CSEE Alumna Dr. Claudia Pearce ('89 M.S., '94 Ph.D., Computer Science) has an article Beyond Watson in the Spring issue of UMBC Magazine. Dr. Pearce is a Senior Computer Science Authority at the National Security Agency and recipient of UMBC's 2014 Alumna of the Year Award in Engineering and Information Technology.

The article describes the technologies behind IBM's Watson Deep Question Answering system and it's significance for the development of future intelligent systems.

"Part of the answer may be found in a series of Beyond Watson workshops and other activities involving university, government, and industry partners, including one held at UMBC in February.
          We’re looking at things like natural language, which is at the core of the ultimate computer human interface. Think back to Star Trek, when Spock would say something like: "Computer, what is the probability the Klingons will attack the Enterprise in this sector of the galaxy?" The computer would often engage in a back and forth interaction with Spock, asking for more information or clarification before offering one or more scenarios (and probabilities supporting those scenarios) to aid the crew of the Enterprise in their next move. When we can ask a computer a question and then engage in a dialogue with it in this way, we can freely use computers to their best advantage. This sort of exchange allows us to hone in on an answer (or answers) to our question, supported by knowing both how the information was derived and what level of confidence to place in it.
          Envisioning such a model opens up new vistas. We may not be limited to retrieving existing answers from Wikipedia-like text, but use all available data to elicit answers to non-obvious questions, or to queries that have never been asked. We might also dispense with arcane interfaces that are poorly matched to both the task at hand and the needs of users and consumers."

U.S. Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Ted Carter signed a Cooperative Research Acquisition and Development Agreement (CRADA) with University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) President Freeman Hrabowski April 21st on the UMBC campus. This agreement will support future partnerships between the two schools, beginning with five cyber security research projects from teams of faculty from both institutions.

This collaboration has its roots from when Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, visited the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), in February 2014. During the visit Greenert met with Hrabowski to discuss ways to work together on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) initiatives. This initial visit between the two illuminated the institutions’ mutual strengths and interests in cybersecurity.

The initial cyber collaborative projects between the USNA and UMBC will involve areas from tactile authentication for mobile devices to detecting anomalies in cyber-physical systems to securing cloud services using policy-based approaches.

“I wanted to do this since I assumed the position of Superintendent last year,” said Carter, from the UMBC campus. “To partner with a school like UMBC is a great opportunity, particularly a school represented with so many opportunities for woman, international students and minorities.”

The Naval Academy continues to take steps to ensure future graduates are invested with the skills and knowledge necessary to operate in an emerging cyber security environment. The academy is the only U.S. institution of higher learning that has mandatory cyber security classes. The baseline is to provide every academy graduate with an understanding of the cyber domain and how it impacts their commands and their ability to conduct their missions.

The academy also now offers a cyber operations major, an interdisciplinary course of study that covers a wide range of cyber-related operations, both technical and non-technical. And, in December 2014, Congress approved funding for a dedicated building to house USNA's Center for Cyber Security Studies.

"I predict 30 years from now, what we did here (at the CRADA signing) will be vital to national defense," said Carter.

Reprinted from an article by the Naval Academy public affairs department.

The Spring 2015 UMBC Magazine has a feature article, The Sum of the Parts, on the research of Professors Nilanjan Banerjee, Ryan Robucci and Chintan Patel and their students in the Eclipse Cluster of research laboratories. The article discusses their collaborative research on hardware, systems and software to create wearable, touch-sensitive technology that is part of the emerging "Internet of Things" paradigm.

"From the Apple Watch to Fitbit, the rage in technology these days is all about wearable, touchable devices. Tech gurus and cutting-edge engineers talk of a day when all the many electronic devices that surround us will be networked together in a magical electrical collaboration that will change how we live our daily lives. Many of these devices, if not all, will be controlled by touch".

The Eclipse Cluster faculty and students are collaborating to design and build devices that provide greater and easier access to electronics and other technology, especially for people with disabilities. Their research is supported by recent awards from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, a State of Maryland TEDCO grant, and Microsoft research.

Naval Academy and UMBC to Collaborate on Cyber Projects and Education

U.S. Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Ted Carter signed a Cooperative Research Acquisition and Development Agreement (CRADA) with University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) President Freeman Hrabowski April 21st on the UMBC campus.

This agreement will support future partnerships between the two schools, beginning with five cyber security research projects from teams of faculty from both institutions.

This collaboration has its roots from when Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, visited the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), in February 2014. During the visit Greenert met with Hrabowski to discuss ways to work together on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) initiatives. This initial visit between the two illuminated the institutions’ mutual strengths and interests in cybersecurity.

The initial cyber collaborative projects between the USNA and UMBC will involve areas from tactile authentication for mobile devices to detecting anomalies in cyber-physical systems to securing cloud services using policy-based approaches.

“I wanted to do this since I assumed the position of Superintendent last year,” said Carter, from the UMBC campus. “To partner with a school like UMBC is a great opportunity, particularly a school represented with so many opportunities for woman, international students and minorities.”

The Naval Academy continues to take steps to ensure future graduates are invested with the skills and knowledge necessary to operate in an emerging cyber security environment. The academy is the only U.S. institution of higher learning that has mandatory cyber security classes. The baseline is to provide every academy graduate with an understanding of the cyber domain and how it impacts their commands and their ability to conduct their missions.

The academy also now offers a cyber operations major, an interdisciplinary course of study that covers a wide range of cyber-related operations, both technical and non-technical. And, in December 2014, Congress approved funding for a dedicated building to house USNA's Center for Cyber Security Studies.

"I predict 30 years from now, what we did here (at the CRADA signing) will be vital to national defense," said Carter.

Source: USNA Public Affairs (text and photo)

As part of our 2015 Take Back The Night post-event, the Women’s Center hosted a “Dear Survivor,” letter writing activity. Inspired by the Dear Survivor Project and the book,  Dear Sister: Letters from Survivors of Sexual Violence students and UMBC community members were invited to craft their own “Dear Survivor” letter or message. Here’s a sampling from just some of the powerful messages written by UMBC community members.