Computer Science

This course in digital forensics takes the approach that there has been an attempt to breach your organizations data or individual systems, or there has been an actual breach. This process of forensics includes the methods and means necessary to determine who, what, where, when and how a breach occurred. This course will cover the methodological, scientific, technical and legal matters as they relate to digital forensics.

The security arena is made of vulnerabilities, threats, attacks, loss of data, viruses, trojans, etc. The issue is frequently a matter of detecting that an intrusion or an attempted intrusion took place. Once it has been determined that an intrusion has occurred, it is necessary to manage the crisis both internally and externally. Many requirements for reporting exist and this course will cover the basics of both crisis management as well as determination of the extent of the security failure.

This course is designed to be a general overview of security on the Internet and networked systems through the architecture of the organization. The issues facing security personnel relative to the network are ubiquitous. The techniques that provide security through cryptography and other options that encrypt data and communications are discussed in this course. Being anonymous is not possible given the number of tools available to the hacker, but the ability to be as anonymous as possible and to secure the data will be discussed as a means to make it difficult for the hacker to achieve their goal of viewing the data within the organization.

Information assurance addresses the need to know the network and the information available on the network, both internal and external to the organization. Through a study of the various aspects of confidentiality, integrity and accessibility, this course will present the concept that the information must be protected at each level with the proper level of security, but the first step is determining what data is available, such as email, calendars, chat rooms, Internet access, etc. and then determining the level of security that is applicable to each. Control is the key to assurance, but recognizing the components of the system because a tool that can be audited, verified, and controlled.

In this course students learn and apply game design principles for real-world projects. Students engage in the core principles of game systems and logic through the design and creation of finite state machines. Students learn how to create project documentation in order to analyze business products and needs in conjunction with technical and design solutions.

Game design is one of the fastest growing and largest sectors of online digital products. During this course, students learn how to create game design solutions that fully integrate 3D modeling, materials, and Lighting in real-time 3D environments. Students develop their skills in creating immersive experiences through the implementation of core principles. Students learn advanced 3D software applications while developing solutions for digital products and consumption by international audiences.

Throughout this advanced game programming course, students execute a level design plan and perform the necessary programming to bring a level design fully to life. Students engage in optimization and performance issues and differentiate technical solutions for a variety of game platforms. Students learn how to program user interactions and animations in a real-time 3D game engine through the translation of design documents created in prior courses.

This hands-on course is designed to give students the opportunity to demonstrate all that they have learned through their course of study. In a world that is driven by results it is imperative for students to clearly demonstrate their skills and knowledge through portfolio materials. In this course students will build on their prior experience in order to create a final capstone project. Their final project will demonstrate their abilities in user experience thinking, product design and development, and problem solving with game design. Additionally, students will work with their professor to create and refine a resume that targets their career of choice. All efforts are aligned to the task of assembling an online portfolio of work that demonstrates their ability to solve complex problems in game design and development.

The world is composed of objects of various kinds that interact with one another. Gaining an understanding of how to program using the perspective of objects will help the student to develop software that will be understandable and reusable. Students will explore features of object-based design and development using C++ including UML, encapsulation, polymorphism, and inheritance. C++ is used expensively in technical applications in the world and will serve those well who wish to pursue additional work in the science and engineering fields. An introduction to writing event-driven graphical interfaces will provide students a solid foundation for creating interactive software.

This continuation of object-oriented programming introduces the student to more advanced asymptotic algorithm analysis and complex data structures like doubly linked lists, general and binary trees, priority queues, and traversal algorithms of trees and graphs. More complex data structures and algorithms like mappings, hash tables, and complex sorting may also be studied and implemented.

Designing software is an integral part of engineering a software product. Poor design will lead to poor results introducing the users of the software to many risks. In this course students learn to effectively design software to ensure that a developed product can provide the requested functionality and performance while allowing for maintainability and scalability. Fundamental principles and guidelines for software architecture design are introduced including architectural styles, patterns, and frameworks. Students will learn to use methods, techniques and tools for describing software architecture and documenting design rationale and, for performing software architecture design and evaluation.

We live a complex society comprised of many systems. Acquiring an understanding of how systems as a whole are designed, created, and maintained is essential for the individual who wishes to make a contribution in the area of systems development. In this course the focus will be on the software engineering aspect of systems where they are implemented by applying the fundamental software engineering life cycle process from requirements specifications to testing of a completed software system. Software development will allow students to implement a software system design regardless of the programming language that is chosen.

