Moderator: Jon Lexau (Oracle Corporation)

Intelligent Cache Management for Reducing Memory System Waste

Presenter: Samira M. Khan (University of Texas at San Antonio)

Abstract: Caches in the modern processors are quite inefficient. They contain dead blocks which will not be referenced again before eviction. These dead blocks are a huge waste of the valuable cache space.This space should contain useful blocks that will contribute to the hit rate and improve performance. We propose intelligent cache management techniques that reduce dead time and improve performance without significant space and power overhead.

Biography: Samira Khan is a PhD candidate at the Department of Computer Science in the University of Texas at San Antonio. She is advised by Dr. Daniel Jiménez. Her research interest is computer architecture. Her research mainly focuses on improving the performance of memory system. She obtained her BSc degree from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. She has worked as an intern at Intel, AMD and EPFL.

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Usable Security and Privacy Policy Management

Presenter: Maritza L. Johnson (Columbia University)

Abstract:Security and privacy policies are pervasive parts of systems, and mechanisms to enable users to manage such policies is a critical need in computing. Policy authors must have usable tools to author correct, enforceable policies. The primary contribution of this thesis is the design and evaluation of an experimental user interface for managing access control policies for online social networks (OSN).

Biography: Maritza Johnson is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Computer Science at Columbia University. Her research interests include computer security and human factors. Maritza was a recipient of the AT&T Labs Fellowship. Prior to studying at Columbia, Maritza received a B.A. in Computer Science from the University of San Diego. She was previously the president of Columbia’s Women in Computer Science group and the Budget and Finance Chair for Columbia’s Graduate Student Advisory Council. She is also a PADI assistant instructor.

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Detecting Stealthy Malware Using Behavioral Features in Network Traffic

Presenter: Ting-Fang Yen (Carnegie Mellon University)

Abstract:Stealthy malware is hard to detect because its activities are subtle and do not disrupt the network. Such malware is also becoming increasingly sophisticated, e.g., utilizing peer-to-peer protocols and encryption. In this work, we hypothesize that hosts infected with stealthy malware can be detected by identifying traffic exhibiting “similar” behaviors. We identify relevant characteristics that can be combined to detect infected hosts, and also study botnets analytically using graph models.

Biography: Ting-Fang is a Ph.D. student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Carnegie Mellon University, advised by Professor Michael Reiter. She is interested in data analysis for security applications, with particular focus on malware detection. She was a summer intern at Microsoft Research Silicon Valley, where she studied privacy leaks in online services. Ting-Fang received a M.S. degree from Carnegie Mellon University, and B.S. degree from National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan.

Moderator: Nancy Amato (Texas A&M University)

Implementing Low Power Error Correction Hardware for Next Generation Communication Applications

Presenter: Tinoosh Mohsenin (University of Maryland, Baltimore County)

Abstract:Novel error correction LDPC decoding algorithms and architectures are introduced which significantly reduce processor logical complexity and global interconnections. Several decoders are implemented in 65 nm CMOS for the 10GBASE-T Ethernet standard. A 16-way proposed Split-Row Threshold decoder occupies 4.8mm^2, operates at 195MHz at 1.3V with a throughput of 92.8Gbps, which achieves improvements in area, throughput and energy efficiency of 4.1x, 3.3x, and 4.8x respectively, compared to a conventional implementation.

Biography: Tinoosh Mohsenin received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Sharif University, Tehran, Iran, the M.S. degree in electrical and computer engineering from Rice University and PhD from UC Davis. In 2011, she joined the department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at University of Maryland, Baltimore County where she is an assistant professor. She leads projects in architecture, hardware, software tools, and applications for VLSI computation with an emphasis on communication and DSP workloads. Recent projects include low density parity check (LDPC) decoders, compressive sensing, seizure detection and many-core chips for biomedical imaging applications.

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Spectral Analysis for the Detection of Explosives with Differential Reflectometry

Presenter: Seniha Esen Yuksel (University of Florida)

Abstract:For explosives trace detection, we show the use of differential reflectometry (DR). With DR, explosives show characteristic behaviours at specific wavelengths. To detect these behaviours, PCA was performed to reduce the dimensionality of the data, and an SVM was trained to identify TNT. With a 10-fold classification on 10000 non-TNT and 1935 TNT pixels, we achieved 0.3% false alarm rate at 75% true positive rate.

