured a student poster competition showcasing innovative research projects led by �鶹��ý��’s undergraduate and graduate students. The posters covered a broad range of interdisciplinary topics, including artificial intelligence, robotics, human-robot interaction, data science, cybersecurity, environmental science, machine learning, and intelligent systems applications. Three Best Student Poster Awards were selected by a panel of judges from various disciplines, based on the posters’ visual design and organization, content novelty, content quality, and clarity of presentation.

Student poster competition and networking lunch

Best student poster awards

The 2025 IEEE International Workshop on Intelligent Systems and Interdisciplinary Applications successfully fostered meaningful exchanges among students, faculty, and industry professionals by highlighting innovative research, promoting interdisciplinary collaboration, and recognizing student achievements. Led by �鶹��ý�� College of Science And Mathematics and the School of Computing, this workshop was co-supported by the IEEE North Jersey Section, IEEE AP-S CAC, SIGHT, COPE, IEEE NJS AP/MTT Jt. Chapter, �鶹��ý�� AI Hub, National Science Foundation, IEEE NJS SMC Chapter, IEEE �鶹��ý�� AP-S Student Branch Chapter, and IEEE �鶹��ý�� Student Branch.

Students Visit NYSE

wiesea — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 19:57:29 +0000

The School of Computing, in collaboration with the Career Services Office, recently organized a student trip to the to explore the role of computing technologies in the finance industry. The visit was an eye-opening experience for our 40 undergraduate and graduate students, offering valuable insights into real-world applications of computing in financial systems.

Watch the Recap

Julia C. Rodano from �鶹��ý�� Awarded SMART Scholarship

wiesea — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 19:19:56 +0000

The SMART Scholarship-for-Service Program is a comprehensive initiative awarding students full tuition for up to five years, mentorship, summer internships, a stipend and guaranteed post- graduate employment with the Department of Defense. This unique opportunity opens doors to over 100 cutting-edge facilities across various branches of the Department of Defense, providing scholars hands-on experience in their field. During their summer internships, scholars are paired with experienced mentors to enhance their technical expertise. Upon completing her studies, Rodano will work full-time at Air Force Research Lab Sensors Directorate at Wright- Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

Rodano said, “I am honored to have been awarded the SMART Scholarship. I found my passion for robotics and STEM in high school at Mount Saint Dominic Academy. Here at �鶹��ý��, I searched out research opportunities to extend and apply what I was learning in my coursework. I look forward to returning to �鶹��ý�� in the fall of 2025 to complete a MS in Data Science and then beginning a career with the Department of Defense.”

The Department of Defense is the largest employer of federal scientists and engineers, with nearly 300,000 civilian STEM professionals, and plays a pivotal role in developing the nation’s future STEM workforce. Initiatives like the SMART Scholarship-for-Service Program, combined with other Department of Defense education and outreach efforts, continue to build the future STEM workforce, upholding our nation’s scientific and technological edge. For more details on the SMART Program and application guideline, interested students are encouraged to visit the . The application is open annually from August through the first Friday in December.

Graduate Students Repeat Win in RAISE Competition

wiesea — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 15:56:57 +0000

challenged teams to unravel the scope of AI’s impact on our lives and human society. RAISE-25 is a novel Informatics, Advanced Data Science, Artificial Intelligence (AI) Competition. This year competitors were asked one of the most defining questions of our time: What will our AI-powered future look like? From February through the culminating event on April 11 the Next-Gen Tech Thinkers worked meticulously to answer this question. The team representing �鶹��ý�� this year consisted of students: Blessing Austin-Gabriel, Ernest Chianumba, Shibbir Ahmed Arif, Cristian Noriega and Keerthana Gajari and Faculty Mentors: Dr. Aparna Varde and Dr. Hao Liu.

Our students demonstrated exceptional dedication and innovative thinking throughout this prestigious competition. As mentors, we are immensely proud of their hard work and intellectual contributions.

