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Graduated: 2008
My main reason for entering the CUNY Computer Science Ph.D. program was because I love learning. After receiving my Master’s in Computer Science I worked as a Software Engineer for Prudential Securities. Prudential Securities was an excellent company to work for but I got to the point where I wanted to learn more and truly challenge myself. It was then that I decided to apply for the Ph.D. program.
I worked with Dr. William Sakas in the area of Computational Linguistics for my dissertation research. Dr. Sakas is one of the principal investigators for the CUNY Computational Language Acquisition Group (CoLAG) along with Dr. Janet Fodor. My research focused on developing computational models of syntax acquisition. I learned how to do research from working with Dr. Sakas. Many students, such as myself, know how to do well in courses but do not necessarily know how to approach research. Working as a member of the CoLAG under Dr. Sakas gave me the opportunity to see how research gets done and how to go about successfully publishing that research.
One of my fondest memories of the program was during my first year. I was a member of a group that met weekly from September to June in preparation for the first-year comprehensive exam. We each studied different topics in depth and taught what we learned to the rest of the group. It was truly a collaborative learning experience. All the group members were supportive and gave their best effort to help their fellow classmates. We had a lot of fun and we learned a lot. It was a wonderful experience.
I am currently an Associate Professor in the Computer Systems Department at Farmingdale State College of the State University of New York (SUNY). I have worked at Farmingdale since graduation from CUNY in 2008. I was granted tenure and a promotion in 2014. I enjoy teaching very much and I have taught eleven different classes since I started at Farmingdale. My primary area of research, at the moment, is Computer Science Education. One solo project was the creation of a simulated operating system (Simple OS) that students can use to learn operating system internals. It allows users to run simple programs and visually see the state of the simulated memory, registers, and process queues. This research was published in an ACM journal. I have worked on collaborative research projects related to Computer Science Education with other professors from around the SUNY system. The current project is supported by a SUNY Innovative Instructional Technology Grant. I have also served as an external reviewer for the SUNY Oneonta Computer Science Program.
I will always be grateful to the CUNY Computer Science Ph.D. program for giving me the learning experience that I wanted and preparing me well for my career.
