Photo Courtesy www.bwtechumbc.com

Potential good news for internship and job seekers. The Baltimore Sun reported that four tech-focused companies have just taken up shop at bwtech@UMBC. The companies are:

Communications Scientific International, a communications systems and technologies company. Communications Scientific International “provides communications and information systems for satelliete, airbone and ground applications to the Department of Defense,” says the Sun.

Tech Edge USA, an IT solutions company.

Assured Information Security (AIS), a small business that specializes in Information Operations, including Network Operations, Electronic Warfare, and Computer Network Operations. AIS works closely with the Department of Defense.

Clovis Group, a technology staffing and consulting services firm.

EE Graduate Seminar

High Power Mid-Infrared Quantum Cascade Laser
Arrays for Standoff Photoacoustic Chemical Detection

Xing Chen, PhD (EE) Student
Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, UMBC

11:30am-12:45pm, Friday, 30 March 2012, ITE 237

Quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) are compact, powerful, mid-infrared, Semiconductor laser sources. High power QCLs are very important to infrared counter measures (IRCM) and standoff chemical detection applications, as well as others. The performance of such systems critically depend on the amount of power that QCLs can produce. One way to achieve high power operation is to use multi-emitter phase-locked laser arrays.

The first part of the seminar presents the issues and challenges to design, fabricate, and characterize multi-emitter phase-locked QCL arrays for achieving high power operation. The second part of the seminar discusses using high power mid-infrared QCLs to perform standoff photoacoustic (PA) chemical detection. The PA effect is a photo-matter effect involving generation and detection of an acoustic signal when a gas sample absorbs electromagnetic energy (particularly of light).

In recent years, with the help of the development of mid-infrared QCLs, significant progress has been made in their use for PA chemical detection, and sensitivity has been improved significantly. Our theoretical and experimental studies of standoff photoacoustic chemical detection, using QCLs as the laser source, will be presented.

Xing Chen received the BS degree in Opto-Electronics Engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 2007, and the MSEE degree from UMBC in 2009. He is currently a PhD (EE) candidate at UMBC. Mr. Chen's research interest includes design and fabrication of high power mid-infrared phase-locked QCL arrays and application to standoff photoacoustic chemical detection.

Host: Prof. Joel M. Morris

Maryland DNR, Aquatic Resource Education Department is excited to participate in the Chesapeake Bay Trust’s Chesapeake Conservation Corps, in which an opportunity exists for a stipend Volunteer to spend a one-year term of service working with the department. The intern would support  programs for schools such as Raising Horseshoe Crabs in the Classroom, Maryland Envirothon, Green Eggs and Sand curriculum; developing new activities and updating current programs to incorporate climate change and invasive species data;  outreach events such as wade ins, the Maryland Seafood Festival, and professional conferences; and other educational opportunities.  In addition, the Volunteer will participate in activities with the full Corps.  The purpose of the Corps is 1) to enable stipend volunteers to work with host organizations and communities throughout Maryland to implement on-the-ground restoration and energy conservation projects, and 2) to provide leadership and training opportunities for young adults pursuing environmental and conservation careers. 

Interested applicants should apply directly through the Chesapeake Bay Trust by following instructions at www.cbtrust.org/chesapeakeconservationcorps; however, they are encouraged to contact us as well at 410-260-8775 or by email at sepperson@dnr.state.md.us.  The application deadline is May 14, 2012, with the one-year service term to begin in late August, 2012.

From the White House

Apply to be a Fall 2012 White House Intern

We are reaching out to remind you that the application for the Fall 2012 program is now open. If you or anyone else you know is interested in the program, we encourage you to forward this information and apply by April 1, 2012 at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/internships/apply/application

White House Interns have the chance to work with government officials in offices such as the Office of the First Lady, the Office of the Chief of Staff, the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, the National Economic Council and the Domestic Policy Council. Assignments vary dependent on an intern’s office, but interns conduct research, attend meetings with officials, write memos and requests, participate in speaker series’ with senior staff members, engage in service projects, and staff and plan events. By dedicating their time, talents, energy and service, interns become part of the White House team and work to improve the community and the nation.

