Seminars, Talks & Colloquia at SEAS
Spring 2010

MAE Seminar: Multi-scale Modeling of Chemically Reacting Flows by Direct Simulation

Abstract:

Multi-scale problems are pervasive in many fields of science and engineering and are of particular interest in aerospace engineering problems related to spacecraft contamination, micro-propulsion, and design of heat-shield thermal protection materials. Multi-scale problems exhibit a large variation in Knudsen numbers that span continuum through transitional to rarefied flow regimes. Since the Navier-Stokes equations are only valid in the continuum regime, particle-based approaches such as direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) and its associated near-equilibrium extensions are utilized. The seminar will consider two example problems of a very diverse nature - cluster formation in supersonic jet expansions and the modeling of thermal protection material degradation due to atomic oxygen attack – both of which use the aforementioned particle-based techniques.

CS Colloquium: Interactive Dirt: Increasing Mobile Work Performance with a Wearable Projector-Camera System

Abstract:

"Mobile teamwork requires people to maintain good situational awareness (SA) about their real world environments. Current mobile devices are highly portable, but their user interfaces (UIs) require too deep of focus of attention to allow their users to use them and simultaneously maintain SA. As a result, some mobile practitioners have little or no access to useful computer-based interactive services. Inspired by existing projector-camera systems, the Interactive Dirt project investigates the feasibility of developing a wearable projector-camera system that enables users to access human-computer interaction (HCI) services without negatively affecting their SA. A functional prototype of the “Interactive Dirt” system was developed using inexpensive commercial off-the-shelf technologies. A field experiment was conducted as a formative evaluation to test the utility of the prototype under extreme mobile teamwork requirements for SA—military stability and support operations (SASO). Results show strong potential to increase performance of mobile teams."

Biography

Dr. Daniel McFarlane has 19 years of professional experience in cognitive systems R&D. His research focus is the seam between AI and human-computer interaction (HCI), and results in innovation that leverages intelligent automation to increase human performance. He holds the position of "Lockheed Martin Fellow" at the Lockheed Martin Advanced technology Laboratories (LM ATL), Cherry Hill, NJ. Before starting at LM ATL in 2000, he worked at the Naval Center for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence (NCARAI) at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Washington, DC from 1990-2000. He received a D.Sc. in Computer Science from George Washington University in 1998. He has a M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Oregon, and a B.S. in Communications from Cornell University. Dr. McFarlane is a world-recognized expert on the topic of human interruption in HCI. His professional interests include: R&D of cognitive systems; software architecture for intelligent systems; mixed-initiative human-computer interaction; and technical transition for acquisition into deployed applications.

ECE Colloquium: Cross-Disciplinary Programs at the National Science Foundation

Abstract:

This presentation will focus on the current funding opportunities in the cross-disciplinary areas of science and engineering at the US National Science Foundation (NSF). Some of NSF's current funding programs, for example, Cyber-enabled Discovery and Innovation (CDI) and Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) are pushing the frontiers of exciting new research fields that span, intersect, and combine multiple academic disciplines in ways that were unthinkable in the past. The proliferation of Virtual Organizations plays a major role in these activities while teamwork, data and software management and increasing levels of multi-institutional collaboration create new dimensions in the entire endeavor, including the role of the funding agency. In addition to programs at the NSF, this talk will provide information about potential inter-agency (for example, involving NSF and the US National Institute of Health - NIH) opportunities suitable for all NSF-supported areas of the science and engineering. Information on opportunities for international collaboration will also be a significant component of this presentation.

Biography

Dr. Fahmida Chowdhury joined the US National Science Foundation as Program Director for the Cross- Directorate Activities Program (CDA) in February 2008. During 2005-2006, she served as a Program Director for two other NSF programs, on rotation from her faculty position. Prior to joining NSF in 2008, she was Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, LA, where she held the W. H. Hall and M. O. Hall Endowed Chair in Computer Engineering. She has also held academic positions at Michigan Technological University, Southern University, Louisiana State University, and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Dhaka, Bangladesh). She was a Fulbright Scholar in 2001. Currently she serves on the editorial boards of the IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology and IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks. Within the broad fields of control systems and neural networks, her research interests include complex systems modeling and analysis, applications of control and dynamic systems theory in non-traditional fields, and detection of abnormal conditions (faults) in dynamic systems. Fahmida Chowdhury was born in Bangladesh. She received a combined B.Sc./M.Sc. degree (with High Honors) in electromechanical engineering from Moscow Power Engineering Institute, Moscow, Russia, in 1980, and PhD in electrical engineering (minor: mathematics), from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA in 1988.

MAE Colloquium: Walking on water

Abstract:

Over one thousand species of insects have evolved the ability to walk, run, leap and glide on the water surface. Their numerous adaptations, such as their water-repellant coatings, can inform the design of small devices for which surface tension plays a dominant role. In this talk, we present a decade of our experiments on water-walking insects. We show high-speed videos of their motion, such as the (once enigmatic) rowing of water striders, the spontaneous ascension of curved water surfaces by meniscus-climbing insects, and the cooperative survival mechanisms of floating ants. Flow visualization is used to rationalize these distinct propulsion mechanisms according to the transfer of forces, momentum and energy to the underlying fluid. We also present several biomimetic water-walking devices inspired by their natural counterparts.

Biography:

David Hu graduated from MIT with a PhD degree (2005) in mathematics and a Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. Right now he is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech. His research group performs simple table-top experiments aimed at elucidating fundamental physical mechanisms in biological systems. They are particularly interested in the use of visualization methods (microscopy, high speed film, flow visualization) and rationalizing their observations using mathematics (scaling, fluid and solid mechanics). Their work has been featured in The Economist, Nature, The New York Times, Discovery Channel, and National Geographic etc. They are also the inspiration of an Australian rock band, entitled “Meniscus” after their work on meniscus-climbing insects.

CS Colloquium: Making Robots Reason about Minds

Abstract:

Reflex-driven robotic artificial intelligence became popular in the 90's as a means of avoiding complex computations that could slow down robots trying to react in real-time. Reflexes do not work so well for understanding human intentions, however, since usually a motivation, plan, or meaning only becomes clear with time and multiple observations. Gold will describe three projects -- robotic self-recognition, word learning from examples, and learning to "imagine" pretended objects -- and show how each project maintained quick real-time processing while integrating many observations over time.

Biography

Kevin Gold is the Norma Wilentz Hess Fellow in Computer Science at Wellesley College. His paper on robotic word learning won Best Paper at the International Conference on Development and Learning in 2007, and his work on robotic self-recognition has been covered in New Scientist and the New York Times Magazine. He received his Ph.D. from Yale University in 2008, and his A.B. from Harvard University in 2001.

CS Colloquium: Multi-Robot Search in the Physical World

Abstract:

This talk considers the problem of coordinating a team of robots to locate a target in an environment or to authoritatively say that one does not exist. Such a scenario may occur in urban search and rescue, military operations, and even aged care. The search must be robust (deal with robot failures), decentralized (reduce computational and communication bottlenecks), and reactive (make use of any pertinent information that becomes available during search). Prior methods in the literature would force you to make one of two assumptions in this scenario. Do you make the worst-case assumption and choose to treat the target as adversarial? The robots could then utilize graph search algorithms to guarantee finding the target, but the search might take an unnecessarily long time. Or do you decide to trust some non-adversarial model of the target? The robots could then optimize the search with respect to that model, but this approach would eliminate guarantees if the model is inaccurate. In this case, the target may avoid the robots entirely. However, it is possible to do better; how can we strike a balance between risky average-case search and conservative worst-case search?

