Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

Return to: USC Viterbi School of Engineering  

Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg Human-Centered Computation Hall
(213) 740-4494
FAX: (213) 740-7285
Email: csdept@usc.edu

Chair: Nenad Medvidović, PhD

Faculty

Donald M. Alstadt Chair: Gaurav Sukhatme, PhD

Fluor Early Career Chair in Engineering: Stefanos Nikolaidis, PhD

Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg Early Career Chair in Computer Science: Bistra Dilkina, PhD

Northrup Grumman Chair in Engineering: Ramesh Govindan, PhD

Ming Hsieh Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering: C.-C. Jay Kuo, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

Lloyd F. Hunt Chair of Electrical Power Engineering: Murali Annavaram, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

IBM Early Career Chair: Haipeng Luo, PhD

Philip and Cayley MacDonald Endowed Early Career Chair: Yan Liu, PhD

Gordon S. Marshall Chair in Engineering: Urbashi Mitra, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

Niki and Max Nikias Chair in Engineering and University Professor: Shrikanth (Shri) Narayanan, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering, Linguistics, Psychology, Pediatrics and Otolaryngology)

David Packard Chair in Manufacturing Engineering: Stephen C-Y Lu, PhD (Mechanical Engineering, Industrial and Systems Engineering)

Charles Lee Powell Chair in Engineering: Viktor Prasanna, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

Henry Salvatori Chair in Computer Science: Leonard M. Adleman, PhD

Alexander A. Sawchuk Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering: Maryam Shanechi, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

Chan Soon-Shiong Chair: Maja Matarić, PhD (Neuroscience Center)

Andrew and Erna Viterbi Early Career Chairs: Jernej Barbic, PhD; Meisam Razaviyayn, PhD (Industrial and Systems Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering); Sean (Xiang) Ren, PhD; Mahdi Soltanolkotabi, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering and Industrial and Systems Engineering); Phebe Vayanos, PhD (Industrial and Systems Engineering)

University Professor: Michael Waterman, PhD (Biological Sciences and Mathematics)

Dean’s Professor: Priya Darshan Vashishtra, PhD (Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Biomedical Engineering and Physics and Astronomy)

Dean’s Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Salman Avestimehr, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

IBM Professor of Engineering Management: Neil Seigel, PhD

Fletcher Jones Professor: Ramakant Nevatia, PhD

Helen N. & Emmett H. Jones Professorship in Engineering: Cyrus Shahabi, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering and Spatial Sciences)

William H. Keck Professor in Engineering: Carl F. Kesselman, PhD (Industrial and Systems Engineering, Population and Public Health Sciences, Biomedical Sciences)

Smith International Professorship in Mechanical Engineering: Satyandra K. Gupta, PhD (Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering)

Stephen and Etta Varra Professor: Leana Golubchik, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

WiSE Gabilan Assistant Professors: Souti Rini Chattopadhyay, PhD; Heather Culbertson, PhD; Ruishan Liu, PhD; Evi Micha, PhD; Swabha Swayamdipta, PhD; Weihang Wang; Jieyu Zhao, PhD

Ming Hsieh Faculty Fellow in Electrical and Computer Engineering: Bhaskar Krishnamachari, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

Professors: Leonard Adleman, PhD (Molecular Biology); Jernej Barbic, PhD; Emilio Ferrara, PhD (Communication); Ramesh Govindan, PhD; William GJ Halfond, PhD; Ellis Horowitz, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering); Ming-Deh Huang, PhD; Laurent Itti, PhD (Neuroscience Center); David Kempe, PhD; Yan Liu, PhD; Harsha V. Madhyastha, PhD; Maja Matarić, PhD (Neuroscience Center); Nenad Medvidovic, PhD; Aiichiro Nakano, PhD (Biomedical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics); Ulrich Neumann, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering); Ramakant Nevatia, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering); Cyrus Shahabi, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering); Gaurav Sukhatme, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering); Shanghua Teng, PhD, Chao Wang, PhD

Associate Professors: Jyotirmony Vinay Deshmukh, PhD; Bistra Dilkina, PhD; Shaddin Dughmi, PhD; Shahram Ghandeharizadeh, PhD; Haipeng Luo, PhD; Barath Raghavan, PhD; Sean (Xiang) Ren, PhD

