Nurturing next-generation computer scientists

The origin of the University of Florida´s Digital Arts and Sciences (DAS) curriculum is steeped in myth and adventure. Through DAS, CISE seeks to produce the next-generation computer scientist. To justify this statement, we need look no further than recent computing history and how this trend in fast hardware and immersive environments will transform foundational computer science in areas such as program and data structures, software engineering, machine organization, database methodology, and discrete mathematical structures. We are experiencing a fundamental branching of computer science into areas that more closely examine the relationship between humans and their computing hardware. While human computer interaction has always focused on these areas, a plethora of new areas have opened to us. Ubiquitous, tangible, pervasive, and human-centered computing add new dimensions to virtual and augmented reality.