The subject of this talk is the development of an architecture that combines the two search paradigms described above to generate plans that clear an environment of a worst-case adversarial target and have good average-case performance considering a non-adversarial motion model. The proposed suite of algorithms takes advantage of spanning tree traversal methods along with receding horizon planning to generate a number of candidate search schedules. The resulting architecture is decentralized, scalable, and yields theoretically bounded average-case performance. The approach is validated through a number of experiments in simulation and on a team of robot and human searchers. In addition, I will discuss ongoing work in extending the principles behind the proposed framework to a wide range of multi-robot tasks.

Biography

The subject of this talk is the development of an architecture that combines the two search paradigms described above to generate plans that clear an environment of a worst-case adversarial target and have good average-case performance considering a non-adversarial motion model. The proposed suite of algorithms takes advantage of spanning tree traversal methods along with receding horizon planning to generate a number of candidate search schedules. The resulting architecture is decentralized, scalable, and yields theoretically bounded average-case performance. The approach is validated through a number of experiments in simulation and on a team of robot and human searchers. In addition, I will discuss ongoing work in extending the principles behind the proposed framework to a wide range of multi-robot tasks.

ECE Colloquium: Tensor Factorization Approach to Blind Separation of Multidimensional Sources

Abstract:

Blind source separation (BSS) is now well established field of research with a number of reported applications across science and engineering. The basic static linear BSS problem is traditionally solved by matrix factorization methods such as independent, dependent or sparse component analysis (ICA, DCA, SCA). To obtain matrix factorization unique up to permutation and scaling sources must be either statistically
independent or sparse and that is not always fulfilled. Moreover, matrix factorization requires multidimensional signals to be mapped to 2D, whereas local data structure is lost. This talk will focus on tensor factorization (TF) based blind separation of multidimensional sources employing PARAFAC and Tucker3 tensor models. Under very mild conditions PARAFAC-based factorization is unique up to permutation and scaling. This talk will focus on tensor factorization (TF) based blind separation of multidimensional sources employing PARAFAC and Tucker3 model tensor models. Under very mild conditions PARAFAC-based factorization is unique up to permutation and scaling. TF-based BSS will be demonstrated on blind decomposition of multi-spectral fluorescent image of the skin tumor and blind image deconvolution.

Biography

Ivica Kopriva received Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia in 1998, with the topic in blind source separation. Currently, he is senior scientist at the Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia. His research activities are focused on the algorithms for blind signal processing with applications to inverse problems in multispectral imaging and spectroscopy. Dr Kopriva spent four years, 2001-2005, at the ECE Department, The George Washington University, Washington DC, US. His work was related to blind image deconvolution and unsupervised decomposition of hyperspectral images as well as to direction finding (DF) systems, where he helped to build two-linear-antenna-arrays DF system. He has published 30 papers in internationally recognized journals on above topics and wrote research monograph, in co-authorship with T.-M. Huang and V. Kecman: Kernel Based Algorithms for Mining Huge Data Sets: Supervised, Semi-supervised and Unsupervised Learning, Springer, 2006. He holds one US Patent.

CS Colloquium: “Extensible Anonymity”

Abstract:

Today's Internet routing protocols, while arguably robust and efficient, are not designed to support private communication. Although applications may encrypt packet payloads to conceal message contents, packet headers must specify accurate destination addresses (for packets to be routable) and truthful source information (to achieve reliability), consequently revealing the identities of the communicating parties. Anonymity systems provide additional privacy by relaying messages through a series of application-layer routers spread across the Internet, making it more difficult for eavesdroppers to determine the true endpoints of communication. Uses of anonymity systems include censorship-resistant access to online information, anonymous blogging and message posting, private browsing, the obfuscation of network control infrastructures, and undercover law enforcement sting operations.

A significant challenge of designing anonymity systems is the development of routing protocols that ensure privacy while providing an acceptable level of communication performance. While there have been several attempts at providing anonymity with the use of application-level overlay networks, existing solutions focus almost exclusively on maximizing anonymity, typically at the expense of performance.

In this talk, I present the design and implementation of Application-Aware Anonymity (A3), an extensible anonymity architecture that allows applications to intelligently tradeoff between anonymity and performance. A3 produces anonymous paths that conform to multiple application-specified communication constraints (e.g., end-to-end bandwidth, latency, jitter, loss, etc.), enabling the anonymization of network applications with real-time requirements (for example, voice-over-IP and streaming video). Applying techniques from the distributed systems and databases communities, A3 utilizes a declarative policy language, permitting applications to concisely specify a myriad of routing requirements and protocols in a few lines of code. Simulation results using network traces as well as empirical measurements from our PlanetLab implementation demonstrate A3's ability to efficiently produce paths with configurable performance, anonymity, and security properties.

Biography

Micah Sherr is a postdoctoral researcher in the Computer and Information Science Department at the University of Pennsylvania. He recently received his Ph.D., also from the University of Pennsylvania. His dissertation work focuses on constructing high performance anonymity networks, and he has also explored other research topics at Penn including electronic voting systems, eavesdropping and wiretap systems, operating system security, network and protocol security, and network intrusion detection.

CS Colloquium: “Side Channels and their Mitigation in Cloud Computing Security”

Abstract:

Today's computers run numerous processes of different sensitivity and trustworthiness, and often the only boundary between a hostile network and sensitive data relies on flimsy confinement assumptions. The platform purports to protect processes from each other, but side channels arise from lower architectural layers, such as contention for shared hardware resources, and create inadvertent cross-talk. For example, we have shown how observing contention for the CPU cache allows an attacker to steal other users' encryption keys in a few milliseconds.

Confinement violations are especially grievous in the context of cloud computing ("infrastructure as a service"), where users acquire computational capacity in the form of virtual machines running on a service provider's shared hardware pool. Cross-talk between mutually-untrusting virtual machines running on the same hardware creates the risk of information exfiltration across machines and between users, as we have demonstrated on Amazon EC2.

These security vulnerabilities raise the challenge of achieving trustworthy computation on leaky platforms. We discuss potential solutions, including a new work on mitigating side channels using just-in-time dynamic transformation of x86 machine code.

This talk includes joint works with Saman Amarasinghe, Dag Arne Osvik, Thomas Ristenpart, Ron Rivest, Stephan Savage, Hovav Shacham, Adi Shamir and Qin Zhao.

Biography

Eran Tromer is a postdoctoral associate at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). His research focus is information security, cryptography, and the challenges raised by imperfect real-world computer systems. His research on side-channel attacks demonstrated vulnerabilities in cloud computing, cache-based attacks on AES encryption, and acoustic attacks on RSA encryption. His Ph.D. dissertation, advised by Prof. Adi Shamir, reduced the projected cost of breaking RSA keys by 6 orders of magnitude using the TWIRL device, leading to revision of government standards and industry practice. He presently pursues means of improving security at the levels of networks, protocols, operating systems and hardware circuits.

CS Colloquium: “Stopping Attacks on Everyday Operating Systems Using Secure Monitoring”

Abstract:

The operating systems that most people use every day (e.g., Windows, Mac OS X, Linux) are not designed with security in mind. Yet, in today's highly connected world, security is more important than ever before. In this talk, I will describe how the computing community has reached this paradoxical state and how my research in secure host-based monitoring provides the foundation needed to start addressing it. The talk will start with a discussion of the Turret architecture, a secure and general architecture for monitoring running systems.

