Department of Computing, Imperial College London

Department of Computing,
Imperial College London
The Huxley Building
Former name
 Department of Computing and Control
Established 1964 (1964)
Head of Department
 Professor Daniel Rueckert[1]
Faculty Imperial College Faculty of Engineering
Staff 52[2]
Students 874[2]
Location Queen's Gate, London, United Kingdom
51°29′56″N 0°10′45″W / 51.498750°N 0.179250°W / 51.498750; -0.179250Coordinates: 51°29′56″N 0°10′45″W / 51.498750°N 0.179250°W / 51.498750; -0.179250
Campus South Kensington
Website www.imperial.ac.uk/computing
Map
Location in Albertopolis, South Kensington

The Department of Computing (DoC) is the computer science department at Imperial College London. The department has around 50 academic staff and 900 students, with around 500 studying undergraduate courses, 180 PhD students, and 150 MSc students.[3] The department is predominantly based in the Huxley Building, 180 Queen's Gate, which it shares with the Maths department, however also has space in the William Penney Laboratory and elsewhere in the college. The department ranks 9th in the Times Higher Education 2018 subject world rankings.[4]

History

The origins of the department start with the Computer Unit in 1964,[5] lead by Stanley Gill[6]. In 1966, the postgraduate Centre for Computing and Automation came into being and consumed the pre-existing Computer Unit,[6][7] with John Westcott migrating his Control Group from the Electrical Engineering department and joining Stanley Gill as joint head. In 1970, Gill left for industry,[6] the department was renamed to The Department of Computing and Control,[8] and Westcott became the head.

In 1972, Manny Lehman joined the department[9] and with Westcott, developed the first undergraduate course (BSc). Before Lehman joined, there was some progress towards the design of an undergraduate course; however, Lehman found this to be too mathematical and also Westcott didn't wish to compete with the hardware focus of Manchester University.[9] Therefore, it was decided to focus the course on the creation of software and related methodologies.[9] The first intake for the course was in 1973,[9] and the first graduates in 1976.[6] On the research front, the department held a logic programming workshop, which "evolved into the ICLP"[10] (International Conference on Logic Programming).

The department moved to the Huxley Building in 1977..[11] In 1979 Westcott's term as head of department came to an end and the position was up for renewal, it was given to Lehman. During Westcott's term, the control engineers had been doing most of the research in the department, and the computer scientists doing most of the teaching; in order to establish Computing as its own subject, then Rector Lord Flowers advised Lehman to send Westcott and his control group back to Electrical Engineering,[9][12][6] and the department assumed its current name, the Department of Computing.[13] Lehman started designing a Software Engineering course, his belief was that software engineering is practical by nature and as part of the course wanted students to have industrial experience. However, professional software engineering was not as it is today and Lehman founded IST to provide a place for Imperial students to get some practical experience[9]

Throughout the 80s, the department was recognised as a "leading centre for logic programming", and by 1985 the size of the logic programming group had grown to 50.[14] In 1980, Kowalski created Logic Programming Associates,[15] which aimed to apply the results of the department's research to industrial problems.

When Lehman's term came up for renewal in 1984, he was not reappointed and instead went to work full time for IST[9]. Bruce Sayers, the then head of Electrical Engineering was appointed as head of the department[16]. Over the course of his term, Sayers "doubled the size of the department",[17] but this increase caused office spaces to become over-occupied,[18] and required more teaching space. To remedy this the Holland Club moved out of the Huxley Building and lecture theatres 308 and 311 were constructed in their place,[19] furthermore, the William Penney Laboratory was constructed in 1988.[12] Sayers later became the head of the Centre for Cognitive Systems,[20] which resided in the newly built William Penney Laboratory.[21]

In 1993, Dov Gabbay created IC-PARC,[12][22] it also resided in the William Penney Laboratory. IC-PARC span out in 1999 to create Parc Technologies which was gradually taken over by Cisco, the centre was later shut down in 2005.[22]

Academics

Study

Undergraduate

The department offers both courses in Computing and joint courses in Maths and Computing. Students can apply for either the three year BEng or four year MEng course, however the first two years are common and so students are able to switch between these courses up until the start of the third year (provided they meet academic requirements). Master's students can choose to specialise in a particular field, or also study management and finance as part of their degree.[23] The department also has ties to universities in Europe and further abroad, including UC Berkeley and MIT, allowing students on the master's course to study abroad for one year of their programme.[24] All students who obtain an undergraduate degree from the department are also awarded the Associateship of the City & Guilds Institute, ACGI.

Postgraduate

The department offers MSc taught masters programmes in either Computer Science, designed for graduates of other subjects, and Advanced Computing, designed for graduates of bachelor's courses. The department also offers specialist master's degrees which focus on particular fields of study within computer science.[25] The department also offers an MRes course as part of the EPSRC,[26] and takes on PhD students.[27] All students graduating with any of the postgraduate degrees (MSc, MRes or PhD) are also awarded the Diploma of Imperial College, DIC.

