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.

Baltimore Participatory Action Research Group presents

Open Mic Night-Friday,May 2,2014

7pm-10pm

Lower Flat Tuesdays, UMBC

To perform please contact Shawntay Stocks sstocks1@umbc.edu

*This is not a Student Life Mosaic Center sponsored event*

Meet Kaitlyn. She is a Psychology major and current URA (Undergraduate Research Award) Scholar. Her research focuses on the psychological sense of community for first-generation Latin American immigrants. She also serves as a research assistant in the Making Words Count Lab.

How did you find your mentor for year research, scholarship, or artistic project?
I am a research assistant in the Making Words Count Lab. My research mentor is Dr. Anne Brodsky. I was really interested in her work on risk and resilience in Afghan communities. I read some of her published research and thought it was really interesting and innovative.  

What project are you working on?
In December 2012, when I began working in the Making Words Count lab, our team was in the process of collecting interviews for our Community and Immigration study. We interview first- and second-generation Latin American immigrants and third-generation or more U.S. born citizens. Our research seeks to understand how these groups experience psychological sense of community, as well as to understand the acculturation practices of immigrants from Latin American countries. Our team has almost finished transcribing and checking our data now, so we’ve made great progress in the past year.  

Do you get course credit for this work?
I have taken Honors 400, Psych 498, and I will be enrolled in Psych 499 in the spring.  

What academic background did you have before you applied for the URA?
I worked for two different professors before I began in the Making Words Count lab. As well, I have taken many psychology classes, including two research methods courses. My English classes provided me with concise writing skills, which is important for the application.  

Was the application difficult to do?
The application was not difficult, but thought-provoking. It was a great exercise in understanding the research methods I planned to use and what direction I wanted my ideas to take.  

What has been the hardest part about your research?
I’m new to the field of community psychology and never had any training in qualitative methods, so that learning curve felt overwhelming at first. If possible, I’d recommend taking classes that are as close to your research methodology and subject area as possible before you begin to ease the process.  

What was the most unexpected thing?
The amount of work that is put into doing “background” preparation for the actual data analysis and write-up is surprising.  

What is your advice to other students about getting involved in research?
I would highly recommend getting involved in any and all research opportunities available. Research is an amazing way to both learn about an academic field as well as be a part of contributing to it. In addition, the people you meet through your research can become really great resources. My research mentor and the graduate students in our lab have both been amazingly helpful and supportive of my interests, and having them as role models and academic advisers has been one of my favorite parts of the research experience.

Read her abstract here...