Software is designing our lives…who is designing the software?
June 2021 – This summer, we’re spending time in office hours with some of Drew University’s amazing faculty to learn about what interests and inspires them and their research.
Today, we’re talking with Emily Hill, Associate Professor of Computer Science.
What about your field interests you most?
Software is designing our lives…who is designing the software?
Expand on that.
Did you know that less than one half of one percent of people in the world know how to build the software that we use every single day? That’s less than one percent of the world’s population who define what the world can do with the technology at our fingertips.
Why does it fascinate you?
The programming skills we learn in computer science and software engineering can literally change the world as we know it. My passion has been making programming more accessible so that everyone can be a part of the conversation!
How do you bring the topic into the Drew classroom?
Just as a telescope is an astronomer’s tool for studying the stars, a computer is a tool that helps computer scientists figure out how to solve problems that no one’s ever solved before. I primarily teach programming, and I weave the fundamentals of software development and best practices into every course I teach. The key software engineering principles can be taught at any level. My role is to interpret them and help make them accessible for students at all levels, from complete noob to graduating senior.