Biography: Seniha Esen Yuksel has been pursuing her PhD degree in the Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering at the University of Florida since 2006. Previously, she received her MSc degree from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Louisville, KY in 2005, and her BSc degree from the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, in 2003. She was the recipient of the Outstanding International Student Award, and the recipient of the Phyllis M. Meek Award. Her research interests include machine learning, pattern recognition, and computer vision.

Moderator: A.J. Brush (Microsoft Research)

Towards Theoretical Foundations of Clustering: Thesis Highlights

Presenter: Margareta Ackerman (University of Waterloo)

Abstract:Clustering is a central unsupervised learning task with a wide variety of applications. However, in spite of its popularity, it lacks a unified theoretical foundation. Recently, there has been work aimed at developing such a theory. We discuss recent advances in clustering theory, including axiomatizing clustering and providing formal guidance for clustering algorithm selection.

Biography: Margareta Ackerman is a PhD candidate in the final year of her studies at University of Waterloo working with Professor Shai Ben-David. She is a winner of the Outstanding Achievement in Graduate Studies Award and a recipient of the Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship, among others. She is interested in a range of topics in theoretical computer science, including machine learning, algorithms in web search and bioinformatics, social networks, and automata theory. Margareta’s research emphasis is on developing theoretical foundations of clustering. Her work has been presented and published at top tier venues.

Moderator: Valerie Barr (Union College)

Change-Centric Suport for Team Collaboration

Presenter: Lile Hattori (University of Lugano)

Abstract:Software development is a teamwork endeavor, in which coordination and collaboration are essential for a successful product delivery. Software companies have been moving toward global software development (GSD), which brings new challenges to the development process. We aim at advancing the state of the art of collaborative techniques to support GSD, specifically by improving team awareness and providing a knowledge base to teams, thus reducing coordination breakdowns.

Biography: Lile Palma Hattori is currently a PhD student and research assistant at the University of Lugano, Switzerland. She received the M.S. in computer science from the Federal University of Campina Grande, Brazil, and the B.S. in computer science from the Ruy Barbosa University, Brazil. She received from the Brazilian Society of Computation the Honor Student award for best academic performance. Her research interests are in collaborative software engineering and software evolution, focusing on tool and techniques to help developers to collaborate. Her work has been published in top-ranked software engineering venues such as ICSE, EMSE, ICPC, MSR, CSMR, and IWPSE-Evol.

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Behavioural Properties and Dynamic Software Update for Concurrent Programs

Presenter: Gabrielle A. Anderson (University of Southampton)

Abstract:I provide verification techniques for concurrent code. The first guarantees that values obtained from shared resources are the expected type, and that accesses to shared resources will not deadlock. The second enforces access control on sequences of actions using policy automata. I also provide the first definition and proof of safe dynamic software update for behavioural properties of concurrent systems. I include techniques that reduce verification costs of the above.

Biography: Gabrielle Anderson is a Ph.D. student at the University of Southampton, UK, where she has studied since 2008. Prior to that she read for a BA (Hons) in Computer Science at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Her research interests focus on the intersection between theoretical and practical computer science. She has worked using typed static analyses and formal language definitions for concurrent systems, specifically focussing on how to update running programs. Gabrielle hopes to continue with a research career in theoretical computer science. Her interests include board games, ballroom dancing, and horseback riding.
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Finding Error-Handling Bugs in Systems Code Using Static Analysis

Presenter:Cindy Rubio-González (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Abstract:Run-time errors are unavoidable whenever software interacts with the physical world. Incorrect error handling is a longstanding problem in many application domains. We use static program analysis to understand and make error handling in large systems more reliable. We apply our analyses to numerous Linux file systems and drivers, finding hundreds of confirmed error-handling bugs that could lead to serious problems such as system crashes, silent data loss and corruption.

Biography: Cindy Rubio-González is a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she works under the supervision of Prof. Ben Liblit. Her research area of interest is Programming Languages. She is an AAUW International Doctoral Fellow and has served as vice-president of UW-Madison’s student chapter of ACM-W since 2006. She is a Latina in Computing ambassador for the Anita Borg Institute. Cindy received her M.S. in Computer Science from UW-Milwaukee and her B.S. in Computer Systems Engineering from Saltillo Institute of Technolody (Mexico). She also received a B.M. in Piano Performance from the Autonomous University of Coahuila.

