Red Cross Blood Drive

Ph.D. Dissertation Defense
Computer Science and Electrical Engineering
University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Rapid Plan Adaptation Through Offline
Analysis of Potential Plan Disruptors

Robert H. Holder, III

9:00am Wednesday, 9 December 2015, ITE 325b

Computing solutions to intractable planning problems is particularly problematic in dynamic, real-time domains. For example, visitation planning problems, such as a delivery truck that must deliver packages to various locations, can be mapped to a Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP). The TSP is an NP-complete problem, requiring planners to use heuristics to find solutions to any significantly large problem instance, and can require a lengthy amount of time. Planners that solve the dynamic variant, the Dynamic Traveling Salesman Problem (DTSP), calculate an efficient route to visit a set of potentially changing locations. When a new location becomes known, DTSP planners typically use heuristics to add the new locations to the previously computed route. Depending on the placement and quantity of these new locations, the efficiency of this adapted, approximated solution can vary significantly. Solving a DTSP in real time thus requires choosing between a TSP planner, which produces a relatively good but slowly generated solution, and a DTSP planner, which produces a less optimal solution relatively quickly.

Instead of quickly generating approximate solutions or slowly generating better solutions at runtime, this dissertation introduces an alternate approach of precomputing a library of high-quality solutions prior to runtime. One could imagine a library containing a high-quality solution for every potential problem instance consisting of potential new locations, but this approach obviously does not scale with increasing problem complexity. Because complex domains preclude creating a comprehensive library, I instead choose a subset of all possible plans to include. Strategic plan selection will ensure that the library contains appropriate plans for future scenarios.

Committee: Drs. Marie desJardins (co-chair), Tim Finin (co-chair), Tim Oates, Donald Miner, R. Scott Cost

Ph.D. Dissertation Defense
Computer Science and Electrical Engineering
University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Rapid Plan Adaptation Through Offline
Analysis of Potential Plan Disruptors

Robert H. Holder, III

9:00am Wednesday, 9 December 2015, ITE 325b

Computing solutions to intractable planning problems is particularly problematic in dynamic, real-time domains. For example, visitation planning problems, such as a delivery truck that must deliver packages to various locations, can be mapped to a Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP). The TSP is an NP-complete problem, requiring planners to use heuristics to find solutions to any significantly large problem instance, and can require a lengthy amount of time. Planners that solve the dynamic variant, the Dynamic Traveling Salesman Problem (DTSP), calculate an efficient route to visit a set of potentially changing locations. When a new location becomes known, DTSP planners typically use heuristics to add the new locations to the previously computed route. Depending on the placement and quantity of these new locations, the efficiency of this adapted, approximated solution can vary significantly. Solving a DTSP in real time thus requires choosing between a TSP planner, which produces a relatively good but slowly generated solution, and a DTSP planner, which produces a less optimal solution relatively quickly.

Instead of quickly generating approximate solutions or slowly generating better solutions at runtime, this dissertation introduces an alternate approach of precomputing a library of high-quality solutions prior to runtime. One could imagine a library containing a high-quality solution for every potential problem instance consisting of potential new locations, but this approach obviously does not scale with increasing problem complexity. Because complex domains preclude creating a comprehensive library, I instead choose a subset of all possible plans to include. Strategic plan selection will ensure that the library contains appropriate plans for future scenarios.

Committee: Drs. Marie desJardins (co-chair), Tim Finin (co-chair), Tim Oates, Donald Miner, R. Scott Cost

Below are featured events and internship/employment opportunities that have recently been posted or have application deadline dates that are quickly approaching!  To see all that the UMBC Career Center has to offer YOU, please visit our myUMBC group page HERE or log into your UMBCworks account!

FEATURED EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES….