Drs. Varde and Liu

Please join us in congratulating Team Next-Gen Tech Thinkers on this great achievement and for continuing the School, College and University’s tradition of excellence in data science!

�鶹��ý�� Researchers Receive NSF Grant to Advance Interdisciplinary Research on Human-Machine Interaction

wiesea — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 15:53:50 +0000

An interdisciplinary group of researchers at �鶹��ý�� has received a $533,798 grant from the to enhance the understanding of interactions between humans, machines, and environments through simulated driving experiments.

Led by �鶹��ý�� professor Rui Li with co-PIs Stefan Robila,��Jennifer Yang, and Gustavo Heidner, the project brings together expertise in multimodal interaction and affective computing, computational sensing, psychology and spatial cognition, as well as human biomechanics and motor control to conduct cutting-edge research focused on humans and machines. This research will be tested and deployed on the �鶹��ý�� extended reality-based driving simulator (XR-Drive), sponsored by the NSF, over the three-year project.

The success of this NSF project is a very important step for me and my team’s research at �鶹��ý��. It enables us to explore the interactions among humans, machines, and environments collaboratively. Most importantly, the interdisciplinary nature of this project will allow innovative collaborative studies that integrate expertise across multiple disciplines centering on intelligent machines, human factors, and environmental factors. It will serve as a new platform for STEM training. For example, students can develop and deploy software content on this new hardware.

Dr. Rui Li

Read the Full Article

Computing Professor Receives NSF CAREER Award to Advance Human-Robot Collaboration

wiesea — Mon, 19 Aug 2024 17:49:26 +0000

While robotics play an increasingly significant role in manufacturing systems and tasks, the next industrial revolution will require a personal human touch to be as central to operations as automation and efficiency.

New research led by �鶹��ý�� School of Computing faculty Weitian Wang explores this not-so-distant “Industry 5.0” by leveraging the unique value of human capabilities and robotics technologies for collaborative manufacturing.

This project is supported by a 2024 National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award. It is the Foundation’s most prestigious award in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.

Read the Full Article on the University Newscenter

Data Science Student Team Wins at RAISE Competition

wiesea — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 13:42:16 +0000

�鶹��ý�� students Isabele Bittencourt, Anand Gopeekrishnan, Ramy Othman and Ola Suaifan competed as Team Machine Minds, winning the first prize in the Graduate Track at the nationwide . The team was mentored by Drs. Aparna Varde and Hao Liu. As the winning team each student received a $1000 cash prize.

New Director for School of Computing Arrives on Campus

wiesea — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 16:04:38 +0000

Dr. Hossain is a distinguished academic leader with a rich background in global research across a number of universities. He has played key roles in creating interdisciplinary departments, notably serving as Inaugural Department Chairperson and holding the Ron and Carol Endowed Professorship at University of Nebraska at Kearney (UN-K). His extensive career includes leadership positions at the University of Sydney, the University of Hong Kong, and Lund University, as well as a Postdoctoral Fellowship at MIT. Driven by a commitment to addressing critical public health challenges, Dr. Hossain led initiatives in communications and responses to public health preparedness, bio-related threats, and health systems, with a focus on vulnerable populations. He played a crucial role in coordinating COVID-19 Resilience Networks for Pandemic Preparedness & Response, reflecting his dedication to advancing knowledge in healthcare.

I am dedicated to nurturing junior and mid-career faculties, supporting grant-writing workshops, working with administrative colleagues and building interdisciplinary center for educational and research excellence, including leading fundraising campaigns. I am committed to driving diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and promoting complex networks and systems research and education addressing societal, environmental, health, business, engineering and technology-related challenges.

Dr. Liaquat Hossain

Dr. Hossain’s research has secured more than U$20M competitive research grants and created a cross-disciplinary Complex Systems Research Cluster using federal and industry funding. This work supported over 30 doctoral students. His works have been published in over 200 international peer-reviewed research papers in the areas of information and decision sciences, computational sciences, knowledge management, and complex emergencies including public health preparedness.