Director’s Welcome Letter

Welcome to the FIU Knight Foundation School of Computing and Information Sciences, the place where innovations, interdisciplinary science, and computing intersect to create innovative opportunities for students to experience rigorous education and authentic research and foster their development as future leaders, researchers, innovators, and entrepreneurs in advanced science and technology. Our top-notched programs offer BS, MS, and Ph.D. Degrees in Computer Science, Information Technology, Cybersecurity, Data Science, and Telecommunications and Networking.

Founded in 1987, the Knight Foundation School of Computing and Information Sciences at Florida International University in Miami offers challenging undergraduate programs in Computing, and Information Sciences and graduate programs in Computer Science attended by excellent students locally, nationally, and internationally. The School has grown to be one of the largest in the nation, with over 3,000 students, producing over 600 undergraduate degrees annually, 80 graduate degrees, and was recognized by the State of Florida as the #1 ranked state program for Information Technology related majors.

Our Computer Science (ABET/CSAB accredited) and Information Technology undergraduate programs provide students an education consisting of both the theoretical and applied knowledge necessary for a successful career as a computing professional. Our research-driven Masters programs in Computer Science, Information Technology, Telecommunication and Networking, Data Science, and Cybersecurity, as well as our Ph.D. program in Computer Science, provide students many opportunities to conduct cutting-edge research with experienced faculty from numerous large-scale projects. Our School is a leader in federal research funding for Computer Science. The National Science Foundation ranks us #43 in research expenditures.

Our faculty and their research receive numerous honors and awards such as ACM Fellow, IEEE Fellow, AAAS Fellow, and Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, European Academy of Science, and Fellow of other professional societies for their work in the field. Our faculty publish texts in places like MIT Press, Prentice-Hall, John Wiley, etc. used by other Computer Science programs internationally and by computing professionals as “must-have” programming reference guides. Our faculty are skilled educators dedicated to training the next generation of engineers and computer scientists using our state-of-the-art teaching and research laboratories.

As our student, expect to be challenged with rigorous instruction complemented by assignments designed to build your skills while working in one of our 25+ research and instructional laboratories. Our $3 million research and instructional facility, TechStation, features a wide range of computing and networking technologies. We are continually improving our computing infrastructure and have superb technical support staff that maintains lab services and can assist you.

Miami is an excellent location for our program and for you to spend your college years. Our students find exciting internship opportunities since Miami is home to over 1,000 international companies. South Florida, consisting of Miami-Dade, Broward, and West Palm Beach Counties, supports over 7,000 information technology-related companies. Our students enjoy a year-round, sub-tropical climate cooled by daily sea breezes. Students can live on campus or find residences throughout the local suburbs or even near the beach. We also offer many classes in the evening and online to enable success for working students. Financial aid and assistantships are available to qualified students.

Many of our students have gained internship experiences and have found full-time positions after graduation at leading technology companies, such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft. Many of our graduate students are continuing their careers as professors, researchers, and leaders in academia, national research labs, and industry.

We look forward to your joining the FIU Knight Foundation School of Computing and Information Sciences family!

Jason Liu
Endowed Computer Science Professor & Director