Research
The University of Idaho Department of Computer Science faculty actively engage in several significant research areas. Our faculty provide students on-going opportunities to conduct real-world research and disseminate results. An integral part of our graduate student mentoring experience engages students in the research and publication process.
Cyber Security
Our faculty and students have also designed and implemented a hands-on laboratory where students can investigate threats to and protection of computer system. We've actively engaged in researching, theory, tools and techniques to enhance security of computer systems, information transmission, and information protection.
Participating Faculty: Jim Alves-Foss, Daniel Conte de Leon and Jia Song
Robotics in Coeur d’Alene
The Robotics program in Coeur d’Alene is growing. We are building the Vandal Manufacturing Automation Laboratory (VMAL) to train Computer Scientists in programming robotic using modern software design and with the use of Artificial Intelligence programming techniques for machine vision and sensor data analysis.
Participating Faculty: John Shovic, Bob Rinker
Evolutionary Computation
The evolutionary computation group studies the process of evolving better solutions from a population of potentially good solutions — like a farmer breeding a better cow from a herd of cows. This group has looked at several techniques of breeding protein classifiers for biological problems and training teams of robots to cooperate.
Participating Faculty: Robert Heckendorn and Terry Soule
Bioinformatics
The Institute for Interdisciplinary Data Sciences (IIDS) provides a rich intellectual environment in which cross-disciplinary, university-wide research and education flourishes. We study novel algorithms for phylogenetics and protein classification. Student work has included cancer simulations to study the development of breast cancer at the genetic and cellular levels.
Participating Faculty: Robert Heckendorn and Terry Soule
Cyber Defense & Modern Computing
In the Reconfigurable Attack-Defend Instructional Computing Laboratory (RADICL), students and researchers experiment with information assurance, cyber-defense and modern computing platforms and networks. They are able to create a virtual private network infrastructure to simulate a large scale IT environment like those found in businesses and universities.
Participating Faculty: Daniel Conte de Leon