UMBC Hour of Code events

This week on Wednesday and Thursday from 10:00am – 1:00pm, the UMBC Computer Science Education Club will host Hour of Code events in the Engineering Building Atrium. Hour of Code is an annual campaign that is part of Computer Science Education Week with the goal of expanding access to computer science in schools and increasing the participation of women and underrepresented minorities.

On Wednesday, December 5th, the focus will be on on computer science outreach within the UMBC community. There will be an Arduino workshop from IEEE from 11:30am – 12:45pm (bring your laptop if interested), interactive games teaching introductory programming concepts, and Makey Makeys.

On Thursday, December 6th,  students from Lakeland Elementary School will visit the UMBC campus and learn about programming. The CS Ed club are still accepting volunteers to help students during the activity, and/or attend lunch with the students. You can sign-up here. Computer Science Education Club would appreciate any time you can dedicate to this event.

Email *protected email* with any questions. For more information about Hour of Code, visit https://code.org/about.

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Distinguished Departmental Seminar

The Web PKI in Theory and Malpractice

Dr. Bruce Maggs, Duke University

11:00am Friday, 7 December 2018, ITE325b

The Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) for the web was designed to help thwart “phishing” attacks by providing a mechanism for browsers to authenticate web sites, and also to help prevent the disclosure of confidential information by enabling encrypted communications. For users to reap these benefits, however, the parties that implement and operate the PKI, including certificate authorities, web-site operators, and browser vendors, must each perform their roles properly.

This talk focuses on one aspect of the PKI: certificate revocation. The security of a web site hinges on the ability of the site operator to keeps its private keys private. While most operators guard their keys carefully, on occasion software vulnerabilities such as the notorious Heartbleed Bug have put millions of keys at risk. If a web-site operator fears that its private key has been compromised, it should ask its certificate authority to revoke the corresponding certificate. Browsers, however, often do not fully check whether the certificates they receive have been revoked, and mobile browsers never check. There are a variety of reasons for not checking, but the most important are the amount of bandwidth required to download certificate revocation lists in advance, the latency of checking certificates on the fly, and the slow progress of upgrading every web server to support the newer certificate status stapling approach.

This talk presents a new and much more efficient system, CRLite, for pushing the revocation status of every certificate to every browser. CRLite leverages a recent development: although lists of revoked certificates were previously available, Google’s Certificate Transparency project now also provides a log of all unrevoked certificates as well. With both lists in hand, a compact data structure called a filter cascade can be used to represent the status of every certificate with no false positives and no false negatives. CRLite requires a browser to download a 1.2MB filter cascade initially, and then a 40KB update (on average) every day. Our results demonstrate that complete revocation checking is within reach for all clients.

Bruce Maggs received the S.B., S.M., and Ph.D. degrees in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1985, 1986, and 1989, respectively. His advisor was Charles Leiserson. After spending one year as a Postdoctoral Associate at MIT, he worked as a Research Scientist at NEC Research Institute in Princeton from 1990 to 1993. In 1994, he moved to Carnegie Mellon, where he stayed until joining Duke University in 2009. While on a two-year leave-of-absence from Carnegie Mellon, Maggs helped to launch Akamai Technologies, serving as its first Vice President for Research and Development. He retains a part-time role at Akamai as Vice President for Research. In 2017 he won the Best Dataset Award at the Passive and Active Measurement Conference, The Best Paper Award at CoNEXT, a Distinguished Paper Award at USENIX Security, and the 2017 IEEE Cybersecurity Innovation Award for work that appeared at IEEE Security and Privacy. In 2018 he was part of a large team that received the inaugural SIGCOMM Networking Systems Award for the Akamai CDN.

Supported by UMBC’s Eminent Scholar Mentoring program.

