College of Natural Sciences
POST 317
1680 East-West Road
Honolulu, HI 96822
Tel: (808) 956-7420
Fax: (808) 956-3548
Web: ics.hawaii.edu

Faculty

*Graduate Faculty

*S. P. Robertson, PhD (Chair)—human-computer interaction, sociotechnical systems, civic tech, digital government and digital democracy
*K. Baek, PhD—computer vision, machine learning, bioinformatics
*M. Belcaid, PhD—data science education, big data approximation, probabilistic programming in genomics
*E. Biagioni, PhD—networks, systems, languages
*K. Binsted, PhD—artificial intelligence, software design for mobile devices, human-computer interaction, human space exploration
*H. Casanova, PhD—high performance computing, distributed systems
*M. E. Crosby, PhD—human-computer interaction, cognitive science, augmented cognition
*B. Endicott, PhD—cyber-security
*P. Johnson, PhD—software engineering, serious games, renewable energy
*J. Leigh, PhD—big data visualization, virtual reality, high performance networking, human augmentics, video game design
*D. Li, PhD—security, privacy and performance in systems, software, networks and databases
*C. A. Moore, PhD—software engineering, application development: software quality
*M. B. Ogawa, PhD—educational specialist
*D. Pavlovic, PhD—security, software, search and networks, quantum computation
*A. Peruma, PhD—software quality, software maintenance and evolution, program comprehension, identifier naming, mobile application quality
*G. Poisson, PhD—bioinformatics
*P. Sadowski, PhD—machine learning and artificial intelligence, deep learning in the natural sciences
*P-M. Seidel, DrEng habil—formal methods, computer arithmetic, computer architecture, algorithms
*N. Sitchinava, PhD—algorithms and data structures, parallel and distributed computation, I/O- and cache-efficient computation
*D. Suthers, PhD—human-computer interaction, computer-supported collaborative learning, technology for education, socio-technical networks and online communities
*P. Washington, PhD—digital health, precision health, data science, machine learning, human-centered computing, biomedical informatics

Cooperative Graduate Faculty

R. Gazan, PhD—social aspects of information technology
F. N. Kazman, PhD—software architecture design and analysis, software engineering economics
S. Still, PhD—machine learning, information theory
F. Zhu, PhD—dynamics and control, robotics, intelligent systems

Affiliate Graduate Faculty

L. Altenberg, PhD—computational intelligence, theoretical evolutionary biology
B. Auerhheimer, PhD—software engineering
A. Koniges, PhD—high performance computing, machine learning
D. R. Stoutemyer, PhD—computer algebra, mathematical software
D. Streveler, PhD—medical informatics

Emeritus Faculty

D. Chin, PhD—user modeling, natural language processing, AI for games
V. Harada, PhD—school library administration, information literacy
S. Itoga, PhD—database system, expert system and logic programming
D. Pager, PhD—compilers

Degrees Offered: BBS (including minor) in computer science, Undergraduate Certificate in Creative Computational Media, Undergraduate Certificate in Data Science, MS in computer science, PhD in computer science, and PhD in communication and information sciences (interdisciplinary)

The Academic Program

Information and computer sciences (ICS) is the study of the description and representation of information and the theory, design, analysis, implementation, and application of algorithmic processes that transform information. Students majoring in ICS will learn to use computer systems, a valuable skill which can be applied in all fields of study. Students will also learn the scientific principles and technology required to develop new computer systems and applications. The curriculum covers all major areas of computer science with special emphasis on software engineering, computer networks, artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, bioinformatics, security science (UH Mānoa is an NSA/DHS designated Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Research), data science, machine learning, and areas uniquely suited to Hawai‘i’s role as a multicultural and geographical center of the Pacific.

Undergraduate Study

Bachelor’s Degree

To be admitted into the program, first-year students entering UH Mānoa directly from high school must first be admitted into the College of Natural Sciences. For continuing students, a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 is required for admission.

The minimum required grade for prerequisites is a grade of C (not C-) or better, unless otherwise specified.

For information on a Bachelor Degree Program Sheet, go to programsheets/.

BA in Information and Computer Sciences

Requirements

Students pursuing these degrees are required to submit a short proposal listing the courses they intend to take to complete their ICS major. An ICS faculty advisor must approve this proposal in writing. Samples of course proposals are available at the ICS department office.

Students must complete the following related courses for all BA and BS degrees: (MATH 215 or 241 or 251A) and (MATH 216 or 242 or 252A).

There are two BA degree options you can choose from:

Bachelor of Arts in Information and Computer Sciences, Security Science (SecSci) Track

Students must complete the following courses (51 credits):

  • Core: ICS 111, 141, 211, (212 or 215), 241, 311, 314, 321, 332
  • Track: ICS 222, 355, (ICS 351 or 451)
  • Four electives from: ICS 423, 425, 426, 428, 455, 495, ECE 406

Substitution allowed: ECE 367 for ICS 311.

