Message from the Director

Simon Fraser University offers one of the largest and highest quality computer science programs in Canada. From networks and computer systems to graphics and biomedical image analysis, to artificial intelligence and algorithms and complexity theory, we offer a breadth of knowledge covering the major areas in computer science.  We have a group of world-class researchers, talented instructors, and motivated staff, all dedicated to the success of our students and advancing the scientific knowledge in computing.  

Our faculty and students make fundamental contributions to knowledge across theoretical and applied areas of computer science. Their work is recognized with numerous awards and honours. Faculty members in our School have received 15 prestigious NSERC DAS (Discovery Accelerator Supplement) Awards in the past few years.  Because of the quality of our research and teaching programs, our School has been consistently ranked in the top 5 in Canada and among the top 50—100 worldwide, according to various ranking organizations.  Furthermore, Simon Fraser University has been ranked one of the best Comprehensive Universities in Canada in nine of the past ten years by Maclean’s magazine. To top it off, Simon Fraser University is located in metropolitan Vancouver, one of the most livable cities in the world.

The demand for our programs and our students is enormous and growing at very high rate.  Currently, the School has more than 2,000 undergraduate students—almost double the number of students we had several years ago. Our graduate student population has also grown to more than 300 doctoral and master’s students.  In 2014, we started our Professional Master’s Program in Big Data, which has grown by more than 500% since then. In fall 2018, we launched another stream in the Professional Master’s Program focused on Visual Computing, which is the first of its kind in Canada.

We have many things to be proud of at SFU’s School of Computing Science, and I invite you to learn more about our research and teaching programs through our website, or by contacting us directly.

Dr. Mohamed Hefeeda
Professor and Director 
School of Computing Science