Ph.D. Dissertation Defense

A Semantic Resolution Framework for Integrating
Manufacturing Service Capability Data

Yan Kang

10:00am Monday 27 April 2015, ITE 217b

Building flexible manufacturing supply chains requires availability of interoperable and accurate manufacturing service capability (MSC) information of all supply chain participants. Today, MSC information, which is typically published either on the supplier’s web site or registered at an e-marketplace portal, has been shown to fall short of interoperability and accuracy requirements. The issue of interoperability can be addressed by annotating the MSC information using shared ontologies. However, this ontology-based approach faces three main challenges: (1) lack of an effective way to automatically extract a large volume of MSC instance data hidden in the web sites of manufacturers that need to be annotated; (2) difficulties in accurately identifying semantics of these extracted data and resolving semantic heterogeneities among individual sources of these data while integrating them under shared formal ontologies; (3) difficulties in the adoption of ontology-based approaches by the supply chain managers and users because of their unfamiliarity with the syntax and semantics of formal ontology languages such as the web ontology language (OWL).

The objective of our research is to address the main challenges of ontology-based approaches by developing an innovative approach that is able to extract MSC instances from a broad range of manufacturing web sites that may present MSC instances in various ways, accurately annotate MSC instances with formal defined semantics on a large scale, and integrate these annotated MSC instances into formal manufacturing domain ontologies to facilitate the formation of supply chains of manufacturers. To achieve this objective, we propose a semantic resolution framework (SRF) that consists of three main components: a MSC instance extractor, a MSC Instance annotator and a semantic resolution knowledge base. The instance extractor builds a local semantic model that we call instance description model (IDM) for each target manufacturer web site. The innovative aspect of the IDM is that it captures the intended structure of the target web site and associates each extracted MSC instance with a context that describes possible semantics of that instance. The instance annotator starts the semantic resolution by identifying the most appropriate class from a (or a set of) manufacturing domain ontology (or ontologies) (MDO) to annotate each instance based on the mappings established between the context of that instance and the vocabularies (i.e., classes and properties) defined in the MDO. The primary goal of the semantic resolution knowledge base (SR-KB) is to resolve semantic heterogeneity that may occur in the instance annotation process and thus improve the accuracy of the annotated MSC instances. The experimental results demonstrate that the instance extractor and the instance annotator can effectively discover and annotate MSC instances while the SR-KB is able to improve both precision and recall of annotated instances and reducing human involvement along with the evolution of the knowledge base.

Committee: Drs. Yun Peng (Chair), Tim Finin, Yaacov Yesha, Matthew Schmill and Boonserm Kulvatunyou

Innovations in Cybersecurity Education Workshop

9:30 – 4:30 Friday, 12 June 2015, UMBC BWtech South Campus

Innovations in Cybersecurity Education is a free regional workshop on cybersecurity education from high school through post-graduate. It is intended primarily for educators who are teaching cybersecurity at high schools, colleges, and community colleges. Anyone is welcome to attend, including teachers, students, administrators, researchers, and government officials.

The workshop will highlight master teachers and ongoing educational projects, including an effort at the US Naval Academy to teach cybersecurity to all midshipmen. It will include discussions about cyber competitions, hands-on exercises, educational games, and integrating cybersecurity throughout the curriculum. There will be an opportunity to experience hands-on cyber defense exercises and to play new computer security education games, including SecurityEmpire developed at UMBC.

The workshop is free and open to the public — all are welcome to attend. This workshop will to be of interest to educators, school administrators, undergraduate and graduate students, and government officials. Lunch will be provided. Parking is free.

Please see the links above for the schedule and location and register to help us plan for the number of participants.

The workshop is organized by Dr. Alan T. Sherman with support provided in part by the National Science Foundation under SFS grant 1241576.

Name: Jennifer Montooth

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Maryland Psychiatric Research Institute Peer Review Program | Title of Your Position: Research Intern

Major(s)/Minor(s): History, Political Science

Expected Graduation Year: December 2015

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service-learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

The Peer Review Program helps low-income families in inner city Baltimore receive medication for their children with Schizophrenia. The researchers help make sure the children are efficiently getting the proper amount of medication. When I assist the researchers, I help them organize and file all of the patients' information in alphabetical order and send out their charts to the proper offices and hospitals to ensure that every patient gets the proper care.

Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.

I found my internship through UMBCWorks and was enthralled in the idea. Once I submitted my resume, I had a phone interview with the supervisor. She was curious as to why a history and political science major would want to help a psychiatric program. I explained to her, however, that I was very interested in pursuing a Public Policy degree once I graduate, and am very interested in learning about successful programs such as the Peer Review Program. I also told her about my research paper from a previous semester regarding the lack of mental health funding and assistance in Baltimore City prisons, and how it would help the city in several ways if inmates got proper treatments for their disorders. My excitement about the program and learning about mental health helped me get the internship almost on the spot.

Which of the following resources did you use to find your current experience?

UMBCworks

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I love the people in the program, they're all very passionate about what they do, and it feels motivating to be around them. I learn more each day about all of the processes and steps it takes to keep the program running and proving their efficiency in order to continue receiving funding. Once a week I also get to meet with a doctor and a group of Schizophrenia patients at one of their education sessions, where the patients learn more about their disorder. I had never encountered anyone with Schizophrenia before, so it's been amazing to interact with the patients and learn more from the doctors.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

I would advise them to think outside of the box, and think towards the future. This internship is a little far off from my major, but it keeps me constantly learning, which makes every day a new experience. I did a research paper that got me motivated to help mental health programs a year ago, and wanted to get more involved, but had no idea how. I feel like I have more understanding of what I want to do once I graduate thanks to this internship.

Please provide a short reflection or quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process.

Everyone involved in helping me receive credit for this internship, including Jeremiah Sawyer and my professor Michele Wolff, have been nothing but encouraging and helpful the whole time, which makes this experience all the better.

Like this story on Facebook or FAV/RT on Twitter!

Like the Career Center on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

#UMBCintern

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)