Center for Innovation and Research in Computing


Mission

The Center for Innovation and Research in Computing (CIRC) offers a scenario in which students in the School of Computing of Southern Adventist University work in research and development projects to benefit the church, the industry, and the university. By paying students to work on these projects, CIRC provides students with the opportunity to fund their education through on-campus, computing-related work (similar in nature to computing internships).


Vision

To be the most innovative center in the Adventist educational system in which computer science students solve relevant problems with science and technology.


Domains

  • Applied Data Science: In this domain, data science is applied to extract knowledge from data. Data science calls for multi-disciplinary approaches that incorporate theories and methods from many fields including mathematics, statistics, pattern recognition, knowledge engineering, machine learning, high performance computing, etc. Data science is the science about data.
  • Web App Development: In this domain, web apps are developed to implement data management and information solutions. Web app development requires incorporating knowledge of software development tooling, techniques, patterns, testing, documentation, UI/UX design, and full stack technologies.
  • Office Automation: In this domain, solutions are developed to simplify and automate common office processes. Development requires incorporating knowledge of data scraping, scripting, browser automation, testing, and documentation.
  • Educational Software: In this domain, educational software is developed to simplify or enhance teaching. Development requires incorporating knowledge of education, software development, UI/UX, testing, and documentation.
  • Mobile App Development: In this domain, mobile apps are developed to implement data management and information solutions. Mobile app development requires incorporating knowledge of software development tooling, techniques, patterns, testing, documentation, UI/UX design, app store guidelines, and client technologies.
  • Security: In this domain, security is applied to IT practices in business, education and government. Security encompasses both defensive and offensive strategies to improve the security position as it applies to both hardware and software.

Clients

CIRC works with various industry and community partners as well as with Southern Adventist University on programming projects of various sizes. A wide range of technologies are used for development, targeting desktop, web and mobile platforms. Typically, CIRC works on specialized projects that don't fit neatly inside one of the many generalized software solutions that are available on the market today.

 

 

 

Prior Clients

Here are a few of the clients that CIRC has worked with in the past:

Bake Crafters
BestWeigh
Collegedale Academy
Pacific Press Publishing Association
Department of Education of the General Conference of SDA
SDA North-American Division
Southern Adventist University
ThyssenKrupp
ShareHim

 

 

 

Contact Information

For more information about Center for Innovation and Research in Computing or to inquire about project development, please contact:


  • Dr. Harvey AlfĂ©rez, Professor & Director of CIRC,
    at harveya@southern.edu or 423.236.2252.

  • Siegwart Mayr, Lead Programmer/Analyst,
    at mayr@southern.edu or 423.236.2872.

 

 

 

Our Objectives

CIRC is guided by the following objectives:

  • Stimulate creativity and innovation through extracurricular projects
  • Enrich students’ educational experience
  • Collaborate with industry and community partners
  • Support faculty research
  • Enhance faculty-student interaction
  • Provide student employment within the computing discipline