Then I will describe a new security application that utilizes Turret to enable security policies based on user intent. With the Turret architecture as a foundation, future research can focus on how to best utilize and deploy these techniques to enable the security that users need without limiting their work environment.

Biography

Mr. Bryan D. Payne is currently working as a Research Scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology, while completing his PhD in Computer Science. His thesis research focuses on creating security architectures and applications that improve the security of everyday operating systems. Prior to joining the Georgia Institute of Technology, Mr. Payne worked at BAE Systems and the National Security Agency on a diverse portfolio of projects ranging from vulnerability assessments to classified research.

Mr. Payne holds a Master of Computer Science from the University of Maryland, where he concentrated in wireless network security and co-founded the Open1xproject, an open source implementation of the 802.1x protocol. He also earned a Bachelor of Science in Applied Science from Washington University in St. Louis, majoring in Computer Science and Mathematics.

CEE Colloquium: Challenges of the Transportation System and Technological Answers: Results from Recent R&D Projects in Europe

Abstract:

Even in the downturn, experienced in recent times caused by the economic crisis, most prognosis for traffic volume for the next decade expect a growth beyond the level of 2008. In many of the urban and interurban transport scenarios the level of traffic of 2008 has caused a worse traffic situation regarding congestion, accidents, injuries and emissions which leads to an incredible monetary loss (in private and public sector). This situation will go even worse after recovering the downturn. Worldwide, the political ambition is to dramatically reduce the impacts of traffic resulting in harms to health, decreasing economic efficiency, enlarged land use and rising emissions.

Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) have been expected to be a major element to improve transport efficiency and safety since early 1990s. Considerable progress in the field of technology has been achieved to improve vehicle safety and driver protection, but less than expected when starting related activities. On infrastructure the implementation of ITS started much later with often very regional focus and therefore with a much lower than expected impact leading to an unattractive cost benefit ratio. The lecture deals with recent technologies to address main problems worldwide and identify interesting similarities between the different modes of transportation. This will be shown by some examples and projects actually under development in Europe.

Biography

Dr. Reinhard Pfliegl acts as Managing Director of AustriaTech, a federal agency for technological measures, established in 2005. He is the coordinator of an European research project concerned with co‐operative systems based on infrastructure vehicle communication. From 1980‐1987 he gained working experience at the Austrian branch of ITT in the field of new digital public telecom systems and took the lead in the CAD (Computed Aided Design) department. In 1987 he started with the new formed Broadband Communication Division at ALCATEL to introduce new technologies (ATM, SDH, MAN, etc.) for public telecom operators. In 1993 he joined the Transport Division of ALCATEL in order to build up a new department for ITS applications (cellular radio application for tracking and tracing of goods, tolling systems, fleet management systems, and logistics information services.)

From 2000‐2005 he was responsible for the design and development of a new traffic management system at via donau, a public agency promoting inland waterway transport. The so‐called "River Information Services" were he first operating system on inland waterways world‐wide and now is the technical standard for similar systems in Europe and outside Europe. In 2004 he became elected member of the Inland Waterway Committee (AW020) at TRB in honor of this results, which have been published in many articles world‐wide.

He was founder of ITS‐Education at University of Applied Sciences "Technikum Vienna" and co‐founder of Transport Logistics Studies at University of Applied Sciences "bfi Vienna". Dr. Reinhard Pfliegl is the author and coordinator of the Austrian national Telematics Masterplan published 2004 by the Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology and is the actual chair of the scientific board of Arsenal Research ‐ a non university research organization. From 2007 to 2009 he was member of the Board of Governors IEEE ITS Society.

Dr. Pfliegl received his M.S. degree in Physics as well as his PhD (Technical Science) degree at Technical University Vienna and his M.S. in Higher Education Mathematics, Chemistry, and Physics at University Vienna. In 2002 he became Honorary Prof. Technical University Varna (Bulgaria).

CS Colloquium: 3DLoc: Three Dimensional Wireless Localization Toolkit

Abstract:

In this talk, we present 3DLoc: an integrated system of hardware and software toolkits for locating an 802.11- compliant mobile device in a three dimensional (3D) space. 3DLoc features two specialized antennas: an azimuth antenna and an elevation antenna, for detecting the azimuth and elevation angles of a mobile device respectively in real time. To improve positioning accuracy in real-world urban settings, we propose various signal processing techniques such as clustering and wavelet-transform based denoising, and present theoretical analysis of the accuracy of these techniques. With different antenna configurations, 3DLoc is able to track single or multiple targets in one round of azimuth scanning and elevation scanning. We conduct extensive experiments to demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of 3DLoc. 3DLoc can be used in various applications, including wireless network forensics for locating anonymous criminal mobile devices.

Biography

Dr. Xinwen Fu is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell. He received B.S. (1995) and M.S. (1998) in Electrical Engineering from Xi'an Jiaotong University, China and University of Science and Technology of China respectively. He obtained Ph.D. (2005) in Computer Engineering from Texas A&M University.

Dr. Xinwen Fu is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell. He received B.S. (1995) and M.S. (1998) in Electrical Engineering from Xi'an Jiaotong University, China and University of Science and Technology of China respectively. He obtained Ph.D. (2005) in Computer Engineering from Texas A&M University.

CS Colloquium: Technical Publications in the Age of Social Networking: The periodicals of the Computer Society

Abstract:

With the expansion of digital libraries and social networks, technical periodicals - especially those in computer science - have seen a steady and consistent decline in subscriptions. This decline not only represents a fall in interest and a loss of revenue but also a systematic shift in the sociology of professional societies. This talk will discuss the problems in the context of the IEEE Computer Society Periodicals and discuss possible strategies.

Biography

David Alan Grier holds a BA in mathematics from Middlebury College and a PhD in Mathematical Statistics from the University of Washington. He worked as program and systems designer for Burroughs Corporations (now Unisys) and was part of several software startup firms in the Washington, D. C. Area. He taught computer science in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences and was director of its computer and information systems program. He also served as assistant dean of the Engineering School and is now Associate Dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs. He is the author of When Computers Were Human (Princeton 2005) and Too Soon To Tell(Wiley 2009). He serves on the Board of Governors for the IEEE Computer Society and is the 2010 Vice President of Publications.

CS Colloquium: Advancing Robotics through Simulation and Modeling

Abstract:

Dynamic robotic simulation is required in many areas of robotics, from machine learning and motion planning to development of optimal controllers. Such simulation is based on rigid body dynamics, which can be derived from the Newton-Euler equations of motion. These equations are well understood, so one might think that robotic simulation is a solved problem. I will show that not only is this problem still open, but solutions to it are nascent. I will discuss both theoretical and applied problems in dynamics, optimization, and computational geometry that I have solved toward more robust, accurate, and stable robotic simulation. I will also discuss my present work in modeling and simulating two very different robotic platforms.

Biography

Dr. Evan Drumwright is currently visiting faculty at the University of Memphis. He completed his Ph. D. in Robotics at the University of Southern California in 2007. Dr. Drumwright's research interests are in physical simulation and in controlling humanoid and manipulator robots. He collaborates with Honda Research Institute in Mountain View, CA and with Willow Garage in Menlo Park, CA to create better robot simulations and to get their robots to perform occupational tasks. Dr. Drumwright also develops the free multibody dynamics simulator Moby (http://physsim.sourceforge.net), which is targeted to simulating manipulator and humanoid robots.

