Faculty Spotlight

Juan GilbertThrough the recent cutting-edge research of Juan Gilbert, assistant professor in Auburn University's Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering is one step closer to fulfilling its vision of positioning itself as a leader among the nation's elite engineering institutions.

Gilbert's latest software development - Applications Quest - is currently undergoing widespread pilot testing and its results are already making headlines in The Chronicle of Higher Education and other media outlets as a promising tool for maintaining diversity in student enrollment at colleges and universities worldwide. 

"Applications Quest provides a complete review of student applications by enabling comparisons of all of the data provided, including race, academic performance, gender and family economic background," explains Gilbert. "The effects of this program will change the whole admission paradigm."

According to Gilbert, the idea for Applications Quest developed following the 2003 Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action in student admissions.  Although the ruling allows consideration for minorities in the admission process, it requires a complete review of every application before considering race - an expensive and challenging task when dealing with thousands of applications.

Gilbert, who received his doctorate in computer science from the University of Cincinnati, began his Auburn career in 2000.  Since then he has contributed to several research projects within the department.  He has also been heavily involved in graduate student recruitment.  

"Auburn engineering has done a great deal for me," shares Gilbert. "The college has been very supportive and open in allowing me to do the type of research I want to do and allowing me to recruit top students into our program."

In addition to Applications Quest, Gilbert's other research projects include the development of software programs for electronic voting equipment and voice- recognition systems for computers capable of processing a variety of languages.

"Building software is an art and a science," says Gilbert. "The type of software we are developing will open the door for things we've always dreamed of doing. Computer science and software engineering is pervasive; just about everything has or will use it. It's an extraordinarily interdisciplinary field with a mission of making things better for our society."