Faculty Focus - Dr. Stephen Hughes

This year, Roanoke College added Dr. Stephen B. Hughes to its computer science faculty. Hughes brings with him expertise in information science, computer science and robotics.

He graduated magna cum laude from Dickinson College with a B.S. in computer science and received his M.S. in computer science from Indiana University. Hughes completed his Ph.D. in information science from the University of Pittsburgh, where his dissertation focused on robotics and how people interact with control for mobile robotics. For example, he talks about the idea of having a robotic walker where the elderly person would be able to use commands to tell the walker to put itself away and return when needed. This would allow the person more mobility and independence.

Regarding his expertise in both information and computer science, Hughes describes the disciplines as “different flavors with the same concept.”  He says that computer science explains how problems are solved while information science answers why and takes into account the “human side of information processing.”

Hughes currently teaches an introductory course to computers and a course in the fundamentals of computer science.  Next semester he will add a course in computer graphics. He says that in teaching students who are largely underclassmen, “It’s interesting to deal with people who aren’t entrenched in the trappings of a certain mindset of a field.”  To Hughes, the refreshing thing about working with undergraduate students is the chance to help mold the way his students look at the discipline.

“When you teach anything, you become enamored with your own ideas, and when you have to explain a concept to someone it forces you to challenge your own assumptions,” Hughes says. “This is difficult to do because you have to leave your own area of comfort, but it’s good because it also confirms your beliefs or challenges them.”

As far as long-term technology goals, Hughes says he is “interested in constructing a ‘cave,’” which will be a large, multi-screen computer graphics display, allowing students to feel as though they are in the setting of whatever they’re studying.  This device could be used to recreate significant historical events or even allow for a more in-depth visualization in scientific studies.  He is looking into the value of this device. “I’m looking at this as something that can help us.”

Hughes also hopes to work on a textbook that “looks at why we do graphics and not just how.”