Visit the Computer Science Department Web Site
Why Computer Science?
We live in a new age. It has been called the Information Age, the Knowledge Age and the Third Industrial Revolution. The things that define the age — the Internet, World Wide Web, robots, the Space Station and countless others — exist because of computer scientists.
Do you have what it takes to be a contributing member of the new age as a computer scientist? You can get an idea by trying the problem on this page. It is typical of the work of a computer scientist.
What does it take?
Alma College’s Computer Science program prepares men and women to be contributing leaders in the new age. Students must be adept at mathematics and science and desire to learn how computers work and how to use them. They also must be committed to learning in the rigorous Alma Computer Science program.
What are the rewards, and why Alma College?
Alma’s great! Every professor I had,
especially in the Math and Computer Science Department, was extremely
good. They all put the students first, and teaching is their top
priority.
Amy Kuiper ‘02
Satisfaction: You can study and learn a challenging subject and be amazed at what you learn.
Graduate School: Graduates of Alma’s Computer Science program who desire a post graduate degree are placed in prestigious graduate schools at a nearly 100 percent rate. They include Cornell, Georgia Tech, Michigan State University, University of Michigan and the University of Southern California.
Placement and compensation: Graduating computer scientists’ earnings are among the three highest for all undergraduate degrees in the United States. The demand for computer scientists in industry, business, education and the military is so great that tens of thousands of positions go unfilled.
Alma College graduates: Employers recognize the value of Alma’s rigorous Computer Science degree. They love the value of interdisciplinary study, undergraduate research, study abroad, team projects, community-service courses and leadership opportunities at Alma.
What will you study?
A Computer Science major begins with computer science basics and principles of programming, followed by data structures, hardware organization, operating systems, ethics and algorithm analysis. Other in-depth courses include robotics, database management, artificial intelligence, networking, compiler design, theory of computing, parallel computing, management of information systems and topical studies in many areas.
What computers will you use?
Alma College has a modern computing environment that provides Internet connections for all students living in College housing and convenient access to well-equipped computing areas. The Mathematics and Computer Science Department provides two computer labs with about 25 computers, supported by powerful servers, printers and scanners.
The Traveling Salesperson Problem
This is a famous problem that you might find interesting and surprising.
- The problem is to plan the shortest route for a traveling salesperson to visit a given list of cities to sell her/his goods. This is simply a matter of:
- Listing all the possible routes that the salesperson can take visiting each city once.
- Calculating the distance that would be traveled for each route.
- Picking the shortest route.
Try this associated problem:
Assume you have a computer that can calculate a single route and distance in one millionth of a second. Assume that it works by calculating the routes for a group of cities, one route at a time, keeping the shortest route as it is calculated. Since any route may be the shortest, all have to be calculated. The number of routes that must be calculated depends on the number of cities. If there are 5 cities, then there will be 5x4x3x2x1 = 120 routes; there will be 6x5x4x3x2x1 = 720 routes if there are 6 cities.
- How long will it take the computer to finish if there are 10 cities?
- How long will it take the computer to finish if there are 20 cities?
Questions? Contact Professor John Hawley at (989) 463-7177 or hawley@alma.edu.
