Curriculum

ISE 102 Fundamentals of Information Systems

Provides an introduction and overview of information systems engineering. Topics covered include review of IT hardware and software overview, data structures, algorithms, and information theory, telecommunications, networks, Internet, HTML, Web design, databases, virtual reality, multimedia, and the systems development life cycle. Students also develop skills in technical writing.

Satisfies the General Education Writing Intensive Requirement. Lec 3. Credits: 3

ISE 104 Design Basics for New Media

Introduction to principles and theories of visual design, in traditional and electronic media; processes, methods and technologies relative to the creative production of two-dimensional visual imagery; use of the computer as a creative tool for the development of expressive and professional images. Focus on the creative process in visual design. (This course is identical to NMD 104.) Studio 3.

Satisfies the General Education Artistic and Creative Expression Requirement. Credits: 3

ISE 112 Using Geographic Information Systems

Review of major elements of geographic information systems (GIS); uses in society; hands-on analysis, modeling and display of spatial data; study of collection and analytical methods for geographic data sets; focus on Census Bureau population data and its use for market research, health care, crime analysis and environmental applications; exposure to Internet mapping and GIS analysis on the Web. (This course is identical to NMD 112.) Lec 3.

Satisfies the General Education Population and the Environment Requirement. Credits: 3

ISE 201 Principles of Geographic Information Systems

Covers traditional representation of spatial data and techniques for representing spatial data in digital form. Combines an overview of general principles associated with the implementation of geographic information systems and practical experience in the analysis of geographic information. Also covers typical operations on spatial information and techniques for analyzing spatial information. Students convert map data to digital form, perform coordinate transformations and analysis.  Lec 2, Lab 1. Credits: 3

ISE 213 Information Ethics

Ethical and social issues associated with information system design and use. Morality and law in cyberspace. Values, ethical theories and their relation to information professionals. Free speech, intellectual property, privacy and security. Access to government information and government surveillance. Western values and norms compared to developing world perspectives. (This course is identical to NMD 213.) Lec 3.

Satisfies the General Education Ethics and Cultural Diversity and International Perspectives Requirements. Credits: 3

ISE 301 Formal Foundations for Information Systems

Students develop an understanding of the approach to information systems development offered by formalisms. Draws on previous mathematics courses to consolidate familiarity with formal syntax and language. Develops understanding and technical ability in handling discrete and geometrical formal structures. Covers set theory, functions and relations, logic (propositional and predicate calculi, logics of uncertainty), algebraic structures, partially ordered sets, lattices, Boolean algebras, graphs, digraphs, geometries, analytic and geometric topology, information theory, formal languages, and algorithms. Lec 3. Credits: 3

ISE 302 Information Systems Design

Theoretical foundation for representation of knowledge in information systems. Introduces students to the fundamental concepts necessary to design and implement information systems. Uses logic programming as a tool for fast design and prototyping of data models. Covers formal languages and formal models, conceptual modeling techniques and methods for data abstraction, major database models including relational, object-relational, and object-oriented models.

Satisfies the General Education Writing Intensive Requirement. Lec 3. Credits: 3

ISE 303 Human-Computer Interaction

Students are introduced to the fundamental theory and concepts of human-computer interaction. Students will gain a theoretical knowledge and practical experiences in the fundamental aspects of designing, implementing and evaluating interfaces. Covers topics relating to human factors in interface design, usability, visual interfaces, direct manipulation and graphic interactions, touch, gesture, natural language and speech interfaces. In addition, the course will offer students evaluation techniques to help understand if their designs are effective. Lec 3. Credits: 3

ISE 304 Digital Image Processing

Introduction to image processing and analysis techniques suitable to the processing of close-range, aerial or space-borne sensor data. Topics include elements of digital image processing and analysis systems; image digitization, quantization and sampling; geometric operations; image enhancements, point operations and filtering; transformations in spatial and frequency domains; image segmentation and feature extraction; automated information extraction and incorporation in information systems; term project. Lec 2, Lab 1. Credits: 3