Reputation

The departments ranks 9th in the world in the Times Higher Education 2018 subject rankings[4], ranking 3rd in the UK, as well as 12th in the QS World University Rankings.[28] Domestically, the department ranks 2nd on the Complete University Guide's 2019 computer science table, behind Cambridge,[29] and 5th in The Guardian's 2019 computer science university subject rankings.[30] The department also produces computer science graduates with the highest average pay in the subject, earning an average of £60,000 five years after graduation, ahead of 2nd place Oxford by an average of £4,200.[31]

Student Life

Student activities are organised by DoCSoc, the departmental society for computing students of the City and Guilds College Union, a constituent union of Imperial College Union.[32] DoCSoc is organised by a team of student volunteers, and runs events including ICHack, an annual hackathon open to university students from both the college and elsewhere, with over 300 participants in 2018.[33]

People

Heads of Department

Faculty

Alumni

Turing laureate Leslie Valiant studied at the department

Spinoff Companies

References

  1. ↑ "Useful contacts | Faculty of Engineering".
  2. 1 2 "STATISTICS POCKET GUIDE 2016–17" (PDF).
  3. ↑ "Imperial College - Statistics Pocket Guide" (PDF).
  4. 1 2 "World University Rankings by 2018 subject: computer science | Times Higher Education".
  5. ↑ London, Imperial College,. "Computer Unit - Freedom of Information Compendium Organisational Unit". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mayne, David. "John Westcott - Biographical Memoirs" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-08-26.
  7. ↑ London, Imperial College,. "Computing and Automation - Freedom of Information Compendium Organisational Unit". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  8. ↑ London, Imperial College,. "Computing and Control - Freedom of Information Compendium Organisational Unit". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Oral-History:Meir Lehman - Engineering and Technology History Wiki". ethw.org. Retrieved 2018-08-27.
  10. ↑ "BobPortrait" (PDF).
  11. ↑ "Imperial College - Centenary website - Timeline - 1970-1979". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Gay, Hannah (2007). The History of Imperial College London. London: Imperial College Press. p. 680. ISBN 9781860947087.
  13. ↑ London, Imperial College,. "Department of Computing - Freedom of Information Compendium Organisational Unit". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  14. ↑ "Robert Kowalski" (PDF).
  15. ↑ "LPA Company Background". 2005-02-05. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
  16. 1 2 Mansourian, Boutros Pierre (2009-07-20). Global Perspectives in Health - Volume I. EOLSS Publications. ISBN 9781848262485.
  17. ↑ Masters, Glen. "IC Reporter, Imperial honours long-serving member of College". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-28.
  18. ↑ "DOC Squeeze" (PDF).
  19. ↑ "DOC To Expand" (PDF).
  20. ↑ Mansourian, Boutros Pierre (2009-07-20). Global Perspectives in Health - Volume I. EOLSS Publications. ISBN 9781848262485.
  21. ↑ "POSTGRADUATE STUDIES IN ENERGY" (PDF). Felix. 921: 10.
  22. 1 2 London, Imperial College,. "Centre for Planning and Resource Control - Freedom of Information Compendium Organisational Unit". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
  23. ↑ "BEng/MEng Computing | Faculty of Engineering".
  24. ↑ "Year Abroad | Faculty of Engineering".
  25. ↑ "Postgraduate courses | Faculty of Engineering".
  26. ↑ "Integrated MRes/PhD | Faculty of Engineering".
  27. ↑ "PhD | Faculty of Engineering".
  28. ↑ "Computer Science & Information Systems | QS Top Universities".
  29. ↑ "Computer Science - Top UK University Subject Table and Rankings 2019 - Complete University Guide".
  30. ↑ "University league tables 2019 | Education | The Guardian".
  31. ↑ "The UK's highest paying degrees, according to graduate salary". The Telegraph. 17 August 2018.
  32. ↑ "DoCSoc | Imperial's Computing Society".
  33. ↑ "Imperial College Hack – ICHack18 Cognitive Challenge Winners Spidentify".
  34. ↑ "J.H. Westcott". www.ee.ic.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  35. ↑ Masters, Glen. "IC Reporter, In brief". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-25.
  36. ↑ "Biography". wp.doc.ic.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  37. ↑ "Service | Professor Susan Eisenbach". wp.doc.ic.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  38. ↑ "Honours and Memberships - Professor Daniel Rueckert". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  39. ↑ "George Coulouris: Emeritus Professor of Computer systems". www.eecs.qmul.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  40. ↑ Information, Reed Business (1986-12-04). New Scientist. Reed Business Information.
  41. ↑ "Jonathan Bowen - LinkedIn". Retrieved 2018-08-27.
  42. ↑ "Computer Pioneers - Belady, Laszlo A." history.computer.org. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
  43. ↑ "Research Fellows and Affiliated Members - Institute for Modern and Contemporary Culture - University of Westminster, London". www.westminster.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-27.
  44. 1 2 3 "Imperial College London - Imperial wins BBC's University Challenge". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  45. ↑ "Guido Jouret". Imperial College London. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
  46. ↑ "Nokia Technologies Names Former Cisco Executive Guido Jouret as CTO". Recode. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
  47. ↑ "Jeff Magee - Dean of the Faculty of Engineering - Announcements". Announcements. 2014-03-07. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  48. ↑ "Kernel Methods for Pattern Analysis (John Shawe-Taylor, University College London)". Retrieved 2018-08-27.
  49. ↑ "Mark Morris | Faculty of Engineering | Imperial College London". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
  50. ↑ "Rob Cromwell | Alumni | Imperial College London". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  51. ↑ "Roland Blackhouse - LinkedIn". Retrieved 2018-08-27.
  52. ↑ "Zehan Wang | Faculty of Engineering | Imperial College London". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-25.
  53. ↑ "Twitter pays up to $150M for Magic Pony Technology, which uses neural networks to improve images". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-08-25.
  54. ↑ "LPA Company Background". 2005-02-05. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
  55. ↑ "IST Company Overview". www.ist.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-27.
  56. ↑ "Cisco gobbles up Parc Technologies". Retrieved 2018-08-25.
  57. ↑ "Google acquires GraphicsFuzz, a service that tests Android graphics drivers". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
  58. ↑ "Honours and Memberships - STEFANOS ZAFEIRIOU, PhD". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-25.
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