CISE Involvement in
STC: Science and Technology Centers
I/UCRC: Industry/University
Cooperative Research Centers
Special Projects
MRI: Major Research Instrumentation
CAREER
Rita V. Rodriguez
Program Director
NSF/CISE/CNS
rrodrigu@nsf.gov
STC: Science and Technology Centers
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First STC Competition held in 1987
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11 awards, 2 CISE-related
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DiMaCS: Discrete Mathematics & Theoretical CS
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CRPC: Research on Parallel Computation
– Diane Souvaine, Rutgers U; http://www.dimacs.rutgers.edu/
– Ken Kennedy, Rice U; http://www.crpc.rice.edu/
Second STC Competition held in 1990
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12 awards, 2 CISE-related
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Computer Graphics & Scientific Visualization: 89-20219
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IRCS: Research in Cognitive Science: 89-20230
– Richards Riesenfeld, U Utah; http://www.cs.brown.edu/stc/
– Aravind Joshi, U Penn; http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~ircs/
Third STC Competition held in 1999
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5 awards, 0 CISE-related
Fourth STC Competition held in 2001
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6 awards, 1 CISE-related
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CENS: Embedded Network Sensing: 01-20778
– Deborah Estrin, UCLA; http://research.cens.ucla.edu/
Fifth STC Competition held in 2004
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6 awards given in 05 & 06, 1 CISE-related
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Trust: Ubiquitous Secure Technology: 04-24422
– S. Shankar Sastry; http:/trust.eecs.berkeley.edu/
Sixth STC Competition held in 2009-10
– 247 submitted proposals, 240 accepted, ~ 65? CISE-related
Currently, 17 STCs are operational
- 5 are CISE-related: CENS, Trust, BEACON: Evolution in Action (Artificial
Systems), CEES: Energy Efficient Electronic Science (Chip Design), EFSI:
Emerging Frontiers of Science of Information (Communication, Shannon)
STC: Science and Technology Centers
CISE Award Examples: Only 3 active
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CENS: Embedded Network
Sensing, Deborah Estrin, UCLA
– Early themes: Thousand of
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small devices, fully
autonomous systems,
specially-designed and
deployed hardware
New themes: Systems of
heterogeneous devices,
humans and models in the
loop, leverage available devices
Leverages mobile phones to
support participatory urban
sensing
Embedded networked sensing
reveals previously unobservable
phenomena
Participatory urban sensing:
neighborhood walkability for
urban planning, traffic-related
pollutants, personalized
environmental impact report
(PEIR)
Diet recall for public health
studies, Supports effective care
for aging in place
Digitized a River in 1 week!
(biometry, floodplain, flow, water
quality parameters)
STC: Science and Technology Centers
CISE award Example
Trust: Ubiquitous Secure Technology, Shankar Sastry, UC-Berkeley
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Develops cyber security science and technology to radically transform the
ability to design, build, and operate trustworthy information systems for critical
infrastructure
Advances leading-edge agenda research to improve the state-of-the-art in
cyber security,
Addresses technical, operational, privacy, and policy challenges via
interdisciplinary projects
Grand challenge areas: Financial, Health, and Physical Infrastructures
Appointments
Messaging
EMR access
Health
Answer
Secretary
Appointment
Health
Question
Health
Question
Doctor
Patient
Health
Answer
Data
Request
Data
Answer
Health
Question
Nurse
Data
Answer
EMR
Data
Request
Data
Answer
Data
Request
HIPPA Policy
Local Policy
4-Eyes-Principle…
MRI: Major Research Instrumentation
• Instrument Development and Acquisition
• NSF-wide program residing in OIA, run by TOC
• Increases access to shared scientific and engineering
instruments for research and research training in institutions,
museums and science centers, and non-profit organizations
• Provides shared instrumentation that fosters integration of
research and education in research intensive learning
environments
• Encourages acquisition for shared inter- and/or intraorganization
• Leverages efforts strengthening private sector partners within
MRI goals
• Assists in acquisition of development of shared
instrumentation that, in general, is too costly and/or not
appropriate for support through other NSF programs
• Deadline: 4th Thursday of January every year
• Announcement: NSF 09-502
MRI: Major Research Instrumentation
CISE Award Examples
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CNS-0224363: Teams of
Miniature Mobile Robots
• CNS-0420836: Dev. of a New
Generation of Miniature
Search/Rescue Robots
• Nikos Papanikolopoulos &
Janice Pearce,
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U Minnesota
& Berea College
• Redesigns and manufacturs
teams of Scout-Ranger
robots, improvise on the
current scout design
• Designs novel schemes,
software development,
sensory fabrication, and
processing sensory data in
real-time.