ECE Colloquium: Materials for Diagnostic and Therapeutic Devices (Computer Engineering Faculty Candidate Presentation)

Abstract:

As health care cost and complexity increases over time, the development of novel medical devices attracts increasing interest. Improvements in analytical speed, accessibility, and cost will lead to better diagnosis, and development of novel therapeutic devices will lead to enhanced treatment efficacy and patient compliance. By coupling diagnostic and therapeutic technologies it is possible to actively coordinate treatment requirements with patient needs. In this seminar I will discuss two building blocks for this purpose: organic electronic-based biosensors and nanostructured therapeutic devices.

The first half of this seminar will focus on organic electronics – devices utilizing carbon-based semiconductors. Organics are an ideal choice for bioelectronics since their chemical and mechanical properties can be tailored to suit biological applications. In addition, organic semiconductors have the ability to sustain mixed conduction of ionic and electronic charge at room temperature, making them a unique interface between electronic devices and the ionic nature of biology. One attractive application of these devices is the area of biosensors; functionalization of these materials for use as biosensors will be discussed, including enzymatic-based and ion channel-based sensors.

The second half of this seminar will discuss the development of nanostructured polymers for drug delivery. Many therapies benefit from constant rates of drug release such that stable and effective therapeutic concentrations are maintained. This can be achieved with nanoporous materials: when the material pore size is similar to the size of the therapeutic, diffusion is constrained by the structure of the material and constant rates can be achieved. While there are several examples of nanostructured inorganics, many therapies would benefit from similarly nanostructured polymers. In particular, the development of a biodegradable device for intraocular delivery of Lucentis, an age-related macular degeneration therapeutic, will be discussed. To conclude, potential applications of organic semiconductors for diagnostic and therapeutic applications will be discussed, from tools for fundamental studies to smart therapeutic devices.

Biography

Daniel Bernards is currently a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California at San Francisco working in the research group of Tejal Desai, where his research has focused on the development of nanostructured materials for drug delivery. In 2007, he received his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at Cornell University working in the research group of George Malliaras, where his research focused on the interplay between ionic and electronic charge in a variety of organic semiconductor devices, including light emitting devices, photovoltaics, electrochemical transistors, and biosensors. In 2004 he was awarded a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship and in 2009 he was the recipient of a Genentech Postdoctoral Fellowship Award.

ECE Colloquium: Telemedicine: Exploring Current Trends in Telehealth, E-Health, and MHealth

Abstract:

Dr. Sikka’s interests lie in early defibrillation, emergency preparedness, medical informatics, telemedicine, mobile health, travel and tourism medicine, and innovative medical practice and design.

Biography

Dr. Sikka is a Board Certified Emergency Physician at The George Washington University Hospital. He attended Washington University in St. Louis, MO for medical school. Upon graduation, he completed his internship at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and his Emergency Medicine Residency at The George Washington University. Currently, Dr. Sikka is the Director of the Section of Innovative Practice. He also serves as the Co- Director for both OnSite Medical Access and Global Health Services. As the Medical Director for the GWU LifeSavers Program, he works to promote heart health and public access defibrillation. Dr. Sikka also oversees the GW Medical Transport Service and is the ED Information System Physician Application Manager. Further, he has been a faculty member of the Department of Emergency Medicine since 2003 and is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

CS Colloquium: Software Engineering @ Google in Telehealth, E-Health, and MHealth

Abstract:

Come get a glimpse into what it is like to work at Google as a Software Engineer, and also get a closer look at Google Chrome and Google Health. There will be food and giveaways as well!

Biography

The presenter, Lindsay Webster, has been with Google since '06, working on projects like Google Local Business Center (Maps), BlogSearch, Google Health, Google Chrome (Browser), and the Google Person Finder for Haiti. After graduating with a bachelor in CS from GW, she worked at AOL as a software engineer before joining Google as a software test engineer. She's an army brat, so she grew up living all around the world, but considers Washington DC her hometown. While she worked in the Google NYC office for her first three years at Google, she is happy to be working from the DC office these days and wanted to celebrate with a local visit to GW!

MAE Seminar Series: A Computational Framework for Rapid Optimal Mission Planning and Real-Time Optimal Control Using Pseudospectral Methods

Abstract:

Increasing autonomy in vehicle systems is a topic of great interest to the U.S. military and NASA. Making autonomy a reality for such systems requires the development of new methods for mission planning, guidance, and control. Moreover, current and future vehicle systems have much higher performance requirements from those of previous generations. Because problems of this nature are described by nonlinear dynamic models, have operating constraints, and have performance indices that need to be optimized, these problems are formalized as constrained nonlinear optimal control problems. Because nonlinear optimal control problems generally do not have analytic solutions, numerical methods must be employed. In order to obtain accurate solutions for use in near real time or real time (i.e., rapid mission planning, guidance, and control), it is essential to develop methodologies that use coarse yet highly accurate approximations to the continuous-time optimal control problem. The focus of this seminar is on our recent research in the area of pseudospectral methods for solving general optimal control problems. We will show that our methods lead to highly accurate solutions using such low-dimensional approximations. We contrast our approach to previous pseudospectral methods that exhibit either slow convergence or non-convergence. Finally, we discuss current research on the important issue of how to apply pseudospectral methods in practice along with relevant applications in aerospace engineering.

MAE Seminar Series: Textile Composite Structures for ``Green” Vehicles: Towards Predicting Compression Strength Allowables

Abstract:

The next generation of green vehicle structures has placed stringent demands on structural weight. Textile composites are being considered as a cost-effective viable alternative for structural applications in the automotive and aerospace industries. Consequently, the deformation response of these composites and their failure characteristics are of importance. In particular, there is a need to develop an appropriate mechanism based failure prediction capability. In this seminar, experimental and analytical results for the response of 2D flat triaxial braided composites (2DTBC) under conditions that are similar to those encountered when a tubular structural member undergoes axial compressive crush will be presented.

Experiments on flat 2DTBCs were carried out under two types of load states: compression/tension (C/T) and bending/compression (B/C). C/T tests were carried out on a special planar biaxial load frame. Full field planar incremental strain fields were captured via digital speckle photography (DSP) throughout the loading history simultaneously with load and strain gage data. Failure mechanisms were investigated and supplemented by post experiment microscopy. Similar diagnostics were acquired from the B/C test which was based on a novel eccentric “Elastica” experimental configuration. The experimental results provided fundamental insight into failure mechanisms of 2DTBCs and motivated the development of micromechanics based stiffness and strength models for the 2DTBCs. The experimental results show that a microstructural instability was a strength limiting mechanism under a variety of stress states. A micromechanics based finite element (FE) model of the 2DTBC, that incorporates varying degrees of length scales, was developed to predict the compressive strength of 2DTBC. The predictions of these models captured the details of the experimentally observed failure mechanisms and were found to be in good agreement with the experimental data.

MAE Seminar Series: Multiscale Simulations of Physical and Biological Systems

Abstract:

The recent fusion of decades of advancements in mathematical models, numerical algorithms and computer architecture marked the beginning of a new era in the science of simulation. It is becoming indispensable to the development of advanced materials, nanotechnology, pharmaceuticals etc, while many breakthroughs in these technologies derive from simulation-based scientific discovery. In biological systems, which are the main focus of this work, simulation science has already made significant inroads, most notably in genomics and proteomics. Today the grand challenge is its application to clinical medicine and the study of systems from cellular to organ scales. In this work we will review examples of such problems, outline novel modeling strategies and tools, and summarize major findings. Particular emphasis will be placed on the effects of disturbed and turbulent flow patterns in the cardiovascular circulation and related devises.

