SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
Computer science is the discipline that studies the structure, function, and applications of computers. The programmes of the Department of Computer Science are dedicated to educate students in the areas of foundations of computer science, artificial intelligence, computer engineering, data and knowledge base systems, and software technology, so that they may become effective practitioners and researchers.
Through the efforts of researchers and engineers in the last five decades, computers have evolved from large, slow, and very specialised systems to small, fast, and ordinary tools that are part of virtually everyone's life. For example, the computing power of ENIAC, the first electronic computer which weighed 40 tons, cannot come close to that of the calculators that our school children carry today. This phenomenal improvement in computing power over the years has been accompanied by an equally phenomenal decrease in cost. The ubiquitous nature of computers in the workplace now is making computer literacy a requirement for all professionals in industrial societies. When computer technology is applied with a thorough understanding of computer science, business can compete successfully in the emerging global market- place.
Traditional computer science research covers hardware, the physical compo- nents of computer systems, and software, the logical instructions to the computer for problem-solving. Computer Science programmes at HKUST cover both but emphasise software. This emphasis is consistent with a world-wide trend of the increasing importance of computer software in various applications and in research.
The Department offers a full range of courses to meet the needs of its own students and those from other departments. Its programmes lead to the BEng, MPhil, MSc, and PhD degrees. Aside from taking computer science courses, students are encouraged to design individual study plans tailored to their own interests.
In addition to the BEng programme in Computer Science, the Department is also actively participating in the design and administration of the BEng programme in Computer Engineering. For details, please refer to page 178.
Faculty
Professor and Head of Department:
Vincent Y. S. SHEN, BS National Taiwan; MA, PhD Princeton Professors:
Samuel T. CHANSON, BSc Hong Kong; MSc, PhD Univ of California, Berkeley (Associate Head of Department)
Roland T. CHIN, BS, PhD Missouri-Columbia Frederick H. LOCHOVSKY, BASc, MSc, PhD Toronto Eugene WONG, BS, AM, PhD Princeton
(Vice-President for Research and Development, and Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering)
Derick WOOD, BSc, PhD(Maths) Leeds Readers:
Jun GU, BS Univ of Sci & Tech of China, PhD Utah
Ting-Chuen PONG, BS Univof Wisconsin, Eau Claire; MS, PhD Virginia Polytech lnst and State Univ
Department of Computer Science
Senior LecturersIAssociate Professors:
Amelia C. W. FONG LOCHOVSKY, BSc Toronto; MSc, MA, PhD Princeton Dik L. LEE, BSc Chinese Univ of Hong Kong; MSc, PhD Toronto
Helen C. SHEN, BMath, PhD Waterloo; MSc Toronto LecturersIAssistant Professors:
lshfaq AHMAD, BSc Univ of Eng & Tech, Pakistan; MS, PhD Syracuse George BACIU, BMath, MASc, PhD Waterloo
Lewis H. M. CHAU, BSc Chinese Univ of Hong Kong; MSc Univ of Alabama, Birmingham; PhD Univ of California, Los Angeles
Siu-Wing CHENG, BSc Hong Kong; PhD Minnesota
Shing-Chi CHEUNG, BSc(Eng) Hong Kong; MSc, PhD London
Manhoi CHOY, BSc Hong Kong; MSc, PhD Univ of California, Santa Barbara Pamela A. DREW, BA, MS, PhD Univ of Colorado, Boulder
Kok-Wee GAN, BSc, MSc, PhD National Univ of Singapore
Mordecai J. GOLIN, BSc Hebrew Univ of Jerusalem; MA, PhD Princeton James W. GRAY, Ill, BS, MS, PhD Maryland
Mounir HAMDI, BS Southwestern Louisiana; MS, PhD Pittsburgh Babak HAMIDZADEH, BS, MS, PhD Minnesota
Andrew B. HORNER, BMusic Boston; MS Univ of Tennessee, Knoxville; PhD Univ of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Kamalakar KARLAPALEM, BSc Bombay; MS lndian Statistical lnst; MS lndian lnst of Tech; PhD Georgia lnst of Tech
Alex KEAN, BCS, MSC Acadia; PhD British Columbia Chung-Mong LEE, BSc, MSc, PhD Minnesota Bo LI, BS, MS Tsinghua; PhD Massachusetts Qing LI, BE Hunan; MSc, PhD Southern California Zhaoping LI, BS Fudan; PhD Calif lnst of Tech
Jogesh K. MUPPALA, BE Osmania; MS Southwestern Louisiana;
PhD Duke
Avi C. NAIMAN, BSc Framingham State Coll; MSc, PhD Toronto
Tin-Fook NGAI, BSc(EE) Hong Kong; MS Pennsylvania State; PhD Stanford Chung-Dak SHUM, BS, MS Washington Univ; PhD Univ of California, Los
Angeles
Michael D. STIBER, BS Washington Univ; MS, PhD Univ of California, Los Angeles
Dekai WU, BS Univ of California, San Diego; PhD Univ of California, Berkeley Beat WUTHRICH, BS Berne Neufeld; MS, PhD Swiss Fed lnst of Tech Dit-Yan YEUNG, BSc(Eng), MPhil Hong Kong; MS, PhD Southern California Nevin Lianwen ZHANG, BS China Univ of Electrical Science & Tech; MS, PhD
(Applied Maths) Beijing Normal; PhD British Columbia Visiting LecturerIAssistant Professor:
Jelena V. MISIC, BS, MS, PhD Belgrade
Undergraduate Programme
All undergraduates are required to take a series of courses to provide them with basic engineering theories, concepts, and practices. Classes in the basic sciences and mathematics also form part of the curriculum. Introductions to the theories and applications of computers are given in the second year. In the third year, students may specialise in one of the major concentrations such as foundations of computer science,
Debartment o f Combuter Science
artificial intelligence, computer engineering, data and knowledge base management, or software technology. Alternatively, students may choose to remain in a general programme with a course of study tailored to their own interests. A final year project is required under the supervision of an academic advisor.
