Exploiting Probabilistic Information for Spectrum Sensing
and Utilization: towards Efficient Wireless Coexistence

Prof. Xiangwei Zhou
University of Illinois, Carbondale

11:45am Friday, 7 March 2014, ITE 325b, UMBC

With the rapid growth of wireless devices and applications, the electromagnetic radio spectrum is considered to be in short supply. To overcome spectrum scarcity and satisfy emerging user demands, cognitive radio, which can sense and adapt to the surrounding spectral environment, has been introduced to enhance the utilization of the spectrum. However, it is a challenging task to design a robust and cost-effective system involving identification and reuse of spectrum opportunities changing over time, frequency, and space. In this talk, I will focus on efficient spectrum sensing and utilization techniques for dynamic spectrum access. In particular, I will emphasize the importance of exploiting probabilistic information unique to such a system. I will present novel techniques from the perspectives of both a single user and a multi-user network. In the end, I will discuss further extension of the work to enable the coexistence of heterogeneous wireless networks.

Xiangwei Zhou received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, in 2011. He received his M.S. degree in Information and Communication Engineering from Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China and his B.S. degree in Communication Engineering from Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China, in 2007 and 2005, respectively. Since 2013, Dr. Zhou has been with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Southern Illinois University Carbondale as an Assistant Professor. Prior to that, he was a Senior Systems Engineer with Marvell Semiconductor, Santa Clara, California, from 2011 to 2013. Dr. Zhou’s general research interests include wireless communications and statistical signal processing, with current emphasis on cognitive radio and heterogeneous coexistence, cyber-physical systems, and cross-layer optimization. He is now serving as an Editor for IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications.

Host: Mohamed Younis, Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address.

Exploiting Probabilistic Information for Spectrum Sensing
and Utilization: towards Efficient Wireless Coexistence

Prof. Xiangwei Zhou
University of Illinois, Carbondale

11:45am Friday, 7 March 2014, ITE 325b, UMBC

With the rapid growth of wireless devices and applications, the electromagnetic radio spectrum is considered to be in short supply. To overcome spectrum scarcity and satisfy emerging user demands, cognitive radio, which can sense and adapt to the surrounding spectral environment, has been introduced to enhance the utilization of the spectrum. However, it is a challenging task to design a robust and cost-effective system involving identification and reuse of spectrum opportunities changing over time, frequency, and space. In this talk, I will focus on efficient spectrum sensing and utilization techniques for dynamic spectrum access. In particular, I will emphasize the importance of exploiting probabilistic information unique to such a system. I will present novel techniques from the perspectives of both a single user and a multi-user network. In the end, I will discuss further extension of the work to enable the coexistence of heterogeneous wireless networks.

Xiangwei Zhou received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, in 2011. He received his M.S. degree in Information and Communication Engineering from Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China and his B.S. degree in Communication Engineering from Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China, in 2007 and 2005, respectively. Since 2013, Dr. Zhou has been with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Southern Illinois University Carbondale as an Assistant Professor. Prior to that, he was a Senior Systems Engineer with Marvell Semiconductor, Santa Clara, California, from 2011 to 2013. Dr. Zhou’s general research interests include wireless communications and statistical signal processing, with current emphasis on cognitive radio and heterogeneous coexistence, cyber-physical systems, and cross-layer optimization. He is now serving as an Editor for IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications.

Host: Mohamed Younis, Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address.

Name:  Jahziel Paulines

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Chronic Diseases Informatics Program

Major(s)/Minor(s): Health Administration

Expected Graduation Year: May 2015

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

I have to develop curriculum where patients are informed about their condition through a tablet. With each curriculum, I make questions and answers on a Word Document. Then I add images related to each question and audio record the statements that correspond to each question. After, I transfer all of the questions, answers, images and recordings onto Excel. The programmer then transfers everything onto the tablet. And once everything has been reviewed and ready to go, the tablet is ready to be used by patients.

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

I enjoy the peacefulness in the office. It helps me think and concentrate on the assignments assigned to me. I also like the assignments given. They're interesting and even though the assignments seem tedious, the work helps me pass through time.

What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?

I've gained a lot of insight on how the department runs every day. I learned about the responsibilities that other opportunities might not have. I also gained friendship. I've met most of the people who work in the department and was able to work with them well.

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

When there are opportunities open for you, don't close them out. Take as many as you can and make the best out of it. At least stay with one internship and be consistent with it. Be the best intern you can be, get acknowledged, and put yourself out there. Hopefully the right one for you will be the last door open.

How do you see your experience as meaningful? This might involve skills you’ve gained, information you’ve learned, mentors you’ve connected with, or projects you’ve completed.

There are things I've learned that I've never learned before, such as how to make a curriculum, how to complete excel and edit audio recordings. Because there are multiple assignments given, there are a lot of topics I've learned about. The experiences I've learned will definitely help me in my future.

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

You're never too young to plan for your future. As long as you start somewhere, there's a possibility you will be everywhere. Work hard and play harder. In the end, your future will be brighter. Have some faith in yourself and believe. You'll get there.

During the last week, multiple internships have been posted to UMBCworks for students like you! Check them out (plus many, many more opportunities) by logging in to UMBCworks today.