Ph.D. Defense

Multivariate Time Series Analysis
of Physiological and Clinical Data

Patti Ordóñez Rozo

1:00pm Thursday, 29 March 29 2012, ITE 325b UMBC

The complexity and volume of collected medical data is greater now than at any point in the history of medicine. Medical providers are expected to examine large volumes of data and identify correlations among parameters based on their own clinical experience to detect significant medical events or conditions. The information overload that providers may face may hinder the diagnostic process. Most existing visualizations of the data to assist the provider in analyzing the information consist of a table or plot of values for a particular parameter as a function of time. Automated techniques for discovering these correlations not only may assist the provider in making a diagnosis but may help to identify hidden patterns within the data associated with specific medical conditions or events. Current visualization and machine learning techniques show promise for extracting this information.

This dissertation presents three novel representations and two visualizations to assist in the analysis of multivariate time series data. It focuses on physiological and clinical data, in particular, because this type of data captures the complexity of a human being, and thus, the multivariate time series in this type of data are more interdependent and synchronized than most. The three representations are the Multivariate Time Series Amalgam (MTSA), the Stacked Bags-of-Patterns (Stacked BoP), and the Multivariate Bag-of-Patterns (Multivariate BoP). Each provides an integrated, multivariate approach for representing multivariate time series data. An evaluation of the latter two techniques against two techniques that use univariate techniques of multiple variables, Ensemble Voting with Bag-of-Patterns and Multivariate Piecewise Dynamic Time Warping in five diverse datasets yields interesting insights into the classification of multivariate time series.

The MTSA representation is the foundation for two visualizations – the MTSA Visualization and the Fixed Dual MTSA Visualization. These animated visualizations capture the rate of change of provider-selected parameters and the relationships among them. While both visualizations were created for the medical domain, they generalize to domains where multiple variables measure the state of an entity as a function of time. An evaluation of the Fixed Dual MTSA Visualization was carried out with 23 pediatric residents at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The results indicate that the visualization merits further investigation for use as a diagnostic tool.

Committee

• Dr. Tim Oates (co-chair)
• Dr. Marie desJardins (co-chair)
• Dr. Anupam Joshi
• Dr. Jim Fackler, JHMI
• Dr. Christoph U. Lehmann, JHMI

• Positions Howard County Library System (HCLS) as a major component of public education for all ages
• Effectively lives the Seven Pillars of HCLS' strategic plan (Authentic Values, Strategic Vocabulary, Everyone a Leader, Winning Teamwork, Community Partnerships, The Power of Us, and Fiercely Loyal Customers) motivating others to do so as well
• Fully embraces HCLS’ educational mission, effectively communicating our curriculum, which comprises Three Pillars (Self-Directed Education, Research Assistance & Instruction, Instructive & Enlightening Experiences)

• Leads STEM projects that are focused on digital media
• Promotes the HiTech STEM digital learning lab collaborative and youth-focused methodology
• Encourages youth to explore the technologies and space around them
• Assists students with ideas, as well as exploring and using technology
• Provides hands-on support of software and hardware tools to enable students to create videos, animations, and games
• Assists students in video and animations production
• Researches and troubleshoots digital production issues and responds to (youth) customers
• Provides recommendations for continuous improvement of processes
• Collaborates with youth and staff to update websites and blogs
• Remains current on network and system procedures, updates and routines
• Collaborates with co-workers, consultant and youth
• Moderates group on-line environment
• Regularly performs other duties as assigned
• Participates in professional training and development
• Maintains regular and predictable attendance
• Adheres to all policies and procedures
  

