Better communications between students, alumni, faculty members, staff, industrial partners and our colleagues in the community colleges can provide better learning experience and academic planning. The chairpersons of mathematics, computer science, computer information systems, information technology and statistics which make up the Division of Computing of Mathematics, decided to create a division newsletter for this purpose. The inaugural result, Get Connected, is now in your hands. The electronic version can be found at http://sce.uhcl.edu/dcm/newsletter I hope that you find Get Connected to be enjoyable and informative.

If you have any suggestions for improvements or future articles, please let us know.
Dr. Bun Yue, Chair, DCM, yue@uhcl.edu

BAS in Information Technology Program Launched

Our division launched the Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Information Technology in fall 2010. Krishani Abeysekera, the first ever UHCL Outstanding Lecturer, is chairperson of the program. It is the accumulation of three years of preparation by DCM faculty and is one of the first BAS degrees ever offered at UHCL.

Information Technology covers a diverse landscape of well-paid jobs with excellent job growth expectation, including network, systems and database administrations, Web design and development, and various kinds of technical support. The new program will complement the existing computer science and computer information systems programs very well. Students aspiring to a wide range of computing related jobs should now be able to find a program that best fits their personal background and interest.

The first BAS-IT students are already taking courses at UHCL. Under the leadership of Abeysekera, the faculty is busy constructing various IT labs to support the program, such as forensics lab, IT Video lab, emerging technology lab and network administration lab.

Math courses now offered at UHCL Pearland Campus

Did you know that the Division of Computer Science and Mathematics is offering courses at the new UHCL Pearland Campus?

A mathematics education course, Math 3032 Mathematics for the EC-6 Teacher II, is currently being taught by Tom Fox in Pearland. This is to support the elementary education degree being offered at the Pearland campus. So far the new campus is proving to be popular with our students, including our mathematics course. Fall registration was almost twice the anticipated number.

We will continue to offer this mathematics education course at UHCL Pearland Campus with hopes of expanding to two courses in the fall 2011. If you're ever in the Pearland area, be sure to stop by our beautiful new campus and say "hello".

Indian Student Association happenings

The Indian Student Association organized a welcome bash to greet the incoming fall 2010 students. It had an overwhelming attendance of more than 150 students, a majority of them from the Division of Computing and Mathematics.

ISA is also proud to have provided temporary accommodations to over 130 Indian students admitted for fall 2010. ISA is now making preparations for the Diwali celebrations to be held on October 30. ISA also organized the 10th annual UHCL Cricket Tournament in the summer. DCM student Jay Dani, who works as a research assistant under Abeysekera, played for the UHCL team "Avatars.". Avatars were the only UHCL team that reached the semi-finals. Visit the organization webpage for more details and event photos http://www.isauhcl.org

Judy Bergman received Outstanding Lecturer Award

Judy Bergman was the recipient of the 2010 UHCL Outstanding Lecturer Award in recognition of her teaching in our mathematics program. Bergman has been a faculty member in the UHCL mathematics department for nearly 20 years.

Bergman first aspired to become a mathematics teacher in the eighth grade. Bergman took her first steps towards a career in teaching when she completed a bachelor's degree in mathematics at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. She also earned two masters degrees: one in statistics and another in mathematics from UHCL. Bergman teaches mathematics and mathematics education courses here at UHCL as well as the occasional statistics course. She is also the director of the UHCL Mathematics Center.

Over her teaching career, she has taught in both the public schools and in adult education, and spent seven years in the mathematics department at Louisiana State University. We congratulate Bergman on her Outstanding Lecturer Award and thank her for her devotion to the mathematics education of UHCL students over the past 20 years.

Student in Spotlight- Rosa Flores

Rosa Flores is working toward completion of her Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics with teacher certification in 8 - 12 mathematics. Rosa came to the United States from her native Mexico in 2000. She is the first person in her family to attend college, and she is the youngest of 10 children. Prior to studying at UHCL, Rosa studied at Lee College for two years. Rosa is currently an instructional assistant at our Mathematics Center. Several MATH 3034 students have praised the work she has done with students in this course. Rosa has also been a recipient of our NSF scholarship for two years now. In her spare time, Rosa enjoys both music and dance, and would like to learn how to play the guitar someday. She plans on completing her Internship II next semester before she begins her teaching career as an 8 - 12 mathematics teacher.

Student in Spotlight- Zahabia Damania

	Computer Science graduate student, Zahabia Damania presented a paper "Meta-Analysis in the use of Open Source in Education," at the Association of Computer Educators Texas held on October 8, 2010 at the South Shore Harbor Conference Center in Texas. She placed second in Student Presentations and received a certificate and a cash prize of $150.

DCM Alumni – Irwan Tantu

CEO of TQ Automation, LLC, Houston, TX UHCL alumni 1998, MS Computer Science degree

Irwan Tantu received his electrical engineering degree from his native Indonesia, where he was the national champion of water skiing. Tantu joined our MS program of Computer Science in 1997. While studying at UHCL, he interned at Baker Hughes CAC Company, one of the largest oil and gas service companies in the world. There, he managed to excel both in the workplace and in his academic studies in computer science. In CAC, he spent almost 10 years before it was change to what is now called Weatherford.

After that, he worked couple of years for Siemens before he established his own company, TQ Automation, LLC in Houston. TQ Automation, LLC is a small company in the field of technology and control systems design and development, mostly for oil and gas services. Tantu is known for his designs of control systems for oil and gas. He devised and developed one of the largest and most commonly used remote terminal units that has been in the field all over the world especially in the Middle East. With his experience in designing control systems, and by surrounding himself with an outstanding group of UHCL students and graduates in computer science and computer engineering, Tantu and these students make for a successful team that represents computing disciplines at UHCL in the industry.

Tantu is very passionate about UHCL. Despite his busy schedule, he is involved in UHCL alumni activities. In his own company, he currently employs around five to ten UHCL students and graduates. As his company is minutes from UHCL, it is a very convenient workplace for UHCL computing students. Tantu likes water skiing and travel. He is an active volunteer for numerous organizations, including serving as a board member with local schools, as a community organizer and event facilitator.

NSF Scholars of DCM

	Fall 2010 NSF Scholars Grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) provide scholarships for outstanding students pursuing degrees in Computer Information Systems, Computer Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science and Information Technology. Please go to http://sce.uhcl.edu/nsfcsems for more details.
Front L to R: Luke Robertson, Kevaughn Taylor, Zohra Makanojiya, Rosa Flores, Michelle Sandoval, Duc Tran Back L to R: Pete Franco, Michael McCarty, Kevin Kittinger