EE Graduate Seminar

Spectrum Wars: LightSquared vs. GPS

Professor Chuck LaBerge
Professor of the Practice, CSEE Dept/UMBC

11:30am-12:45pm Friday, 2 March 2012, ITE 231

The radio-frequency spectrum is a limited resource. Within the US, commercial use of the spectrum is administered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), while government use of the spectrum is administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Currently, the regulatory community is locked in a battle about spectrum utilization in the vicinity of 1.5 GHz. This struggle pits millions of users of GPS technology for position and time information against technical innovators desiring to bring 4G wireless communications to millions of users in underserved populations. So who wins the spectrum wars?

The talk will outline the technologies involved, and provide a time-line of the regulatory actions to date. There are some innovative things going on here, and some simple analysis will show why there are points of contention. A final resolution cannot be provided at this time, because the issue is currently an open discussion in FCC. And, as might expected, there are financial and political ramifications as well.

This talk will provide an interesting insight into how the 'real world' works.

Dr. LaBerge is Professor of the Practice of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the CSEE at UMBC, where he teaches a wide variety of courses ranging from Introductory Circuits to Error Correcting Codes. From 1975-2008, he was employed by Bendix, which became AlliedSignal, which became Honeywell through a series of corporate mergers. He retired in July 2008 as the Senior Fellow for Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance in Honeywell's Aerospace Research and Technology Center.

Dr. LaBerge has worked on precision landing systems and a wide variety of aeronautical radios and applications. He's recognized as an expert in issues involving interference to aeronautical systems. His technical, writing, and editorial contributions have received numerous citations from regulatory bodies, and he was the winner of the Best Paper of Conference at the 2000 IEEE/AIAA Digital Avionics Systems Conference.

Dr. LaBerge is a Senior Member of IEEE, a member of Tau Beta Pi, and an inductee in the Order of the Engineer. He received his BES-EE and MSE-EE, degrees, both with Honors, from The Johns Hopkins University and the PhD. in Electrical Engineering from UMBC. His three kids are older than his students. He's been married to his patient wife for almost 38 years.

Host: Prof. Joel M. Morris

Baxter International Inc., headquartered in Deerfield, IL, develops, manufactures and markets products that save and sustain the lives of people with hemophilia, immune disorders, cancer, infectious diseases, kidney disease, trauma, and other chronic and acute medical conditions.  As a global, diversified healthcare company, Baxter applies a unique combination of expertise in medical devices, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology to create products that advance patient care worldwide.

Come join a market leader in the development of innovative and quality medical devices with over $915 million in R &D spending.  Launch your career at Baxter and join us to shape the future.

 Position Descriptions:

Interns in Baxter’s Medical Products R&D function participate in research to support new product development, manufacturing process development, and marketed products.   Interns will be assigned research projects and become part of a research team.   Assignments may include working in a research laboratory utilizing analytical instrumentation, working in pilot plant manufacturing setting to develop new processes, and/or working with databases.   Laboratory work may include sample preparation, pH measurements, HPLC, Microscopy, LC-MS, and/or NMR.  Other techniques may be utilized as the research project requires.

Applicant is expected to contribute routine scientific knowledge or expertise to research and development activities for achievement of project goals.   Applicant must be detail oriented and capable of following standard operation procedures when applicable and following Good Documentation Practices (GDP).
 
The experience and mentoring will complement the student’s studies to prepare them for a successful research career.   Science interns who excel in the Internship Program will be considered for the full-time science positions.

Qualifications:

• Actively pursuing a Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD in science or engineering (Chemistry, Biochemistry, Pharmacy, Biology, Chemical/Biochemical/Environmental/Mechanical Engineering)
• Strong academic performance – Minimum GPA 3.0
• Proven track record of delivery of commitments
• Demonstrates excellent skills in organization, team dynamics, effective communication and prioritization of tasks
• “Passion” for Science with a desire for a career in commercial research and development
• May 2012 graduates may apply if they will be attending graduate school in Fall 2012
• US Citizen or Permanent Resident
  

Benefits:

Pay is competitive, and is based on the Intern/Co-op's discipline and academic year. Other benefits include paid holidays and subsidized housing and transportation for participants with a permanent address located more than 50 miles from Baxter. In addition, participants have the opportunity to network both professionally and socially through organized developmental and social activities.