Admission Requirements 1996-97
In addition to the general entrance requirements of the University, acceptable orades are reauired in either (1) two AL subiects (includinq Pure Mathematics) and two
0 ~ ~-~
AS subjects,
dr
(2) three AL k"bjects (inc16ding pure ~Ghematics).Curriculum for BEng in Computer Science Core courses
(1) COMP 102 Computer and Programming Fundamentals I [2-1-1:3]
D~uS
1 COMP 103 Computer and Programming Fundamentals II [2-0-1-21 or COMP 104 Programming Fundamentals and Methodology [3-0-1:3]
COMP 111 Design and Analysis of Algorithms Theory of Computation
Discrete Structures
Introduction to Software Engineering Fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence I Database Management Systems no. of courses total credits
(2) COMP Computer Science elective 5 1511 7
(3) H&SS Humanities and Social Science elective 4 12 (4) SB&M Business and Management elective 2 6
Additional requirement
(5) LANG 001 Language Skills Enhancement l [0-3-1:0]
Notes:
(1) Students without computer background are required to take COMP 102 plus COMP 103 and at least 15 COMP elective credits. Those who have computer background will take COMP 104 and at least 17 COMP elective credits.
(2) COMP electives must be at 200-level or higher. At least six credits must be at 300- level or higher.
(3) Of these courses, at least one course in Humanities and one in Social Science are required.
(4) Students should note that certain ISMT courses may not be used as SB&M electives.
(5) Students admitted without grade C or above in AS Use of English will be required to take and pass this course during the first semester of attendance.
A minimum of 100 credits is required for the BEng programme in Computer Science. Students must take additional course(s) andlor elective@) of higher-than- required credit value to meet this minimum total of 100 credits.
Recommended Pattern of Study for the Curriculum
1st year Fall C COMP 104 (or COMP 102), COMP 11 1, MATH 132;
R ELEC 101;
0 LANG 001 * (Total: 14 credits)
* Students who are not required to take this course may take an elective in this semester.
Spring C COMP 171 (or COMP 103), COMP 180;
R MATH 11 1, MECH 182;
E FREE, H&SS (Total: 19/18 credits) 2nd year Fall C COMP 271 (or COMP 171), COMP 252;
E three COMP, H&SS (Total: 15/16 credits) Spring R COMP 398;
E two COMP, FREE, H&SS, SB&M (Total: 18 credits) C = core course; R = required course; E = elective course; 0 = other course
School of Engineering
Postgraduate Programmes and Research
The Department of Computer Science has established critical mass in a few research areas that are relevant to the needs of society and that can be sustained by talents from the local community. These areas are:
The Foundations of Computer Sciencearea includes the study of the theory of comDutation. and the design and analvsis of algorithms. Research in theory seeks to uncover and'explain the sGuctures unberlying 6omputational processes, aswell as to model the difficulties encountered in an attempt to understand them. Research in algorithms seeks to identify central problems in various applications and to develop efficient approaches to solve them. Artificial Intelligence (Al) is concerned with how computers .can be made to exhibit intelligent behaviour in performing tasks which traditionallv have been best done bv humans. These tasks include reasoning, planning, speech recognition, language unber~tandin~, vision, learning, and mot&" control.