• Currently swarms: 1000s in
use for reconnaissance
MRI: Major Research Instrumentation
CISE Award Examples
The structure of Amyloid-β protein. Data Capacitor
was used in search for ways to disrupt the creation
of the fibrils that cause Alzheimer’s disease
05-21433 Data Capacitor:
• Craig Stewart, Stephen Simms,
Caty Pilachowski, Randall Bramley,
Beth Plale; Indiana U
• Enables Scientists to manage
workflows & win SC07 Bandwidth
Challenge
• Helps scientists across many
disciplines meet the critical
challenge of storing and
manipulating massive data sets.
05-04075 IU TeraGrid Resource Partner:
C. Stewart, D. Scott McCaulay, Eric
Wernert, Mark Bruhn
• Uses Lustre-WAN across
commodity networks moving data
between NV, IN, NY, & Germany
• Team demonstrated bidirectional
transfer rate of 18.2 Gigabits per
second (Gbps) out of possible 20
Gbps, showing Data Capacitor’s
tremendous capabilities for
supporting data-intensive research
across wide area networks.
MRI: Major Research Instrumentation
CISE Award Examples
03-20956: Terrafly,
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Naphtaly Rishe, FIU
Facilitates access to the collection of visual information,
Allows users to visualize aerial imagery, precise street name overlays, and various other
overlays by virtually "flying" over imagery using a web browser, without any software to
install or plug in.
Tools include user-friendly geospatial querying, data drill down, interfaces with real-time
data suppliers, demographic analysis, annotation, route dissemination via autopilots,
customizable applications, and production of aerial atlases.
Navigational Technologies NavStreets Overlays
MRI: Major Research Instrumentation
CISE Award Examples: Terrafly, Naphtaly Rishe, FIU
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Featured on TV news programs, worldwide press, covered by the New York
Times, USA Today, NPR, and Science and Nature journals. Recent media
coverage includes:
- FOX TV News broadcast worldwide on 7/6/07; http://n0.cs.fiu.edu/fox
- Miami Herald (circulation 360,000) 5/25/07 recorded at http://n0.cs.fiu.edu/MH
- Lead stories & photos in in Miami Herald pp. 1B & 2B * photo on Herald's
home page * full story online
- Sun Sentinel (circulation 304,000) 5/25/07; http://n0.cs.fiu.edu/MH
* Lead stories & photos in Sun Sentinel * Story in web edition
* Editorial column 5/29/07 in print & online
- WLRN public radio 91.3 FM South Florida, 5/25/07 * Aired at various times
beginning 5/25/07: http://n0.cs.fiu.edu/WLRN
- NPR National Public Radio in "All Things Considered" 6/7,/07: *
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10817208
- TV broadcasts in Miami 5/26/07:
* Channel 41: http://n0.cs.fiu.edu/TV41
* Channel 23: http://n0.cs.fiu.edu/TV23
- Reuters: Reporter entered address in Google Maps and got a neighbor's
house; then entered her address in TerraFly and landed on her roof. All made
possible by TerraFly's uniquely precise algorithm of converting an address to
geographic coordinates (precise conversion implemented for FL & DC,
interpolated conversion used presently for the rest of the country).
- Other local coverage included: El Nuevo Herald, Diarios Los Americas, Miami
New Times.
- Major news agencies of Spain and Japan
I/UCRC: Industry/University Cooperative
Research Centers
Program develops long-term partnerships among industry, academe, and
government
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IUCRCs stimulate highly leveraged industry/university cooperation by
focusing on fundamental research recommended by Industrial
Advisory Board (IAB)
Centers catalyzed by small investment from NSF
Primarily supported by center members, with NSF taking a supporting
role in their development and evolution
36 year old program; 109 centers opened, 95 in existence today
Average $ amount yearly per center: $1,950,000
Deadlines for Letters of Intent Jan 2 & June 26, 2009;
thereafter:1st Friday in Jan & 4th Friday in June
Deadlines for Planning & Full Proposals: March 6 & Sept 25, 2009;
thereafter:1st Friday in March & 4th Friday in September
Announcement: NSF 08-591
I/UCRC Telephone number: (703) 292-8383.
