Dr. Brian Davis is the dean of the newly launched School of Computer Science and Mathematics at KIMEP University. The dean talked to the KIMEP Voice recently about the new school›s plans and growth the university hopes to see in the coming years.
Davis emphasized the school›s commitment to international collaboration and providing students with the tools to thrive in the growing computer science industry. He also outlined some of the new college’s strategies to differentiate itself from similar programs in Kazakhstan.
The college will implement an American-aligned curriculum, pursue an ABET accreditation, develop strong industry partnerships, and create a science-based programs that challenges students and faculty.
Q: Could you share an anecdote or story about why you chose to pursue mathematics and your journey to becoming the Dean of the new school?
A: When I was in high school, I started taking courses outside of science, and I found that in some of these courses, you had to learn your professor›s opinion on the subject. I never liked that. In math, however, your opinion doesn›t matter. Math is either right or wrong.
Your ability to correctly solve math problems does not depend on what language you speak, whether your family is wealthy, or what ethnicity you are. In that sense, math is very fair.
Q: What are some of the unexpected hurdles you encountered, and how has that made you feel about opening a new school?
A: KIMEP is not known for the sciences. We have a strong business program and economics, but we have never really offered physical sciences, computer science, or mathematics.
Because of this, we immediately realized that we did not have the facilities to offer a world-class computer science degree.
It is not just the School of Math and Computer Science; we also have all of the natural sciences under us: biology, physics, chemistry—all of these faculties will be under us as well.
Q: Could you describe the undergraduate program in the School of Computer Science? What are the key courses that will be taught or some majors the school will offer?
A: Next year, we will have two degrees under us: Information Systems and Computer Science. First, you must take core courses in mathematics and science. Everyone essentially becomes a scientist. Everyone will take calculus, physics, linear algebra—maybe six math courses in total. After you complete your core science courses, you move on to programming classes, so everyone becomes a good programmer with a science background.
The third component is specialization. For example, every student in the Computer Science degree program must spend their final two years working individually with a faculty member on a substantial project.
The curriculum is designed to offer a lot of flexibility in the final two years. You become a scientist, then a programmer, and then you start working on something you are passionate about.
You have a project, a faculty advisor, and you start picking courses that support your project. I believe it is s a very flexible degree. Everyone will be a great programmer, but you’ll have the freedom to tailor your degree toward what you want to do.
Q: How many steps were involved in establishing the new college, and what are the key milestones that you expect?
A: We need four things: curriculum, faculty, facilities, and students.
It took time to develop a curriculum that makes sense—one that is modern and does not overburden students but still allows them to graduate in four years and be attractive to employers.
Hiring faculty is an ongoing process. We have good faculty who are broadly trained. Now, we are looking to hire faculty with specialized research areas to enhance our research capabilities and ranking. The science building is planned to be completed by January. Not all labs will be fully equipped immediately, but we will start using offices, computer labs, and the physics lab.
This is the third science building I have been involved in constructing. Three floors with labs will allow us to run physics, biology, chemistry, and computer hardware labs.
We have faculty, curriculum, and buildings, and now we are in the process of recruiting students. Recruiting takes a lot of work. For instance, we are upgrading our agreements with local high schools.
If you attended an NIS school, you had advanced courses embedded in your curriculum. We are now going back to these schools to offer physics, chemistry, and biology in addition to English and history. This makes us more attractive to these schools, especially those following the American curriculum and advanced placement courses. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work involved in successful student recruitment.
Q: Could you tell us more about the faculty members who will be part of the new school, and where are they from? Will you add more faculty over the coming years?
A: We have faculty from the United States, Northern Europe (Sweden, Norway), France, and Thailand. The two mathematicians are Kazakh but obtained their PhDs abroad. We are hiring a mix of foreign faculty with foreign degrees and local Kazakh faculty with foreign degrees. We plan to add two more computer scientists as we introduce additional computer science courses.
Q: Could you describe a typical student who will attend the new school?
A: These are good students. Around 50% of them already know how to code. They did not just wake up one day and decide, «Oh, I think I will do computer science today.»
They have been programming in Java. I was surprised by the level of experience they already possess. They are typically good at math. A typical student will likely have already taken calculus and possibly physics in high school. Some of them are already working in the field, building web pages, coding projects, and even making money while still in high school.
Q: How many students are you expecting to apply for this college this semester?
A: If we add 40-50 students per major, I will be happy. But as we add new degree programs, the school will gradually expand. We are negotiating with partner institutions. One announcement we expect to make within the next year, possibly within a couple of months, is that we are aligning with American institutions.
Q: What distinguishes KIMEP’s School of Computer Science and Mathematics from other institutions?
A: We will provide a high-quality education. We have aligned our curriculum with ABET standards—the American Computer Science and Engineering accreditation board. It takes four years to receive ABET accreditation.
We are aligning with an American curriculum, which I believe is superior because our computer scientists will be scientists. Therefore, you are more broadly trained and have a wider range of job opportunities. We are also aligning with American institutions.
Additionally, we offer two years of one-on-one projects with faculty and the ability to customize your final two years to specialize in an area you wish to explore. In terms of language, what is the language of computer science and mathematics? It is not Russian or Kazakh. It is English. This is a huge advantage.
Our flexible curriculum is another strength. We have two industry partners—one I can announce is Invivo, where we will place internships.
They have over 1,500 medical labs. This may not sound very interesting to computer scientists until you realize the data they handle. They need to analyze all that data on servers, and they employ numerous computer scientists to do that.
There are many interesting developments that will make us the top school in Central Asia.
Q: There is a lot of talk about AI: What role will AI play at the new school?
A: Every programmer will take courses in AI, gaining a solid foundation in programming. If AI is your area of interest, you can choose to specialize in artificial intelligence.
I use AI—it is hard not to. Even your spell checkers, which used to just check spelling, now use AI for basic tasks. Interestingly, it has made me a better writer. I believe we should not fight AI; we should teach people to use it. AI will make us better writers and better students.
How can you not allow students to use calculators in a calculus class? If an engineering major graduates and starts building bridges, they will use a calculator. So why not teach them what they will actually do?
As soon as you graduate, you will use every AI tool you can. I believe we should teach students to use these tools effectively.
Q: Will students have opportunities to study internationally?
A: We are working on student exchanges, faculty exchanges, and joint degree programs.
We plan on bringing international professors here and sending our professors to the U.S. in these exchange programs.
Even if you do not have the desire or the means to travel internationally, we will bring international faculty to you so that you can still have a similar experience.