To apply:

Visit position 9249803 in UMBCworks.

Deadline: March 16, 2012

Q: What is your year and major at UMBC?

A: I am a junior and I am a psychology, sociology, gender studies student.

Q: How is your major applicable to diversity education?
A: My majors assess the ways in which power and privilege, as well as subordination and oppression, functions within society. Understanding that diversity and the intersections of the status positions we occupy impact our everyday experiences is a valued factor in my studies.

Q: Why did you decide to apply for the Diversity Educator Internship?

A:  I applied because I believed in the different components the position had to offer: providing knowledge and vocalization for various groups, being an advocate for social justice in appreciating difference, and finally recognizing what about my personal skills could be utilized to educate others (and myself) about diversity.

Q: How would you define diversity?

A: Diversity is the acknowledgment that difference exists. These differences are across ethnicity, gender, sexuality, sex, religion, class, ability… Anything that makes us who we are. Ultimately, the statues we perform influence our perspective, our opportunities and our recognition.

Q:How does UMBC foster an appreciation for diversity?

A: UMBC’s Office of Student Life offers students the abilities to actively get involved with diversity. There are multiple opportunities for students to engage with different cultural and faith based groups, or just about any organization composed of people working towards a common goal. By becoming involved with these organizations, students are able to get an enriched experience in diversity.

Q: What are ways that students can participate in advocacy for diversity?

A: Advocacy begins with knowledge and continues with action. Students have the ability to get involved with organizations and events to learn more about the types of diversity on campus; afterwards, they can pursue their passions. Advocacy takes the form of appreciating that diversity is good, as well as dispelling negative attributions. Instead of just accepting that a statement is racist, sexist, etc., advocacy is asking why it is wrong, for whom it is wrong and in what ways can it be addressed properly.

Q:After graduating how will you continue to be an advocate for diversity?

A: Personally, working towards change has been a goal of my research on negative constructions of masculinity and depictions of queer identities. I’m sure that this will not change after graduation: I will take the knowledge and skills I’ve gained at UMBC that have allowed me to engage diversity in a meaningful and productive way in my professional field. Acts of advocacy do not need to be large scale; they can be every day acts of kindness that spread a message of acceptance rather than disregard.

Game enthusiasts of all stripes hunkered behind computer screens in the UMBC GAIM Lab for the 4th annual Global Game Jam—a fast-paced weekend where teams around the world conceive and creative video games around a common theme. The three-day event, which took place Friday, January 27th through the 29th, drew nearly forty participants ranging from undergraduate and graduate students, alumni, and even current game developers.

Dr. Marc Olano, professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering and Neal McDonald, assistant professor of Animation & Interactive Media, have been running the jam at the UMBC site since its inception four years ago. “It’s intense but I think people have a lot of fun,” says Olano, who is also the director of the Computer Science Program’s Game Development Track.

The weekend follows a strict itinerary. At 5 p.m. on Friday, a video keynote kicks off the competition and the secret theme is announced. From that point on, participants have until 3 p.m. on Sunday to complete a game from start to finish. Factor in eating and sleeping, and it’s not much time. “Three days is an extremely short period of time,” says Olano. “In terms of wall-clock time,” he says, “it’s a little less than two days.”

In previous years, themes included “As long as we’re together, there will always be problems,” or more simply, “extinction.” But this year, a theme was chosen that could be equally relatable to the nearly 11,000 participants from countries like Canada, Sweden, Brazil, France, Italy, Hungry, Israel, and Japan (to name a few). Instead of a phrase, this year’s theme was apicture: Ouroboros–a snake eating its own tail–which Wikipedia describes as a representation of “the perpetual cyclic renewal of life.”

Some teams were inspired by this idea of reincarnation, including the team responsible for Bit Exhaust, a game developed for the Microsoft Windows Phone platform. Reminiscent of Space Invaders, though graphically and conceptually more sophisticated, Bit Exhaust turns conquered foes into allies and visa versa. “What we took from the theme was rebirth and cyclic life,” reads the game description on the Game Jam Website. “Enemies and allies are constantly switching sides as you kill them and they die.”

Bit Exhaust was the recipient of an award from Next Century Corporation, whose sponsorship allowed the Global Game Jam to be a free (and catered) event for all participants.