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Rathindra DasGupta (Babu), ENG, Lead I/UCRC Program Director
Glenn H. Larsen, I/UCRC Program Director
Gregory Misiorek, I/UCRC Program Specialist
Rita Rodriguez, CISE I/UCRC Program Director
Alex Schwarkopf, Program Creator and Consulting Expert
Donald Senich, IIP Senior Advisor
I/UCRC: Industry/University Cooperative Research
Centers
I/UCRC: Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers
Phase 4: CENTERS Beyond NSF Support
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Center for Nondestructive Evaluation (CNDE)
Silicon Wafer Engineering & Defect Science Center (SiWEDS)
Photopolymerizations Center (PC)
Center for Precision Metrology (CPM)
Power Systems Engineering Research Center (PSERC)
Center for the Built Environment (CBE)
– Software Engineering Research Center (SERC)
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Center for the Management of Information (CMI)
Center for Research on Information Technology and Organizations
Center for Health Management Research (CHMR)
Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Packaging of Microwave, Optical and Digital
Electronics (CAMPmode)
Cooperative Research Center in Coatings
Industry/University Center for Biosurfaces (IUCB)
Center for Microcontamination Control (CMC)
Center for Pharmaceutical Processing Research (CPPR)
Advanced Computing and Communication (CACC)
Measurement and Control Engineering Center (MCEC)
Advanced Processing and Packaging Studies (CAPPS)
Design of Analog-Digital Integrated Circuits (CDADIC)
Glass Research (CGR)
Particulate Materials Center (PMC)
Center for Research on Polymers
Surface Engineering and Tribology (CSET)
Wireless Electromagnetic Compatibility (SWEC)
I/UCRC: Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers
• INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION, AND COMPUTING
• Center for Autonomic Computing
University of Florida, Rutgers University, University of Arizona
• Center for Information Protection (CIP)
Iowa State U, UC-Davis-Planned
• Center for Advanced Knowledge Enablement
Florida International University
• Center for Embedded Systems - Planned
Arizona State University, University of California - Irvine, Southern
Illinois University - Carbondale, Southern Methodist University,
University of North Texas, University of Texas - Dallas, State University
of New York - Stony Brook, University of Texas - San Antonio
• Center for Experimental Research in Computer Systems (CERCS)
Georgia Institute of Technology, Ohio State University
• High-Performance Reconfigurable Computing (CHREC)
University of Florida, The George Washington University, Virginia Tech
University, Brigham Young University
• Center for Software for Ultra Large Systems - Planned
University of Virginia, Michigan State University, Vanderbilt University,
University of South Dakota
• Wireless Internet Center for Advanced Technology (WICAT)
Polytechnic University, University of Virginia, Auburn University,
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
• Advanced Space Technology Research Engineering Center
University of Florida and North Carolina State University
I/UCRC: Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers
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ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
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Arizona Water Quality Center (WQC)
University of Arizona at Tucson, Arizona State University at Tempe
Center for Fuel Cells (CFC)
University of South Carolina
Center for Multiphase Transport Phenomena
Michigan State University, The University of Tulsa
Queen's University Environmental Science and Technology Research Centre (QUESTOR)
The Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland
Center for Silicon Solar
North Carolina State University, Georgia Tech FABRICATION & PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
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Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center (BSAC)
University of California at Berkeley, University of California at Davis
Center for Friction Stir Processing (CFSP)
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, University of South Carolina, Brigham Young University, Missouri University of Science and
Technology, Wichita State University
Membrane Applied Science and Technology Center (MAST)
University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Cincinnati
HEALTH AND SAFETY
– Center for Safety, Search, & Rescue Robots (SSR-RC)
University of Pennsylvania, University of Minnesota, Carnigie Mellon University - Planned, Drexel University - Planned
– Center for Identification Technology Research (CITeR)
West Virginia University, University of Arizona - Planned
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Minimally Invasive Medical Technologies Center (MIMTeC)
University of Minnesota, University of Cincinnati
– Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies (CChIPS)
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Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania
Center for Emerging Contaminants in H2O - Planned
New Jersey Institute of Technology, Villanova University
Center for Health Organization and Transformation
Texas A&M and Georgia Tech
SYSTEM DESIGN AND SIMULATION
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Center for Computational Materials Design (CCMD)
Pennsylvania State University, Georgia Institute of Technology
– Center for e-Design
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University of Pittsburgh, University of Massachusetts, University of Central Florida, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Carnegie Mellon University Planned
Center for Engineering Logistics and Distribution (CELDi)
University of Arkansas, University of Oklahoma, University of Louisville, Oklahoma State University, Lehigh University, Texas Tech University,
Clemson University, Virginia Tech, University of Missouri
Center for Virtual Proving Ground Simulation: Mechanical and Electromechanical Systems VPG
(The University of Iowa and the University of Texas at Austin)
Visual Decision Informatics - Planned
Oregon State University, University of Louisiana - Lafayette
I/UCRC: Industry/University Cooperative
Research Centers
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ADVANCED ELECTRONICS
Center for Advanced Vehicle Electronics (CAVE)
Auburn University
Center for Telecommunications -Connection One: Communication Circuits &
SystemsResearch
Arizona State University, University of Arizona, Rensselaer Polytech, University of Hawaii,
Ohio State University
Center for Electromagnetics - Planned
University of Missouri - Rolla, Oklahoma University,
University of Houston, Clemson University.
