Faculty Spotlight: Samuel Siewert

Associate professor Samuel Siewert, PhD, joined the faculty of Chico State’s Computer Science department in 2020. With a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and graduate degrees from the University of Colorado, Boulder, he’s a published author and business founder with a resume as varied as his interests. He has taught at the University of Alaska and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, led projects for NASA and Intel, and worked for years on using computer science to keep elephants, rhinos, and people safe from themselves and each other.

He recently spoke with us about gaining diverse educational and professional experience, and the value he sees in online graduate education. Excerpts of the conversation follow here.

Q: What drew you to Chico State?

A: The MS degree programs and an opportunity to contribute to the growing interest in scientific computing and related technologies such as sensor fusion, computer vision, and machine learning.

I appreciate teaching serious students who really value access to great education and want to work hard on ambitious goals. Current MSCS research projects include genetic machine learning, physics-informed machine learning, and quantum vs. parallel algorithm time-complexity analysis.

I also like the fantastic location. I'm from Northern California originally, so it's home.

Q: In the Online MS in Computer Science program, which courses do you especially like?

A: There are three:

• CSCI 612: Applied Computer Vision
• Still to come: CSCI 551: Numeric and Parallel Programming
• Still to come: CSCI 581: Machine Learning

They all can be easily completed by someone working at home. They don't require resources or materials that would require students to travel to the university. And they help students get jobs—good jobs that pay more.

I think you have to pick courses that are really interesting to the students, that you yourself are interested in, and that the world is interested in. If you’ve got those three things, you're teaching the right classes.

Q: You earned your bachelor’s degree in aerospace and mechanical engineering, and completed studies in physics and philosophy. To the outside eye, there might not be a direct line from those areas to computer science. What attracted you to the field you’re in now?

A: I worked at NASA Johnson space center on orbital mechanics and simulation software as a new graduate in mechanical engineering. While I had programming skills from personal interest in computing and some elective coursework on microprocessor systems, I started night school classes at the University of Houston in Clear Lake—adjacent to NASA Johnson—to bolster my knowledge and improve my skills for work on flight and ground software for the Space Shuttle, Space Station, and other projects with NASA.

Given this growing interest, and after many non-degree objective courses at U. of Houston, I looked into computer engineering, more aerospace engineering, or computer science. Computer science is a great way to knit together interdisciplinary work on emerging applications like robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and computer vision. I was lucky enough to get into a NASA space grant fellowship program for PhD students at the University of Colorado Boulder and work with the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab AI group on autonomous systems—including the Pluto mission, New Horizons, a Shuttle autonomy demonstrator that flew on STS-85, and finally the Spitzer space telescope—as a lead embedded systems software engineer.

Finishing a PhD in computer science, combined with my mechanical systems background, allowed me to work on a wide variety of industry projects in scientific computing, embedded systems, and applications, and to ultimately start a new career teaching and researching full-time in 2011.

Q: You have a diverse, very interesting background. You’ve founded a couple of businesses, led research and development initiatives, and served as an expert witness. How does all of this inform and influence your teaching?

A: It answers the, “Why?” For students who are interested in, “Why should I study this? Why do I need to learn this?”, it's an answer. It allows me to point to something and say, "Well, you should learn this because then you can do that."

It's great when we have a class where students use the technology to solve a problem that's of interest to them. And I find that, unless I share some potential applications or problems that the technology can solve, they may draw a blank on what to do. It's like priming the pump to say, "Here's what industry's done, and here's what I've been involved in. Now, what do you want to do?"

They may come up with something completely different, like, “I want to put a camera in front of a video game and have it play while I go eat dinner, so my character stays alive.” That's creative and it solves a problem that's relevant and interesting to them. (It depends on the age of the student, of course.)

I’ve had students who want to work on things like, "Can we use computer vision in an operating room to verify that the proper anesthesia has been administered?" That’s a very specific example of things that I've never done, but that I can help them with, based on having used the technology to solve problems that I was asked to address or that I found interesting myself.

Q: What technological developments do you see as having changed—and having the potential to change—the world of computer science the most?

A: AI and machine learning (ML). I worked on AI/ML from 1992 to 1996, which was the onset of the second AI winter—a time when the world felt AI had over-promised and under-delivered. It caused me to focus on real-time systems and computer vision for my PhD work. Starting in about 2010, AI and ML have really woken up from the winter slumber and the pace of innovation, research, student interest, and applications has been furious.

I got back into AI and ML through sensor fusion research in Alaska, working with the U.S. Coast guard on smart sensors. I later worked on aerial object classification and tracking at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, combining machine learning and computer vision into sensor fusion applications. My research students loved this direction. I have followed it and been delighted to see a resurgence in interest.

Q: What do you see coming in the computer science industry?

A: Artificial intelligence and machine learning being regarded as a branch of computer science, but ultimately as a standalone new degree area and industry.

