Share Your CS Memory with Us!
2023 marks 50 years since the School of Computing Science at SFU was established.
We were birthed by SFU’s tradition of excellence in teaching and research, and for five decades, we have followed and achieved excellence in research, learning and innovation. Today we are a world-class teaching and learning destination in Canada and beyond. Our research is world-renowned, and our students graduate with advanced knowledge in areas such as networks, multimedia, healthcare and telecommunications.
Join us as we celebrate and reflect on how the contributions from our award-winning teaching and research faculty, students and alumni have made the School of Computing Science a world-class destination for current and future computer scientists.
A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR, MOHAMED HEFEEDA
What an incredible journey for Computing Science at Simon Fraser University (CS@SFU)! CS@SFU started as a small department in 1973 with a few faculty members and tens of undergraduate students. As Hugh Johnston, a historian and SFU professor emeritus, wrote in his aptly titled book (Radical Campus): “When SFU created a Computing Science Department in 1973, it was one of the first five in Canada and one of the first sixty-five in North America (out of more than fifteen hundred degree-granting universities and colleges).” CS@SFU has been at the forefront of computing science since the creation of the discipline itself.
Fifty years later, CS@SFU has become one of the top computing science departments in Canada, with a world-class reputation of excellence in teaching and research. CS@SFU currently has about 3,000 undergraduate students over two campuses in Metro Vancouver, 400+ Ph.D. and M.Sc. students, 70+ excellent faculty members, and 25+ dedicated administrative and technical staff. In the last five years alone, CS@SFU hired more than 20 exceptional faculty members, substantially increased its research funding and expanded its Ph.D. program, and rapidly climbed the world ranking of computing science departments. According to the reputable https://csrankings.org/ website, CS@SFU currently ranks 4th in Canada and among the top 40 departments in North America in terms of research publications at top venues.
Inspired by its pioneering and adventurous history, CS@SFU created one of the earliest and most successful professional master’s programs in Canada focused on Big Data analytics and visualization back in 2014. In 2019, CS@SFU took another bold step and introduced the first Visual Computing master’s program in Canada. Two years later, and responding to the critical shortage of skilled professionals needed to secure Canada’s digital infrastructure, CS@SFU created its Cybersecurity master’s program. Thousands of students apply to these three programs, and only a small fraction of them get the opportunity to join CS@SFU.
The future is indeed bright for CS@SFU, where it will continue introducing pioneering initiatives, train generations of exceptional researchers and innovators, advance computing science knowledge, contribute to the BC’ and Canada’s prosperity and security, and make the world a better place for all.
From Floppy Disks to Flash Drives: The SFU Computing Science Story
