School of Computing November 2025 Newsletter
Important Information
As the semester moves toward its close, please note the following key dates and events.
- ABET Visit: November 2–4 (for more information see the front desk)
- Osprey for a Day — SoC: December 5, 11:00–11:30 a.m.
- Bytes of Gratitude Potluck: November 14, 1:00 p.m.
Achievements
The paper co-authored by Dr. Niu, "Requirements-Based Test Generation: A Comprehensive Survey", has been accepted to ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology (TOSEM). https://doi.org/10.1145/3771727
Dr. Umapathy’s paper, "Estimating Census Undercount for Florida Counties", has been accepted at the 2025 Pre-ICIS SIGDSA (SIG Decision Support and Analytics) Symposium. https://preicis.sigdsa.org/
The paper co-authored by Dr. Niu, "An Empirical Study of Software Refactoring in Real-World Open-Source Java Projects", has been accepted to IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering (TSE). https://doi.org/10.1109/TSE.2025.3604821
Welcome Jeremiah Doody
Welcome to the School of Computing, Jeremiah Doody, one of our new instructors. Doody worked as a research assistant and graduate research assistant at UNF in 2017–2018 under Dr. Ching-hua Chuan, helping develop SmartSignPlay, a Unity-based prototype game for teaching American Sign Language.
He began teaching during that time and has continued ever since, originally under Dr. Prodanoff, instructing Development of Gaming and Mobile Applications. In 2019, he became an adjunct at UNF after earning his master’s degree and later began teaching at Jacksonville University in 2022.
Doody became a full-time instructor last spring and has been consistently involved with COP3503 Programming II. He is currently teaching IDC2002 AI for All and will teach CAP4052 Game Development in the spring.
Student Highlight
The School of Computing is a very tight knit community, with students being the core of what we do everyday. On October 8th a little after 10 p.m. we lost a member of our community. Hunter Ford was a senior majoring in Computer Science and was an IT Systems Analyst intern at UNF. Ford had recently turned 21 over the summer.
Ford was known on campus for his uplifting personality and sense of humor. He also had a social media presence through his bike videos in and around UNF campus, affectionately calling his viewers “pookies.” Along with his passion for computing, he worked for the Jacksonville Sharks as a photography intern. Family and friends remember his love for photography and all things adventurous.
Hunter was everywhere, he had an impact on everyone. Whether it was with us at OSEC, photo/videography for UNF Hockey, data analysis with Osprey Racing, or even helping to start clubs like the skateboarding club or the Minecraft club. I don’t think he ever had a bad day, he was always all smiles and always made sure everyone else was too. On top of all that, he was one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, he was going to do great things. — Evan Lauer, UNF Student
At least on my end, I barely knew Hunter, but he was an extremely energetic, kind, and lively person. He always brought passion to anything that I saw him in, and he was amazing to be around. I wish I could've spoken more with him about things. He really was everywhere and it seemed like he did everything. I hope he's resting easy. — Alex Carpenter, UNF Student
Hunter Ford is remembered and lived on by his parents and sister, along with his friends and teachers here at UNF. If you or someone you know is struggling following Hunter’s passing please contact the UNF Crisis Hotline at (904) 620-2602 or text CONNECT to 741741 for crisis help.