Eric A. Breimer

Dr. Breimer is an experienced computer scientist and educator specializing in machine learning and data science, focused on innovative teaching methods. He frequently mentors students in independent studies and honors theses, fostering their academic success.

He has authored peer-reviewed papers on utilizing machine learning to enhance dynamic programming and identify compromised results in the Implicit Association Test. His research has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the ACM Journal of Experimental Algorithms, Journal of Experimental Mathematics, and Information Systems Education Journal. Additionally, he has presented his work at selective, peer-reviewed conferences, such as the IEEE International Conference on Machine Learning and Applications and the ISCAP Conference.

Dr. Breimer has demonstrated a strong commitment to curriculum development. He helped lead the creation of Siena College's Data Science major and introduced courses in machine learning, bioinformatics, and web application development. He is recognized for incorporating active, hands-on learning into his teaching, including developing interactive labs for management information systems that have been used in over 100 sections in the last 12 years. He has received support for his research through reassigned-time awards and Siena College Summer Scholar funding. He has collaborated with colleagues across disciplines and institutions to enhance STEM education, contributing to proposals for NSF-funded projects on data analytics education.

Dr. Breimer is active in service to Siena College, contributing to strategic planning, advisory boards, and the continuous improvement of Siena’s website. As Department Chair of Computer Science from 2017-2021, he worked to strengthen academic programs, support faculty, and increase enrollment. As President of Information Systems and Computing Academic Professionals (ISCAP) from 2020-2022, he helped the organization thrive during COVID-19 to fulfill its mission of facilitating collaboration opportunities between industry and academia and disseminating educational innovations and best practices via scholarly conferences and journals.

My Siena Experience

My Teaching Philosophy

My goal is to teach students how to use high-level programming and information systems to solve problems in business and science that will make the world a better place.  I believe a Liberal Arts education is the foundation of life-long learning and Computer Science compliments this foundation by teaching computational thinking and problem solving skills that are incredibly valuable in most careers.  At Siena, students can get a timeless Liberal Arts education and an outstanding Computer Science education in one place.

My Favorite Courses to Teach

BAAS-330 Information Systems & Business Analytics, SCDV-110 Intro to Data Science and CSIS-351 Theory of Computation

My Professional Experience

Articles & Book Reviews

• Detecting Compromised Implicit Association Test Results using Supervised Learning
  IEEE International Conference on Machine Learning and Applications (ICMLA)
  2018
• Full Flip, Half Flip and No Flip: Evaluation of Flipping an Introductory Programming Course
  EDSIG Conference on Information Systems and Computing Education
  2015
• Using a Flipped Course for 2-year College Outreach
  EDSIG Conference on Information Systems and Computing Education, vol. 1
  2015
• Developing 21st Century Communicators
  Information Systems Education Conference (ISECON), vol. 29
  2012
• Market Basket Analysis for Non-Programmers
  Information Systems Education Journal, vol. 10
  2012
• A Study of Video-based versus Text-based Labs for a Management Information Systems Course
  Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education
  2011
• A study of video-based versus text-based labs for a management information systems course.
  ITiCSE (Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education)
  2011
• Market Basket Analysis for Non-Programmers, Proceedings of the Information Systems
  Information Systems Education Conference (ISECON), vol. 28
  2011
• Towards an Innovative Web-based Lab Delivery System for a Management Information Systems Course
  Information Systems Education Journal, vol. 9
  2011
• Co-'Lab'oration: A New Paradigm for Building a Management Information Systems Course
  Information Systems Education Journal, vol. 8
  2010
• Labs First: A Computer Scientist's Guide to Teaching Management Information Systems
  Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges
  2009
• Discovering Optimization Algorithms Through Automated Learning
  DIMACS Series in Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science
  2005
• A Learning Algorithm for the Longest Common Subsequence Problem
  ACM Journal of Experimental Algorithms, vol. 8
  2003
• Intrusion Detection: A Bioinformatics Approach
  Annual Computer Security Applications Conference
  2003
• A Supervised Learning Approach for Detecting Significant Local Alignments
  International Conference on Research in Computational Molecular Biology
  2002
• Learning Significant Alignments: An Alternative to Normalized Local Alignment
  Symposium on Methodologies for Intelligent Systems, vol. 2366
  2002
• Experimental Evaluation of the Height of a Random Set of Points in a d-dimensional Cube
  Workshop on Algorithm Engineering and Experiments (ALENEX)
  2001
• On the Height of a Random Set of Points in a d-dimensional Unit Cube
  Journal of Experimental Mathematics, vol. 10
  2001
• A Learning Algorithm for the Longest Common Subsequence Problem
  Workshop on Algorithm Engineering and Experiments (ALENEX)
  2000
• A Task-based Architecture for Application-aware Adjuncts
  International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces
  2000

Awards & Distinctions

• Computer Science Department, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Highest Academic Award for Graduate Students
  Category: Other
  Robert McNaughton Prize, 2002

Presentations

• Beyond #MeToo: Uprooting unconscious bias in STEM fields
  2018
  EDSIG Conference on Information Systems and Computing Education, Norfolk, Virginia
• On the Shoulders of Giants: Mobile Websites with Twitter Bootstrap
  2013
  Information Systems Education Conference (ISECON), San Antonio, Texas
• Exposing Students to Big Data: Hands-on Market Basket Analysis with Access
  2012
  Information Systems Education Conference (ISECON), New Orleans, Louisiana
• A Study of Video-based versus Text-based Labs for a Management Information Systems Course
  2011
  Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, Darmstadt, Germany
• Market Basket Analysis for Non-Programmers, Information Systems Education
  2011
  Information Systems Education Conference (ISECON), Wilmington, North Carolina
• Towards an Innovative Web-based Lab Delivery System for a Management Information
  2010
  Information Systems Education Conference (ISECON), Nashville, Tennessee
• Co-'Lab'oration: A New Paradigm for Building a Management Information Systems Course
  2009
  Information Systems Education Conference (ISECON), Washington, District of Columbia
• Labs First: A Computer Scientist's Guide to Teaching Management Information Systems
  2009
  Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges Northeastern Conference (CCSCNE), Plattsburgh, New York
• Clustering the Protein Databank
  2006
  Computers in Scientific Discovery III, Ghent, Belgium
• Experimental Evaluation of the Height of a Random Set of Points in a d-dimensional Cube
  2001
  Workshop on Algorithm Engineering and Experiments (ALENEX), Washington, District of Columbia
• A Learning Algorithm for the Longest Common Subsequence Problem
  2000
  Workshop on Algorithm Engineering and Experiments (ALANEX), San Francisco, California