By Taylor Paraboschi

The University’s computer science department received a $290,000 grant from the National Science Foundation last week to enhance the computer science curriculum. “There is a clear need for such changes in computing education to prepare the upcoming generation of computing professionals,” said Simona Doboli, in a University press release last Thursday.

The official project is entitled the “Innovative Computer Education Project” was originally started last October and is aimed at adding the dimensions to the computing science department. “The aim of this project is to better prepare students to work in the global economy,” said Doboli.

The project consists of 2 main programs, the Concentration in Leadership and Innovation in Computing (CLIC) and the Option in Leadership and Innovation in Computing (OLIC). The CLIC consists six courses, a total of 18 semester hours. The courses include four business classes (two entrepreneurial, one financial and one marketing) provided by the University’s Frank G. Zarb School of Business, and two computer science courses.

The second program, the OLIC, which is geared more towards computer engineer majors, will be slightly more compressed, only containing nine semester hours worth of work. The nine semester hours of work will be broken up into three components, one course offered in Foundations of Leadership and Innovation, an internship and a senior project.

“The goal of the internship is to allow the students to gain a hands-on experience from all aspects of the job,” said Doboli when asked about the programs internships. The internships will be with local entrepreneurs, and are geared towards allowing the students to “immerse themselves in the life of the entrepreneur” they are working with through 10 hours of hands on experience.

Students will be allowed to test the knowledge that they’ve learned through the course by completing a final senior project where they will have to create a prototype, work out the different details and aspects of it before presenting it to a panel.

“The interesting part of the senior project is that students will be able to work with groups of students from either Stony Brook University, or with international students from Germany, Russia or South Korea,” said Doboli. She added that if the students create a “global team” with the international students from the various countries, they will be able to see things from an international perspective.

The new computing science concentration will also offer monthly seminars given by local entrepreneurs and patent lawyers that will be held at the University.

In support of the new program two University alumni donated $25,000 each to the advancement of the project. For more information about the program you can visit www.hofstra.edu/csentrepreneur.