Assistant Professors: Erdem Biyik, PhD; Souti Rini Chattopadhyay, PhD; Heather Culbertson, PhD; Robin Jia, PhD; Sai Praneeth Karimireddy, PhD; Mengyuan Li, PhD; Lars Lindemann, PhD; Ruishan Liu, PhD; Evi Micha, PhD; Willie Neiswanger, PhD; Seo Jin Park, PhD; Mukund Raghothaman, PhD; Ibrahim Sabek, PhD; Daniel Seita, PhD; Vatsal Sharan, PhD; Oded Stein, PhD; Swabha Swayamdipta, PhD; Jesse Thomason, PhD; Weihang Wang, PhD; Yue Wang, PhD; Jiapeng Zhang, PhD; Jieyu Zhao, PhD; Yue Zhao, PhD

Joint Faculty: Murali Annavaram, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering); Salman Avestimehr, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering); Todd Brun (Electrical and Computer Engineering, Physics and Astronomy); Morteza Dehghani, PhD (Psychology); Leana Golubchik, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering); Satyandra K Gupta, PhD (Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering); Rahul Jain, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering and Industrial and Systems Engineering); Rajiv Kalia, PhD (Physics and Astronomy, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Biomedical Engineering); Carl Kesselman, PhD (Industrial and Systems Engineering, Population and Public Health Sciences and Biomedical Sciences); Bhaskar Krishnamachari, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering); C-C Jay Kuo, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering); Stephen Lu, PhD (Industrial and Systems Engineering, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering); Urbashi Mitra, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering); Shrikanth (Shri) Narayanan, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering, Linguistics, Psychology, Pediatrics and Otolaryngology); Andrew Nealen, PhD (Cinematic Arts); Quan Nguyen, PhD (Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering); Viktor Prasanna, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering); Konstantinos Psounis, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering); Feng Qian, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering); C.S. Raghavendra, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering); Meisam Razaviyayn (Industrial and Systems Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering); Benjamin Reichardt, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering); Remo Rohs, PhD (Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy); Nicolas Schweighofer, PhD (Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy and Biomedical Engineering); Matteo Sesia, PhD (Data Sciences and Operations); Maryam Shanechi, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering, Biomedical Engineering); Neil Siegel, PhD (Industrial and Systems Engineering); Mahdi Soltanolkotabi, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering and Industrial and Systems Engineering); Tianshu Sun, PhD (Data Sciences and Operations); Christopher Torng, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering); Francisco Valero-Cuevas, PhD (Biomedical Engineering, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy); Priya Vashishta, PhD (Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Biomedical Engineering and Physics and Astronomy); Phebe Vayanos, PhD (Industrial and System Engineering); Michael Waterman, PhD (Biological Sciences and Mathematics); Richard Weinberg, PhD (Cinematic Arts); John Wilson, PhD (Sociology, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Architecture and Preventive Medicine)

Adjunct Faculty: Nora Ayanian, PhD; Muhao Chen, PhD; Luis Garcia, PhD; Sven Koenig, PhD; Aleksandra Korolova, PhD; Gregory L. Ver Steeg, PhD 

Research Professor of Computer Science with Distinction: Premkumar Natarajan, PhD

Research Professors: Ewa Deelman, PhD; Aram Galstyan, PhD; Yolanda Gil, PhD; Jonathan Gratch, PhD; John Heidemann, PhD; Randall Hill, PhD; Craig Knoblock, PhD; Kristina Lerman, PhD; William Swartout, PhD; David Traum, PhD

Research Associate Professors: Jose Luis Ambite, PhD; Kallirroi Georgila, PhD; Andrew Gordon, PhD; Gale Lucas, PhD; Jonathan May, PhD; Jelena Mirkovic, PhD; Jay Pujara, PhD; Srivatsavan Ravi, PhD; Mohammad Solemany, PhD; Satish Kumar Thittamaranahalli, PhD; Ning Wang, PhD

Research Assistant Professors: Luca Luceri, PhD; Xuezhe Ma, PhD; Fred Morstatter, PhD; Yajie Zhao, PhD 

Professors of Engineering Practice: Victor Adamchik, PhD; Mark William Redekopp, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

Associate Professors of Engineering Practice: Aaron Daniel Cote, PhD; Clifford Neuman, PhD; Wensheng Scott Easley, BA (Senior Lecturer); Andrew Goodney, PhD (Senior Lecturer); Marco Papa, PhD (Senior Lecturer); Saty Raghavachary, PhD; Mohammad Reza Rajati (Senior Lecturer); Tatyana Ryutov, PhD; Shawn Shamsian, PhD (Senior Lecturer); Wei-Min Shen, PhD; Carter Slocum, PhD (Lecturer); Mate Szabo, PhD (Senior Lecturer)

Emeritus Professors: Michael A. Arbib, PhD (Biological Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Neuroscience and Psychology); Jerry Hobbs, PhD; Gerard Medioni, PhD (Electrical and Computer Engineering); Paul Rosenbloom, PhD; Michael S. Waterman, PhD (Biological Sciences, Mathematics)

Bachelor of Science

Undergraduate Program Educational Objectives

Graduates of the undergraduate program in Computer Science are expected to attain the following objectives within a few years of graduation:

1. Graduates apply the computational and analytical approaches of computer science to their chosen professions.
2. Graduates successfully engage in life-long learning to continue to be contributing members of their communities in fields within and outside the traditional scope of computer science.
3. Graduates exhibit high professional and ethical standards to become productive leaders in society.

