The Computer Science program provides a solid education in fundamental
concepts and principles of computer science through a blend of theory, design,
and experiment, including team-oriented aspects of software development.
Graduating students are prepared for either graduate study or immediate
employment in computer science and related fields. Harvey Mudd College
graduates in computer science go on to work in computer science research,
teaching, or development, including areas of software engineering, system
analysis and design, networking, computer graphics and multi-media, to name
just a few of many possibilities.
The Computer Science program courses consist of introductory programming
and problem solving, a broad-spectrum course in principles of computer science,
a course in the mathematical foundations of computer science,
and a course in data structures. These foundational courses are followed by a
kernel composed of
four courses in the key areas of computer science (algorithms, programming
languages, computer systems, and software development).
Electives are selected from
over twenty courses including courses in the areas of:
theory of computation, artificial
intelligence, computer graphics, computer networking, scientific computing,
neural networks, parallel and real-time computation, compiler design,
databases, user interface design, computer vision,
robotics, and others. Students also may take electives
in related areas of mathematics and
engineering, including mathematical logic,
operations research, electronics, microprocessors,
and VLSI.
Other Activities
Students are typically involved in team efforts outside of clinic. For
example, a Harvey Mudd College team of computer science and mathematics
majors took first place in the 1996-1997 Association for Computing Machinery
Southern California Regional Programming Contest, finishing ahead of
36 other Southern California collegiate teams.
Computer science students also participate on the college
Robotics Team.
Harvey Mudd College alumni who have made contributions in computer
science include: Don Chamberlin '66, inventor of SQL, the standardized
relational database query language, Bruce Nelson '74, inventor of remote
procedure call, Walt Foley '69, founder of Accel Technologies, Inc., and
Joseph Costello '74, President and CEO of Cadence Designs. Graduate
institutions attended by HMC computer science graduates in its short
history include Carnegie Mellon University,
Stanford University, University of Texas, University of Washington,
UCB, USC, University of North Carolina, Georgia Tech,
UCLA, University of California San Diego, and the University of California
Davis. Companies employing Harvey Mudd College computer
science graduates include Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Apple, Silicon Graphics,
Paracel, Qualcomm, CPM, Google, Amazon,
Disney, The Jet Propulsion Lab, and The Aerospace Corporation.
Faculty
Christine Alvarado
Assistant Professor of Computer Science, 2005.
A.B. Dartmouth College,
S.M., Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Professor Avarado's research interests
are in the conjunction of artificial intelligence and
human computer interaction.
Zachary Dodds,
Associate Professor of Computer Science, 1999.
B.A., M.S., Ph.D., Yale University.
Professor Dodds' interests are in computer vision and robotics.
Michael A. Erlinger,
Professor of Computer Science,
1981. B.S., University of San
Francisco; M.S., Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles;
Lecturer, University of California, Los Angeles; Member, Technical
Staff, Bell Telephone Laboratories; Senior Project Engineer, Hughes
Aircraft Company; Member, Technical Staff, The Aerospace Corporation.
Professor Erlinger's interests are in computer systems, especially
computer networking.
Robert M. Keller,
Csilla and Walt Foley Professor of Computer Science,
1991. Director, Computer Science Clinic. B.S., M.S., Washington University; Ph.D.,
University of California, Berkeley; Assistant Professor, Princeton
University; Visiting Assistant Professor, Stanford University;
Associate and Full Professor, University of Utah; Director of
Research and Vice President, Research and Development, Quintus
Corporation; Professor and Chair, Division of Computer Science and
Chair of the Graduate Group in Computer Science, University of
California, Davis; Visiting Scientist, Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory; Faculty Part-Time Staff Member, Senior Level, Jet Propulsion
Laboratory. Professor Keller's interests are in languages and systems
for parallel processing and in declarative programming languages.
Geoffrey Kuenning,
Associate Professor of Computer Science, 1998.
