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Mark Voortman, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Applied Computer Science

Director, Applied Computer Science Program

Pictured is Mark Voortman, Ph.D., visiting assistant professor of information technology. | Photo by John Altdorfer

Contact Information

Education

  • Bachelor of Science, Technical Informatics, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
  • Master of Science, Media and Knowledge Engineering, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh

Courses Taught

  • Databases
  • Networking and Security
  • Introduction to Programming
  • Business Analytics
  • Database Management and Applications
  • Special Topics in Management Information Systems: Business Analytics
  • Object-Oriented Systems Analysis and Design
  • Web Design and Development
  • Introduction to Programming
  • Introduction to Database Systems
  • Cryptology and Data Protection
  • Network Security
  • Server Management
  • Intermediate Programming
  • Security Issues in Information Technology
  • Introduction to Network Design

Background

Mark Voortman, Ph.D., is an associate professor and director of the applied computer science program in the Rowland School of Business at Point Park University. Voortman co-created the revised applied computer science (formerly information technology) program at Point Park, which is focused on helping students build applicable knowledge in advanced programming, big data and business entrepreneurship.

Prior to joining Point Park, Voortman conducted postdoctoral computer science research on immunity inspired security at the University of Pittsburgh and has also been a postdoctoral researcher and consultant for the Center for Disaster Management at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. Voortman conducted his Ph.D. research on causal discovery of dynamic systems in the Decisions Systems Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh and during this time, gave several guest lectures on decision analysis, decision support systems, research design and information science. In 2010, he founded the company, Voortman Technologies LLC, which focuses on developing privacy-by-design services.

Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests

  • Causal discovery in dynamic systems
  • Probabilistic graphical models
  • Decision theory
  • Machine learning and data science
  • Artificial intelligence

Selected Presentations

  • "Sequences of Mechanisms for Causal Reasoning in Artificial Intelligence," co-presenter, 23rd International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Beijing, China, August 2013.
  • "Real-time Decision Making in Urgent Events: Modeling Options for Action," co-presenter, Proceedings of the 10th International ISCRAM Conference, Baden-Baden, Germany, May 2013.
  • "Early Detection of Near-Field Tsunamis Using Underwater Sensor Networks," co-presenter, Fifth International Tsunami Society Conference, Ispra, Italy, September 2012.
  • "Toward a New Representation for Causation in Dynamic Systems," co-presenter, 25th Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems Workshop, Granada, Spain, December 2011.
  • "Learning Dynamic Models With Latent Confounding Processes," lead presenter, 24th Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems Workshop, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, December 2010.
  • "Learning Why Things Change: The Difference-Based Causality Learner," lead presenter, 26th Conference on Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence, Catalina Island, Calif., July 2010.

Honors and Awards

  • First place award for poster on "Learning Dynamic Causal Models," i-Fest 2009 poster competition, School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh
  • Winner, 2009 Robert R. Korfhage Award, excellence in writing a scholarly paper on information retrieval or related topic, School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh
  • Winner, 2006 Catherine Ofiesh Orner Award, excellence in writing a scholarly paper on information science, School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh

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