Signature

Prof Emeritus H. Roumani, PhD
3M National Teaching Fellow
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
Email: roumani <at> yorku <dot> ca
Incoming subdomains: cs, cse, and eecs
URL: https://www.eecs.yorku.ca/~roumani/

Courses

• The Introductory Sequence, Data Structures, and Algorithms: EECS1011, EECS1012, EECS1020, EECS1021, EECS1022, EECS1030, EECS2030, EECS2011, EECS3101.
• Computer Organization: EECS2021, EECS2021L.
• Scientific Computing: ECS1540, EECS2501.
• Web Programming and eCommerce: EECS2041, EECS4413.
• Computer Security: EECS3481, EECS4481.
• Quantum Computing: EECS4141.

Projects

• The Apple Gedanken (quantum superposition) ➤
• The Astro Gedanken (quantum entanglement) ➤
• The Abstract Stock Exchange ➤
• The York Programming Environment ➤
• Scientific Computing with Fortran ➤
• Secure Grade Reporting ➤
• Rethinking Computing Education ➤
• How Do Computers Work? ➤
• A Development Walkthrough ➤
• Cyber Physical Systems ➤

Selected Publications & Lectures

• "Introduction to Quantum Computing [No Physics Background]" (2023)
  An online textbook. Site.


• "Experiential Pedagogy" (2020)
  A presentation at the Department Meeting of Nov. 2020. Link.


• "Introduction to Computer Science with Android" (2018, 2020)
  A textbook on Amazon. Site.


• "Resource Hints in HTML5: A New Pandora's Box of Security Nightmares" (2017)
  The International Conference on Availability, Reliability and Security, Reggio Calabria, Italy. Link.


• "The Double Life of Your Browser: Implications on Privacy and Forensics" (2017)
  The 12th International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security, Dayton, Ohio, USA. Link.


• "A Brief Encounter With Information Security" (2016)
  A lecture given to first-year students (EECS1001). Link.


• "Cross-Site Request Forgery" (2015)
  A book chapter in "Emerging Trends in ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) Security" with N. Vlajic and M. Andrade, Morgan Kaufmann, Elsevier. Link.


• "Optimal Cascade Block Size in BB84 Quantum Key Distribution" (2014)
  Capstone thesis of student: Abdulaziz Busbate. Link.


• "XBANK: Test Bed Platform for Cross-Site Request Forgery" (2014)
  Mater thesis of student: Maria Angel Marquez Andrade. Link.


• "Cloud Security and Insider Attacks" (2013).
  Capstone Project of student: Frank Warnock. Link.


• "VLUS: Visual Location-Based URL Screening Tool for Improved WWW Security" (2012)
  with A. Naumov and N. Vlajic. Proceedings of the IEEE World Congress of Internet Security. Link.


• "Good Teaching & Good Learning" (2011)
  Presented at the EECS Departmental Retreat, Kettleby, Ont, Sept 16, 2011. Link.


• "The iShare System" (2009)
  iShare enables an instructor to demonstrate a technique to all students in the lab by actually performing the technique on the instructor's machine and have students watch the process on their screens. Sept. 2009. Link.


• "How Scientists Teach" (2009)
  Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, Number 53, Fall 2009. Link.


• "Address Based Memory Diagrams" (2008)
  with Franck van Breugel, Feb. 2008. Link.


• "The Science in Computer Science: A Journey Through Abstractions" (2007)
  Presented at the Royal Canadian Institute, Macleod Auditorium, Medical Sciences Building, University of Toronto on Sun Oct. 28, 2007. Link, press article, and footage: Optimized for Windows streaming and Cross-Platform Flash.


• "The ePost System" (2007-present)
  A Secure Web-Based Grade Posting System for EECS@York. The latest version supports impersonation, http authentication over SSL, and automatic production of the course performance summary forms. Sept. 2007 Link.


• "Separation of Concerns in CS1/CS2" (2006)
  Presented at the York/EECS Seminars, March 24, 2006. Slides, Programs.


• "Practice What You Preach" (2006)
  Published in the proceedings of the 37th ACM SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer Science Education, pp 491, 2006. Presented in Houston, TX. PDF


• "We Don't Need Arrays" (2005)
  Presented at the 7th ACSE conference (2005). Link.


• "Java By Abstraction" (2005-2016)
  A textbook published by Pearson Education Canada, Addison-Wesley (2005). Site and press article.


• "HCW: A Lab Handbook on Assembly and Hardware Design Languages" (2004-2017)
  A series of labs in MIPS and Verilog on how computers work. Link.


• "A Guided Tour of Unix" (2004)
  A hand-on introduction to the Unix/Linux environment @EECS. Intended for newcomers to the department including EECS1020 and transfer students, grads, and new faculty. Published in July 2004. Link.


• "Fortran@York" (2003)
  A comprehensive site on Fortran and the SLATEC library. Includes software downloads, resources, and a set of labs. Published in June 2003. Link.


• "Design Guidelines for the Lab Component of Objects-First CS1" (2002)
  Published in the proceedings of the 33rd ACM SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer Science Education, pp 222, 2002. Presented in Cincinnati, OH. PDF


• More Publications
  Follow this link .

Biography

Awards

• The Canada-Wide 3M Fellowship
  in 2009, Citation. Media: 3M, York STLHE.
  
  
• The Province-Wide LIFT (Leadership in Faculty Teaching) Award ( LIFT)
  in 2007, Province of Ontario. Press article.
  
  
• The University-Wide Award for Teaching Excellence
  in 1996, York University. President's list.
  
  
• The Faculty-Wide Excellence in Teaching Award
  in 1995 and 2000, Faculty of Pure and Applied Science.
  
  
• The Lassonde Educator of the Year Award
  in 2017, Lassonde School of Engineering.
  
  
• The Departmental Mildred Baptist Award
  in 2000, 2001, and 2004, Dept of Computer Science & Engineering.
  
  

Teaching Philosophy

It is my belief that concentrating on the general ideas and the Big Picture without worrying about details will produce an individual who may be computer-literate but certainly not a productive computer professional. At the other extreme, an individual who masters the intricate details of a particular environment without being able to abstract will be obsolete as soon as the technology that underlies that environment becomes obsolete (which happens quickly in the computing field).

A blend of the two approaches is essential for confronting today's ever-changing state of this field which is nothing short of "evolution in action" with an "adapt or die" paradigm. Luckily, while technological details are changing rapidly and in a revolutionary manner, abstract concepts are evolving slowly and incrementally. Hence, by understanding how today's details fit in the general abstract scheme, we should be able to easily adapt and quickly comprehend tomorrow's technologies.

We can achieve this blend by observing two prime directives that tell us how to orchestrate the topics within a course and how to choreograph the discovery of concepts so that students can explore what can be rather than imitate what is. Here are simple yet enlightening depictions of the two directives:

• What is the relation between driving a car and the combustion engine? Do I need to known one in order to learn the other? And more to the point, why did you keep referring to spark plugs when you were showing me how to accelerate?


• Try as you may but I don't think your lectures will ever teach me how to skate. You have explained the techniques really well, even made me an expert in the physics of skating, but I still fall flat on my face every time I set foot in the rink!

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