College of Engineering
Department Office: 3190 Merrill Engineering Building
Mailing Address: Kahlert School of Computing, 50 S. Central Campus Dr. Rm. 3190, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9205
Phone: 801-581-8224
Website: www.cs.utah.edu
Program Director: Mary Hall, PhD
Undergraduate Director: H. James de St. Germain, PhD
Graduate Director: Bei Phillips, PhD
Undergraduate Advisor: 3190 MEB, ugrad-help@cs.utah.edu, 801-581-8224
Graduate Advisor: 3190 MEB, grad-help@cs.utah.edu, 801-581-8224
The Kahlert School of Computing was founded in 1965 by Professor David Evans. In his own words, his visionary goal was to explore how humans could work with computers “interactively in real time to extend their problem-solving capability and to work cooperatively by means of improved communications via computer.”
Indeed, a Utah system was the fourth computer on the precursor to the internet, and the faculty and students that Professor Evans recruited to University of Utah made pioneering contributions to the nascent field of computer science, establishing computer graphics as a discipline, and making significant contributions to the development of the personal computer. Two alumni of the PhD program, Alan Kay and Ed Catmull, have won for their work the Turing Award, the highest honor in the computing field.
These founding principles of computers augmenting human creativity and changing the way people work together established the direction for research and education in the Kahlert School of Computing, and remains visible in the breadth of areas in our programs today. The Kahlert School of Computing is a world-class institution offering undergraduate and graduate degrees that explore the expanding role of computing in our work and the way we live. Along with historical strengths in computer graphics, scientific visualization, high-performance computing, programming languages, computer systems and computer engineering, our large and growing faculty offer courses in a wealth of areas that reflect the expanding role of computing in our society now and in the future. These include data science, robotics, applications of artificial intelligence, human-centered computing, cybersecurity and theory of computing.
Undergraduate Program
The undergraduate curriculum provides a general education in mathematics, science, and the humanities as well as an in-depth study of both the theoretical and applied aspects of computing. Motivated students can become involved in the Kahlert School of Computing’s many research specialties.
The computer engineering degree program is listed in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.
Admission Requirements
Computer science, data science, and software development are open to all who complete the foundational courses, notably completing CS 2420 with a B- or higher and Math 1210 with a C or higher. See handbook.cs.utah.edu for more information.
Students, including transfer students, who are interested in pursuing a degree in computer science, data science, or software development should meet with a Kahlert School of Computing academic advisor.
Transfer Students
Students planning to transfer to the University of Utah from another Utah college or university can get information on course equivalences from either their current institution or the transfer credit equivalency guide. Students transferring from out-of-state schools must fill out the school's course-equivalence forms and have them signed by appropriate University of Utah faculty found at handbook.cs.utah.edu.
Continuing Performance
In order to remain in good standing and graduate, students must maintain a cumulative University of Utah GPA of 2.5 or higher, and a GPA of 2.5 or higher in CS, DS, and MATH courses taken at the University of Utah. Each course taken to satisfy degree requirements listed above must be passed with a grade of C- or better. A student may repeat CS, DS, and MATH courses only once. Students are expected to complete all degree requirements within five years of completing CS 2420. Additional details are available at handbook.cs.utah.edu.
Scholarships
The Kahlert School of Computing, in cooperation with the College of Engineering, awards merit-based scholarships and tuition waivers each spring to Kahlert School of Computing undergraduates. See handbook.cs.utah.edu for details.
Graduate Program
The Kahlert School of Computing supports research with intellectual breadth that goes beyond the boundaries of computer science. Supporting interdisciplinary and computing application research reflects what is happening in the field, where computing has permeated everything we do. The graduate degree programs offered demonstrate that breadth of research, with Masters and PhD degrees in both Computer Science and Computing. The Computing degrees have tracks that focus the courses taken on applications in computing: Artificial Intelligence, Computer Engineering, Data Management and Analysis, Graphics and Visualization, Human-Centered Computing, Image Analysis, Robotics, Scientific Computing, and Secure Computing.