Learn to disrupt and adapt to change.
The B.S. in Computer Science gives you the broad computational thinking, programming, and problem-solving skills you’ll need to succeed as a computing professional in a range of emerging careers and industries — from automated vehicles to biomedical devices and sensor-based technologies. Whether you select from one of three concentrations (game development and simulation, cyber-security, software engineering) or choose from advance topics, you will graduate with a comprehensive foundation that enables you to adapt to new disruptive technologies and changing demand.
Program Highlights
The Department of Computer Science offers a comprehensive curriculum that favors a pragmatic, problem-solving approach to computing. The program builds upon a mathematically rigorous foundation, while challenging you with physics, chemistry, and other sciences to round out your ability to frame problems and think analytically. Once you have the practice of these fundamentals, you will be more confident as you move on to the theory, design, development, and application of software and software systems. Your experience will culminate with a yearlong senior capstone project.
Accreditation
The Bachelor of Science program in Computer Science is accredited by the Computing and Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET.
View MoreConcentrations
Advanced Topics
Students can design their own four-course concentration within the major based on their personal academic and professional pursuits. This unique combination of courses works in concert with other co- and extra-curricular activities, including research experiences, internships, and a wide variety of opportunities in our student organizations. Advanced Topics offers the student the flexibility in curriculum choices to grow with their changing interests as they look forward to graduation, graduate school, and their professional endeavors.
Autonomous Systems
Students focusing on autonomous systems learn programming, hardware, and security for use in complex networks or collections of networks. Autonomous systems increasingly run our workplaces, vehicles, and even our homes.
Big Data Analytics
Students in Big Data Analytics learn to collect, manage and optimize large-scale structured and unstructured data sets to facilitate information and decision-making. Students in Big Data Analytic develop a strong foundation in essential programming skills, quantitative analysis, and hardware and software solutions for facilitating effective use of big data.
Game Development and Simulation
Game Development and Simulation is an interdisciplinary concentration that applies the rigor of computer science to the creative challenges of game development. With a core curriculum in computing, mathematics and science, this concentration combines advanced technical skills with training in the visual arts to prepare students to develop innovations in digital gaming.
Health Systems Engineering
The Health Systems Engineering (HSE) concentration program prepares the architects of tomorrow’s healthcare system to take on its most urgent and complex challenges. Health systems engineering involves a multidisciplinary approach that applies engineering and analytic principles to all aspects of healthcare. Students in the program gain real-world experience with industry experts and a multidisciplinary faculty to prepare students for a career leading change in healthcare.
Information Assurance and Cybersecurity
With the increasing footprint of networked businesses, embedded computers, and global conflict, the demand is increasing for individuals to help protect and monitor security measures against hackers and breaches. The cyber-security concentration focuses on information assurance and computer security and will provide you with hands-on experience designing systems and strategies for safeguarding information.
Software Engineering
Software engineers apply the principles of effective management of software teams. This growing field includes orchestration of application software engineers who create and maintain computer applications, and systems software engineers who analyze the client’s technical needs and develop and maintain optimal solutions. Because nearly all employment sectors rely on complex software solutions, software engineering is one of the fastest-growing occupations in the world.
Capstone: Where it Comes Together
Each Florida Poly senior joins a Capstone Design team of (three to five students) of a single discipline (mechanical engineering) or mixed disciplines (engineering, computer science, data science, etc.) to complete a year-long, industry sponsored project. Capstone culminates with a year-end gathering of sponsors and project teams, and the presentation of final ‘beta’ level prototypes. Past Capstone Design projects have led to job offers from sponsoring companies.
Capstone Snapshot
A team of computer science students are helping to solve the problem of how fashion retailers can better anticipate changes in consumer preference and buying intensity, as it relates to seasonal, holiday and event peaks of interest. Working with Florida’s Advanced Analytics, the Smart Data Aggregation Bot capstone investigates using a smart “BOT” to gather and categorize happenings/events data to correlate to product sales forecasting.
Get Involved
Florida Polytechnic University invites you to develop both people and technology skills through a variety of undergraduate research opportunities and student organizations: academic clubs (Math Club, Modeling and Simulation Club); and social groups (Latin American Student Association, Variety Gaming Tournament Club).
Award-Winning Robotics
Florida Poly’s Purple Fire Robotics Club (45 members strong) took home the Judges Award at the 2018 VEX Robotics World Championship and will next compete in the 2019 SoutheastCon “First 50…Next 50” Hardware Competition in Huntsville, Alabama.
Job Outlook
While computer scientists work across every industry, two — transportation and logistics, and finance — provide good examples of how a B.S. in Computer Science degree will always be relevant, and why you might want to further specialization as you advance through your career.
The US Department of Labor anticipates that employment of computer scientists will remain strong, predicting that the three STEM jobs with the most growth will all be in computing:
- 22,000 new software development jobs each year
- 12,500 new systems analysts jobs each year
- 11,000 new computing support jobs each year
Computer Science Stats
Faculty
Meet Youssif Al-Nashif
Associate Professor
Believes that the future smart building you’ll work or live in will require the same protection from cyberattacks as your computer, and soon your car. Dr. Al-Nashif has served as research director for the NSF Center for Cloud and Autonomic Computing (NSF-CAC) at the University of Arizona as as a computer research scientist for AVIRTEK Inc., a cybersecurity product development firm.
Meet Luis Jaimes
Assistant Professor
His research looks at how to incentivize large numbers of participants asked to participate in a crowdsensing exercise. Dr. Jaimes directs the ubiquitous sensing and smart mobility lab where he explores the future of crowdsensing — the tapping of volunteers with smartphones as well as environment-based systems, and things to harvest large quantities of data in urban areas.
Meet Wei Ding
Associate Professor
Is a software engineer, author of two books and an expert in applying algorithm approaches and artificial neural networks to the prevention of human fall injuries. Dr. Ding and his team created a robotic scheme to simulate human falls by transplanting a proven fall prediction paradigm for humanoid robots to human subjects.