MAE Seminar Series: MEMS and Nanotechnology for Imaging and Sensing Applications

Abstract:

The emergence of minimally invasive diagnostics and therapeutics in modern high-tech medicine has generated an unmet demand in miniaturized biomedical devices. There exist a definite need for clinical diagnostic and treatment instruments that are based on micro and nanotechnologies. In the past decade, micromachining technology and nanomaterials are making big impacts in many fields, especially in the field of biomedical engineering. The small size and low mass provided by micro/nanodevices make medical instruments portable, power efficient, and, in many cases, more effective. This talk will focus on the current development of miniaturized X-ray CT machines, endoscopic imaging devices, MEM-based confocal microscope and nanosensors in the Advanced Micro/Nanodevices Laboratory at the University of Waterloo.

Biography

John T. W. Yeow received the B.A.Sc. degree in electrical and computer engineering, and M.A.Sc. and PhD. degrees in mechanical and industrial engineering from the University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada, in 1997, 1999, and 2003, respectively. He is currently a Faculty Member in the Department of Systems Design Engineering at University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada. His current research interests are in the field of developing miniaturized biomedical instruments. He is a recipient of the Professional Engineering Ontario Engineering Medal, Natural Science & Engineering Research Canada Innovation Challenge Award, Douglas R. Colton’s Medal of Research Excellence, Micralyne Microsystems Design Award, Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation’s Early Researcher Award, and University of Toronto Alumni Association 7T6 Early Career Award. He is currently a Canada Research Chair in Micro/Nanodevices. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Nanotechnology Council Newsletter. He is also an Associate Editor of the IEEE Nanotechnology Magazine.

Computer Science Colloquium: Securing Wireless Networks at the Physical Layer: Alice and Bob Get Physical

Abstract:

The traditional layer-specific approach to security involves protocols that are unaware of the physical medium upon which their associated messages travel. Such an approach inherently seeks to secure the network at the link layer and above, and consequently fails to leverage a domain where there is a vast amount of information that might help address a variety of security threats: the physical layer. Recently, however, there has been a significant growth in research devoted to studying security solutions at the physical layer. The activity has notably pulled from a broad variety of traditional research areas, ranging from traditional cryptographic security to information theoretic security, from theoretical efforts focused on understanding fundamental limits to systems efforts targeted at proving that the proposed theories can in fact be realized in real systems. The talk will provide an overview to physical layer security techniques for wireless systems, including how phys ical layer methods can be leveraged to develop authentication and confidentiality services. The talk will present some of the basic theories being used, as well as present systems-validation efforts that have been conducted. Lastly, we will comment on some of the potential weaknesses that exist in physical layer security and, by doing so, highlight directions for ongoing research.

Biography

The traditional layer-specific approach to security involves protocols that are unaware of the physical medium upon which their associated messages travel. Such an approach inherently seeks to secure the network at the link layer and above, and consequently fails to leverage a domain where there is a vast amount of information that might help address a variety of security threats: the physical layer. Recently, however, there has been a significant growth in research devoted to studying security solutions at the physical layer. The activity has notably pulled from a broad variety of traditional research areas, ranging from traditional cryptographic security to information theoretic security, from theoretical efforts focused on understanding fundamental limits to systems efforts targeted at proving that the proposed theories can in fact be realized in real systems. The talk will provide an overview to physical layer security techniques for wireless systems, including how phys ical layer methods can be leveraged to develop authentication and confidentiality services. The talk will present some of the basic theories being used, as well as present systems-validation efforts that have been conducted. Lastly, we will comment on some of the potential weaknesses that exist in physical layer security and, by doing so, highlight directions for ongoing research.

ECE Colloquium: The Role of Advancing Technology in Railroad Tie Inspection

Abstract:

The railroad tie, or railway sleeper as it is called outside the US, is a vital part of a set of railroad tracks. The tie – the rectangular object upon which the rail sits – is used to support the weight of the rails, and thus the vehicles that run along them, as well as to ensure that a set of rails are the proper distance apart. Given the important role that these components play in the overall structure of the track, the condition of a railroad’s ties are a critical concern to the track owner. This seminar will be a roundtable discussion that will highlight the current methods used to evaluate railroad ties and the role that technology plays in that process. More importantly, this seminar will describe the limitations of current inspection procedures and the need for innovative solutions to improve both the efficiency and accuracy of evaluations conducted.

Biography

This discussion will be lead by a team of individuals from ENSCO, Inc., a Washington D.C. area-based company providing engineering, science and advanced technology solutions for the defense, security, transportation, and aerospace industries. For more than 30 years, ENSCO has been leading the rail industry in developing new and advanced technologies. As an active member of the railroad and transit research communities, ENSCO is focused on the creation, development and application of new technology to improve rail safety and performance. Those expected to participate include:

Boris Nejikovsky, Vice President, Rail Technologies Division – Mr. Nejikovsky has devoted his career to conducting research and developing instrumentation for a broad range of applications in the field of rail transportation and civil engineering. Prior to his appointment to the role of Vice President, Mr. Nejikovsky served as chief engineer of ENSCO’s Rail Technologies Division specializing in the design and application of various measurement, control, data acquisition, and computer vision systems. Mr. Nejikovsky earned a degree in electrical engineering from the Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute in Leningrad, Russia, in 1977 and an advanced degree in hydraulics and engineering hydrology from the State Hydrological Institute in Leningrad, Russia, in 1985.

Andrea Berry, Senior Engineer/Product Line Manager - Ms. Berry manages the development of ENSCO’s Machine Vision Technologies, which are primarily used by the railroad industry for track and equipment inspection. She has served as an Electrical Engineer for ENSCO’s line of Machine Vision Technology systems, including the commercially successful Joint Bar Inspection System. Ms. Berry received dual Bachelor of Science degrees in electrical engineering and biomedical engineering from Duke University in 2001 where her studies were focused on very large scale integration design, biomedical instrumentation, and semiconductor physics.

Dr. Yu-Jiang Zhang, Staff Scientist/Researcher – Dr. Zhang possesses extensive experience in research focused on rail track degradation analysis, maintenance planning, data acquisition, data management systems, and railroad operations. Dr. Zhang earned a Bachelor of Science degree in automotive engineering from Changan University in Xian, China in 1982, a Master’s of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of New South Wales in Australia in 1993 and a Doctoral degree in civil engineering from Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia in 2000. He is a member of Committees 4 and 5 of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance Association and a member of the Transportation Research Board's Committee on Railway Track Structures and Design. Dr. Zhang has published over 20 technical papers resulting from his railway related research.

Mr. Eric Sherrock, Staff Engineer/Program Manager – Mr. Sherrock manages ENSCO’s research and development efforts for the Federal Railroad Administration. His background includes several years of testing in the rail industry with a focus on vehicle/track interactions. Mr. Sherrock earned a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace/mechanical engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1990 and a Master’s of Science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland in 1995. He is a member of Committee 2 (Track Measurement Systems) of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance Association and a member of the Transportation Research Board's Committee on Railway Track Structures and Design.

ICDRM: Emergency Response and Recovery to the Haiti and Chile Earthquakes: Observations and lessons learned in the context of in country telecommunication requirements

Abstract:

A number of personnel associated with ICDRM (faculty, current students, alumni and others) have played important roles in the response to the recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. This forum session will focus upon the activities and insights of two current ICDRM doctoral students, from their capacities as DHS and OAS leaders.

Jeff Glick (Chief of the Critical Infrastructure Protection Branch in the National Communications System (NCS) within the Department of Homeland Security) will focus on the differences and similarities between domestic and foreign disaster response using the recent Haiti earthquake experience of the National Communications System as the case study. The National Communications System coordinates Emergency Support Function 2 (Communications) under the National Response Framework with its partner Federal Departments and agencies for domestic events and it was this experience which was applied in the Haiti response.

Graciela Piedras (Senior Telecommunications Specialist of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission of the Organization of American States) will focus on the importance of forging partnerships so as to provide a multi-stakeholder and multi-hazard strategy in an effort to reduce or ameliorate the impact of disasters resulting from the hazards. She will use her experience during the recent Haiti and Chile earthquakes where the OAS Member States, the private sector and international organizations such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) worked together, avoiding duplication of efforts and helping a country in need. The presentation will also include aspects on what is now being discussed and planned for the future.

Biography

Jeffrey Glick is the Chief of the Critical Infrastructure Protection Branch in the National Communications System (NCS) within the Department of Homeland Security managing operations. Specifically, he oversees: The National Coordinating Center for communications, a government –communications industry coordination center and 24x7 Watch, as well as an Operations Analysis Team, a Training and Exercise Team, and a Planning Team. The Branch is responsible under the National Response Framework for emergency communications response coordination (Emergency Support Function #2). Before coming to the NCS, Mr. Glick worked at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) within the Department of Homeland Security for over 20 years in a various positions of leadership in planning and response.

Graciela Piedras is the Senior Telecommunications Specialist of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission of the Organization of American States. At present her functions include the identification/preparation/implementation of strategies for the development of information and communication infrastructures and services in the Americas region and the coordination of inter-American proposals for World Conferences such as the World Radiocommunication Conference or the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly. Before coming to CITEL, she worked at the National Telecommunications Administration in Montevideo, Uruguay, where among other tasks she did system planning and design, and provided regulatory and policy support.

Computer Science Colloquium: Cybersecurity and Cyberconfidence: The Case of Morocco

Abstract:

The Ministry of Industry, Trade, and New Technologies (MICNT) of Morocco has recently launched a National ICT Strategic Plan “Maroc Numeric 2013” that aims at promoting the use of electronic services for government, trade, education and health. Aware of the importance of cyberconfidence and cybersecurity to the success of the plan, various accompanying actions in this regard have been included in the plan. In this talk I will briefly survey the plan, and the actions related to cybersecurity and cyberconfidence as well as the status of cybersecurity in Morocco in light of ITU’s Global Cybersecurity Agenda (GCA) which are 1. Legal Measures, 2. Technical and Procedural Measures, 3. Organizational Structures, 4. International Cooperation, and 5. Capacity Building.

Biography

The Ministry of Industry, Trade, and New Technologies (MICNT) of Morocco has recently launched a National ICT Strategic Plan “Maroc Numeric 2013” that aims at promoting the use of electronic services for government, trade, education and health. Aware of the importance of cyberconfidence and cybersecurity to the success of the plan, various accompanying actions in this regard have been included in the plan. In this talk I will briefly survey the plan, and the actions related to cybersecurity and cyberconfidence as well as the status of cybersecurity in Morocco in light of ITU’s Global Cybersecurity Agenda (GCA) which are 1. Legal Measures, 2. Technical and Procedural Measures, 3. Organizational Structures, 4. International Cooperation, and 5. Capacity Building.

MAE Seminar: Turbulence by Design

Abstract:

Self-similarity is an important concept that arises in the study of turbulent flows, in which an assumption is often made that memory of initial conditions (ICs) are lost at late-time and the turbulent flow develops to an equilibrium state. However, recent studies have indicated that only special turbulent flows are truly self-similar. Experiments and computations have indicated that late-time turbulence can be affected by ICs seeded into the flow and memory of these ICs is not lost. This presents to us a remarkable opportunity to predict and design late-time turbulence that leaves behind the “fully-developed” equilibrium concept, and embrace late-time turbulence through prescribed ICs that enhance, suppress, or maintain turbulence intensity/structure in these flows – the concept of turbulence by design (TbD). The talk will discuss various TbD approaches that are currently being explored. The primary emphasis of the TbD approach is to evaluate late-time signatures of ICs for a better understanding of turbulent mix dominated buoyancy problems with applications in inertial confinement fusion, astrophysical flows, chemical reactors, climate dynamics and pollutant dispersion. In addition, the implications of the TbD approach for a broader class of turbulent fluids dynamics (including pulmonary fluid dynamics, wind-turbine aerodynamics) will also be discussed.

GW Institute for Biomedical Engineering Colloquium: Macro-Micro Scale Interactions Associated with Motility and Nutrient Absorption in the Small Intestine analyzed with Lattice-Boltzmann Models

Abstract:

Nutrient and pharmaceutical absorption in the small intestine cannot occur until molecules are presented to the epithelial cells that line intestinal villi. The villi are fingerlike protrusions that deform under enteric neuromuscular control. The dynamics of this process rely on highly coupled multiscale transport and mixing motions that span several orders of magnitude from the lumen scale (1-2 cm), to the villi scale (300-500 µm) to transfer molecules into the circulatory and lymphatic systems at the cellular scale (~10 µm). Nutrient contents are mixed with secretions and transported axially and radially within the gut by macro-scale contractions that are of two basic types: peristaltic and segmental. Using simplified numerical models within the lattice-Boltzmann framework of macro-micro scale intestinal fluid motions with scalar transport, we analyze the hypothesis that periodic axial motion of the villi is necessary to reduce the time scale for nutrient molecules to reach the epithelium. If this is true, then it would follow that interference with villi motion associated with celiac and other diseases contributes to malabsorption.

Biography

James (Jim) Brasseur received his Ph.D. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Science from Stanford University in 1979 with a specific focus on fluid dynamics. Jim has always had an interdisciplinary and international perspective in his research. Since joining the Pennsylvania State University in 1988, Jim has developed two very different directions in research: the study of turbulence physics with numerical simulation and theory, and the interface between neurophysiology and mechanics in gastro-intestinal function. Jim is a member of the Society of Scholars of the Johns Hopkins University and is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

CS Colloquium: “Models of Motivation”

Abstract:

As we approach the time when processor and memory capacities rival those of the human brain, we need to consider what type of artificial intelligence may develop. Certainly there will be many parallel efforts developing intelligent systems. Will these systems have physical actuators or will they exist entirely in cyberspace? What drives will be implicitly or explicitly built into these systems to motivate their development? Plants and animals have evolved different types of intelligence, but they are all ultimately biological. How differently may intelligence develop in cyberspace? Will analogs for hunger, pain, stress, or emotion be necessary? How can these underlying drives be evolved? This colloquium will try to begin a discussion on these questions and propose a model for integrating motivations into learning automata.

Biography

Glenn Becker is a scientist for the Unisys Corporation, supporting several government agencies in the development of algorithms and processes for data, image, signal, and intelligence analysis. He has a DSc in Machine Learning (2002), an MS in Artificial Intelligence (1988), and a BS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (1983), all from The George Washington University.

