New Faculty Profile

David Chays
(Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics)

A brief overview of your area of expertise, research and teaching.

My research experience thus far has touched on the intersection of software engineering and database systems, as well as the intersection of software engineering and security. I like to analyze open problems and potential solutions, and in the process, develop new frameworks, algorithms and heuristics, implement them and experimentally analyze the results. I also like to work in the intersection of different areas; lessons learned in one area can be applied to other areas, as I have seen in my experience thus far. My current research concerns issues in testing relational database programs and development of a framework and tool set for database application testing. I have also worked on an anti-virus project, with promising results. I enjoy teaching introductory computer programming and data structures and algorithms.

Why did you come to Adelphi?

As a teaching assistant and research assistant at Polytechnic University, it was my dream to become a professor. My Compilers teacher at Poly, Professor Robert Siegfried, encouraged me to apply to Adelphi, where he is an Associate Professor. Professor Siegfried showed an enthusiasm for teaching that helped inspire me to teach. I was also encouraged by my former colleague at Polytechnic University, Yu Chen, who is an Assistant Professor at Adelphi. I was further impressed when I met the chairman, Bill Quirin, the dean, Gayle Insler, and the other faculty and staff. I became convinced that Adelphi was the right place for me; working in a place with such great colleagues was the deciding factor in my decision to come here. When the people with whom you work are honorable, supportive and friendly, it makes coming to work an enjoyable Adelphi has become my home away from home.

What has been your experience so far?

So far so good! I enjoy my job, in large part, because of the people with whom I work. Working in a small school is a definite plus. Small class sizes are much more conducive to learning than large lecture halls. Moreover, there is something special about this place; it feels like family. My department as well as everyone I met here has made me feel welcome,and I greatly appreciate that. I am very fortunate to have such a caring,honorable, and knowledgeable mentor, Robert Siegfried. My experiences with students has also been positive. They are polite, respectful, diligent and eager to learn. It has been a pleasure and privilege to teach them.

What do you wish to contribute? What do you feel strongly about in regards to teaching or your specialization?

Through teaching, research, and service, I wish to contribute to Adelphi University and the academic community. I feel strongly about helping students gain an appreciation and understanding of the issues and concepts involved in computer programming and software development. With motivation and a hands-on approach, I hope to create a positive learning environment for all my students. I am working on developing courses in Software Engineering and Computer Networks. I also am looking forward to continuing with my research in the following areas: software engineering, database systems, and computer security.

What do you wish to impart to your students?

First, I wish to impart to my students that I care very much about them and their success. Second, I wish to provide my students with an environment that is conducive to learning good programming practices, sound software engineering principles, and a knowledge base on which to build upon long after the course is over. I feel strongly about the importance of the introductory computer programming course, since this is the first computer science course for many incoming students and a prerequisite for almost all computer science courses. My goal is to provide my students with a deep understanding of the fundamentals and to impress upon them the importance of not taking the fundamentals for granted because knowing the fundamentals is not sufficient unless they are practiced. I like analogies and here's one with regard to fundamentals: in baseball, fielders know that given sufficient time, it is safer to catch the ball with two hands, but errors are still made at the professional level because of failure to do so. Similarly, even programmers in industry who are familiar with good programming practices do not always practice them, leading to errors in the software they produce.
In computer programming courses, it is important for students to develop their problem solving skills, i.e., how to take on a problem, analyze its requirements, and develop a solution in steps that are refined until a final solution is reached. It is my hope for whichever course I teach that students find it useful and consider further study of the material.