Bachelor of Arts in Information and Computer Sciences, Creative Computational Media (M) Track

Students must complete the following courses (61-62 credits):

  • Core ICS 110D, 111, 211, 212, 235, 311, 314, 321, 355, 369, 481, 487
  • MATH 301, (307 or 311), 372
  • AOC: Four electives from: ICS 464, 482, 484, 485, 486, 488, 489, 496 in CCM

Substitution allowed: (ICS 141 and 241) can be a substitution for (MATH 301 and 372). Substitution allowed: ECE 367 for ICS 311.

BS in Computer Science

Substitutions are permitted with the written approval of an ICS faculty advisor. Waiver of certain requirements, such as by Advanced Placement CS Exam, must be approved by the ICS faculty advisor.

There are three BS degree options you can choose from:

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science

Students must complete the following courses (57 credits)

  • ICS 111, 141, 211, 212, 241, 311, 314, 321, 332, 355, 496, (MATH 307 or MATH 372) (if students take MATH 307, then they should take MATH 242 as Calculus II prerequisite)
  • Two of (ICS 312 or 331), (ICS 313 or 361), (ICS 351 or 451)
  • At least four ICS or other approved courses at the 400 level or above

Substitution allowed: (MATH 301 and 372) can be a substitution for (ICS 141 and 241). In that case, students must take MATH 307. Substitution allowed: ECE 367 for ICS 311.

Bachelor of Science in Information and Computer Science, Creative Computational Media Track

Students must complete the following courses (61-62 credits):

  • ICS 110D, 111, 211, 212, 235, 311, 314, 321, 355, 369, 481, 487, 488, 496 in CCM
  • MATH 301, (307 or 311), 372
  • Two electives (400-level or above) in an area relevant to CCM. The courses may include ICS courses or courses from other departments as long as they are approved by an ICS advisor and meet the minimum total of 6 credit hours

Substitution allowed: (ICS 141 and 241) can be a substitution for (MATH 301 and 372). Substitution allowed: ECE 367 for ICS 311.

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Security Science (SecSci) Track

Students must complete the following courses (54 credits):

  • ICS 111, 141, 211, 212, 241, 311, 314, 321, (312 or 331 or 332), (MATH 307 or 372) (If students take MATH 307, then they should take MATH 242 as calculus II prerequisite)
  • Track: ICS 222, 355, (ICS 351 or 451)
  • Four electives from: ICS 423, 425, 426, 428, 455, 495, ECE 406

Substitution allowed: (MATH 301 and 372) can be a substitution for (ICS 141 and 241). In that case, students must take MATH 307. Substitution allowed: ECE 367 for ICS 311.

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Data Science Track

Students must complete the following courses (57 credits):

    • ICS 111, 211, 212, 235, 311, 314, 321, 355, 434, 435, 438, 484
    • MATH 301, 307, 372
    • Three electives (400-level or above) in an area relevant to Data Science. The courses may include ICS courses or courses from other departments as long as they are approved by an ICS advisor and meet the minimum total of 9 credit hours.

Substitution allowed: (ICS 141 and 241) can be a substitution for MATH 301 in the Data Science Track only. Substitution allowed: ECE 367 for ICS 311.

Minor

A cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 and a grade of C (not C-) or higher in ICS 111 are required for admission.

Requirements

Students must complete ICS 211, 212, and 241 and their prerequisites, 111 and 141, and three ICS courses at the 300 level and above with a grade of C (not C-) or better.

Undergraduate Certificate in Creative Computational Media

The Undergraduate Creative Computational Media (CCM) Certificate Program provides students and industry professionals with training necessary to enter exciting and lucrative immersive media job markets, such as video game and eSports design and development, digital film production and special effects, new media theatre and dance performance, interactive digital media installation development, and exhibit design for museums, theme parks, or marketing/advertising.

CCM Certificate is offered in collaboration with ACM: The School of Cinematic Arts (CINE) and the Department of Theatre & Dance (Arts and Humanities), the Department of Electrical Engineering (College of Engineering), and the Department of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) (College of Natural Sciences).

Requirements

Students must complete 18 credits of required and elective courses with a minimum of 9 credits from upper division courses and a cumulative GPA of 2.5 for the certificate courses taken.