CS & CSPRI Colloquium: “Cyberattack as an Instrument of U.S. Policy”

Abstract:

Given the reality of a densely interconnected information society, much has been written about the possibility that adversaries of the United States, such as terrorists or hostile nations, might conduct damaging cyberattacks against critical sectors of the U.S. economy and national infrastructure that rely on functioning, secure computer systems and networks. However, the possibility that the United States might choose to engage in cyberattacks to serve its own national interests—in cyberdefense as well as in other areas—is rarely discussed in public. This talk will present a framework for thinking about cyberattacks as a tool of U.S. policy and the critical issues surrounding them.

Biography

Dr. Herbert Lin is chief scientist at the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, National Research Council of the National Academies, where he has been study director of major projects on public policy and information technology. These studies include a 1996 study on national cryptography policy (Cryptography's Role in Securing the Information Society), a 1991 study on the future of computer science (Computing the Future), a 1999 study of Defense Department systems for command, control, communications, computing, and intelligence (Realizing the Potential of C4I: Fundamental Challenges), a 2000 study on workforce issues in high-technology (Building a Workforce for the Information Economy), a 2005 study on electronic voting (Asking the Right Questions About Electronic Voting), a 2005 study on computational biology (Catalyzing Inquiry at the Interface of Computing and Biology), a 2007 study on privacy and information technology (Engaging Privacy and Information Technology in a Digital Age), a 2007 study on cybersecurity research (Toward a Safer and More Secure Cyberspace), and a 2009 study on offensive information warfare (Technology, Policy, Law, and Ethics Regarding U.S. Acquisition and Use of Cyberattack Capabilities). Prior to his NRC service, he was a professional staff member and staff scientist for the House Armed Services Committee (1986-1990), where his portfolio included defense policy and arms control issues. He received his doctorate in physics from MIT. Avocationally, he is a longtime folk and swing dancer and a poor magician. Apart from his CSTB work, he is published in cognitive science, science education, biophysics, and arms control and defense policy. He also consults on K-12 math and science education.

MAE Seminar: Understanding the Hemodynamic Response to Vena Cava Filters

Abstract:

The endovascular deployment of inferior vena cava (IVC) filters is a routine clinical treatment for the prevention of pulmonary embolism from deep vein thrombosis. In addition, IVC filters are used for prophylactic purposes in patients who are at high risk of developing blood clots, e.g., trauma patients. Despite their widespread use, however, the hemodynamic response to IVC filters is not well understood. Consequently, modern clinical practices are primarily supported by anecdotal evidence and retrospective clinical studies.

Our work uses computational fluid dynamics to examine the flow past unoccluded and partially occluded filters under a variety of clinically relevant flow regimes. In particular, we use the method of overlapping grids to discretize the computational domain and solve the conservation equations. Our results indicate regions of stagnant/recirculating flow and abnormal wall shear stress that may be thrombogenic and therefore limit the efficacy of a filter. We also study the impact of filter position and movement on its ability to trap and secure deadly clots. Our modeling studies lay the groundwork for establishing clinical guidelines and for designing optimal, patient-specific medical devices.

CS Colloquium: “Mid the Gap: STEM Women in Career Breaks”

Abstract:

There are two issues related to women and pathways to STEM careers. Recruitment to the field is one aspect. The second issue is the retention of women in STEM fields. This paper reports on the structured interviews with 14 women who have taken career breaks sometime after receiving their PhD in order to understand the pressures in place to take such breaks, how women remain connected (or not) to their field during the break and issues related to re-entering the field after a career break. Suggestions based on the interviews include enhancements for women’s preparation for STEM fields and changes to the STEM culture itself. We suggest the inclusion workshops to detail what they might expect in their career and a provision for networking opportunities. We urge changes in the fee structure for society membership, differences in how resumes are reviewed as well as changes in maternity and child care leave.

Biography

Dr. Heller is currently a professor of computer science in the Computer Science Department of he George Washington University and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the Mount Vernon Campus of GWU. She is the former Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of the School f Engineering and Applied Sciences. She is the author and co-author of numerous books and papers in the field of computers in education, has spoken at computer conferences at the national and international level and is the co-editor of Computers & Education: An International Journal.

Dr. Heller has long focused on bringing and keeping women and underrepresented minorities to the STEM fields. Over the years she has been the co-PI on numerous grants in this area. The first was "Bringing Young Minority Women to the Threshold of Science". This 4 year grant was designed as an intervention program to raise the interest of young minority women in studies and careers in science and engineering. Did It Work was a significant follow-up study to assess the impact of the original intervention program. The major finding of this study, when comparing those who participated with those who did not, was that the participants had confidence in themselves as learners and researchers. The third grant, TEAMSS, Teacher Enhanced Applications for Middle School Science with Hypermedia, was designed to enable teachers to use and reuse videodisk technology in their classrooms. Important aspects of that grant covered cooperative and collaborative learning, two modalities appropriate to women students. FORWARD in SEM is an intervention program for women undergraduates and early master’s students as a bridge program to offer opportunities for graduate study and research. The most recent grants, FORWARD To PROFESSORSHIP and PAY It FORWARD focus on bringing pre-tenured faculty as they navigate their academic career.

CS Colloquium: Due Diligence for Trustworthy Systems: A Methodology for Legal Requirements Acquisition

Abstract:

U.S. federal and state regulations impose mandatory and discretionary requirements on industry-wide business practices to achieve non-functional, societal goals such as improved accessibility, privacy and safety. The structure and syntax of regulations affects how well software engineers identify and interpret legal requirements. Inconsistent interpretations can lead to non-compliance and violations of the law. To support software engineers who must comply with these regulations, I propose a Frame-Based Requirements Analysis Method (FBRAM) to acquire and specify legal requirements from U.S. federal regulatory documents. The legal requirements are systematically specified using a reusable, domain-independent upper ontology, natural language phrase heuristics, a regulatory document model and a frame-based markup language. The methodology maintains traceability from regulatory statements and phrases to formal properties in a frame-based model and supports the resolution of multiple types of legal ambiguity. The methodology is supported by a software prototype to assist engineers with applying the model and with analyzing legal requirements. This work was validated in information privacy and security domain, which is governed by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.

Biography

Travis D. Breaux received the Doctorate of Philosophy in Computer Science from North Carolina State University (NCSU) in May 2009. His primary research interests include investigating new methods, tools and techniques for aligning laws, regulations and policies with information systems to yield trustworthy, dependable systems. Presently, Dr. Breaux is a Research Staff Member at Institute for Defense Analyses, where he conducts research in information assurance, cyber security and global supply chain security.

Dr. Breaux is the recipient of several awards for research and teaching excellence, including the IBM Ph.D. Fellowship (renewed for three years), the NCSU Preparing the Professoriate Fellowship, the Walker H. Wilkinson Research Ethics Fellowship, and the CISCO Information Assurance Scholarship. Dr. Breaux has conducted research across academia, industry and government, including CERIAS at Purdue University, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Dr. Breaux has several publications in ACM and IEEE-sponsored journals and conferences proceedings and he is a member of the ACM SIGSOFT, IEEE Computer Society and USACM Public Policy Committee.

CS Colloquium: Systems without Cooperation

Abstract:

The Internet is no longer the cooperative, technological playground it once was. Successful networked systems must now account for potentially competing interests. The protocols are the rules relegating the venue for this competition, but those rules often lack enforcement. I will present the application of economics and trusted hardware to keep participants in a networked system from deviating from the letter and spirit of a protocol.

