Post by Marcelo Vessoni

Very happy and honored to have contributed as an industry advisor, along with Hugo Allexis Cardona Escalante from Comcast and Karim Syed from S&P Global, to TCNJ’s Computer Science program discussions this week. I want to thank Professors Andrea Salgian, Prerit Datta, and Dimitris for the invitation. Inspiring to see the department’s commitment to connecting to current market and technology needs, and to gathering insights that will help shape future updates and the evolution of the curriculum -- especially during a time of rapid disruption driven by AI. Among the topics, we emphasized the importance of maintaining strong, practical connections to modern software engineering practices, data and AI/ML fundamentals, business and customer-centric mindset, and cybersecurity. And, why not, the preparations needed for a future quantum computing paradigm. And to always keep in mind: ➡️ The Computer Science curriculum is deeply rooted in systematic thinking and the art of building solutions to problems, step by step. These fundamentals are invaluable. And even in any AI disruption, that is a critical foundation. ➡️ AI can automate coding, but coding is only a small part of the magic. Trained CS professionals remain the guardians and creative minds behind the construction of complex digital and technological solutions powering our world #computerscienceforever #tcnj