Cooling Technologies Research Center (CTRC)
Purdue University
ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
Center for Advanced Cutting Tools
Michigan State University, Georgia Tech
Center for Advanced Sustainable Iron and Steel
Michigan Tech, University of Utah
• Center for Intelligent Maintenance Systems (IMS)
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University of Cincinnati, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, University of Missouri, Rolla
- Planned.
Center for Lasers and Plasmas for Advanced Manufacturing (LAM)
University of Virginia, University of Michigan, Southern Methodist University, University of
Illinois - Planned
Center for Precision Forming (CPF)
Ohio State University, Virginia Commonwealth University
I/UCRC: Industry/University Cooperative
Research Centers
• Smart Vehicle Concepts Center (SVC)
Ohio State University
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Surfants and Particulate Systems - Planned
Columbia University, University of Florida ADVANCED MATERIALS
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Center for Advanced Polymer and Composite Engineering (CAPCE)
Ohio State University, Florida State University, University of Wisconsin
Center for Surfactants and Particulates
Columbia University - New York
Center for Dielectric Studies (CDS)
Pennsylvania State University
Center for Micro and Nano Filtration - Planned
Univeristy of Akron, North Carolinia State University
Ceramic and Composite Materials Center (CCMC)
Rutgers University, University of New Mexico, The Pennsylvania State University
BIOTECHNOLOGY
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Biomolecular Interaction Technologies Center (BITC)
University of New Hampshire
Center for Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing of Macromolecules (CBBM)
Polytechnic University
Center for Advanced Forestry Systems (CAFS)
North Carolina State University, Oregon State University, Purdue University, Virginia Tech
Center for Biofuels
South Dakota School of Mines, Kansas State University, South Dakota State University,
Kansas University, University of Hawaii, North Carolina State University, State University of
New York - Stony Brook
CIVIL INFRASTRUCTURE SYSTEMS
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Center for Repair of Buildings and Bridges with Composites (RB2C)
University of Missouri at Rolla, North Carolina State University
IUCRC: Examples
Center for Advanced Knowledge Enablement
Naphtali Rishe, Florida International University
http://n0.cs.fiu.edu/IUCRC-IAB/iucrc.iab.tentative.agenda.html
WICAT Center
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Click here for more
information.
Rutgers wireless networking lab awarded Alexander Schwarzkopf Prize
for Technological Innovation
IUCRC: Examples
Berkeley Professor Honored for the Development of “Smart Dust”
A Wireless Network of Sensors that was Rapidly Commericialized
January 13, 2006
Kristofer S.J. Pister, a professor of electrical engineering and computer
sciences and co-Director of the Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center, has
been awarded the second annual Alexander Schwarzkopf Prize for
Technological Innovation from the I/UCRC Association, a
voluntary,independent organization of past and present members of the
National Science Foundation’sIndustry/University Cooperative Research
Center program involving 42 Centers, 110 Universities, and thousands of
researchers.
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The award recognized Pister’s successful pioneering achievements in developing
and inspiring the commercialization of “Smart Dust”, a wireless network of
miniature sensors.
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The network consists of a series of highly miniaturized motes, each of which contains
a sensor, about the size of a grain of rice that detects and records things; a miniature
transmitter/receiver thatcommunicates with other motes; and a battery about the size
of an aspirin that allows operation for longer than a year.
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These features allow the network to operate in an autonomous, selfdiscovering, and
self-configuring fashion.
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This work started with Pister’s vision of a network of communicating microrobots that
could operate as a coordinated but self-organized network of peers.
