Careers in Computer Science

Your Future Starts at KCD

Computer Science Education Week

• The U.S. House of Representatives designated December 5-11, 2010 as Computer Science Education Week in recognition of the transformative role of computing and necessity of rigorous computer science education at all levels.

Grace Murray Hopper• Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper

was an American computer scientist and US Naval officer.

• She was one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer, and she developed the first compiler for a computer programming language.

• She is credited with popularizing the term "debugging" for fixing computer glitches (motivated by an actual moth removed from a computer).

• Because of the breadth of her accomplishments and her naval rank, she is sometimes referred to as "Amazing Grace". The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Hopper was named for her.

Graduate of Vassar and Yale• She graduated Phi Beta

Kappa from Vassar College with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics in 1928 and pursued her graduate education at Yale University, where she received a Master's degree in those subjects in 1930.

The Mark I Computer

• In 1943, Hopper obtained a leave of absence from Vassar and was sworn in to the United States Navy Reserve, one of many women to volunteer to serve in the WAVES. While in the service she helped pioneer programming on the early mainframe computers, like the Mark I seen here.

Leader in the Growth of Programming

• In 1949, Hopper became an employee of the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation as a senior mathematician and joined the team developing the UNIVAC I. In 1954 Hopper was named the company's first director of automatic programming, and her department released some of the first compiler-based programming languages, including ARITH-MATIC, MATH-MATIC and FLOW-MATIC.

Early Programming By Patching Cords

• Hopper's belief that programs should be written in a language that was close to English rather than in machine code led her to develop the new business language COBOL that would become the most ubiquitous business language to date. As a result, computers were developed that could receive programming code through punch cards and other means.

Pioneering of COBOL & FORTRAN

• In the 1970s, Hopper pioneered the implementation of standards for testing computer systems and components, most significantly for early programming languages such as FORTRAN and COBOL.

Opportunities of a Life Time

• Grace Murray Hopper acted upon her love for

technology by pursuing the opportunities that came

her way. She was a brave woman who wasn’t

afraid to try new things and her accomplishments

may never be equaled.

Top 4 STEM Jobs will be in CompSci

The US government is predicting that the top 4 Stem jobs (Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics) will be in computing. Here is the breakdown:

• nearly 30,000 new software engineering jobs

• nearly 25,000 new computer networking jobs

• over 10,000 new systems analyst jobs each year

• over 7,000 new computing support jobs

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics at:www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_102.htm

Software EngineersSoftware engineers design, build, test and maintain

software:

• office software• games• phone applications• productivity software• entertainment software• systems software for the operating systems of

computers, tablets, phones• networking software

Software engineers typically have a degree in software engineering or computer science

Network SpecialistsNetwork specialists design, configure, and administer

computer networks. They …

• deploy wired and wireless networks• configure network hardware• configure computers for network access• set up network services like email servers and web

servers• monitor networks against malicious software like viruses

Network specialists may have a degree in computer science (CS), information systems (IS), or information technology (IT).

Systems Analysts

Systems analysts study the flow of information through a business or organization, and look for ways to use IT to improve the organization’s efficiency.

They often work with software engineers to design business software, so they need to understand how a business works, how IT works, and have good communication skills.

Systems analysts typically have a degree in information systems (IS), or a degree in CS plus several business courses.

Computing Support Specialists

Computing support specialists install and configure computer hardware or software, answer technology questions, and generally help people with their IT problems, usually in a business or organization.

Support specialists need to be excellent communicators, skilled with computer hardware, and expert users of software applications and operating systems.

They typically have a degree in computer science (CS), information systems (IS), or information technology (IT).

A CS Degree?

A student can earn a bachelor’s degree in CS, IS, or IT, or software engineering; each degree has its strengths and weaknesses.

One of the strengths of a CS degree is its flexibility – it is arguably the most general of these four computing degree options, providing students with the most career options after they graduate.

Need a Job after You Graduate?The sciences, engineering, and mathematics are all producing

more graduates than there are jobs.

By contrast, there are more than two computing jobs for each computing graduate!

Computing graduates will have their choice of jobs, while science, engineering, and mathematics graduates may have difficulty finding work.

Businesses will be unable to find all the computing professionals they need; the resulting competition for workers will increase salaries, and businesses will value the computing employees they hire, producing high job satisfaction.

Source: The CSTA Voice, November 2010, Volume 6, Issue 5

Opportunities of a Life TimeAt KCD any young woman or young man has the

opportunity to learn about computers and programming and the kind of work that persons in Computer Science fields do through classes like …

Computer Applications AP Computer Science

Advanced Computer Programming

Video Editing & Production