Graduates of the Computer Engineering and Computer Science program are expected to attain the following educational objectives within a few years of graduation:

1. Graduates will apply analytical and critical thinking principles of both computer engineering and computer science to their chosen professions.
2. Graduates will successfully engage in life-long learning to continue to be contributing members of their communities in fields within and outside the traditional scope of computer engineering.
3. Graduates will exhibit high professional and ethical standards to become productive leaders in society.

Undergraduate Program Criteria

The program leading to a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science includes at least one and one-third years of computer science that covers the fundamentals of algorithms, data structures, software design, concepts of programming languages and computer organization and software; provides an exposure to a variety of programming languages and systems, including at least one higher-level language; and includes advanced course work that builds on the fundamental course work to provide depth.

The program includes at least one year of science and mathematics, including at least one-half year of mathematics, including discrete mathematics. Additional mathematics might consist of calculus, linear algebra, numerical methods, probability, statistics, number theory, geometry, or symbolic logic. The science component develops an understanding of the scientific method and provides an opportunity to experience this mode of inquiry in courses for science or engineering majors that provide some exposure to laboratory work.

The program leading to a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering and Computer Science provides both breadth and depth across the range of engineering topics implied by the title. The curriculum includes probability and statistics, including appropriate applications; mathematics, including discrete mathematics through differential and integral calculus; sciences (defined as biological, chemical or physical science) to develop an understanding of the scientific method and provide students with an opportunity to experience this mode of inquiry in courses for science or engineering majors that provide some exposure to lab work; and engineering topics (including computing science) necessary to analyze and design complex electrical and electronic devices, software and systems containing hardware and software components.

The computer science portion of the curriculum covers the fundamentals of algorithms, data structures, software design, concepts of programming languages and computer organization and software; provides an exposure to a variety of programming languages and systems, including at least one higher-level language; and includes advanced course work that builds on the fundamental course work to provide depth.

Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence

This cross-department program — offered jointly by the Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science, the Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering — is detailed in Artificial Intelligence (BS) .

Physics/Computer Science Major Requirements for the Bachelor of Science

This program is intended for students with dual interests in physics and computer science who wish to complete the essential courses for both majors within their normal four-year career. See the Physics and Astronomy  Department section for course requirements.

Graduate Degrees

The requirements listed below are special to this department and must be read in conjunction with the general requirements  of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering for master’s degrees and the general requirements  of the USC Graduate School for PhD degrees. The graduate program in computer science provides intensive preparation in the basic concepts and techniques related to the design, programming and application of digital computers. Both the Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees are offered.

A Master of Science in Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence) is also offered.

A Master of Science in Computer Science (Data Science) is also offered.

A Master of Science in Computer Science (Game Development) is also offered.

A Master of Science in Computer Science (Scientists and Engineers) is also offered for students with limited background in computer science.

Admission and Prerequisites

Admission is determined by the Office of Admission and the Viterbi School of Engineering, in consultation with the Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science. The applicant is required to have a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent from an accredited college or university; satisfactory scores on the verbal and quantitative portions of the aptitude test of the Graduate Record Examinations (one advanced test from computer science, mathematics or engineering is recommended); and a substantial background in computing constitutes a minimum requirement. Foreign students must earn a satisfactory score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

Programs

• Computer Engineering and Computer Science (BS)
• Computer Science (BS)
• Computer Science Games (BS)

• Computer Science/Business Administration (BS)

• Computer Science Minor

• Computer Science Dual Degree with Tsinghua University School of Information Science and Technology (MS)

• Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence) (MS)
• Computer Science (Data Science) (MS)
• Computer Science (Game Development) (MS)
• Computer Science (MS)
• Computer Science (Scientists and Engineers) (MS)

• Computer Science (PhD)