IUCRC
Book: Compendium of Industry-Nominated Technology
Breakthroughs of NSF Industry/University Cooperative
Research Centers
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Download Entire Compendium (26 MB)
IUCRC: CISE
CISE Budget
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• On the rise
$$$$$
• Desires
– Beyond the moon
– More collaboration
– More Tie (Corbi) projects
$$$$$
I/UCRC: CISE
Example: Jose & Flaura
• CAC: Center for Autonomic Computing (UF) &
• CChIPS: Child Injury Prevention Studies
(Children’s Hospital)
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IT Appliance for Remote Collaborative Review of Mechanisms of
Injury to Children in Motor Vehicle Crashes
• Distributed asynchronous
collection of content for
crash reviews
consistently organized
across multiple cases
• Secure, remote
participation in specific
case-review meetings,
• Live communication
(written or verbal),
multimedia (slide
presentations/ images),
and use of Web
resources;
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• Archival and post-review
access of case reviews
for follow-up activities
Collaborative Projects: ENG & CISE
Antonio & Jay
• Reinforced Structures Center &
• Intelligent Maintenance Systems
– Develop Structural Health Monitoring bridge
prognostics methodology based on ISM
Watchdog Agent toolbox to assess current
& future conditions
– Prognostic Indicators
for Bridge Repair
Special Projects
07-03916 & 0703927 Collab Rsch: Towards Life-like Computer Interfaces that Learn
Avelino Gonzalez & Jason Leigh, UCF & UIC
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Develops naturalistic interfaces to computers taking advantage of rich nuanced
interactions that occur between human-to-human communications.
Eables rapid production of digital representations of humans consisting of facial
expressions, physical mannerisms, speech recognition and synthesis, and limited
knowledge capture.
Makes use of this capability by developing a digital representation of a retiring NSF
program manager to develop digital representations of humans, consisting of facial
Videogame technology today can capture general appearances, but not subtleties of voice
inflections, body language, or inherent knowledge, enabling these digital representations
to not only act, but think, like their human counterparts.
When perfected, this approach can be used to create digital archives of intelligent and/or
well-known people of our time – scientists, engineers, politicians, artists, or retirees with a
rich history of corporate knowledge – enabling one to talk with them, learn from them, be
entertained by them, or inspired by them, long after they have retired or passed away.
Technology can therefore also be thought of as a way to record corporate knowledge so
that the valuable experience and knowledge of retirees are permanently retained.
Status of Ask Alex
• Functional for planning grants
knowledge
• Knowledge somewhat outdated for
other subjects
• Objectives:
– Bring it to current knowledge throughout
its entire breadth and depth
– Make it available through the web
Status of Alex Avatar
• Avatar currently capable of answering
questions on planning grants
• Interaction quite lifelike
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Facial Features more lifelike
Uses Alex’s recorded voice as an experiment
Conversation more or less structured
Can be interrupted
Remembers things from earlier in the
conversation and from previous
conversations
Status of LIFE form Management System
• Upgraded website – more features
• LIFE forms can now be edited by members
• Evaluations can now be submitted through cell phone texting
– For situations where Internet access not available during
meeting.
• To be demonstrated during breakout session in conference
• See Kate Ryan for info about time and location
CISE I/UCRC Reach Maturity
Examples
CITeR
U West Virginia & U Arizona
IUCRC enables FBI Biometric Center of Excellence
• Center pioneers building blocks that enable the recognition of
individuals based on a mix of data from multiple sensors and
different physiological biometrics (iris, fingerprint, palmprint,
face, voice, etc.) all of potential varying quality
• Valuable ability to identify individuals from a diverse set of
partial or incomplete information
• Useful to law enforcement, homeland security, defense,
global identity protection, etc.
• CITeR is the basis of an FBI Center of Excellence at WV &
• A Homeland Security Center at U AZ
CISE I/UCRC Reach Maturity
CHREC: Hi Performance Reconfigurable Computing
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U FL, GWU, BYU, VaTech
Supercomputer Novo-G, likely the most powerful
computer of its kind became operational in July 2009
Name: from “make anew, change, alter” & “genesis”
Reconfigurable computers can rearrange its internal
circuitry to suit the task at hand &
Its internal circuitry like LEGO blocks, creating the
most appropiate architecture for each assignment
10-100 times faster using 5-10 times less energy
Applications range from space satellites to research
supercomputers
CISE I/UCRC Reach Maturity
CAKE: Center for Advanced Knowledge Enablement FIU & FAU
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An application programming interface has been developed within
CAKE to easily enable temporal querying visualization of scientific
data overlaid on maps and geospatial data.
