Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences facts for kids
Donald Bren Hall, one of the buildings on the campus of the Bren School
|
|
| Type | Academic unit |
|---|---|
| Established | 2002 |
| Affiliation | University of California, Irvine |
| Dean | Marios Papaefthymiou |
The Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, often called UCI's School of ICS or the Bren School, is a special part of the University of California, Irvine (UCI). It is the only school in the whole University of California system that focuses only on computer science. The school has almost three thousand students, teachers, and staff. It has three main buildings on the UCI campus. The Bren School works with other parts of UCI for student activities and research.
The School of ICS has three main departments: Computer Science, Informatics, and Statistics. These departments work together to teach about computing and how information is processed. Students can earn many different degrees here, from bachelor's degrees to master's and doctoral degrees. Some programs even work with other schools at UCI.
Contents
History of the Bren School
In 1968, just three years after UCI started, the Department of Information and Computer Science was created. It was a standalone department, meaning it wasn't part of any other school.
In 2002, this department became a full school. Its teachers were split into two new departments: Computer Science and Informatics. The Department of Statistics, which had started earlier in 2002, also joined the new school.
In 2004, the school received a very large gift of $20 million. This gift came from Donald Bren, a successful real estate developer. Because of his generous donation, the school was renamed in his honor.
What Students Learn
The Bren School of ICS is one of only a few independent computer science schools in the United States. It is the only one in the University of California system.
U.S. News & World Report ranked the Bren School as one of the top computer science programs in the United States in 2016. It was also ranked highly among public university programs. For some specific areas within computer science, the school is ranked very high. For example, it's known for its work in human-computer interaction and software engineering.
Undergraduate Programs
The school offers eight different bachelor's degrees. These programs cover many areas, from how computer hardware works to how computers interact with people and society. Each program leads to a Bachelor of Science degree. (It's good to know that Computer Engineering is taught in the Henry Samueli School of Engineering, not in ICS).
Three of the eight undergraduate majors are special because they are shared with other schools at UCI. These include programs with the Paul Merage School of Business, the Henry Samueli School of Engineering, and the School of Biological Sciences.
Here are some of the majors available:
- Biomedical Computing
- Business Information Management
- Computer Game Science
- Computer Science
- Computer Science & Engineering
- Informatics
- Information and Computer Science
- Software Engineering
Some popular majors that are not shared with other schools include:
- Information and Computer Science: This is a main major at the school. It focuses on the ideas behind computer science and how to build software. Students in this program have more freedom to choose what they want to study in computer science. They can even specialize in areas like Artificial Intelligence, Computer Systems, Information Systems, or Networks.
- Computer Science: This major is similar to Information and Computer Science. It follows a more traditional computer science path, based on recommendations from groups like the ACM.
- Informatics: This major is special because it's unique in the UC system. It helps students learn about how people use and interact with technology. This prepares them for jobs in areas like software analysis, design, and management.
Graduate Programs
The Bren School also offers advanced degrees for students who want to study even more. They have master's and doctorate programs in many areas. Since computing is used in almost every field, ICS works with other schools at UCI on many of these programs.
For example, students can study Embedded Systems, which are specialized computer systems found in many devices. They can also learn about Knowledge Discovery and Data, which is about finding useful information from large amounts of data.
The Informatics department offers programs focused on how people interact with computers, called human–computer interaction. They also have programs for Software engineering, which is about designing and building software.
Some programs combine different fields. For instance, Networked Systems involves both the School of Engineering and ICS. This program studies how computer networks and telecommunications work. There's also Arts Computation Engineering, which combines ICS with the Claire Trevor School of the Arts. This program uses computer science to create new things in the arts. Informatics in Biology & Medicine combines computer science with biology.
The Department of Statistics offers graduate programs that help students learn how to use data to solve problems. This can be useful in many fields, like economics and biology.
Important People
The current leader of the Bren School is Dean Marios Papaefthymiou. He is a professor of computer science.
Many successful people have graduated from the Bren School. These include:
- Roy Fielding, who helped create the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) that powers the internet.
- Patrick Hanratty, a pioneer in CAD (software used to design things).
- Paul Mockapetris, who created the Domain Name System (DNS), which helps computers find websites.
- Steven Joe, who was the CEO of D-Link North America, a company that makes networking equipment.
School Buildings and Labs
The school has three main buildings. These buildings provide a lot of space for learning and research. There are many computer labs in each building, with over 500 computers available for students. All the buildings are located next to the School of Engineering on the southeast side of UCI's campus.
The Information and Computer Science building (ICS) is where many undergraduate classes are held. It has four floors. The first floor has three computer labs for first-year students. These labs have many computers for learning. The first and second floors also have classrooms, while the upper floors have offices for teachers.
This building also has the largest computer lab, called ICS364. It has many different types of computers, including Windows, OS X, Solaris, and Linux machines. This lab is right next to a special room for computer servers, which you can see through a large window.
Information and Computer Science 2 (ICS2) is a smaller building that mainly has offices for graduate students. It also has the Human Computer Interaction lab, where students study how people use computers.
Donald Bren Hall is the newest and largest building for the school. It was finished in 2007. It has offices for many teachers and staff, plus four large lecture halls and ten classrooms.
Two older buildings, the ICS Engineering Research Facility (IERF) and Computer Science/Engineering (CS/E), were taken down in 2007.
Student Life and Research
Research Groups
ICS helped start the Ada Byron Research Center (ABRC). This center helps students from different backgrounds get involved in Computer Science. It is named after Ada Lovelace, a famous female mathematician from the 1800s. The ABRC wants to help more people become computer science researchers.
The California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2) is a research group that works on many different topics. UCI has one of the two Calit2 buildings. This building provides space for projects that fit Calit2's goals.
LUCI, the Laboratory for Ubiquitous Computing and Interaction, is another research center focused on computing.
The Connected Learning Lab (CLL) studies how technology can help people learn in new and fair ways.
Student Clubs
The ICS Student Council is the official student government for the school. It helps organize all the student clubs in ICS. They host fun events, career development workshops, and networking events. They also run open-source projects.
The ICS House is a special house on campus where about 16 students from the school can live.
UC Irvine ACM (ACM) is the student chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery. This club holds regular meetings and competes in programming contests, like the International Collegiate Programming Contest.
Women in Information and Computer Sciences (WICS) is a student club that supports and encourages women in computer science fields.
Cyber at UCI (Cyber@UCI) is a club focused on cybersecurity. They host events and compete in cybersecurity competitions.
Management Information Student Society (MAISS) is a student club for those interested in both technology and business.
