Mentors

Mathias Fonkam

Dr. Mathias Fonkam serves as an associate teaching professor at the Penn State College of IST and is the founder of the OSS Lab. Mathias has a Doctorate in Computer Science from Cardiff University and served as the Dean of Computing at the American University of Nigeria prior to coming to Penn State. Mathias has many years of experience both in mentoring students and performing research within the field of Computer Science. Furthermore, Mathias has a strong history of open-source contributions, specifically within the field of Open Enterprise Resource Planning software.

Mathias' Key Areas of Expertise Are:

  • postgresSQL
  • Open ERP Systems
  • AI
  • Web Development

Mathias' Research Interests include:

  • Open-source software 
  • Web & Mobile Development
  • Systems thinking/Modeling & Computer Simulation
  • Programming Paradigms - Functional, Declarative, Concurrent & Object-oriented
  • Role of math & logic in computing curricula   
  • Data Modeling, Data Science & AI

Mathias' links:

 

Jeff Schulman

Jeffrey Schulman Jr is an Informatics Ph.D. Student advised by Dr. Jonathan Dodge, and a co-founding member of the PSU Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence that's INTerpretable, EXplainable, and Testable (PLAINTEXT). He is also an Adjunct Instructor and co-founded the Penn State Open-Source Program Office (OSPO) with Dr. Mathias Fonkham and Dr. Carl Cotner.

Jeff's professional journey includes significant roles in cybersecurity and IT systems, including serving as the Acting Chief Information Security Officer of the Penn State University Applied Research Lab (A U.S. Navy-Sponsored University-Affiliated Research Center) (UARC) and a Platforms Engineering Team Lead (Line Manager) at United States Africa Command. His real-world experience in securing and enhancing information capabilities in global enterprises provides a practical foundation for his academic research. 

 He is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps.

Jeff's Key Areas of Expertise are:

  • Working Across Departments to promote Open-Source Causes
  • Cybersecurity
  • IT Systems

Jeff's Research Interests Include:

  • Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI)
  • Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
  • Information Security

Jeff's links:

 

Carl Cotner

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Carl is an Associate Teaching Professor with Penn State, for the college of IST. He has a P.h.D in Mathematics from U.C Berkley and also has a Batchlors in mathematics from Penn State University.

Carl's Key Areas of Expertise are:

  • Open-Source Software

Carl's Research Interests Include:

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Functional programming
  • Large Language Models 

Carl's links: