Andrew WildenbergAndy Wildenberg

Associate Professor, Computer Science
B.S. University of Iowa
Ph.D. University of Oxford
http://www.cs.rocky.edu/~wildenberga
406.238.7380
Tech Hall 17A
andy.wildenberg@rocky.edu

Biography

Andy Wildenberg earned a B.S. (Computer Science, Mathematics, minor in Spanish) from the University of Iowa in 1992, and a Ph.D. (Engineering - Computer Vision) from Oxford University in 1996 where he worked with Dr. Andrew Blake on using Active Contours (aka “splines”) to track moving objects in real time using video cameras.

Andy has worked for a number of different groups in and out of academia. He has taught Computer Science at the University of Iowa, the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and Cornell College, and he did a PostDoc at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, Australia. He has worked several places in industry including Apple Computer, Genera Biosystems and Digital Artefacts.

Andy is interested in many different research areas in computer science including bioinformatics, web-based systems for education, web development, the design and analysis of algorithms, combinatorics and cryptography, distributed and parallel programming, and pretty much anything else that is fun. While he values theory, he still occasionally enjoys just sitting down and banging out code. He also enjoys playing volleyball as much as his knees will let him.

Courses Taught

  • CSC132 - Fundamentals of Programming II
  • CSC143 - Programming Foundations
  • CSC214 - Technology and Society
  • CSC256 - Discrete Mathematics
  • CSC326 - Computer Graphics
  • CSC335 - Database Systems
  • CSC352 - Programming Language Study (Traditional Languages)
  • CSC353 - Programming Language Study (Web Languages)
  • CSC354 - Programming in C
  • CSC360 - Programming Paradigms
  • CSC399 - Fractals
  • CSC399 - Robotics
  • CSC399 - Bioinformatics
  • CSC410 - Operating Systems

What is your favorite class to teach?

My favorite class to teach is Algorithms. At the core of Computer Science is figuring out the best way to solve a problem, and that's what Algorithms is all about. It's a class where you can look at something apparently simple, like how to put a list of numbers in order, and discover that there are many different ways to solve the problem, and the particular way that you choose to solve it has a huge impact on how efficient the program is.

I also love the Bioinformatics Research Seminar. It's not so much a class as a working group where the students and faculty are on equal standing and everyone is working together on real-world problems solving things that nobody has ever solved.

What is on your iPod? 

Thelonius Monk, Girl Talk, Juan Luis Guerra, The Who, Rubén Blades, Led Zeppelin, The Police, Nine Inch Nails, Alison Krauss

What are you currently reading? 

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

What do you do outside of class?

I'm active in the city volleyball league and I like to travel when I can.

 
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