Computer Engineering research studies the analysis, design, and implementation of computer systems. The goal is to identify effective methods to build systems that meet customers' requirements. Topics under investigation are computer architecture and organisation, fault-tolerant computing, operating systems, parallel and distributed computing, and real-time systems. Other topics that involve both computer and electrical engineering include computer communication and networking, and VLSl design. The computer engineering programme is designed to prepare students for research in the areas described above, as well as to provide solutions to Hong Kong's needs in the design and analysis of computer systems, communication networks, and systems software. Data and Knowledge Management covers techniques of data and knowledge representation, utilisation,-and integration, in order to effectively support emeraina data- and knowledae-intensive applications. Soffware Technology is con- cern& Ath the design, devebpment, testing, and maintenance of softwaresysterns, especially those that are large and complex. The goal is to identify the methods and tools that can be used by software engineers to produce high-quality systems at low cost.
Engineering
The Department offers Master of Science (MSc), Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programmes in Computer Science. Applicants for admission are required to have completed, by the time they enter HKUST, a bachelor's degree in computer science or a related science or engineering. Deficiencies in any
Department of Computer Science
core computer science areas can be made up concurrently with postgraduate work.
Students must also demonstrate a sufficient command of English.
Admission Requirements
In addition to satisfying all the University requirements for postgraduate de- grees, all students admitted to postgraduate studies in the Department of Computer Science must complete the departmental programme requirements detailed below.
All students admitted to a postgraduate programme must demonstrate compe- tence in the following core areas: (a) computer organisation; (b) principles of program- ming languages; (c) principles of systems software; (d) design and analysis of algo- rithms; and (e) theory of computation. Competence in these areas is appraised during the admission process. A student whose formal computer science background is deemed inadequate may be admitted on a provisional basis and required to take a set of remedial courses prescribed by the departmental Postgraduate Studies Committee and obtain at least a grade of B in these courses. Such additional requirements will be stipulated in the individual offers of admission.
Course Requirements
At least 6 credits applied towards the MPhil degree and two-thirds of the credits applied towards the MSc degree must be earned at this University.
For all postgraduate programmes, the graduation grade average (GGA) ob- tained in the courses used to satisfy the degree requirements must be at least B. Credits used to satisfy course requirements must cover at least four established research areas of the Department, of which one must be Foundations of Computer Science. All students are required to register for the Computer Science seminar (COMP 690,691 or 692), for two semesters. Postgraduate courses from other departments relevant to a student's study programme may be counted towards the course requirements. All such courses must be endorsed by the student's academic advisor and approved by the Postgraduate Studies Committee of the Department. Additional requirements may be imposed for individual programmes.
Requirements for the MSc Degree Programme in Computer Science For full-time students, the normal length of time for the completion of the MSc degree is one and a half years. The number of required credits for the MSc degree is 30 (two-thirds of which must be in Computer Science), and may be earned either by coursework-and-project or by coursework only.
The Coursework-and-Project Option
A student must complete at least eight postgraduate courses (24 credits), a computer science project (4 credits), and the Computer Science seminar for two semesters (2 credits) to receive the MSc degree. The final project report will be read by two faculty members, one of whom is the supewisor, and will be graded "Pass" or
"Fail". A "Pass" grade may be denoted as "Pass with Distinction" where appropriate.
DeDart?nent of ComDuter Science School of Engineering
The Coursework-Only Option
A student must complete at least nine postgraduate courses (27 credits), and the Computer Science seminar for three semesters (3 credits) to qualify for the MSc degree.
Requirements for the MPhil Degree Programme i n Computer Science For full-time students, the normal length of time for completing the MPhil degree is two years. A student must complete at least five postgraduate courses (15 credits) and the Computer Science seminar for two semesters (2 credits). In addition, the student must conduct research and submit a thesis for approval by the Department. A thesis examination committee should be set up at least six weeks before the proposed date of the oral defence. The committee will examine the thesis and conduct an oral defence.
Requirements for the PhD Degree Programme in Computer Science For full-time students, the normal length of time for completing the PhD degree is four years after the first degree with a reduction of one and a half years if a relevant Master's degree is earned prior to entering the programme. In addition to the course requirement of at least five postgraduate courses (15 credits) and the Computer Science seminar for two semesters (2 credits), a PhD student must also satisfy the following qualifying and thesis requirements.
Qualifying Examination
The qualifying requirement consists of two parts. (1) Major Area: a written examination wescribed in the student's research area. An oral supplementary compo- nent may also be required. (2) Minor Area: a written examination inan approved second area may be waived for students who have taken either (i) an approved advanced course in the second area il it is in Computer Science and a B+ has been obtained; or (ii) an approved, advanced postgraduate course in the second area if it is outside Computer Science and a grade considered satisfactory by the departmental Postgradu- ate Studies Committee.
A PhD student is expected to fulfil the qualifying requirement by the end of the second year of study. A second chance will be given to those who fail in their first attempt.
