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The 2003 Ball State
University Researcher of the Year is distinguished not only by his
investigations in graph theory and graph algorithms, but also by his
productive international research activity. Jay Bagga,
professor in the Department of Computer Science, has participated in
collaborative inquiry in countries as far flung as Japan, Great
Britain, India, and the Philippines.

As a Fulbright Scholar
to Zimbabwe in 2000, Bagga drew on his years of administrative
experience as director of graduate programs in Ball State’s computer
science department to develop the curriculum for a new computer
science graduate program at the University of Zimbabwe. While in
Zimbabwe, he also taught undergraduate and graduate courses, advised
student research projects, and organized two week-long international
conferences on issues in computer science and graph theory. “I was
involved in the educational process on many fronts, which was very
gratifying,” Bagga says.

Especially fulfilling
for Bagga was time spent collaborating with scholars in graph
theory—research efforts that are used to improve the efficiency of
software applications.

His research in graph
theory as applied to network integrity has led to the discovery of
efficient algorithms for creating communication and other types of
networks that are less susceptible to disruption. Bagga’s work in
formal methods for improving software reliability has been applied
in industry to produce highly dependable and error-free software
that controls automated machines.

“I love to do
collaborative research,” he says. “I wanted an ongoing collaboration
with professionals from different countries, and that’s the goal of
Fulbright, too—to promote the exchange of ideas.”

Since his return from
Zimbabwe in 2000, Bagga has focused his research on formal methods
in software development. He also has continued his mission to
promote international exchange of knowledge, adding Macau, Denmark, and Hong Kong to the
list of countries he has visited for conferences and research
presentations. During spring 2003, he acted as program chair for an
international information technology conference in Nepal, where he
organized workshops and arranged for international experts from
Nepal and India to make presentations on formal
methods.

Bagga is working to
establish an exchange program with the United Nations University’s
International Institute for Software. As a part of the program,
computer science teachers from developing nations would visit
Ball State University for training in
computer science teaching and research.

Now chairperson of the
Department of Computer Science, Bagga still finds time to pursue his
research agenda and to maintain his advisory relationship with the
University of Zimbabwe. He also serves as an external reviewer for
the Fulbright program in Zimbabwe, evaluating and providing feedback
for potential scholars to follow.