I see an emergence of quantum computing from research in physics to become a new programming area as more algorithms can be shown to have quantum advantage. Long-term, I believe quantum computing will be combined with parallel computing as a new hybrid form of scalable scientific computing.

I also see new computing paradigms, such as neuromorphic and quantum computing, that will provide clear, distinct extensions and advantages over the soon-to stall-out scaling of digital logic computing known as Moore’s law, which says that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit will double every 18-24 months with minimal rise in cost, truly hits a wall.

Q: Why is it hitting a wall?

A: Because the devices can't be made smaller. They're down to about a four-nanometer process, which requires a massive financial investment just to be able to crank one chip out. That is coming to an end because, when you get small enough, you almost wind up at a quantum level or photonic level anyway. So you're making a circuit so small that you have to go quantum or optical, or you have to just reinvent how you do computing, which would be neuromorphic. So you just do it a different way.

Q: How does the Chico State Online MS in Computer Science program prepare students for that future?

A: We are not afraid to embrace change and to offer courses in emerging areas to complement core courses that are a state of practice. For example:

• CSCI 520: Applied Quantum Computing for Computer Scientists
• Efforts by our faculty and students to integrate more quantum programming into existing adjacent courses like CSCI 551: Numeric and Parallel Programming as modules

This work is being pursued through an NSF-funded statewide program out of Cal State San Marcos and led on campus by Dr. Jaime Raigoza, with whom I am working to create modules to compare parallel algorithms to quantum, and to work on demonstrating and creating quantum advantage examples for our students.

Our faculty team works to create innovative degree programs like the new Online MS Computer Science program. We refine and optimize our course offerings in key areas such as AI and machine learning to create interesting themes for our students to explore and specialize in, to best prepare them for industry or more graduate work.

Q: What can you tell us about graduates who have gone on to success in the field?

A: Our faculty team has advised a number of MS in Computer Science students who have found great career paths in leading industry organizations. Some have also gone on to win admission to PhD programs with support and fellowship programs, like many of our faculty did when we got our start in teaching and scholarship. One student worked on generative AI models with Dr. Carter Tillquist and went on to research in this area at Michigan State.

We have also had a number of students take jobs in high-performance scientific computing organizations such as Chevron HPC group. (I had a great panel last year with two of our graduates sharing their experience as HPC programmers in my CSCI 551 class). Similarly, we have had students take positions with NVIDIA, Amazon, and Google, as well as national labs.

Q: How has their Chico State education helped them succeed?

A: An MS degree has a statistically measurable impact on earnings, but perhaps more importantly, it opens doors for career paths in scientific computing, mastery of software engineering, and emergent areas like deep learning and quantum programming.

Given a high-tech job market that can be up and down at times, but overall up, it is often a great option for students to come back for an MS, and the online program makes that easier. Retooling and learning new specializations related to computer science and software engineering can help students reenter the job market with new skills and opportunities.

Q: Why do you think prospective students should join the Online MSCS program?

A: There are several reasons:

1. An MS in computer science is a great way to complement an engineering undergraduate degree, as I learned myself.
2. Remote education is insanely practical. You don't have to quit your job and it's less expensive.
3. Online education is a terrific way to progress in a new, improved career path. People sometimes face unexpected career changes. Rather than getting depressed, go do something interesting. You make yourself more marketable and come out on a new career path you were thinking about pursuing anyway.
4. Students who completed a computer science bachelor’s degree at Chico State can stay engaged or re-engage with a program they know and trust.
5. For students in industry who want to master areas of expertise for product research and development, specializing as a master’s student in computer science can strengthen product and project development skills.
6. Increased income—with a master’s degree, it’s somewhere between 15% and 50%—will benefit our graduates for the rest of their careers. They’ll make half million to a million dollars more that they can put in a retirement account. I think it's almost crazy not to do it.

Q: What do you wish you had known when you were applying to graduate school?

A: The simplest thing that I think is important for people to know is that the topic you choose—your major—is less relevant than you might think. Say you want to work for Apple or NASA or a startup. None of those organizations really cares what your degree is in. They care more that you completed the degree, and you personally did something that demonstrates that you could use that knowledge, and what you can do will solve problems for them. If you're in a STEM career, you're in a STEM career. The exact degree is probably less important than what you've done with it, and the fact that you can show someone that you can help them because you've achieved specific outcomes. They hire you for your knowledge and your ability to help them.

Capitalize on the opportunity to learn from Dr. Sam Siewert, Dr. R. Carter Tillquist, and the other committed industry veterans of Chico State’s Online MS in Computer Science program. These supportive, engaging faculty experts will help you build the problem-solving acumen that sets you apart in the hiring pool.

Enjoy the small-class environment of this flexible online program and gain proficiency in advanced topics that are essential for career success: computer vision, cybersecurity and threat detection, applied machine learning, software design, programming, AI, database management, and more.

Make the choice that can redefine your career and your future. Start by reviewing the admissions schedule and financial aid opportunities, and then schedule a call with an admissions outreach advisor today.