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Computer Science Lecturer, Professor of the Practice and Visiting Assistant Professor

Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering
University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)

The Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering (CSEE) at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) invites applications for multiple non-tenure track positions at the ranks of Lecturer, Professor of the Practice and Visiting Assistant Professor. The positions begin Spring or Fall 2019 (January or August). Some of these positions will have teaching and/or administrative responsibilities in the computer science program to be offered at The Universities at Shady Grove, in Montgomery County, Maryland.

For the position of Lecturer, the preferred qualification is a master’s degree in computer science or a closely related discipline. Applicants for the Professor of the Practice or Visiting Assistant Professor positions should have completed or be about to complete a doctoral degree in computer science or closely related discipline. Ideal candidates will have evidence of strong organizational skills. Experience in academia, industry and government will be considered in the evaluation of the candidate. Candidates who have had a non-academic career with a demonstrated commitment to teaching are encouraged to apply.

The Lecturer and Professor of the Practice (PoP) positions are renewable. Lecturers and PoPs teach a wide range of courses, primarily at the undergraduate level. They advise students, mentor teaching assistants, and help shape departmental practices and policies. Lecturers and PoPs are expected to continue their professional growth. Lecturers have the opportunity to be promoted through the ranks of Senior Lecturer and Principal Lecturer. PoPs are expected to provide leadership in the administration of the department.

The position of Visiting Assistant Professor is a short-term appointment that is appropriate for new and recent PhDs who would like to bolster their teaching and research profiles before applying to a permanent position.

The CSEE department is large and growing, with a diverse community of approximately 2,000 undergraduate majors in computer science and computer engineering.  Professors of the Practice, along with Lecturers and a cadre of tenure-track faculty, are the driving force behind the department’s broad effort to ensure a quality education for our undergraduates: working to improve computing education, curriculum, diversity, and student support. CSEE faculty collaborate with the Center for Women in Technology to increase the diversity of those who create technology, with programs designed for women in computing and engineering, transfer students from underrepresented groups, and diverse students interested in cybersecurity.  In addition to our undergraduate programs, the department has graduate programs in computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, cybersecurity and data science. Our faculty enjoy collaboration within the department, across departments, and with partners outside the university.

UMBC is a dynamic public research university integrating teaching, research and service. As an Honors University, the campus offers academically talented students a strong undergraduate liberal arts foundation that prepares them for graduate and professional study, entry into the workforce, and community service and leadership. We are dedicated to cultural and ethnic diversity, social responsibility, and lifelong learning. The 2018 US News and World Report Best Colleges report placed UMBC seventh in the Most Innovative National Universities category and 13th in Best Undergraduate Teaching, National Universities category.  The Chronicle of Higher Education named UMBC as a Great College to Work For, a recognition given to only 86 universities. Our strategic location in the Baltimore-Washington corridor puts us close to many important federal laboratories and agencies and high-tech companies, facilitating interactions, and collaboration.

UMBC’s campus is located on 500 acres just off I-95 between Baltimore and Washington DC, and less than 10 minutes from the BWI airport and Amtrak station. The campus includes the bwtech@UMBC research and technology park, which has special programs for startups focused on cybersecurity, clean energy, life sciences, and training. We are surrounded by one of the greatest concentrations of commercial, cultural and scientific activity in the nation. Located at the head of the Chesapeake Bay, Baltimore has all the advantages of modern, urban living, including professional sports, major art galleries, theaters and a symphony orchestra. The city’s famous Inner Harbor area is an exciting center for entertainment and commerce. The nation’s capital, Washington, DC, is a great tourist attraction with its historical monuments and museums. Just ten minutes from downtown Baltimore and 30 minutes from the D.C. Beltway, UMBC offers easy access to the region’s resources by car or public transportation. UMBC is one of nine institutions represented at The Universities at Shady Grove, a consortium of universities within the University System of Maryland, located in Rockville, MD.

Applications are accepted on Interfolio http://apply.interfolio.com/57568. The initial application consists of the candidate’s curriculum vitae or resume and a brief statement describing the candidate’s teaching experience. Promising candidates will be asked to supply three letters of recommendation and a statement describing how the candidate will contribute to UMBC’s commitment to inclusive excellence. For best consideration, submit all application materials by January 18, 2019.  Applications will be accepted until the positions are filled.  Questions regarding the positions or the application process may be directed to the chair of the search committee at *protected email*.

