Br. David Carlson got started in the computer science world (especially software development and computer architecture) by wiring together the dining room chairs as a young child. Early on in high school, he wanted to continue this by becoming an electrical engineer; however, an outstanding high school math teacher got him interested in both math and teaching, which resulted in him completing a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Arts in mathematics. A few computer science courses got taken along with the math, so the wiring together of things was not completely forgotten.
After entering the monastery, Br. David learned that a monk at Saint Vincent cannot just pray all day; there had to be both work and prayer. Since the college had a need for faculty to teach in the relatively new field of computer science, he agreed to head back to graduate school for another degree, a Master of Science in computer science.
After returning to Saint Vincent with the new degree in hand, Br. David began his full-time teaching the same year that the Computing and Information Science (CIS) major began at the college: 1985. Since then, he has taught in the areas of computer science, data structures, algorithms, computer and network security, IT, mathematics, artificial intelligence, operating systems, and cryptography. He also served as department chairperson for a total of about 20 years. He especially enjoys building a working product, often software, that others can use–still wiring things together in a sense. Br. David likes working in a Linux environment and has interests in search engines, web applications, how computer exploits work, and many other specific topics in computing. His favorite hobbies are bicycling and playing piano and saxophone. He enjoys reading good literature, theology, history, and spirituality.
Education
MS, Computer Science, Syracuse University MA, Mathematics, The Pennsylvania State University BS, Mathematics, The Pennsylvania State University Non-degree program, Saint Vincent Seminary
Courses
Fundamentals of IT and Computing C++ Programming I, II Discrete Structures Introduction to Computability Website Design and Programming Data Structures Computer Security Introduction to Artificial Intelligence Introduction to Numerical Computation Web Technologies Introduction to Algorithms Server-Side Programming Data Communications Advanced Topics in Security Operating Systems Applied Cryptography Intro to Engineering Computation Elementary Functions Calculus with Applications I Analytical Calculus I, II Fundamentals of IT and Computing
Research Interests
The Traveling Salesperson Problem, search engines.
Selected Publications
Carlson, D., Sophomores Meet the Traveling Salesperson Problem. The Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, 33(3), 126-133, 2018.
Carlson, D., Serapiglia, A. A Framework for Cybersecurity Educational Activities, 2019 Proceedings of the EDSIG Conference, ISCAP.
Carlson, D., Poster presentation: A framework for teaching cybersecurity on the topic: Software development - what could possibly go wrong? The Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, 35(3), 205, 2019.
Carlson, D.E., (2024) Teaching Public Key Cryptography: A Software Approach. Cybersecurity Pedagogy and Practice Journal, v3 (n2) pp 12-20. https://doi.org/10.62273/JJIP7451
Carlson, D.E., (2024) Teaching Public Key Cryptography: A Software Approach. Cybersecurity Pedagogy and Practice Journal, v3 (n2) pp 12-20. https://doi.org/10.62273/JJIP7451
