Dr. Susamma Barua Portrait

Dr. Susamma (Susan) Barua

Dr. Susamma (Susan) Barua serves as the interim dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at California State University, Fullerton. In this role, she oversees the college’s four departments and the Computer Engineering program, and two interdisciplinary centers. Under her leadership, the college put into practice initiatives to improve the academic preparation of first-time freshmen, increase student retention and graduation rates, reduce time to degree, and close the opportunity gap among underrepresented and first-generation students. She guided the development and implementation of proactive strategies aimed at increasing the diversity and inclusiveness of engineering and computer science students at Cal State Fullerton. She has increased support for faculty research, professional development and travel. Several areas in the college have been repurposed and renovated to create space for faculty research and student projects. Collaboration across campus, with external community, industry, and donors is on the rise. The Corporate Partners Program launched under her direction has enhanced engagement opportunities for corporate partners and strengthened the college’s ability to connect students with industries for sponsored projects, internships, and full-time employment. The number of industry-sponsored projects has increased nearly 567% and the funding for student design projects, including the capstone senior design projects, rose by 47% since 2016.

Prior to the appointment as interim dean, Dr. Barua served eight years as the associate dean of the college from 2008 to 2016.  She helped “engineer” many of the college’s innovative efforts to promote student success and completely transformed the summer orientation experience for the incoming freshmen and transfer students through the integration of lab tours and the opportunity to interact with peers. She launched new graduate student orientations and advising webinars for incoming undergraduate and graduate international students. Dr. Barua also provided oversight in curricular improvements and development of new programs in the college, such as the online M.S. in Environmental Engineering. She was appointed coordinator of the Computer Engineering program in 2004 and continued in this role until January 2015, simultaneously serving as the Associate Dean from August 2008. She spearheaded the establishment of the Computer Engineering program and introduced three new degree programs in computer engineering. She also led two successful ABET accreditation visits in 2008 and 2014.

The research contributions, external funding record and scholarly productivity of Dr. Barua are extensive. Her research interests include computer performance analysis, high performance computing, computer networking, web-based database and interactive multimedia systems. She has authored nearly 35 technical articles and supervised over 130 undergraduate and graduate research projects. She is the recipient of several external grants, such as the NSF "ECS Academic Catalyst for Excellence (ACE) Scholarship Program”, NSF "CSUF ADVANCE IT-Catalyst Project", NSF “INCLUDES: (STEM)3 - Scaling Up Strengthening Transfer & Matriculation in STEM”, and the Department of Labor “Orange County Bridge to Engineering Project” to name a few.

As a professor of Computer Science and Computer Engineering, Dr. Barua is the recipient of Outstanding Service and Outstanding Teacher/Scholar awards several times. She has a vast and impressive record of service at Cal State Fullerton. She has served on a number of college and university committees, including the President’s Commission on Equity and Inclusion, President’s Commission on Women in Leadership, Planning, Resource and Budget Committee, University Curriculum Committee, Faculty Development and Education Innovation Committee, Faculty Affairs Committee, Outstanding Professor Committee, University Advancement Committee, and Closing the Gap Taskforce. She was a member of the Academic Senate from 1999 through 2002 and has served on many important search committees in the university.

Dr. Barua earned her Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, M.S. in Electrical Engineering from University of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Regional Engineering College in Calicut, India. She is a leader in engineering educational reform and is an experienced developer of innovative education programs. She has been actively involved in mentoring female and underrepresented students in computing for most of her career. She is a Golden Core Member of the IEEE Computer Society and currently an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Education.