UMBC is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and is a recent recipient of a National Science Foundation ADVANCE award to promote hiring and advancement of women in science and engineering. We welcome applications from women, minorities, veterans and individuals with disabilities.

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UMBC CSEE alumnus receives NSF support for specialty fiber research

UMBC alumnus Dr. Jonathan Hu (Ph.D., electrical engineering, ’08) was recently awarded a three-year grant by National Science Foundation to develop new techniques using of chalcogenide glass fiber devices to transform mid-infrared sensor technologies that detect hazardous aerosol particles in the air. Dr. Hu is currently a tenured associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Winning a grant from National Science Foundation is highly competitive as only about 10 percent of the applications will be awarded.

Regarding his accomplishment, Dr. Hu said, “I am grateful for the award from National Science Foundation and I want to thank my former professors at UMBC, who trained me with a very rigorous background in the field of optics and photonics.” This accomplishment reflects Dr. Hu’s continuous effort as well as his significant contributions to the research areas of specialty optical fibers and nanophotonic devices. His recent publications include papers in Advances in Optics and Photonics and Advanced Materials. Prof. Curtis Menyuk, who was Dr. Hu’s dissertation adviser at UMBC, said “It has been a privilege to work continuously with Jonathan as he evolved from a graduate student to a research leader.”

Dr. Hu also serves as a Baylor Fellow for academic year 2018–2019. The Baylor Fellows Program recognizes professors across the disciplinary spectrum who exemplify excellence in teaching at Baylor University. Baylor Fellows are committed to pedagogical innovation, inspirational teaching, and the cultivation of these among Baylor faculty. Dr. Hu was selected for his effort in connecting research and teaching at Baylor University. He also participated in the transformation of undergraduate engineering education, which was sponsored by the Kern Family Foundation.

The UMBC CSEE department is very proud of Dr. Hu, as his accomplishment truly reflects the depth of our graduates and how valuable the UMBC graduate education is for our students in their career path.

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CMSC 201 Computer Science I for Non-CS Disciplines
Spring 2019

This spring, Dr. Susan Mitchell will teach a special section of CMSC 201 Computer Science I designed for social and biological sciences and humanities majors. The course will cover the same content and have the same rigor as all other sections of CMSC 201 and prepare students to continue on to CMSC 202 if they wish.  As with other sections, it fulfills any major’s requirement for CMSC 201. The key difference will be that the assignments and projects will emphasize topics applicable to many non-CS disciplines, such as statistical analysis, working with large data sets, and data visualization. The catalog description is:

An introduction to computer science through problem solving and computer programming. Programming techniques covered by this course include modularity, abstraction, top-down design, specifications documentation, debugging and testing. The core material for this course includes control structures, functions, lists, strings, abstract data types, file I/O, and recursion.

The course will include a lecture from 2:30pm to 3:45pm on Mondays and Wednesdays (Section 24-LEC) and a one-hour lab on either Tuesdays 11:30-12:20 (Section 19-DIS) or Wednesdays 4:00-4:50 (Section 21-DIS).

Permission from the instructor is required to register for this section. No prior programming experience is required. The only prerequisite is that students must have completed MATH 150, 151 or 152 with a C or better; OR have MATH test placement into MATH 151; OR have completed MATH 155 with a C or better.

For permission or questions, email Dr. Susan Mitchell at *protected email*

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CSEE Professor Tinoosh Mohsenin in her laboratory

 

Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty Positions in CS and CE

Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering
University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)

UMBC’s Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering invites applications for multiple, open rank, tenured/tenure-track positions in Computer Science (CS) and Computer Engineering (CE) to begin in the Fall of 2019. Applicants should have or be completing a Ph.D. in a relevant discipline, have demonstrated the ability to pursue a research program, and have a strong commitment to undergraduate and graduate teaching.