ISE 305 Digital Video Analysis

Basics of video image acquisition; data analysis: image sequence analysis, object and feature tracking, spatiotemporal change detection; image modeling: image and spatiotemporal compression, motion modeling and spatiotemporal trajectories, image formats; scene modeling: image registration, producing and managing virtual models of 3D scenes; image and video indexing and retrieval. Lec 2, Lab 1. Credits: 3

ISE 306 Project Design Laboratory: II

A seminar on new media project design, with emphasis on team-based research and development. Assignments may require students to think across a variety of platforms, from analog tools to stand alone devices to online applications. In each case, students will be challenged to think creatively and rigorously about the objective, structure, and form of their projects; the work of each team will culminate in a new media proposal and/or prototype. (This course is identical to NMD 306.) Credits: 3

ISE 350 Junior Seminar

Students develop and apply knowledge in how to examine critically a small set of state-of-the-art publications, in the field of Information System Engineering synthesize them, in writing and present a coherent summary verbally. Lec 1. Credits: 1

ISE 401 Information System Architecture

Students develop the fundamental knowledge of information systems architectures. Covers aspects of data sharing and computation in distributed information system environments. Layered architecture of distributed information systems; types of distributed system architectures; name spaces, data replication, and caching; scalability and performance of distributed information systems; middleware; open distributed information systems; interoperability aspects. Data dissemination, and emerging distributed information systems. Lec 3. Credits: 3

ISE 402 Information Retrieval

Covers the computational issues needed to design Web search engines. Deals with querying structured data vs. semi-structured or unstructured data, and introduces students to various methods for making syntactic matches, in particular for similarity searches. Extends to modeling semantics in the form of ontologies, and their use in information retrieval. Lec 3. Credits: 3

ISE 403 Spatial Database Systems

Students develop the fundamental knowledge of spatial database systems. Covers spatial data models, spatial query languages, database architecture, database technology for spatial database systems. Storage structures, file organization, general and spatial index structures, implementation of relational and spatial operators, spatial query processing and optimization, transaction management and crash recovery, distributed spatial database systems. Lec 3. Credits: 3

ISE 404 Time in Information Systems Design

The study of temporal aspects within information science offers new perspectives for understanding and communicating information. Introduces students to concepts necessary for designing and using a temporal information system. Covers formal models of time, conceptual models of time, fundamentals of temporal databases, temporal query languages, and spatio-temporal database systems. In addition, topics relating to event-based modeling and the visualization of temporal data will be covered. Lec 3. Credits: 3

ISE 405 Statistics for Information Engineering

Students develop the fundamental knowledge of statistical analysis of engineering data. Introduces the concepts of statistical metrics like averages, standard deviations and their use to handle measurement redundancy in engineering applications. Covers propagation of random errors and variance-covariance, the adjustment of engineering observations through various stochastic models, combining observations and conditions among parameters, proceeding with sequential solutions in the presence of steady information flow, modeling and communicating uncertainty in information systems, devising statistical tests. Some concepts from linear algebra and statistics are also reviewed. Lec 2, Lab 1. Credits: 3

ISE 406 Image Metrology

Image formation, black and white and color film, cameras, panchromatic, multispectral and radar imagery, principles of stereoscopic viewing and measurement, orientations, aerotriangulation, matching, orthophotography, accuracy and reliability of image measurements, satellite programs. Lec 2, Lab 1. Credits: 3

ISE 450 Information Systems Project I

The first course in a two-semester sequence that provides a coherent view of the processes involved in the development of information systems in a multidisciplinary context. Small teams of students will design, implement, evaluate, and document an information system. Part one: project selection, requirements analysis, functional specifications, database design and proposal writing. Lec 3.

This course, in conjunction with ISE 451, Satisfies the General Education Capstone Experience Requirement. Credits: 3

ISE 451 Information Systems Project II

The second course in a two-semester sequence that provides a coherent view of the processes involved in the development of information systems in a multidisciplinary context. Small teams of students will design, implement, evaluate, and document an information system. Part two: interface prototyping and evaluation, project development, and project evaluation. Lec 3.

This course, in conjunction with ISE 450, Satisfies the General Education Capstone Experience Requirement. Credits: 3