Example application: environmental monitoring such as that
performed by our nation’s water management districts
Utilizing the TerraFly geospatial data query and visualization tool,
technology allows, for example, identifying a lake, analyzing data
streams of all the water gauges in its vicinity, plotting time functions
of average water level and of all water flow, & animating water levels
on a graph by colorizing a map
Navigational Technologies NavStreets Overlays
CISE I/UCRC Reach Maturity
IMS: Intelligence Maintenance Systems
U Cincinnatti, U Mich, Missouri U of Sc & Tech
• IMS students won first place in competition
against professionals
CAREER: Faculty Early Career Development
Most prestigious awards supporting junior faculty who
exemplify role of teacher-scholars through outstanding
research, excellent education, & integration of education
& research within the context of their mission
• Builds a firm foundation for a lifetime of leadership in
integrating education and research
• Estimated Awards: 425
• ENG and CISE recommend the most awards
ENG: ~40% and CISE: ~30% of proposals received
• NSF-wide program, run by Committee with representation from
Directorates/Offices (usually 2 PDs: 1 permanent & 1 IPA)
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Committee currently led by Sonia Esperanca, GEO
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Awards with 5-year duration
Minimum current CAREER award size $400,000, including indirect costs
Deadline: ~4th week in July; By Directorate, CISE:Jul 21, 09 & Jul 20,2010
Announcement: NSF 08-557 including indirect costs):
See NSF WEB Site for Career information:
– Abstracts, Recipients, etc.
– Writing Workshops, Books (Pei), Recommendations (Felder)
CAREER
CISE Award Examples
CAREER: Managing the Complexity of Modern Enterprise Networks
Srinivasa Akella University of Wisconsin-Madison
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The principal investigator (PI) proposed a new network management framework called Hydra to “estimate
the complexity of enterprise networks, and automate the process of making sophisticated changes to
networks while keeping the network configuration robust, and in tune with the enterprise-wide
policies”. The PI’s approach to creating a logical framework for network management that integrates
planned configuration or resource changes at multiple devices with policy has the potential to make a
large contribution especially to industry and may impact clean slate design of management. The
approach is a good balance between theory and practice. The ideas are new, deep and in an important
and understudied area of enterprise networks. The research is also cross-disciplinary.
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To date, the PI has done the following. The PI proposed three measures of complexity of a network's
routing design: (1) the complexity behind configuring network routers accurately, (2) the complexity
arising from identifying and defining distinct roles for routers in implementing a network's policy, and (3)
the inherent complexity of the policies themselves. He and his students have empirical validated these
metrics and a studied existing live networks by applying the metrics to seven live networks, including five
universities and two enterprises. For five of the seven networks, the
researchers interviewed the operators to identify the relevance of the
measures. In particular, they devised tests where the operators had to
perform specific configuration-related tasks. The PI "timed" the number
of steps the operators took, and tried to see if our metrics predicted the
difficulty the operators would face in conducting these tasks.
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Another important part of our work has been to identify the causes of
complexity. The interviews with the operators highlighted several important
causes, including network evolution over time, special cases for network
policies, and, most interestingly, cost. It turns out that in some cases network
providers choose a seemingly complex network design because it is more
cost-effective than simpler alternatives.
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The measures have also identified flaws in these networks' designs.
Intuitively, abnormal changes to the complexity measures of a network could
arise due to two reasons: a required change to a network's design or policy,
or a bug in the configuration. In one of the networks, the PI found that the
reason was a subtle reachability bug, and in another, it was due to a specific
change to the policy. In complex networks, where the configuration is
extremely intricate, it is nearly impossible to identify subtle reachability bugs,
but the PI’s complexity measures are able to provide a simple way of
detecting them.
CAREER
CISE Award Examples
Internet Audit: Theory, Toolset, & Applications
for a World without Network Neutrality
0746360 Aleksandar Kuzmanovic
Northwestern University
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The principal investigator (PI) proposed to design and build a theory, toolset, and system
(deployed and maintained on PlanetLab) capable of monitoring network services and
elements to detect and characterize discriminatory behavior by ISPs such as rate limiting
or blocking external traffic or services so as to give advantage to their own competing
services. This is an important and timely topic with potentially high impact on both
network theory and practice. There is a great need for Internet auditing capability and this
proposal addresses this need. The PI is well qualified to conduct the work and has
proposed work of high technical quality. He has done an excellent job of presenting
problems, challenges and approaches to solutions. The use of end hosts to detect IPS
discriminatory behavior is novel. To achieve his measurability goals, he proposes to derive
statistical and other tests to distinguish between malicious behavior and congestion. The
same mechanisms can also be used to construct new network services such s CDN
monitoring and Internet-wide debugging.