Prerequisites (3 credits)

  • ICS 110 (Alpha) or ICS 111 or ECE 160

Required Courses (9 credits)

  • CINE 215, ICS/ECE 369, ICS 486/CINE 419

Elective Courses (9 credits)

  • CINE 216, 255, 315, 316B, 317, 321, 325, ICS 464, ICS/ CINE/DATA 484, ICS 485/CINE 487, DNCE 362, 673

Additional electives identified by students may be considered through a petitioning process, whose approval can be conducted in collaboration with the affected departments.

Undergraduate Certificate in Data Science

The Undergraduate Data Science (DS) Certificate program provides students and industry professionals with training in modern computational tools for manipulating, visualizing, and extracting insights from data. This programming-intensive program prepares students to work in the high-demand, lucrative field of data science.

The DS Certificate is offered by the Department of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS), in collaboration with the Hawai‘i Data Science Institute and other data-intensive departments at UH Mānoa.

Prerequisites and Eligibility

  1. Applicants must have completed a calculus course that covers limits, derivatives, partial derivatives, and integrals.
  2. Applicants must have completed a programming course that covers basic data types, program control structure, and functions.
  3. Applicants must have a minimum GPA of 3.0.
  4. Applicants who already have a BS in Computer Science with the DS specialization or a BS in Mathematics with the DS specialization are ineligible for the certificate. Students with a certificate in Data Science from UH Hilo are similarly ineligible.

Requirements

Students must complete 18 credits of required and elective courses.

Required Courses (12 credits)

  • ICS 235, 434, 435, 484

At the discretion of the DS Program Committee, students who demonstrate proficiency in the topics covered in the required courses may substitute those courses with elective courses.

Elective Courses (6 credits)

  • ATMO/CEE/SUST 449, BIOL/MBBE 483, PHYS 305, MATH 372 or MATH 472 (Due to overlap, cannot use both), ECON 425, 427, ICS/DATA 422, ICS/DATA 438

Additional electives identified by students may be considered through a petitioning process, whose approval can be conducted in collaboration with the affected departments.

Combined Bachelor of Arts in Information & Computer Sciences and Master of Library and Information Science (MLISc)

The combined BA/MLISc is intended to allow students who wish to apply their technical skills to professional information service environments to complete the BA in ICS and the MLISc in Library & Information Science in 5 years, plus one summer course. To be admitted into the program, students must submit the Graduate Admissions Application as well as all required program admission materials specified in the “Graduate Study” section by the start of their junior year (5th semester).

Requirements

Students pursuing this combined degree should meet the degree requirements for the BA in ICS and MLISc.

  • Gateway course: ICS 311, with a grade of B or better.

The following courses can be double-counted in BA in ICS and MLISc. The minimum grade requirement for LIS 601 is B (not B-) or better.

  • LIS 601, 605, 630

Combined Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Computer Science

The combined BS/MS degree pathway is intended to allow students the opportunity to complete both a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Computer Science in 5 years. To be admitted into the program, students must submit the Graduate Admissions Application and fee as well as all required program admission materials by the deadline. Applications should be submitted in the spring of their junior year (6th semester), with admission to the BAM program commencing in the fall of their senior year (7th semester).

Requirements

Students pursuing this degree should meet the degree requirements for regular Master of Science in Computer Science. Gateway course: ICS 311 with a grade B or higher. The minimum grade requirement is B (not B-) or higher.

There are three pathways students can take depending on their BS degree option. Each pathway differs in the set of courses that can be double-counted for both the bachelor’s and master’s degree.

BS and MS in Computer Science

The following courses can be double-counted in BS in Computer Science and MS in Computer Science.

  • ICS (414 or 435 or 451 or 466), 621, 635

BS in Computer Science in Data Science and MS in Computer Science

The following courses can be double-counted in BS in Computer Science in Data Science track and MS in Computer Science.

  • ICS (422 or 475 or 483 or 496), 621, 635

BS in Computer Science in Security Science and MS in Computer Science

The following courses can be double-counted in BS in Computer Science in Security Science track and MS in Computer Science.

  • ICS (426 or 455 or 495), 621, 623

Graduate Study

The department offers the MS degree in computer science, and the PhD degree in computer science. The department is one of four academic programs that cooperate in an interdisciplinary doctoral program in communication and information sciences (see the “Communication and Information Sciences” section for more information).

Applicants from foreign countries must be academically qualified, proficient in English (TOEFL or IETLS with scores above the minimum required by Graduate Division, with the additional requirement that TOEFL scores be 580/237/92 or above for admission to the MS program, and 600/250/100 or above for admission to the PhD program, where scores are listed as paper/computer/internet), and sufficiently financially supported.

