Finding Greatness: Dr. Myungjae Kwak
Author: News Bureau
Posted: Monday, September 26, 2016 1:53 PM
Categories:
Pressroom | School of Information Technology | Faculty/Staff | Finding Greatness
Macon, GA
Name: Dr. Myungjae Kwak
Full Title: Associate Professor of Information Technology
Degrees: Ph.D. in Information Systems and Technology from Claremont Graduate University
Describe your service to Middle Georgia State University and the community at large.
“I have been teaching full-time in the School of Information Technology at Middle Georgia State since 2011. I have taught many IT courses, mainly focusing on Programming, Software Development and Game Development. In my classes, I have used the ‘learning by doing’ approach, which requires students to do a lot of hands-on work and group activities, emphasizing the importance of everyday practice. Many students have mentioned that they learned a lot from hands-on assignments and projects and those learning experiences helped them get a job a lot after graduation.
“My research interests focus on data analytics, information retrieval/data mining, business simulation, and educational game design and development. First, my data analytics research centers on analyzing, visualizing and extracting valuable implications from big datasets by using various data mining and analysis techniques such as natural language processing, text mining, statistics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. My business simulation research explores how to design and build computer simulation models for analyzing academic, business and social issues and extracting meaningful implications. Educational game design and development research examines how to design and make educational/serious games more effective for their intended audience.
“I have served on several school and University committees including School of IT’s Curriculum Committee and Faculty Senate. I have also served on the Academic Advisory Council of the University Systems of Georgia. In addition, I have been advising a student group called Association of Information Technology Students in the School of Information Technology in order to help them host various school events, including IT summer camps and competitions to help them graduate with practical IT/IS knowledge and skills.”
What attracted you to a faculty position at Middle Georgia State University?
“I liked that Middle Georgia State is a growing institution. Colleagues in the School of IT are very friendly and work together well.”
What do you like best about teaching at Middle Georgia State?
“I love working with our students. Especially, I have been very lucky to have many good students who have worked with me in many game development and software development projects. In addition, the cean, chair and all colleagues in the School of IT are very friendly and supportive.”
In your opinion, what does it take for students majoring in your discipline to be successful these days?
“I believe that through empirical experiences, students better understand the key concepts of IT subjects and gain practical knowledge that is in high demand in the information technology industry.”
What would students be surprised to learn about you?
“They might be surprised to know that I was an economist in the Bank of Korea after completing my undergraduate degree. After four years at the bank, I decided to change my career path to computer science and IT.”
Photo: Dr. Myungjae Kwak works on a project with high school students during the School of Information Technology's IT Summer Camp.