Computer Science
450 Computer Science, MC 0401,
212-939-7000
www.cs.columbia.edu
The function and influence of the computer is pervasive in contemporary society. Today’s computers process the daily transactions of international banks, the data from communications satellites, the images in video games, and even the fuel and ignition systems of automobiles.
Computer software is as commonplace in education and recreation as it
is in science and business. There is virtually no field or profession that does not rely upon computer science for the problem-solving skills and the production expertise required in the efficient processing of information. Computer scientists, therefore, function in a wide variety of roles, ranging from pure theory and design to programming and marketing.
The computer science curriculum at Columbia places equal emphasis on theoretical computer science and mathematics and on experimental computer technology. A broad range of upper-level courses is available in such areas as artificial intelligence, computational complexity and the analysis of algorithms, combinatorial methods, computer architecture, computer-aided digital design, computer communications, databases, mathematical models for computation, optimization, and software systems.
Laboratory Facilities
The department has well-equipped lab areas for research in computer graphics, computer-aided digital design, computer vision, databases and digital libraries, data mining and knowledge discovery, distributed systems, mobile and wearable computing, natural-language processing, networking, operating systems, programming systems, robotics, user interfaces, and real-time multimedia.
The computer facilities include a shared infrastructure of Sun and Linux multiprocessor file servers, NetApp file servers, a student interactive teaching and research lab of high-end multimedia workstations, a Microsoft programming laboratory with 50 Windows XP workstations, a Unix/Linux laboratory with 45 Linux workstations, a large vonware system for teaching, a large cluster of Linux servers for computational work, and a cluster of Sun servers. The research infrastructure includes hundreds of workstations and PCs running Solaris, Windows XP, Linux, and Mac OSX; 7 terabytes of disk space are backed up by a Sun StorEdge LT02 with a 100-tape library unit.
Research labs contain Puma 500 and IBM robotic arms; a UTAH-MIT dexterous hand; an Adept-1 robot; three mobile research robots; a real-time defocus range sensor; PC interactive 3-D graphics workstations with 3-D position and orientation trackers; prototype wearable computers, wall-sized stereo projection systems; see-through headmounted displays; a networking testbed with three Cisco 7500 backbone routers, traffic generators, Ethernet switches, Sun Ray thin clients, and a 17-node (34CPU) IBM Netfinity cluster. The department uses a 3COM SIP IP phone system. The protocol was developed in the department.
The servers are connected on a gigabit network; all have remote consoles and remote power for easy maintenance after hours. The rest of the department’s computers are connected via a switched 100 Mb/s Ethernet network, which has direct connectivity to the campus OC-3 Internet and Internet2 gateways. The campus has 802.11a/b wireless LAN coverage.
The research facility is supported by a full-time staff of professional system administrators and programmers, aided by a number of part-time student system administrators.