{"id":734,"date":"2019-12-01T15:30:19","date_gmt":"2019-12-01T15:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.www.wcsu.edu\/celt\/?p=734"},"modified":"2019-12-01T15:30:19","modified_gmt":"2019-12-01T15:30:19","slug":"insight-and-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/celt\/2019\/12\/01\/insight-and-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Insight and Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dr.Sean Murthy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director of Data Science & Systems Lab<\/strong><\/p>\n

Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

This is the final faculty interview conducted and written by a talented WCSU MFA student, John Bonanni. Our goal is to celebrate and learn from some of WCSU\u2019s dedicated teachers and scholars.<\/p>\n

\n

Those of us who have been overcome with the struggle to understand the nature of computing can seek the\u00a0refuge\u00a0of\u00a0Dr.\u00a0Sean\u00a0Murthy, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and\u00a0Director\u00a0of the Data Science and Systems Lab\u00a0(DASSL, read\u00a0dazzle<\/em>),\u00a0a research lab for\u00a0data\u00a0science and data-intensive systems.<\/p>\n

Dr. Murthy offered a comprehensive discussion defining the scope of the discipline.\u00a0He feels entering students possess an inaccurate view of the subject, having been exposed to the \u201cHollywood notion of what programming is about.\u201d<\/p>\n

To remedy the issue, Dr. Murthy encourages the potential student\u00a0to think deeply about selecting Computer Science\u00a0(CS)\u00a0as a major.\u00a0He encourages\u00a0students to complete\u00a0at least\u00a0the first\u00a0two courses.\u00a0He\u00a0then\u00a0asks a\u00a0simple\u00a0question. \u201cWhy do you want to\u00a0take\u00a0CS?\u201d Many respond,\u00a0\u201cI like games.\u201d\u00a0The professor\u00a0then\u00a0offers\u00a0an analogy that succinctly defines the credibility of the discipline.\u00a0He offers\u00a0the\u00a0yarn\u00a0of driving a car for 30 years without an accident. He indicates that he is a good driver, and he likes\u00a0to drive, but that does not make him an automobile engineer.<\/p>\n

The defining word is \u201cengineer,\u201d\u00a0and achieving\u00a0competency in\u00a0using\u00a0\u201cprofessional tools and implementing\u00a0them\u00a0in a professional manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

As an accomplished architect of software used in Fortune 100 companies, Dr. Murthy emphasizes the need for the\u00a0student\u00a0to\u00a0engineer software,\u00a0which\u00a0requires\u00a0\u201cdiscipline, patience, thinking,\u00a0and deliberation on the part of the\u00a0practitioner.\u201d The professor\u2019s detailed approach to achieving competency in the field is apparent in his\u00a0overview.\u00a0He\u00a0imparts the notion that CS students are problem solvers, not\u00a0gamers.\u00a0Students must understand the problem before they can solve it. That requires the student\u2019s understanding of the industry in which the problem exists.\u00a0He reminds them that \u201cevery\u00a0software\u00a0is implementing a solution,\u201d making \u201csoftware-engineering\u00a0necessarily interdisciplinary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Murthy\u00a0follows\u00a0a\u00a0philosophy\u00a0of \u201cdemocratizing access\u201d\u00a0to improve accessibility and availability, making\u00a0students their own time managers in learning and assignment submissions,\u00a0and still have a physical campus connection. This synergy between online and in-class applications consists of\u00a0making\u00a0courseware accessible\u00a0on OneDrive,\u00a0and\u00a0making\u00a0tools\u00a0accessible\u00a0at locations\u00a0others\u00a0than just the computers\u00a0in assigned classrooms.<\/p>\n

In a data-management course that was using a commercial database\u00a0system\u00a0available from only\u00a0the\u00a020 computers in\u00a0the\u00a0classroom.\u00a0With\u00a040 students\u00a0enrolled\u00a0(two sections),\u00a0availability\u00a0was generally low,\u00a0being\u00a0rather\u00a0poor\u00a0especially\u00a0the night before\u00a0assignments were\u00a0due.\u00a0To\u00a0address this problem,\u00a0Dr. Murthy worked\u00a0with 2 volunteer students\u00a0and\u00a0replaced the proprietary system with a new,\u00a0home-grown,\u00a0free, and\u00a0open-source system\u00a0called ClassDB, which he has made usable from\u00a0any computer on campus and on students\u2019 own computers\u00a0anywhere.<\/p>\n

Dr. Murthy just completed negotiations\u00a0with Microsoft\u00a0to provide\u00a0normally cost-prohibitive\u00a0tools\u00a0free\u00a0of charge\u00a0to\u00a0CS\u00a0students, faculty and staff<\/em>. This\u00a0arrangement\u00a0lets\u00a0students\u00a0install\u00a0professional\u00a0tools\u00a0on their own computers to complete assignments and to\u00a0practice, making them better prepared\u00a0as\u00a0potential hires.<\/p>\n

Dr. Murthy\u00a0is convinced that\u00a0embracing\u00a0technology\u00a0in designing\u00a0courseware, teaching, and interacting with students\u00a0has increased\u00a0efficiency, clarity, and connection to the contemporary environment of the student.<\/p>\n

Interview conducted by John Bonanni & Ronald Samul<\/em><\/p>\n

Author Bio:\u00a0John Bonanni spent the last forty years in the theatre on tour, on Broadway, at Radio City Music Hall and many places in between managing every sensitive personality he encountered. He now writes about them, among other things. His articles have appeared in Adelaide Literary Magazine, Inspired Living Magazine, and Senior Outlook Today. \u202fHe is currently enrolled in the MFA in Creative and Professional Program at Western Connecticut State University.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>theliteraryfish@gmail.com<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Dr.Sean Murthy Director of Data Science & Systems Lab Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science     This is the final faculty interview conducted and written by a talented WCSU MFA student, John Bonanni. Our goal is to celebrate …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pedagogy","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/celt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/celt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/celt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/celt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/celt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/celt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/celt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/celt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/celt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}