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The PI is currently in the process of building Internet Audit, a distributed end-host
monitoring system capable of accurately detecting, locating, and exposing biased or
anomalous ISPs‘ behavior. The current project progress and findings are presented in the
publications below. In summary, Internet Audit has thus far detected a number of nonneutral "incidents" generated by a number of ISPs, ranging from per-application traffic
shaping to open denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, in particular against peer-to-peer
applications. Also, the PI and his students have developed measurement tools to
accurately detect persistently congested links in the Internet core. On the outreach front,
the PI has become a part of the Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance
(GCTIP), a Google-initiated coalition that has similar goals as the Internet Audit project: to
make the Internet more transparent, and ISPs more accountable. Among other activities,
Google is currently building a so-called Measurement Lab, an infrastructure consisting of
high-performance servers located in their points-of-presence (POPs), that would run
Internet Audit‘s measurement tools (among others) and enable highly accurate network
inferences.
CAREER
CISE Award Examples
0742736, CAREER: Foundational Theories and Enforcement Tools for Secure Software Systems
Jarred Ligatti University of South Florida
•
Today’s software systems are replete with vulnerabilities that permit attacks, often on Web services
which enable attackers to commit identity theft or cause other harm to individuals, companies, or
Government agencies. Most defenses against attacks are against previously seen attacks and are
ineffective against new attacks, aka, zero-day attacks. Some techniques aim to be effective against a
class of attacks, such as attacks that overflow a buffer, or attacks that inject code into a database query.
Although intuitively appealing, these defenses are not perfect, but because the reasoning underlying
their operation has been ad hoc, the vulnerabilities in these defenses that permit attackers to bypass the
defenses have not been apparent. As this proposal makes clear, there is a definite need for defenses that
can be verified so that their capabilities (including limitations) are clear to their users. As such, this
proposal makes progress to a much needed “science of security.” The research is a nice mix of a
practical approach to security with a technique for reasoning that gives assurance about how much
security is achieved. The practical aspect involves wrappers that intercept system calls to determine if
they imperil security before being permitted to execute. The reasoning part involves defender-supplied
rules of inference associated with the wrappers, sufficiently formal to permit reasoning about the
aggregation of the rules with respect security. Thus, for a practical defense against attacks, it is, in
principle, possible to reason about the kinds of attacks that the defense can stop.
•
The broader impacts include the creation of a new class based on the research, the preparation of a
textbook inspired by the research, the involvement of non-Computer Science students in security
research and classes, and making the prototype tools that are an outgrowth of the research available to
other researchers and to the security industry. Regarding the proposed class and textbook under
preparation, it is a nice mix of practical security mechanisms with a theory from which the actual security
enabled is determined. Given that classes in security have either a practical bent or involve just formal
reasoning or models with little connection to actual threats or real systems, the class and textbook fill a
needed niche. With regard to interesting students who are not specialists in security, the PI proposes to
work with physicians and Florida Legislators to create course material that is at the intersection of
security technology and other fields, such as healthcare policy and law. The PI offers to work with
University of South Florida’s minority recruiting program, particularly involving Latinos, to excite and
recruit these students into either his class for non-specialists or, better, into a security research program.
PECASE: Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists & Engineers
Awards foster
• Innovative developments in science & technology,
• Increase awareness of careers in science & engineering,
• Give recognition to scientific missions of participating
agencies,
• Enhance connections between fundamental research &
national goals, and
• Highlight the importance of science & technology for the
Nation’s future.
Nominees selected among the meritorious CAREER awardees
• Selection based on two criteria:
•
•
– Innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology
relevant to the sponsoring organization or agency
– Community service demonstrated through scientific leadership,
education or community outreach
Individuals cannot apply for PECASE
Nominations by NSF, Selection by White House Office
PECASE
CISE Award Examples
CAREER: Hierarchical Abstractions of Hybrid Systems
CNS - 0132716 Pappas, George J. University of Pennsylvania
Professor George Pappas received the CAREER Award in 2002 and subsequently received the
PECASE Award for research that made fundamental advances in modeling and hybrid
discrete and continuous software control of complex and critical systems in aviation,
robotics, and biology, and for his dedicated efforts to strengthen and integrate
undergraduate preparation in mathematics, computer science, and engineering. He is now
Joseph Moore Professor in the Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering at the
University of Pennsylvania. He also holds a secondary appointment in the Departments of
Computer and Information Sciences, and Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics,
and is member and former director of the GRASP lab. He currently serves as the Deputy
Dean in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. His current research focuses on
control theory and in particular, hybrid systems, embedded systems, hierarchical and
distributed control systems, with applications to unmanned aerial vehicles, flight
management systems, distributed robotics, and biomolecular networks.