B.S., M.S., Michigan State University; Ph.D., University of California
at Los Angeles; Computer Scientist, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory;
Systems Programmer, Ball Computer Products; Senior Software Engineer,
Digital Equipment Corporation; Manager of Operating Systems
Development, Callan Data Systems; Principal Consultant, Interrupt
Technology Corporation; PostDoc, University of California at
Los Angeles. Professor Kuenning's interests are in operating systems,
file systems, computer security, and mobile computing.
Ran Libeskind-Hadas,
Joseph B. Platt Endowed Chair; Acting Department Chair, Academic Year 2006-07;
Professor of Computer Science, 1993.
A. B. Harvard University, M.S., Ph.D., University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign; Visiting Lecturer, University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign. Professor Libeskind-Hadas' interests are in design and
analysis of algorithms, parallel computing, and fault-tolerance. Ran will
be on sabbatical in Australia for the year of 2007-2008.
Melissa O'Neill,
Assistant Professor of Computer Science, 2001.
B.Sc.
University of East Anglia (UK), M.Sc. & Ph.D. Simon Fraser University
(Canada). Research interests span many systems areas including
functional programming, programming language tools, and parallel and
distributed computing (with particular reference to easy-to-code
finegrained parallelism). Underlying focus is to make programming
easier and more reliable. Also interested in user-centered design and
digital typography.
Christopher Stone,
Assistant Professor of Computer Science, 2000.
B.S., M.S., Ph.D. Carnegie-Mellon University.
Professor Stone's interests are in programming languages theory and implementation, particularly those areas involving type systems for functional and object-based languages.
Elizabeth Sweedyk,
Associate Professor of Computer Science, 1999.
B.A.
Michigan State University, B.S. and M.S.E University of Michigan,
Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley;
Postdoctoral fellow University of Pennsylvania and DIMACS. Professor Z'
s research interests are in algorithms, computer graphic, and computational complexity
Affiliated Faculty
Kim Bruce,
Professor of Computer Science, Pomona College.
Everett
L. Bull,
Professor of Computer Science and Professor of Mathematics, Pomona College.
Professor Bruce's interests are in programming languages.
Tzu-Yi Chen,
Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Pomona College. Professor
Chen's
research interests include parallel computing, algorithms, and sparse
matrix computations.
Art Lee,
Associate Professor, Claremont McKenna College.
Professor Lee's interests are in databases and software engineering.
Consortium
Harvey Mudd College is a member of the Claremont Colleges Consortium,
the first of its kind in the United States, collectively offering expansive
physical facilities and a wide selection of courses.
The consortium, which includes Pomona College (established 1887), Scripps
College (1926), Claremont McKenna College (1946),
Harvey Mudd College (1955),
Pitzer College (1963),
the Claremont Graduate University (1925),
and the Keck Graduate Institute of Applied
Life Sciences (1997).
Among the common facilities are
2,500-seat concert
hall, a center for religious activities, a bookstore with 30,000 titles,
and professionally-staffed medical and counseling services.
The positioning
of the college within the consortium offers simultaneously the advantages
of a personalized education with small classes and close faculty contact,
combined with the diversity of student services and extracurricular activities
of a university.
The Honnold Library includes more than 1,800,000 bound volumes,
several times the number found in several other high-quality small colleges.
There are affiliated computer science faculty in the mathematics
departments at HMC, at Claremont McKenna College, and at Pomona College.
The Harvey Mudd College computer science faculty also provide
major support for CS majors on other consortium campuses.
Harvey Mudd College pioneered hands-on engineering, mathematics,
and science teaching in the 1960's with its widely-acclaimed Clinic program
through which students team with industry to undertake real-world challenges.
The college ranks among the nation's leading schools in percentage of graduates
who attain the Ph.D. and has consistently ranked among the top engineering
undergraduate specialty schools in the nation. In a recent study published
in Change magazine, in which 212 colleges and universities were ranked,
Harvey Mudd College was cited as being among an elite group of eleven institutions
rated outstanding for both their research and teaching.
For additional information on the Computer Science Program, contact the
Computer Science Department at 909-621-8225 or email deptchair@cs.hmc.edu.
For general information on admission, contact the Office of Admission,
909-621-8011.
