Rocky Chang is a professor of Computer Science at Calvin University. Before joining Calvin in August 2023, he taught in the Department of Computing of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) for more than 26 years and in the Department of Information and Computer Engineering of Chung Yuan Christian University (CYCU) in Taiwan for more than 3 years. A story of why joining Calvin after spending 30 years in Asia. He was a Key Technology Partner Visiting Fellow at University of Technology/Sydney. He did his post-doc at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.

Rocky has accumulated over 30 years of teaching experience at all levels and taught sujects like Computational Thinking and Program Design, (Advanced) Computer Networking, Internet Infrastructure Security and Engineering Ethics. At Calvin, it is his first time of learning how to integrate Christian Reformed faith in his teaching. Virtually everything he does inside and outside classroom and lab is a part of his and their spiritual formation, whether problem solving using God-given faculty of reasoning and logic or engaging with his students casually in the dinning hall.

Rocky's research interests are broadly in the area of Internet infrastructure and security. In particular, he is interested in using network measurement to solve various problems, such as monitoring Internet performance (such as residential, mobile networks and campus networks), and Internet infrastructure security problems, such as mobile security and DDoS attacks. The overall goal of his research is to advance the state-of-the-art and their applications that will benefit individual Internet users. He had led an Internet Infrastructure and Security Laboratory at PolyU for about 20 years. He was the recipients of the Faculty's Industrial and Engineering Services Grant Achievement Awards in 2009 and 2012 and Most Active Consultant Award (Merit).

Teaching

Teaching philosophy:

An excerpt of a full version:

"I regard teaching more than a scholarly activity; it is a sacred endeavor. The Apostle Paul lists teachers of God’s words just after apostles and prophets in his letter to the church at Corinth. He regarded himself as a “teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth” (1 Timothy 2:7). Although teaching CS in an academic setting is clearly not the same as communicating God’s words, I believe the same kind of God-fearing attitude should be applied to CS teaching. Whether I am teaching an introductory programming class or an advanced computer networking class, I must handle it with care because I am in fact communicating my faith. I convey my faith through paying respect to the knowledge and technical skills, expressing my passion for what I teach and “preach,” and actively engaging students to learn together with me. Every word, every body movement and facial expression, every response to the students’ questions and challenges, and every illustration on the board communicate who I am as a Christ follower. Therefore, there is little difference to me whether I am teaching a Sunday school class or a CS class."

Some recent teaching activities:

Introduction to Computing (CS 108), the first CS course for CS majors and other non-CS majors at Calvin (for one year)

Computational Thinking and Program Design, the first CS course for CS majors at CYCU (for two years)

Foundation of Computing, the first CS course for CS majors at the PolyU (for seven years)

Internet Infrastructure Security, senior electives at CYCU and PolyU (for 16 years)

Principles of Internetworking Protocols, postgraduate course at CYCY and PolyU (for 23 years)

Publications on teaching:

Rocky K. C. Chang, "Using Problem-Driven Learning to Teach Computational Thinking in CS1," Proc. Consortium for Computing Sciences and Colleges: MidWest Conf., Sept. 2024. [paper]

Rocky K. C. Chang, “Teaching Computer Networking with the Help of Personal Computer Networks,” Proc. 9th Annual ACM Conf. Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, Jun. 2004. [paper]

Rocky K. C. Chang, "An Integrated View of Teaching and Learning for a Foundational Course on Computer Networking," Proc. ACM Workshop on Networking Education, 25 Aug. 2003. [paper]

Research

Research philosophy:

An excerpt of a full version:

"... my research is chiefly motivated by seeking out the “truth.” The Bereans “received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11). They were not satisfied just by hearing Paul’s messages; they sought out the truth by examining the Scripture themselves day after day. Most of academic research obviously do not address the biblical truth. However, it does not mean they have nothing to do with truth. The “truth” for modern CS research could be proving the correctness of a computer algorithm, finding the most efficient way to solve a problem, or measuring the true performance of a computer system or network. I believe that my research is God-honoring if it helps bring out some truth about a research problem."

Recent research publications:

Daoyuan Wu, Debin Gao, Robert H. Deng, and Rocky K. C. Chang, "When Program Analysis Meets Bytecode Search: Targeted and Efficient Inter-procedural Analysis of Modern Android Apps in BackDroid," Proc. IEEE/IFIP DSN, 2021. [paper]

Daoyuan Wu, Debin Gao, Rocky K. C. Chang, En He, Eric K. T. Cheng, and Robert H. Deng, "Understanding Open Ports in Android Applications: Discovery, Diagnosis, and Security Assessment," in Proc. ISOC Network and Distributed System Security Symposium (NDSS), San Diego, USA, 2019. [paper]

Steven Lee and Rocky K. C. Chang, "Enhancing the Experience of Multiplayer Shooter Games via Advanced Lag Compensation," Proc. ACM MMSys, Jun. 2018. [paper]

Weichao Li, Daoyuan Wu, Rocky K. C. Chang, and Ricky Mok, "Toward Accurate Network Delay Measurement on Android Phones," IEEE Trans. Mobile Computing, Aug. 2017. [paper]

Ricky Mok, Rocky K. C. Chang, and Weichao Li, "Detecting Low-quality Workers in QoE Crowdtesting: A Worker Behavior Based Approach," IEEE Trans. Multimedia, Oct. 2016. [paper]

Services

Selected research-related services:

Steering committee member, Passive and Active Measurement (PAM) Conference, 2013-2020

TPC member of ACM Internet Measurement Conference (IMC), 2016-2017, 2019-2020

Co-Chair, ACM CoNEXT Student Workshop, 2016

General Chair, 14th Passive and Active Measurement (PAM) Conference, Mar. 2013

Associate Editor, International Journal of Network Management, since 2009

Guest Editor (with Chin-Tser Huang and Polly Huang) for a special issue on Signal Processing Applications in Network Intrusion Detection Systems, EURASIP Journal on Applied Signal Processing, Mar. 2009

Selected university and departmental services:

Chair and member of the Curriculum Committee of CS Dept, Calvin University, 2023-2025

Elected member of the Departmental Staffing Committee, PolyU, 2017-2019

Member of the Departmental Management Committee, PolyU, 2013-2018

Chairman of the Departmental Undergraduate Program Committee, 2013-2018

Founding coordinator of the COMP's Annual Research Day (CARD), 2012

Industrial Placement Officer, 1999-2013

Member of the Departmental Advisory Committee, PolyU, 1996-2000

Others (selected):

Advisor of Chung Yuan Christian University’s Student Fellowship, 2021-2023

Founder of PolyHack (the first hackathon event at PolyU), 2016-2017

Founder of Computing Solved it! (CSI!) competition for PolyU’s CS Freshmen, 2014-2018

Warden of LiZhi Hall, the PolyU's Student Hall of Residence, 2008-2013