CAREER: E-textile-based Wearable Computing for Sensing User Motions
CNS - 0447741 Martin, Thomas L. Virginia Polytechnic
Institute & State University
Thomas Martin, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
(“Virginia Tech”), received his CAREER Award in 2005, and
subsequently the PECASE Award, for innovative research in
wearable computing technologies. In addition to the
predominantly wireless research in this area, the project also
is developing innovative wired fabrics. These “e-textiles”
have a network woven into fabric to which wearable sensors
can be attached. The goal is to develop non-intrusive
wearable systems that can support medical and home-care
monitoring of the wearer, for example, gait analysis and fall
detection. The PI is already a recognized leader in the
“wearable and ubiquitous computing” research community.
He has developed curriculum components that earned
university recognition and an award for innovation in
education. He is now an Associate Professor and currently
is working with research scientists at the Intel Corporation
to develop a "smart rug" that can detection position, pace,
fall, and other information for persons moving about on the
rug.
Potential PECASE
CISE Award Examples
CAREER: Network Coding Mechanisms for
the Internet
0747110 Athina Markopoulou University of California—Irvine
•
The research proposed by Dr. Markopoulou combines, in
a novel and inspiring way, the theory of network coding
with packet filtering to greatly improve the Internet’s
capability to defend against attacks and increase its ability
to meet the stringent delay and bandwidth requirements
of multimedia streaming applications.
• Current Internet: process-and-forward strategy
• Transformative Idea: Network Coding (“coding in the
cloud”)
– Increase throughput, availability and robustness
– Subject to Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks
– Two areas of particular application focus: video streaming
and wireless networks
Dr. Markopoulou is developing efficient network coding schemes to mitigate DDoS
attacks before they reach their victim and design accurate mechanisms to identify and
trace back attacks to their sources.
CAREER
0747294, CAREER: Rigorous Foundations for Data Privacy
Adam Smith at the Pennsylvania State University
•
Dr. Smith’s research is on data privacy, more specifically which data in a database is safe to release so
that a policy relating to confidentiality and, ultimately, to a individual’s privacy is not imperiled. Privacy
is an issue of paramount importance confronting data producers and consumers today, and increasingly
so in the future where citizens’ health and financial records will be held on databases for which access
must be controlled. Theoretical research in this area can have a transformative impact comparable to
the impact which theoretical research in cryptography has had on information security
technology.
•
Dr. Smith has done some of the seminal work on privacy, and continues to be a leader in the area. He
introduced the notion of differential privacy, and demonstrated why earlier ad-hoc notions of privacy are
not sufficient and can be attacked. An important aspect of his work is that it deals formally with an
adversary using side information, as most users possess, to break anonymization schemes. Further, Dr.
Smith will develop metrics so that privacy-enhancing methods for databases can be evaluated. We expect
Dr. Smith’s work on privacy attacks to have a large impact on people developing real computer systems.
Advances in this area will have a significant impact. The foundational work in this proposal, as well as
the work on exposing vulnerabilities of existing privatization schemes, is likely to have important policy
implications. The proposed work on exposing vulnerabilities of currently deployed protocols has the
potential for high impact as well. The PI has already obtained some simulation results suggesting that it
may be possible to compromise sensitive information for 10-30% of the individuals in public databases
that have been privatized and/or outsourced using standard techniques. This type of work, revealing the
vulnerabilities of existing schemes, could be broadly disseminated and have a profound effect on realworld data-privacy practices, including Government regulation.
•
•
Dr. Smith plans a lot of professional outreach activities. He will write survey articles on privacy intended
for various other disciplines. He is organizing a privacy workshop that will bring together computer
scientists and statisticians. He has developed a cryptography class suitable for computer scientist and
mathematics students. He plans to teach a new interdisciplinary course during each year of this award.
He is also involved in a project to develop a new Computer Science and Mathematics major at Penn State.