NEW! Spring Internship Registration Drop-in DayWednesday, December 2, 2015, 11 am – 2 pm

NEW! $15K Scholarship & Summer Internship at Morgan Stanley, Early deadline to apply:  Monday, November 30, 2015; Regular deadline to apply:  Monday, February 1, 2016

NEW! The Universum Career Test

Information Sessions

NEW! Information Session: IBM Wednesday, December 2, 2015, 5:30 pm – 7 pm

NEW! Information Session: United States FBIThursday December 3, 2015, 5 pm – 7 pm
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FEATURED FULL-TIME & PART-TIME JOBS, INTERNSHIPS, AND RESEARCH POSITIONS

$15K Scholarship & Summer Internship at Morgan Stanley

New Post Maternal Child Health Careers/Research Initiatives

Health IT Summer Internships with Northrop Grumman

Keep an eye on the Career Center website (http://careers.umbc.edu/) for all upcoming events and programs!  Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors….this is an excellent opportunity for you to learn more about career paths…whether you are exploring possibilities or searching for an internship or full-time opportunity!

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All UMBC students registered for classes within the past year are included in the job-internships email list. Because the list is auto-populated by the Registrar, you cannot unsubscribe, but you can change your reception mode to not receive any more messages.

1. Go to https://lists.umbc.edu

2. Login with your myUMBC account or email address

3. Go to https://lists.umbc.edu/sympa/suboptions/jobs-internships

4. Under "Your list options" change the "Receiving mode" to "no mail"

5. Hit the Update button

The Center currently invites applicants for the 2016 Summer Undergraduate Research Program. This program provides undergraduate students the opportunity to conduct research in preclinical and clinical laboratories at the MPRC and other laboratories of the Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.

In addition to a mentored hands-on research experience, students will participate in a didactic lecture series, research and ethics discussions with faculty, literature journal club, a career development seminar, and a Scholars’ Research Day at the end of the summer. Throughout the summer, students will work and interact with various faculty, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and research assistants while gaining experience in preclinical and/or clinical research. Students will enhance their independent thinking and develop communication and presentation skills necessary to becoming a successful scientist.

Benefits

• Summer scholars will receive a stipend for a 10-week commitment (May 31 - August 5)
• On-campus housing is available at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) dormitory

Eligibility

• Students with undergraduate student status during the program dates
• GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale
• Ideal candidates have a strong interest in pursuing a graduate degree
• The University of Maryland, Baltimore is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. Minorities, women, veterans and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply

In the Canopy with Wheelchairs & Tardigrades

National Science Foundation Research Opportunity

3D Invertebrate Herbivory and Biodiversity in Deciduous North American Forest Canopies: Inspiring Students with Physical Disabilities to Pursue Field Biology

May 31 - August 9, 2015 | Baker University, Baldwin City, Kan.

We are looking for a few students who have the confidence to climb into the tops of trees and explore. Students who can ask questions that do not yet have answers. Students who want to learn from the unknown.

The Research Project

This is a three-dimensional research project to define the taxonomy and distribution of tardigrades (water bears) in the canopy and the herbivory of insects on a North American deciduous forest.The project is a fast-paced, tree-climbing, data-collecting, rapid-analysis and results-oriented internship. It is not for the timid. The plan is to climb and collect in the cooler mornings and spend the hotter afternoons and evenings processing specimens in the labs. Weekends include visits to local cultural sites and water bear hunts.

Students will be professionally trained to ascend into the canopy. There they will measure the impact of micro and macro invertebrates on the habitat and establish a baseline from which change can be measured. This is the cutting edge of ecological analysis in a world affected by climate change. Students will learn to use remote sensing, GIS, HPLC, GC-MS, and an EA scanning electron microscope to document the microenvironment.

Students will be employed for the summer. They will collaborate with the principle investigators to prepare their data for presentation and publication. They will also meet and network with the scientists and graduate students at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, University of Kansas Microscopy and Analytical Imaging Lab, Kansas State University long-term environmental research site, and the Missouri Botanical Garden. Students may attend a regional, national, or international meeting and present their results.

Students will be part of a small team of young scientists who are defining and establishing a base line for the condition of the temperate forests before global warming completely exerts pressure for the forests and canopy to change.

The Hypothesis

Unlike in the tropics, there are no differences in the animals or plants that live at different levels of deciduous trees in temperate forests.