Thesis Proposal
Each PhD candidate is required to submit and defend a thesis proposal, normally within one year after satisfying the qualifying requirement. A thesis committee consisting of a minimum of four faculty members (including the supervisor) should be set up at least six weeks before the date of the thesis proposal presentation. At least three members of this committee must be from the Department.
Thesis and Final Thesis Defence
Each PhD candidate must submit a thesis describing significant original research completed at HKUST, with a public oral examination held for the student's
defence of the thesis research. A thesis examination committee should be Hnalised, subject to approval by the Committee on Postgraduate Stuclies of Senate, no later than nine (9) weeks before the date of the examination. This committee shall consist of at least five (5) members. At least three (3) members (including the supervisor) shall be from computer science. one examiner shall b e e x t e k tothe-~nivesit~. he aff iliation of the fifth examiner is left to the discretion
af
the supervisor and the student.Faculty Career Activitks and Research Interests Professor Vincent Y. SHEN, Head of Department
Professor Shen has taught at Burdue University and served as a research manager at the Microelectronics andcomputer ~ e c h n o l o ~ y Corp in the United States. He has also held visitina oositions at National Tsina Hua Universitv and IBM . His research interests are softwa;e engineering and software design environments.
Professor Samuel T. CHANSON, Associate Head of Department
Proteasor Chanson has taught at Purdue University and the University of British Columbia. Ha was Professor and Director of the Distributed Systems Research Group at the University of British Columbia before joining HKUST. His research interests are high speed networks, multi-media communications, and protocol engineering. He is aisb interested in software environments for parallel computers, and distributed oper- ating systems.
P r u i ~ o r
Roland
T. CHINProfessor Chin has twght at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and was Associate Chairman of theDe~artment of Electrical and Com~uter Enaineerina from 1986 to 1990.
He received the US Presidential Young lnvesti~ator's a i a r d in 7984. His research interests are digital signal processing, image analysis, pattern recognition, and compu- ter vision. He is an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, and IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence.
Professor Frederick H. LOCHOVSKY
Professor Lochovshy has taught at the University of Toronto where he was also Associate ~ i r s c t o r ofihe comp;ter systems ~esearch Institute. He has been a Visiting Scientist at IBM Research Laboratorv and Associate Dean of Enaineerina at HKUST.
His research interests are informatibn systems design, database design, data and knowledge base systems, organisational support systems and human-computer inter- action.
Professor Eugene WONG, Vice-President for Research and Development, and Profes- sor of Electrical and Electronic Enaineerina
Before joining HKUST, Professor Gong was affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley, where he was a professor since 1969. He headed the Department of Electrical
~ n ~ i n e e r i n ~ and Computer Sciences during 1985-89, and then became Associate Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President (White House) during 1990-1 993, with responsibility for physical sciences, engineering, and industrial technology. Professor Wong was co-developer of the INGRES database management system and co-founder of the INGRES Corporation to commercialise that pioneering technology. His research interests include Stochastic processes, database management systems and neural networks.
Professor Derick WOOD
Professor Derick Wood came to HKUST from the Universities of Western Ontario and Waterloo. His research interests are document processing, algorithms and data
School o f Enpinemef7np
structures, computational biology, formal language theory, and computational geom- etry.
Dr Jun GU, Reader
Dr Gu has taught at the University of Calgary, Canada. His present research interests include operations research and combinatorial optimisation, communication systems, computer architecture, and VLSl circuit design.
Dr Ting-Chuen PONG, Reader
Dr Pong has taught at the University of Minnesota. His research interests are in the field of computer vision, pattern recognition and robotics, especially in the areas of image segmentation, stereo-motion analysis, vision-based navigation, and object recognition.
He is also interested in the development of parallel algorithms for pattern recognition and image analysis.
Dr Amelia FONG LOCHOVSKY, Associate Professor
Dr Amelia Fong Lochovsky has taught at the University of Toronto and was Associate Professor at the University of Guelph before joining HKUST. She also held visiting positions at IBM Yorktown and San ~ o s e ~esearch ~aboratories. Her research interests include artificial intelligence, image processing, and Chinese information processing.
Dr Dik L. LEE, Associate Professor
Dr Lee was on the faculty of the Department of Computer and Information Science at the Ohio State University since 1985. He was an ACM National Lecturer from 1991- 1993, and has sewed on the Program Committee of the International Conference on Data Engineering. His research interests include information retrieval, deductive database systems and object-oriented database systems.
Dr Lee was on the faculty of the Department of Computer and Information Science at the Ohio State University since 1985. He was an ACM National Lecturer from 1991- 1993, and has sewed on the Program Committee of the International Conference on Data Engineering. His research interests include information retrieval, deductive database systems and object-oriented database systems.