Courses

• CSCI 100xg Explorations in Computing
• CSCI 102L Introduction to Programming
• CSCI 103L Object Oriented Programming
• CSCI 104L Data Structures
• CSCI 109 Introduction to Computer Science
• CSCI 113x Programming Fundamentals for Computing
• CSCI 114x Programming for Applications of Computing
• CSCI 170 Discrete Methods in Computer Science
• CSCI 201L Principles of Software Development
• CSCI 270 Introduction to Algorithms and Theory of Computing
• CSCI 281 Pipelines for Games and Interactives
• CSCI 310 Software Engineering
• CSCI 350 Fundamentals of Operating Systems
• CSCI 353 Internetworking
• CSCI 356 Computer Systems
• CSCI 360 Artificial Intelligence: Principles and Foundations
• CSCI 368 Cross-Platform App Development
• CSCI 380 Video Game Programming
• CSCI 390 Special Problems
• CSCI 401 Capstone: Design and Construction of Large Software Systems
• CSCI 402 Operating Systems
• CSCI 404 Capstone: Creating Your High-Tech Startup
• CSCI 420 Computer Graphics
• CSCI 423 Native Console Multiplayer Game Development
• CSCI 426 Game Prototyping
• CSCI 430 Computer and Network Security
• CSCI 431 Principles of Functional Programming
• CSCI 435 Professional C++
• CSCI 439 Compiler Development
• CSCI 444 Natural Language Processing
• CSCI 445L Foundations of Robotics
• CSCI 450 Introduction to Computer Networks
• CSCI 452 Parallel and Distributed Computation
• CSCI 454L Introduction to System-on-Chip
• CSCI 455x Introduction to Programming Systems Design
• CSCI 457 Computer Systems Organization
• CSCI 458 Numerical Methods
• CSCI 459 Computer Systems and Applications Modeling Fundamentals
• CSCI 461 Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Development
• CSCI 467 Foundations of Machine Learning
• CSCI 468 Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence
• CSCI 469 Computer Vision
• CSCI 475 Theory of Computation
• CSCI 476 Cryptography: Secure Communication and Computation
• CSCI 477 Concepts of Programming Languages
• CSCI 485 File and Database Management
• CSCI 487 Programming Game Engines
• CSCI 490x Directed Research
• CSCI 491aL Advanced Game Project
• CSCI 491bL Advanced Game Project
• CSCI 495 Senior Project
• CSCI 499 Special Topics
• CSCI 501 Numerical Analysis and Computation
• CSCI 502a Numerical Analysis
• CSCI 502b Numerical Analysis
• CSCI 504a Numerical Solutions of Ordinary and Partial Differential Equations
• CSCI 504b Numerical Solutions of Ordinary and Partial Differential Equations
• CSCI 505a Applied Probability
• CSCI 505b Applied Probability
• CSCI 510 Software Management and Economics
• CSCI 511 Personal Software Process (PSP) and Project
• CSCI 512 Testing and Analysis of Software Systems
• CSCI 513 Autonomous Cyber-Physical Systems
• CSCI 514 Foundations of Verifiable Learning-Enabled Autonomous System
• CSCI 517 Research Methods and Analysis for User Studies
• CSCI 520 Computer Animation and Simulation
• CSCI 521 Optimization Theory and Algorithms: Numerical Optimization
• CSCI 522 Game Engine Development
• CSCI 523L Networked Games
• CSCI 524 Networked Artificial Intelligence
• CSCI 526 Advanced Mobile Devices and Game Consoles
• CSCI 527 Applied Machine Learning for Games
• CSCI 529a Graduate Advanced Game Project
• CSCI 529b Graduate Advanced Game Project
• CSCI 530 Security Systems
• CSCI 531 Applied Cryptography
• CSCI 532 Innovation for Defense Applications
• CSCI 533 Algebraic Combinatorics
• CSCI 534 Affective Computing
• CSCI 535 Multimodal Probabilistic Learning of Human Communication
• CSCI 536 Linear Programming and Extensions
• CSCI 538 Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality
• CSCI 540 Self-Organization
• CSCI 542 Neural Computation with Artificial Neural Networks
• CSCI 543 Foundations of Modern Data Management and Processing
• CSCI 544 Applied Natural Language Processing
• CSCI 545 Robotics
• CSCI 546 Distributed Systems
• CSCI 547 Robot Dynamics and Control
• CSCI 548 Information Integration on the Web
• CSCI 549 Nanorobotics
• CSCI 550 Advanced Data Stores
• CSCI 551 Computer Networking
• CSCI 553 Computational Solution of Optimization Problems
• CSCI 554 Cyber-Physical Systems: A Computing Perspective
• CSCI 555L Advanced Operating Systems
• CSCI 556 Introduction to Cryptography
• CSCI 557 Computer Systems Architecture
• CSCI 558L Internetworking and Distributed Systems Laboratory
• CSCI 559 Machine Learning I: Supervised Methods
• CSCI 561 Foundations of Artificial Intelligence