ID: 9264117 – Journalism Intern (Men’s E-News)

ID: 9264146 – Paid Web Design/Update, and Social Media Intern (Baltimore-Washington Electric Vehicle Initiative)

ID: 9264162 – Summer Arts Administration Internships (Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation)

ID: 9264075 – Public Relations Intern (Weinberg Harris & Associates)

ID: 9264106 – Record Preparation, Digitization, & Electronic Archives (Maryland State Archives)

ID: 9264021 – Urban Archaeology Intern (Jewish Museum of Maryland)

ID: 9264022 – Exhibitions and Programs Marketing Intern (Jewish Museum of Maryland)

To access these positions, log in to your UMBCworks account (via the link in the Jobs & Internships Topic inmyUMBC) and find details and application instructions as well ashundreds of other job postings! 

Please note you MUST have an approved resume to apply to positions. To schedule an appointment, click on "Request a Counseling Appointment" via the UMBCworks homepage or call 410-455-2216.

Toward strong, usable access control for personal data

Michelle Mazurek
Carnegie Mellon University

1:00pm Thursday, 6 March 2014, ITE 325b, UMBC

Users create, store and access a lot of personal data, both on their devices and in the cloud. Although this provides tremendous benefits, it also creates risks to security and privacy, ranging from the inconvenient (private photos posted around the office) to the serious (loss of a job; withdrawal of college admission). Simply refusing to share personal data is not feasible or desirable, but sharing indiscriminately is equally problematic. Instead, users should be able to efficiently accomplish their primary goals without unnecessarily compromising their privacy. In this talk, I describe my work toward developing usable access-control mechanisms for personal data. I review the results of three user studies that provided insight into users’ policy needs and preferences. I then discuss the design and implementation of Penumbra, a distributed file system with built-in access control designed to support those needs. Penumbra has two key building blocks: semantic-tag-based policy specification and logic-based policy enforcement. Our results show that Penumbra can enforce users’ preferred policies securely with low overhead.

Michelle Mazurek is a Ph.D. candidate in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, co-advised by Lujo Bauer and Greg Ganger. Her research interests span security, systems, and HCI, with particular emphasis on designing systems from the ground up for usable security. She has worked on projects related to usable access control, distributed systems, and passwords.

Host: Penny Rheingans, Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address.

Toward strong, usable access control for personal data

Michelle Mazurek
Carnegie Mellon University

1:00pm Thursday, 6 March 2014, ITE 325b, UMBC

Users create, store and access a lot of personal data, both on their devices and in the cloud. Although this provides tremendous benefits, it also creates risks to security and privacy, ranging from the inconvenient (private photos posted around the office) to the serious (loss of a job; withdrawal of college admission). Simply refusing to share personal data is not feasible or desirable, but sharing indiscriminately is equally problematic. Instead, users should be able to efficiently accomplish their primary goals without unnecessarily compromising their privacy. In this talk, I describe my work toward developing usable access-control mechanisms for personal data. I review the results of three user studies that provided insight into users’ policy needs and preferences. I then discuss the design and implementation of Penumbra, a distributed file system with built-in access control designed to support those needs. Penumbra has two key building blocks: semantic-tag-based policy specification and logic-based policy enforcement. Our results show that Penumbra can enforce users’ preferred policies securely with low overhead.

Michelle Mazurek is a Ph.D. candidate in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, co-advised by Lujo Bauer and Greg Ganger. Her research interests span security, systems, and HCI, with particular emphasis on designing systems from the ground up for usable security. She has worked on projects related to usable access control, distributed systems, and passwords.

Host: Penny Rheingans, Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address.

Due to uncertainty about the weather, this talk has
been postponed and will be rescheduled soon

Underwater Acoustic Communication and
Networking for Ocean Sampling

Dr. Aijun Song

Assistant Research Professor
College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment
University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716

Noon – 1:00pm Monday, 3 March 2014, ITE325b, UMBC

On our planet Earth, the marine ecosystem is undergoing significant changes due to human activities and natural processes. These changes call for enhanced capabilities to sample and communicate in the oceans. With this background, underwater acoustic communication has attracted much attention across multiple disciplines, as a means to access oceanographic data in real-time and to support navigation of underwater vehicles. This talk will focus on my recent efforts in 1) characterization and modeling of the ocean environment as a communication medium, 2) development of high data rate acoustic modems, both software and hardware, and 3) application of underwater acoustic communication networks in ocean sampling.

Dr. Aijun Song received his Ph.D. degree in the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware in 2005. From 2005 to 2008, he was a postdoctoral research associate at the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment (CEOE), University of Delaware. During this period, he was also an Office of Naval Research (ONR) postdoctoral fellow, supported by the special research award in the Ocean Acoustics program. Since 2008, he has been an Assistant Research Professor of the CEOE, University of Delaware. His research interests include advanced signal processing and communication techniques for mobile radio frequencies as well as for underwater acoustic environments, underwater acoustic signal propagation, and the general area of ocean sampling.

CSEE’s Dr. Rick Forno, Cybersecurity GPD and Assistant Director of the UMBC Center for Cybersecurity, was a guest on WEAA’s ‘The Marc Steiner Show’ where he joined Dr. Lisa Yeo of Loyola University in discussing cybersecurity issues and best practices in light of recent high-profile data breaches such as those at the University of Maryland, Target, and Indiana University.