First, I will apply economic mechanism design to keep selfish users from gaining at the expense of others. I will show that the popular BitTorrent system uses, not tit-for-tat as widely believed, but an auction to decide which peers to serve. This model captures known, performance-improving strategies, and shapes or thinking toward new, effective incentive mechanisms.

Second, I will apply trusted hardware to keep both selfish and malicious users from "equivocating," or sending semantically conflicting messages. I will present TrInc (Trusted Incrementer), a small piece of trusted hardware intended for use in large-scale distributed systems. With case studies and an implementation, I will demonstrate that TrInc is a practical primitive for protecting a wide range of systems.

These two examples together demonstrate the importance of aligning the assumptions of economics and large-scale systems. Doing so allows us to develop new mechanisms that foster cooperation among the otherwise self-interested.

Biography

Dave Levin is a PhD candidate at the University of Maryland, advised by Bobby Bhattacharjee, Neil Spring, and Aravind Srinivasan, and is a Microsoft Live Labs fellow. His research interests span many areas of systems and networking, and include achieving cooperation among self- interested parties, protecting user privacy, and the practical application of theoretical tools like economic theory to large-scale systems.

ECE Colloquium: IEEE MAGNETICS SOCIETY DISTINGUISHED LECTURE SERIES 2010
BIOMAGNETICS: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY FIELD WHERE MAGNETICS, BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE OVERLAP

Abstract:

Biomagnetics is an interdisciplinary field where magnetics, biology and medicine overlap. It has a long history since 1600, when William Gilbert published his book De Magnete. Recent advances in biomagnetics have enabled us not only to detect extremely weak magnetic fields from the human brain, but also to control cell orientation and cell growth by extremely high magnetic fields. Pulsed magnetic fields are used for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the human brain, and both high frequency magnetic fields and magnetic nanoparticles have promising therapeutic applications for treatments of cancers and brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson's. On the imaging front, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is now a powerful tool for basic and clinical medicine. New methods of MRI based on the imaging of impedance of the human body, called impedance MRI, and the imaging of neuronal current activities in the human brain, called current MRI, are also being developed. This lecture focuses on the advances in biomagnetics and bioimaging obtained mostly in our laboratory in recent years. The lecture describes: (1) a method of localized magnetic stimulation of the human brain by TMS with a figure-eight coil; (2) magneto-encephalography (MEG) to measure extremely weak magnetic fields produced from brain electrical activity using superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) systems; (3) impedance MRI and current MRI; (4) cancer therapy and control of iron-ion release from, and uptake into, ferritin, an iron-storage protein, by using both high frequency and pulsed magnetic fields and magnetic nanoparticles; and (5) magnetic control of biological cell orientation and cell growth by strong static magnetic fields. These new biomagnetic approaches will open new horizons in brain research, brain treatment, and regenerative medicine.

Biography

Shoogo Ueno received the B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. (Dr. Eng.) degrees in electronic engineering from Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan, in 1966, 1968, and 1972, respectively. Dr. Ueno was an associate professor with the Department of Electronics, Kyushu University, from 1976 to 1986. From 1979 to 1981, he spent his sabbatical with the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Linkoping University, Linkoping, Sweden, as a guest scientist. He subsequently served as a professor in the Department of Electronics, Kyushu University (1986-1994) and in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo (1994-2006). In 2006 he retired from the University of Tokyo as professor emeritus. Since 2006 he has been a professor with the Department of Applied Quantum Physics, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyushu University, and is also dean of the Faculty of Medical Technology, Teikyo University, Fukuoka. Japan. Dr. Ueno is a Fellow of the IEEE (2001) and of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (2001). He is a Fellow and Member-at-Large of the Governing Council of the International Academy for Medical and Biological Engineering (2006). He was an elected member of the IEEE Magnetics Society Administrative Committee (2004-2009). He was President of the Bioelectromagnetics Society (2003-2004), Chairman of the International Union of Radio Science’s Commission K on Electromagnetics in Biology and Medicine (2000-2003), President of the Japan Biomagnetism and Bioelectromagnetics Society (1999-2001), President of the Magnetics Society of Japan (2001-2003), and President of the Japanese Society for Medical and Biological Engineering (2002-2004). He received the Doctor Honoris Causa from Linkoping University, Linkoping, Sweden (1998). He was a 150th Anniversary Jubilee Visiting Professor at Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden (2006), and a visiting professor at Simon Frasier University, Burnaby, Canada (1994) and Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Australia (2008).

GW IBE Colloquium: “Sickle Cell Disease: New Opportunities for Bioengineering Research”

Abstract:

2010 marks a milestone for sickle cell disease: 100 years since Herrick first described it in the Western medical literature. A point mutation of hemoglobin leads to an inherited blood disorder characterized by abnormal blood rheology, episodic painful vaso-occlusion, and vascular damage. Clinical research has introduced cures by bone marrow transplantation and disease-modifying therapy with hydroxyurea or chronic blood transfusion. However, sickle cell disease still causes great suffering for thousands in the DC area and hundreds of thousands in the world, accompanied by health disparities and high healthcare costs. Many aspects of this challenging disease could be amenable to engineering approaches. An overview of bioengineering contributions to the understanding of sickle cell includes blood rheology, oxygen transport, the biophysics of hemoglobin polymerization, and cell-cell adhesion. Current research on autonomic nervous system regulation of vasodilation highlights opportunities for additional multidisciplinary collaborative approaches to sickle cell disease.

ECE Colloquium: Electric Tuning of Ferromagnetic Resonance in Monolithic Ferromagnetic-Ferroelectric Heterostructures

Abstract:

Ferromagnetic-ferroelectric heterostructures have attracted considerable attention because of their potential for multi-functional device applications. In particular, the possibility of simultaneous magnetic and electric tuning in these heterostructures can be useful for tunable microwave devices, such as resonators, filters, and phase shifters. Previous works have reported the demonstration of electric tuning of ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) in multilayered ferromagnetic-ferroelectric heterostructures. In most of those previous works, however, the structures were fabricated through the mechanical assembly of separate active layers. Such non-monolithic configurations not only limit the magneto-electric coupling between the layers, but are also incompatible with monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) technology. This presentation reports our recent work on monolithic ferromagnetic-ferroelectric heterostructures. The structures were made by pulsed laser deposition and magnetron sputtering techniques. The ferromagnetic components of these structures were either yttrium iron garnet or M-type barium hexagonal ferrite thin films, and the ferroelectric components were barium strontium titanate thin films. The electric field tuning of FMR in these structures was demonstrated. Such tuning relied on the excitation of hybrid spin wave-electromagnetic wave modes in the structures. The advantages of our monolithic structures over previous structures include large tuning rates, low bias voltages, and compatibility to the MMIC technology.

Biography

Mingzhong Wu received his Ph.D. in Solid State Electronics from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 1999 and became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at Colorado State University in 2007. He is interested in many topics in magnetics. His current research areas include nonlinear spin waves, magnetization dynamics, multiferroic heterostructures, and microwave magnetic materials and devices. He has authored and co-authored over 75 publications in archival technical journals. He has been a Senior Member of IEEE since 2006. He has been on the Education Committee of the IEEE Magnetics Society since 2009 and on the Editorial Review Board of IEEE Magnetics Letters since 2010. He has served on organizing and program committees for several international conferences.

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