Moses Ike: An Impressive Scholar

After graduating from high school, Moses Ike worked as a Coca-Cola delivery person from 2009 to 2012.  He used and sharpened his social skills as he met with a wide variety of people.  He had always done well in math, but those skills were not used.  While still working full-time as Coca-Cola delivery person, he took some math and computer classes, as an evening student, at a community college.  In addition to paying for his evening classes, he saved some money so he could attend college full-time.

Moses said “I came to UTDallas to study computer science because of my interests in mathematics and algorithmic programming.  During the course of my study, I have learned to think outside the box, searching for improved re-inventions of algorithms and procedures, in an integrated effort to efficiently utilize computing resources. UTDallas CS department has proved a conducive place for me to develop and advance my computing and problem solving skills.“

In 2012, he was accepted as a full-time undergraduate student in the Computer Science Department at UTDallas.  He transferred his credits to UTDallas and was able to graduate with a BS in Computer Science in just two additional years.  In 2014, Moses was graduated with a BS in Computer Science from UTDallas. His GPA was 3.9 (out of 4.0).

When asked what motivated him to change careers, Moses said “I chose computer science because I had loved math and logic, and thought perhaps I could use those skills in  programming.  I also liked computer networking things. So computer science major was the closest match.  Its hard to believe that I am now a graduate student in computer science. I give Almighty God all the credit.“

While attending classes as an undergraduate student, his adviser encouraged him to consider going to graduate school. “I would like to express my profound gratitude to Dr. Greg Ozbirn, whose programming projects have proved to be a building block for me in terms of my coding and problem solving skills. I would also like to thank him for the support and knowledge he gives me when I go to his office to ask computer science questions.”

Ten years ago, Moses had never even considered going to graduate school.  But, for an outstanding student, it was a natural next-step. In 2014, Moses was accepted to a Scholarship For Service (SFS) program funded by the National Science Foundation to pursue a Computer Science Masters Degree in Information Assurance (Cyber-Security).

Dr. Greg Ozbirn, who motivated Moses, is one of many talented and supportive professors at UTDallas. The Computer Science Department at UTDallas  is one of the largest CS departments in the United States with more than 750 undergraduate, 500 master, and 125 PhD students. They are committed to exceptional teaching and research in a culture that is as daring as it is supportive.