Andrew Rau-Chaplin brings more than 20 years of teaching, research and industry experience to his role as dean of the Faculty of Computer Science, a position he assumed in July 2015. Dr. Rau-Chaplin is excited to apply his knowledge and leadership abilities to a faculty he believes is primed for growth and success.
“It’s such a period of opportunity for the Faculty of Computer Science,” says Dr. Rau-Chaplin. “We’re experiencing a shift where computing is really becoming, along with theory and experimentation, the third leg of science.
“We have these fantastic opportunities if we’re willing to reach out and grab hold of them.”
Links with industry
Dr. Rau-Chaplin, who earned his PhD from Carleton University, joined the faculty of the Technical University of Nova Scotia (TUNS) in 1994, then becoming a professor of Computer Science at Dalhousie when TUNS joined the university in 1997. Since then, his research has focused on the the application of High Performance Computing (HPC) in data and computationally intensive challenges in domains, and he has more than 100 publications to his name. He also served as director of the Risk Analytics Lab.
Growing the faculty’s already strong relationship with industry is one Dr. Rau-Chaplin’s key objectives. He believes strong industry partnerships benefit students, companies, the university and the economy.
“We educate students who then go out and do great work in Canadian industry. They create new technologies, help business deploy and manage complex software systems, and found the start-ups that are inventing our future. Then they come back to us looking for the next generation of talent,” Dr. Rau-Chaplin explains. “And of course, when they come back, they inform and engage the next generation of students.”
“It’s a sustainable feedback loop between education and professional practice.”
Dr. Rau-Chaplin cites the undergraduate co-op programs as valuable assets for students in this regard, as they allow them to alternate between terms of academic study and practical co-op placements.
“We give students opportunities to interact with the whole gamut of software companies from global market leader to local software startups.”
Pride in Dal students
Nurturing a culture of coding is high on Dr. Rau-Chaplin’s agenda. He is proud to have taught graduates that have gone on to assume academic research chairs and senior positions in industry heavyweights like Google and Microsoft, but takes special pride in the faculty’s track record of producing a steady stream of students that can both excel in Canadian industry and flourish as successful entrepreneurs.
“It’s important not only to reach out to the established industries, but also to the startup community here and grow that,” he says. “You just have to look at the number of software companies locally – to look at the founders and count how many are our alumni. They have been incredibly successful.”
Dr. Rau-Chaplin is also looking to better differentiate the faculty’s two undergraduate programs. Where the Bachelor of Computer Science degree builds development capacity, the Bachelor of Informatics degree focuses on how technologies are deployed and managed in organizations and society.
By clearly articulating each program’s respective values, he says, the faculty can better inform both students and prospective employers about the knowledge and skill sets graduates possess.
Other assets of the faculty include Dal’s Institute for Big Data Analytics, which Dr. Rau-Chaplin says has “caught one of the waves that’s driving technology — and we were there early.” This leadership, combined with industry partnerships, outstanding research programs, and academic excellence, are the pillars of what he believes will be a prosperous future.
“We’re doing very well for our size,” he says. “Now it’s a matter of building scale and engineering growth into the faculty.”