The department offers three forms of financial aid: teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and tuition waivers. The department offers a limited number of assistantships each semester, most of which are teaching assistantships. Teaching and research assistants work approximately 20 hours per week under the supervision of a faculty member and receive a stipend as well as a tuition waiver. Teaching assistants support instruction and research assistants support extramurally funded research projects. Teaching assistantships are awarded to those applicants who can best support the instructional program. Similarly, research assistantships are awarded to those applicants who can best assist faculty with their research projects. Applicants accepted for admission may be eligible for partial financial aid in the form of a tuition waiver from Graduate Division and foreign applicants from Pacific or Asian countries may be eligible for Pacific-Asian Scholarships. Prior to submitting a tuition waiver application form, foreign applicants must submit TOEFL/IETLS scores and documentation of financial support for expenses other than tuition to Graduate Division Student Services. To apply for any of these forms of support, students should submit the ICS Financial Aid Application (form on the ICS website) in addition to other required application materials. Because we can offer assistance to only a small fraction of applicants, we highly encourage students to also seek other forms of support, such as the EastWest Center or other scholarships or forms of employment.

Master’s Degree

The master’s program is intended for students planning to specialize in computer science or to apply computer science to another field. Applicants who do not possess an undergraduate degree in computer science from an accredited institution will need to complete equivalent course work.

Requirements

Plan A (thesis) and Plan B (non-thesis) are available. A minimum of 31 credit hours is required under both plans. A minimum B average must be maintained in all courses.

Plan A (Thesis) Requirements

  1. At least six ICS graduate courses, i.e. courses with numbers between ICS 600 and 691, with the exception of ICS 690;
  2. Two additional elective 600-level courses must be taken either from the ICS department or some related discipline on a topic related to computer science. Elective courses must have prior approval from the ICS graduate chair as to the suitability prior to enrollment in the courses;
  3. Up to two of the graduate courses may be replaced by regular ICS 400-level courses (not ICS 499), taken after enrolling in the ICS graduate program;
  4. Thesis research taken as 6 credits of ICS 700 is required for the degree. These credits are typically taken close to or during the final semester in the program;
  5. ICS 690 (taken for CR/NC) in the first year of the program.

Plan B (Non-thesis) Requirements

  1. At least six ICS graduate courses, i.e. courses with numbers between ICS 600 and ICS 691, with the exception of ICS 690.
  2. Two additional elective 600-level courses must be taken either from the ICS department or some related discipline on a topic related to computer science. Elective courses must have prior approval from the ICS graduate chair as to the suitability prior to enrollment in the courses;
  3. Up to two of the graduate courses may be replaced by regular ICS 400-level courses (not ICS 499), taken after enrolling in the ICS graduate program;
  4. A final project ending with a required written report, taken as ICS 699 (a maximum of six credits is counted toward the degree) under the supervision of a faculty member;
  5. ICS 690 (taken for CR/NC) in the first year of the program.

The administrative procedures for the program include the following:

  1. The student must meet with the graduate program chair during the first semester;
  2. Upon completion of at least 12 credit hours of courses applicable to the degree, students are encouraged to propose a degree plan by selecting Plan A (Thesis) or Plan B (NonThesis) options;
  3. Plan A students are encouraged to choose a thesis topic and committee upon completion of 18 credit hours of applicable courses; and
  4. All requests for changes in degree plan must be submitted in writing by the student and approved by the graduate program chair before the diploma application is filed.

PhD in Computer Science

The department offers a PhD in computer science that prepares students for creative research, teaching, and service. There are two programs leading to the PhD degree, one designed for the applicant entering with bachelor’s degrees, and the other for those who already have master’s degrees. Students may begin their program either in the fall or spring semesters.

Applicants with bachelor’s degrees must first satisfy the admission and degree requirements of the master’s degree in computer science. Advantages to this route are (1) students are admitted at an early stage to the PhD program; (2) the MS portion of the program will prepare students for their qualifying examination; and (3) students who have completed the MS requirements will have the option of obtaining a master’s degree even if they do not continue with the PhD program.

Applicants with master’s degrees in areas other than computer science may be admitted to the program, but will be required to fulfill their program deficiencies with additional course work.

Requirements for students to complete the PhD program are:

  1. Passing a qualifying examination demonstrating core competency in computer science no later than the end of the first year of their PhD studies;
  2. Preparing a portfolio showing research readiness by the end of the second year of their PhD studies;
  3. Passing the proposal defense;
  4. Passing the dissertation defense.

Interdisciplinary Doctoral Degree Program

The ICS department participates in an interdisciplinary program in Communication and Information Sciences (CIS) that integrates computer science, library science, communication and management information systems. Due to the broad knowledge base required to support the program, it draws on a variety of majors such as behavioral science, economics, engineering, and political science. The computer science program is one of four academic programs (COM, ICS, ITM, and LIS) that support this degree. See the “Interdisciplinary Program” section for more information on this program.