Dr.Yousef Saad

Many friends of the department have indicated to us that we needed a newsletter to inform alumni, local companies, and colleagues, of the progress and exciting research happening in the department. So, it gives me special pleasure to welcome you all to Soundbyte, our new newsletter.

I am also happy to report that the department is continuing to make excellent progress on all fronts. A recent article by the US News and World Report ranked us 22nd. ACM ranked us 16th based on certain types of publications. Research spending has increased eight-fold in the last 6 years. Based on research dollars spent we are now comparable to the best department in the Big 10 state schools (4th among 12 of the CIC Big Ten+ departments). What is even more exciting is that these numbers have steadily moved and reflect the growing strength and recognition of our department. The main reason for this uptrend is a group of young, dynamic and bright faculty members who were attracted here in recent years. The average faculty member is 45 years old, and getting younger every year! Another revealing statistic is that 64% of our faculty have been here less than 10 years. Recruiting will continue to be the most important activity in the department in the next few years. We currently have 5 openings, one of which is related to the new Digital Technology Center, to open in 2,001.

The future of the department has never looked brighter. Last year state funding was approved for the construction of a $53 million University-wide Digital Technology Center. There is no doubt that this initiative will have a major beneficial impact on the department. Under the "supplemental" funding plan, the department will gain three "blue-chip" faculty positions, in the general area of networking and internet technologies. The search to fill one of these positions begins this year. If we fill all positions that are now open and the two additional "blue-chip" ones in the following two years, our faculty size would grow by over 25% by the year 2,001.

Great prospects often come with great challenges. One of these challenges is the difficulty in hiring good faculty due to rather stiff competition. A second challenge is that growth may be difficult to manage (issues with space, staffing requirements, etc.). Finally, student enrollments are growing at a brisk pace, close to 12% annually to be exact. The current increase in enrollments is partly related to the transition to semesters, with many students wanting to finish before the end of this academic year. However, there is an intrinsic national trend due to demographics and a healthy job market in the information technology area. The newly established Computer Engineering program is certain to prosper and bring in more students. All in all, this means that enrollments will keep going up in the years ahead. These increased enrollments have to be handled with care and foresight. We recently debated different ways to handle this growth and are still considering various options available that will allow growth without sacrificing on the quality of education.

One of my goals as department head is to ensure that the popularity of the Computer Science field will continue to spur the gains made by the department in recent years. In particular, it is vital that a good balance between research, education and service/outreach activities be maintained. It is also my personal goal to increase the visibility of the department, locally, nationally and internationally. With the recent Digital Technology Initiative and our excellent faculty, our department has the potential of moving to the top 15 CS departments in the nation, possibly even higher, depending on who we are able to bring on board. For this reason, recruiting is indeed the highest priority agenda item for us in the next few years.

Finally, this may be a good forum to solicit your help in identifying good potential candidates for the "blue-chip" positions as well as the other open positions (posted on our web page, see also Page 8 of this newsletter). You will do the department a great service if you can help us identify the right candidates for these positions.