To test this hypothesis students will conduct vertical transects at multiple sites on various species of trees. Field collections will be moss, lichen and leaves.

Based at the new Boyd Center at Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan., the project will explore the canopy of the transition zone between the eastern deciduous forest and the tall grass prairie biomes.

In the lab, students will extract, identify and quantize the animals (water bears) found in each sample and learn to create scanning electron microscope images.

Students will analyze the chemistry of the habitat (moss/lichen) with GC, Mass, spec, and HPLC for its influence on the interstitial aquatic environment in which the animals live. The leaves of the trees will be analyzed for insect herbivory.

The data will be mapped with GIS to predict other places where similar populations might exist. The data will establish a baseline from which change caused by global warming can be measured in the future.

Students will use professional tools such as PowerPoint to present their findings at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and regional meetings. They will also have the opportunity to produce manuscripts for publication.

CSEE professor Cynthia Matuszek will teach a new special topics course this spring on Principles of Human-Robot Interaction. The graduate level course (CMSC 691-08) will meet on Tuesday and Thursdays from 4:00 to 5:30pm in 013 Sherman Hall.

Principles of Human-Robot Interaction

An introduction to robots in our daily lives

CMSC691-08, 4:00-5:15pm Tue/Thr, starting 26 January 2016, UMBC

Robots are becoming ubiquitous. From Roombas in our homes, to surgical robots in hospitals, to giant manipulators that assemble cars, robots are everywhere. In the past, robots have only ever interacted with highly trained experts. Now, as they are being deployed more widely, we must address new questions about how our robots can interact day-to-day with end users — non-experts — safely, usefully, and pleasantly. This new area of research is called Human-Robot Interaction, or HRI.

This 3-credit special topics course aims to introduce students to current research in HRI and provide hands-on experience with HRI research. Students will explore the diverse range of research topics in this area, learn to identify HRI problems in their own research, and carry out a collaborative project involving human-robot interactions. Topics to be covered include:

• Social robots: how can robots be social beings? When do we want them to?
• Human-robot collaboration: humans and robots working together on tasks
• Natural-language interactions with robots and human-robot dialog
• Telerobotics: the uses of remote presence and teleoperation
• Expressive robots: how can robots express emotion – and should they?

Students may benefit from having some previous coursework or experience in AI, machine learning, or robotics, but none are necessary. Undergraduate students can enroll with the instructor’s permission. For more information, contact Dr. Matuszek at cmat at umbc.edu.

CSEE professor Cynthia Matuszek will teach a new special topics course this spring on Principles of Human-Robot Interaction. The graduate level course (CMSC 691-08) will meet on Tuesday and Thursdays from 4:00 to 5:30pm in 013 Sherman Hall.

Principles of Human-Robot Interaction

An introduction to robots in our daily lives

CMSC691-08, 4:00-5:15pm Tue/Thr, starting 26 January 2016, UMBC

Robots are becoming ubiquitous. From Roombas in our homes, to surgical robots in hospitals, to giant manipulators that assemble cars, robots are everywhere. In the past, robots have only ever interacted with highly trained experts. Now, as they are being deployed more widely, we must address new questions about how our robots can interact day-to-day with end users — non-experts — safely, usefully, and pleasantly. This new area of research is called Human-Robot Interaction, or HRI.

This 3-credit special topics course aims to introduce students to current research in HRI and provide hands-on experience with HRI research. Students will explore the diverse range of research topics in this area, learn to identify HRI problems in their own research, and carry out a collaborative project involving human-robot interactions. Topics to be covered include:

• Social robots: how can robots be social beings? When do we want them to?
• Human-robot collaboration: humans and robots working together on tasks
• Natural-language interactions with robots and human-robot dialog
• Telerobotics: the uses of remote presence and teleoperation
• Expressive robots: how can robots express emotion – and should they?

Students may benefit from having some previous coursework or experience in AI, machine learning, or robotics, but none are necessary. Undergraduate students can enroll with the instructor’s permission. For more information, contact Dr. Matuszek at cmat at umbc.edu.