Even Microsoft sweetened the deal with the promise of a free phone for teams who chose to develop games for their windows phone platform (not surprisingly, six of the ten teams opted to do just that). In addition, Microsoft offered up two prizes to phone-based games: second place to Bit Exhaust, and first place to Survive the Serpent, a literal take on the event’s theme. The 2-D maze game features a character who must escape being eaten by a snake by outsmarting it into biting its own tail.

Each year the People’s Choice Award is given to the game that’s voted the best overall by its peers. This year the winner was Snake ‘N Bake, a two-player game where a snake must help a cupcake make it to the oven before the tasty confection gets hit by a fireball.

Though individual sites—like UMBC—can offer prizes, Olano stresses that the Global Game Jam is not a competition. “They really want it to be more about cooperation than about competitiveness,” he says of the event’s sponsor, the International Development Association (IGDA). It’s not uncommon, he says, for teams to help each other out during the three-day fest.

Olano says he is definitely planning to host the Global Game Jam again next year, which will again put UMBC among other local hosts including Shady Grove, American University, and George Mason University. The Global Game Jam is the largest gam jam event in the world, according to its website. “This year there were 246 locations around the world,” says Olano, and the number will only grow.

INTERNSHIP BENEFITS

College and university undergraduate and graduate students from various majors are provided with an opportunity to build valuable skills, explore career choices within the nonprofit sector and gain experience managing and leading public service organizations. In doing so, the Maryland Nonprofit Leadership Program makes an important contribution to the development of the state’s current and future workforce and citizenry.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

• Eligible applicants must be graduate or undergraduate students attending a two- or four- year college or university in Maryland with a GPA of 3.00 or higher.  In addition, all undergraduate applicants must be entering their junior or senior year during the Fall 2012 semester.
• Candidates must intern full-time for 10 weeks from June 4 to August 10, 2012.
• Interns must be willing to travel to the Baltimore area as necessary during the ten weeks of the program to attend four to five professional development seminars conducted by the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations. 
• Special consideration for admittance into the program will be given to applicants who have secured a summer internship in a Maryland non-profit at the time of application.  However, assistance will be given to students without a placement once they are admitted into the Maryland Nonprofit Leadership Program.

All majors are strongly encouraged to apply.

To apply:

Visit http://shrivercenter.umbc.edu/nonprofit

or

http://shrivercenter.umbc.edu/students/the-scholars-programs/maryland-nonprofit-leadership-program/student-information-and-application-procedure/

Application Deadline:   Friday, March 16^th

Participating student earn $3,500 during 8 weeks this summer (June 4^th to July 27^th).

Qualifications:

The program is open to all students entering their senior year or who have completed 90 credits by fall 2012 with a GPA of 2.7 or higher. 

Web Address:

Additional information can be found on the web at shrivercenter.umbc.edu/mdot

Application Procedures and Deadline:

Interested students are asked to submit their:

·         Resume

·         Unofficial Transcript

·         Essay (300 words or less) on “What do you see as MD’s biggest transportation issue and how would you solve it?”

Materials should be sent to:
Christine B. Routzahn, Coordinator
The Shriver Center, UMBC
Attention: MDOT Fellows Internship Program
1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250

      Deadline to Apply: Friday, March 9, 2012

Using Static Analysis to Diagnose
Misconfigured Open Source Systems Software

Ariel Rabkin, UC Berkeley

1:00pm Monday 5 March 2012, ITE 325b UMBC

Ten years ago, few software developers worked on distributed systems. Today, developers often run code on clusters, relying on large open-source software stacks to manage resources. These systems are challenging to configure and debug. Fortunately, developments in program analysis have given us new tools for managing the complexity of modern software. This talk will show how static analysis can help users configure their systems. I present a technique that builds an explicit table mapping a program's possible error messages to the options that might cause them. As a result, users can get immediate feedback on how to resolve configuration errors.

Ari Rabkin is a PhD student in Computer Science at UC Berkeley working in the AMP lab. His current research interest is the software engineering and administration challenges of big-data systems. He is particularly interested in applying program analysis techniques to tasks like log analysis and configuration debugging. His broader interests focus on systems and security, including improving system usability by making systems easier to understand, the connections between computer science research and technology policy, developing program analysis techniques that work acceptably well on large, complex, messy software systems.

Host: Anupam Joshi
See http://csee.umbc.edu/talks for more information