We welcome candidates in all areas of specialization. Some areas of interest for CS applicants include but are not limited to: information assurance and cybersecurity; mobile, wearable, and IoT systems; big data with an emphasis on machine learning, data science, brain-inspired methods, and high-performance computing; knowledge and database systems; visualization.

Some areas of interest for CE applicants include but are not limited to: hardware focused applicants in Digital, Analog, Mixed-mode VLSI design and test, integrated sensors and processing, SoC, new and emerging design technologies, hardware implementations for neuroscience and health-related wearables, cyber physical systems, hardware security and assurance.

The CSEE department is research-oriented and multi-disciplinary, with programs in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Data Science, and Cybersecurity. Our faculty (33 tenure-track, 10 teaching and 18 research) enjoy collaboration, working across our specializations as well as with colleagues from other STEM, humanities and the arts departments and external partners. We have more than 2000 undergraduate and 560 M.S. and Ph.D. students in our programs.

UMBC is a dynamic public research university integrating teaching, research and service. The 2018 US News and World Report Best Colleges report placed UMBC 7th in the Most Innovative National Universities category and 13th in Best Undergraduate Teaching, National Universities. Our strategic location in the Baltimore-Washington corridor is close to many federal laboratories and agencies and high-tech companies, facilitating interactions, collaboration, and opportunities for sabbaticals and visiting appointments.

Applicants should submit a cover letter, statement of teaching and research experience and interests, CV, and three letters of recommendation at http://apply.interfolio.com/57564. Candidates who are under consideration for an on-campus interview will be required to submit a commitment to inclusive excellence statement, which can be submitted as part of the initial application. For full consideration submit application materials by December 15, 2018. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Send questions to *protected email* and see http://csee.umbc.edu/jobs for more information. UMBC is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer.

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The Challenges of Smart Cities Cybersecurity and Privacy with Blockchain

Dr. Jacob Mendel, Tel Aviv University

11:00am Thursday, 15 November 2018, ITE 459, UMBC

The last decades have witnessed unprecedented population and urbanization growth with the implication that today, for the first time in human history, more than half of the world’s population lives in cities. The consequences of the cybersecurity threats of this urbanization trend along with the notion of smart cities are the main subject of this session. The smart city (system of systems) integrates Big-data and the Internet of Things (IoT) to optimize the operation cost, efficiency and to provide a better services to the residents. Smart cities worldwide are checking blockchain as the foundation for urban living. Using blockchain technology in smart city can create a marketplace for Smart Grid.

The increased complexity of smart cities (system of systems), globally connected, economic and political systems has increased the cybersecurity vulnerability. The cybersecurity threats get magnified by the city big-data and its dependency on the technology. The cybersecurity challenges that smart cities faces demand for research and investment in physical security and economic security. In this session we will highlight various cybersecurity and blockchain parameters of a smart city, existing cybersecurity challenges and possible solutions.

Dr. Jacob Mandel is The Moshe Hogeg Blockchain Research Institute managing director at the Tel Aviv University, and former the General Manager Cyber Security COE at Intel. He is a serial cyber security entrepreneur; He has been the CEO and Co-Founder of SCsquare Ltd., where he founded a business enabler for cybersecurity technologies. Dr. Jacob holds 16 approved patents in the area of cybersecurity. His career in cybersecurity over the past 20 years is a unique mixture of broad practical experience and research expertise. His practice included extensive involvement in cybersecurity offensive projects (software and hardware), business development and product management. Proven worldwide track records in secure operating systems, digital rights management, security certification (CC, FIPS), penetration test, reverses engineering, Machine Learning, Blockchain, IoT security and Smart Grid cybersecurity.

His current main research interest is on The Economic Perspective on Smart Grid Cybersecurity and Blockchain technology with a special focus on malware attacks, privacy issues and business continuation. He holds a PhD in Economics from Poznan University of Economics and Business, Poland and Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.

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