Florida Tech Computer Science Major Earns National Award

– Florent Launay, a December 2002 Florida Tech graduate with a bachelor’s degree in computer science, has earned an Honorable Mention Award in the
Computing Research Association’s (CRA) 2003 Outstanding Undergraduate Award program. Launay, from France, took the honor for making a significant
contribution to his field of study.

He has worked with his advisor, Dr. Debasis Mitra, for about a year. His work has included formulating a new computational problem and developing
algorithms for a solution as well as working toward the solution’s theoretical proof. “This is a very hard nut to crack for an undergraduate student,” said
Mitra.

Launay subsequently implemented the algorithm and presented his work to the department’s faculty and students. Additionally, he has co-authored a research
paper on his work.

The CRA, in Wash. D.C., is the leading organization representing the issues of computer science. Its members are from U.S. universities, companies and
laboratories.

Other honorable mention recipients are students at such institutions as Harvard University; University of California, Berkeley; Carnegie Mellon University;
Johns Hopkins University and Dartmouth College.

Florida Tech offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in computer science, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in information systems and bachelor’s
degrees in software development.