• Pursuing or Earned Four-year college degree
• People skills – ability to work effectively with others and enjoy it
• Demonstrated interest in working with teens and tweens
• Demonstrated experience instructing and/or training teens
• Experience with music and/or video production
• Exemplifies extraordinary customer service skills and professional attitude
• Strong attention to detail and high degree of speed and accuracy
• Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain effective, collaborative working relationships
• Demonstrated ability to communicate technical information in layman’s terms to youth customers
• Demonstrated ability to analyze and solve problems, to develop new processes and procedures in response to changing customer expectations and system-wide goals
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral
• Experience troubleshooting hardware and software
• Experience updating web pages and creating online and/or mobile tools
• Experience with digital design and graphics art tools
• Experience in windows (PC/MAC), and Linux
• Current valid driver’s license

• Job allows for some variance in work routine and considerable amounts of standing, walking, bending, reaching, pushing, pulling and sitting
• In addition, strenuous activity is required, such as carrying bags or boxes of books (weighing up to 30 lbs.) or arranging rooms for classes and events.

• Grade 9; systemwide position(s) located initially chiefly at the Savage Branch
• Works under the supervision of the Grant Project Manager(s) & Director of IT
• Part-time: 20 hours/week, typically Monday through Friday from 2:30 pm to 7:30 pm, weekends periodically required
• May be required to participate in LATI

• To apply for this position, please fill out an application available at www.HCLibrary.org (click on Employment at the bottom of the page).
• HCLS staff members may complete the internal application on SI.
• Please deliver your application to:

Howard County Library System takes pride in providing
equal employment opportunities.

The GRASP Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania is proud to be operating a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Site entitled Perception, Planning, Mobility, and Interaction for Next Generation Robotics. This REU Site opened in 2012 and is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Overview

The goal of this REU Site is to give eight motivated engineering and computer science students significant experience in cutting-edge robotics research every summer. Our paid ten-week program provides a well-structured environment where:

• REU students will learn fundamental skills in engineering and mathematics needed to engage in multidisciplinary robotics research
• REU students will have substantial opportunities to apply this newly gained knowledge in ongoing research projects in the GRASP Laboratory
• REU students will learn to search the scientific literature, practice digesting technical papers, gain skills in effective technical paper writing and oral presentations, and learn about the process of graduate school selection and application.

Mentored Research Projects

This research experience will be enhanced through a carefully mentored approach to team-based research. Each student will work with one or more GRASP faculty members and a post-doctoral or graduate student mentor on a current research project in robotics. Projects will span the range of topics being researched in the GRASP Lab and will be fine-tuned to match the interests and backgrounds of the selected students. REU students will also interact with many of the other faculty, post-docs, graduate students, and undergraduates working in the GRASP Lab.

Student Support

• Stipend: Each student will be paid a stipend of $5,000 for the 10-week program.
• Dates: In 2012, the program will run from Friday, June 1, through Saturday, August 11. Participants should plan to be in Philadelphia for this entire period.
• Travel: Each student will be able to request up to $750 in reimbursement for travel to and from Philadelphia for the program or to a conference to present their research.
• Housing: Each student enrolled in the program will be housed free of charge on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. The provided housing is within walking distance of the GRASP Lab. There is a residential component to the program, so participants may not opt out of the housing to live elsewhere.
• Dining: Participants will receive partial support for their dining expenses for the duration of the summer.
• Research Competition: A prize of $250 will be awarded to the best REU research project, judged by experts in a public research symposium.
• Activities: The entire GRASP REU class will be supported by experienced Penn faculty and staff. The Site has a social program component, as well as planned visits to local robotics research facilities.

Participation

We welcome applications from undergraduate students who are US citizens and permanent residents. We are particularly interested in applicants who come from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (low-income, ethnic and racial minorities, first generation college students, and women). See the Apply section of this website for more details on student eligibility and a link to the application.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. CNS-1156366. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

To apply, visit http://reu.grasp.upenn.edu/index.php?n=Main.Apply