Front-End Engineering is at the forefront of modern businesses. Where software solutions used to be largely driven by native application development, the Internet has provided a serious business platform. Front-End engineers are at the front line of developing technical interface solutions to solve business problems. This course builds upon the knowledge and skills acquired in Foundations of Web Design & Development and Foundations of UX Design. With its project-centric approach, students learn advanced techniques of web production/administration as well as demonstrating their working knowledge of significant Web scripting languages in both the traditional desktop Web as well as modern mobile Web environments. The focus of this course revolves around the creation of interactive responsive Web design from the ground up with front-end engineering utilizing front-end frameworks and mobile responsive development.

IT architecture involves both the science of engineering systems and the art of combining these systems using industry and de facto standards. It is the architecture that defines the components and establishes the rules that allow hardware and software products from many vendors to interoperate seamlessly and scale globally. This course identifies the components and standards in a preeminent IT architecture, the world-wide web.  While studying the client-server architecture generally, and the web specifically, students will develop and demonstrate an understanding of the architectural components and foundational administrative activities necessary in both the Linux/Apache and Windows/ITS based platforms that serve web content to any browser-based client. Web-based technologies outside the mainstream, like the Internet of Things, will also be explored.

Advanced Web Development builds upon previous Web courses by introducing key back-end development technologies for server-side development. With its holistic study of core language investigation, to direct practical application, students will learn to effectively implement server-side scripting to leverage the power of web servers and database architecture strategies. Students will gain experience with database integration to fully bring to life front-end frameworks through the development and implementation of content management system project which will connect front-end user interfaces to back-end data sources. Students will learn the PHP language and practices through the building of Content Management Systems for Web applications. This PHP/MySQL course is designed to supply students with a practical approach to Web Development. Students will learn the core language and implementation of PHP/MySQL scripting. The specific objective of this advanced-level course is to enable students to use a programming language to augment scripting language to provide robust web-based, database driven business solutions. Students will use a LAMP (Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP) virtual machine in a hands-on environment.

This hands-on course is designed to give students the opportunity to demonstrate all that they have learned through their course of study. In a world that is driven by results it is imperative for students to clearly demonstrate their skills and knowledge through portfolio materials. In this course students will build on their prior experience in order to create a final capstone project. Their final project will demonstrate their abilities in user experience thinking, product design and development, and problem solving. Additionally, students will work with their professor to create and refine a resume that targets their career of choice. All efforts are aligned to the task of assembling an online portfolio of work that demonstrates their ability to solve complex problems ranging from UX Design to UX Engineering and back-end development.

The Portfolio I course is designed to prepare students to create a digital online presence in order to competitively position themselves in the marketplace. Students are prepared to develop a communication and presentation strategy that best suits their career goals.

The IT internship offers deep learning and mentoring in an IT-related applied setting for which students receive academic credit under the guidance of the University "Learning Contract". The applied experience is onsite at an outside employer. The internship requires the onsite supervisor to establish written expectations for a project-based experience, meets regularly with the student, and provides a written evaluation using a format provided by the university. At 55 hours per credit hour a 3 credit hour work experience will result in 15 hours per week per semester (165 hours total), or 4 weeks of full time.

This senior presentation course is the culmination of your studies, meant to help you demonstrate talent, skills and presentation, and communication abilities. This experience will not only provide you the opportunity to begin honing your skills in presenting your work to be used for expanding your career, but it will allow you to receive feedback from experienced designers and developers from the industry on ways you can improve your portfolio as you begin your job hunt. While it is critical to show finished work which reflects strong concepts, design and technical abilities, it is also important to be able to demonstrate the process used to create the work along with the reasoning which led its final form. Each senior is allowed to present 4- 5 projects. These projects can have multiple components but, in total, can't exceed a total of 10. Presentations are to be, at least, 10 minutes and no longer than 15 and are to be made digitally online or with a projector. The presentation should cover your creative process from beginning to end.

The senior seminar is a learning space where students actively evaluate and critique the questions, controversies, and complexities of the information technology, information systems, computer science, and graphic design disciplines. While developing disciplinary and research skills, students lead discussions that explore current topics and challenges of intellectual importance. The seminar is facilitated by the faculty member with the goal of preparing students for academic research and professional success.