Barry M. Lunt

Computing Curricula 2005: The Overview Report

In 2001, the ACM and the IEEE-CS published Computing Curricula 2001 which contains curriculum recommendations for undergraduate programs in computer science. That report also called for additional discipline-specific volumes for each of computer engineering, information systems, and software engineering. In addition, it called for an Overview Volume to provide a synthesis of the various volumes. The Computing Curricula 2004 Task Force undertook the job of fulfilling the latter charge. The purpose of this session is to present the recently completed work of that Task Force, now known as Computing Curricula 2005 (CC2005), and to generate discussion among, and feedback from SIGCSE members about ongoing and future work.

Low energy ion scattering (LEIS). A practical introduction to its theory, instrumentation, and applications

Low energy ion scattering (LEIS) probes the elemental composition of the outermost atomic layer of a material and provides static depth profiles of the outer ca. 10 nm of surfaces. Its extreme surface sensitivity and quantitative nature make it a powerful tool for studying the relationships between surface chemistry and surface related phenomena such as wetting, adhesion, contamination, and thin film growth. The high depth resolution obtained in LEIS in its static and sputter depth profile modes are useful for studying the layer structures of thin films. LEIS instrumentation has improved significantly in recent years, showing dramatic increases in its sensitivity and further expanding its potential applications. In this article, we provide a practical introduction to the technique, including a discussion of the basic theory of LEIS, LEIS spectra, LEIS instrumentation, and LEIS applications, including catalysts, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), and thin films in integrated circuits.

Carbon/ternary alloy/carbon optical stack on mylar as an optical data storage medium to potentially replace magnetic tape.

A novel write-once-read-many (WORM) optical stack on Mylar tape is proposed as a replacement for magnetic tape for archival data storage. This optical tape contains a cosputtered bismuth-tellurium-selenium (BTS) alloy as the write layer sandwiched between thin, protective films of reactively sputtered carbon. The composition and thickness of the BTS layer were confirmed by Rutherford Backscattering (RBS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. The C/BTS/C stack on Mylar was written to/marked by 532 nm laser pulses. Under the same conditions, control Mylar films without the optical stack were unaffected. Marks, which showed craters/movement of the write material, were characterized by optical microscopy and AFM. The threshold laser powers for making marks on C/BTS/C stacks with different thicknesses were explored. Higher quality marks were made with a 60× objective compared to a 40× objective in our marking apparatus. The laser writing process was simulated with COMSOL.

Characterization of the plastic substrates, the reflective layers, the adhesives, and the grooves of today's archival-grade recordable DVDs

The plastic substrates, reflective layers, dyes, and adhesives of four archival-grade, recordable DVDs and one standard-grade recordable DVD were analyzed to determine their chemical compositions and/or physical dimensions. Chemical analyses by attenuated total internal reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray/scanning transmission electron microscopy, and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry show that all these DVDs use very similar polycarbonate plastic substrates and acrylate-based adhesives, but different reflective layers and dye write layers. In addition, physical measurements by atomic force microscopy show differences in the DVD groove depth, width, and other dimensions. These chemical and physical analyses may help explain variations in DVD lifetimes and facilitate development of the next-generation archival-grade DVDs.

Undergraduate computing education in China: a brief status and perspective

Of all countries, China has perhaps the largest population of students who are studying computing as a 4-year university major program. Over the past few years, the Ministry of Education of China (MOEC) has been investigating the status of computing programs and looking for possible improvements to meet the needs of a country which is highly dynamic and is experiencing an informatization process. With an introduction of the general practice of Chinese computing education as a background, this article, as a brief version of a more detailed document [1], reports the outcome of the investigation along with an elaboration on future development.

IT in the middle east: an overview

The field of Information Technology has grown rapidly since the World-Wide Web dramatically expanded applications of the Internet in the mid-90s. While the United States has taken a leading role in defining the IT curriculum and accreditation standards, there is much work on the international scale in IT programs around the world.This paper will provide an overview of IT in the Middle East, focusing primarily on the Gulf cooperation council (GCC) countries - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Topics covered include the institutions offering IT programs, the curriculum covered, the status of the IT industry, IT accreditation, and the IT work force. This information will be set in a cultural background that will help readers understand the developments and the challenges.

ABET accreditation with IT criteria

In recent years the SIGITE community has invested significant effort into developing IT accreditation standards. New draft general and program specific accreditation criteria were recently created. The Brigham Young University IT program is undergoing an accreditation visit in the near future as a pilot program. Although the IT criteria have not yet been approved by ABET they have been used by the Brigham Young University program in preparing for accreditation and will be considered by the accreditation evaluators in the accreditation visit. This paper will describe the experience of preparing for an ABET IT accreditation visit using the draft standards. Issues of continuous improvement, assessment and accreditation documentation will be discussed. Methods for collecting and presenting accreditation data will be presented. The selection of program objectives related to institution objectives is discussed, as is the link between course outcomes and program outcomes and objectives. The linkage between accreditation criteria and the model curriculum is also discussed. This work follows on from previous work that has been reported elsewhere. Thus there is some overlap with previous papers by one or more of the authors, as well as new work.

Eagle XG® glass, optical constants from 230 to 1690 nm (0.73 - 5.39 eV) by spectroscopic ellipsometry

Eagle XG® glass is widely used in the manufacture of electronic displays. Spectroscopic ellipsometry and transmission data for this material were obtained from 193 to 1690 nm. The optical constants of the material were then modeled from 230 to 1690 nm. The data were initially fit with a basis spline (B-spline), and these results were used as the starting point for either a two-Gaussian oscillator model or a Tauc-Lorentz (T-L) + Gaussian oscillator model. Both models gave good fits, with unweighted mean squared error values of ca. 1.1. Samples were provided by Corning Incorporated directly from their production facility.

ACM/IEEE-CS Information Technology Curriculum 2017: A Status Update

The IT2008 Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Information Technology is showing its age, and in 2014, the ACM Education Board agreed to oversee the creation of a revision, now being referred to as IT2017. Members of the IT 2017 Task Group have been identified, and phone conference calls have been taking place. All proposed panel members are members of the IT2017 Task Group.

Identifying and evaluating information technology bachelor's degree programs

This paper describes the process for identifying and evaluating Information Technology (IT) bachelor’s programs in the United States, in an effort to answer the question, how many IT bachelor’s programs are there in the US? Due to widespread variation in the names of academic degree programs, one cannot simply count those named Information Technology. At SIGITE 2011, a framework was presented for identifying IT programs and for evaluating their compliance to an accepted standard. This framework has been applied throughout this research. We first compiled a list of prospective IT programs to research. Each university on the list was researched by looking at their university webpage in search of a list of computing majors listed at that university. If, at a glance, these program’s required courses look similar to those required in an IT program, the program was evaluated and given a numerical score compliance factor, as compared to the standard, no matter the name of the major. This compliance factor is calculated using the assessment form that is included in this document. The results of this analysis are presented. General Terms Computing Programs, Information Technology