Moderator: Ceclia Aragon (University of Washington)

A Trust and Reputation Model for Supply Chain Management

Presenter: Yasaman Haghpanah (University of Maryland, Baltimore County)

Abstract: One of the critical factors for a successful cooperative relationship in real-world environments such as Supply Chain Management (SCM) is trust. One shortcoming of current SCM models is that their trust models do not have a strong theoretical basis. My thesis will contribute to the field of multi-agent systems by proposing a novel and formal trust-based decision model for supply chain management.

Biography: Yasaman Haghpanah is a doctoral candidate in the computer science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). Her anticipated graduation date is May 2012. Her research is on modeling trust and reputation in supply chain management and online markets. She is interested in learning peoples’ reviewing, rating, or reporting behavior, and then use the learned behavior to adjust the reviews, rates or reports. She is currently collaborating with researchers in the supply chain field to integrate her model into a supply chain management application. She serves as the president of ACM student chapter at UMBC.

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User Perceptions of Adaptivity in Ubiquitous Systems: A Critical Exploration

Presenter: Karen Tanenbaum (Simon Fraser University)

Abstract: My research addresses a gap in the field of adaptivity for ubiquitous systems by taking a critical look at the notion of “adaptivity” and how users experience it. Through a set of detailed case studies of the design of several different systems, I develop a theoretical understanding of the experience of adaptivity that is useful for designers of intelligent systems, particularly those with ubiquitous and tangible forms of interaction.

Biography: Karen Tanenbaum is a PhD candidate at the School of Interactive Arts + Technology at Simon Fraser University. Her dissertation research is a collective case study of the design of three different adaptive and ubiquitous computing systems. Her research interests include artificial intelligence, tangible, wearable and ubiquitous computing, interaction design, and design philosophy. She holds an MA in Linguistics from UC-San Diego and a BA in Philosophy and Celtic Studies from the Johnston Center for Integrative Studies at the University of Redlands. In her spare time, she designs and creates steampunk props and costumes, makes films, and reads science fiction.

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Using Social Network Messages to Monitor Evolving Topics

Presenter: Alana Platt (Illinois Institute of Technology)

Abstract: My thesis topic addresses individuals using social networking messages to learn about current events as they unfold. The real time nature of the information published on social networking websites coupled with their accessibility as a publishing platform make them a powerful tool for learning any evolving situation. My thesis will explore methods that automatically detects sub-topics and groups the social networking messages accordingly.

Biography: Alana Platt is a PhD student at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Her primary areas of research are social networks and information retrieval, and is also interested in human computer interactions.

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Algorithms for Identifying Structural Variants in Human Genomes

Presenter: Anna M. Ritz (Brown University)

Abstract: Structural variants (SVs) are rearrangements of large segments of DNA, and many SVs have been associated with a variety of diseases and cancers. Identifying SVs in human genomes is particularly difficult due to repetitive sequences in mammalian genomes. SVs may be measured in a number of ways, and new technologies drive the development of algorithms for SV prediction. We present new methods for SV detection using two types of technologies.

Biography: Anna Ritz is a PhD candidate in Computer Science at Brown University under the guidance of Ben Raphael. Her research in computational biology focuses on developing algorithms for structural variant detection, most recently using DNA sequencing technologies. She earned her BA from Carleton College in 2006, followed by her Master’s from Brown University in 2008. She was awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship in 2008, and anticipates receiving her PhD in 2011.

Moderator: Annemieke Craig (Deakin University)

NeRo: Fully-Distributed Application-Aware NoC Packet Scheduling Exploiting Long-Range Dependence

Presenter: Miray Kas (Carnegie Mellon University)

Abstract:In modern chip multi-processors, packet switched on-chip networks (NoCs) form the communication backbone between cores and caches/memory, significantly affecting system throughput. While conventional NoC packet scheduling algorithms are application-oblivious, previous application-aware policies require centralized coordination of routers and do not exploit applications’ long-term characteristics. This paper proposes NeRo; a new, fully-distributed application-aware policy that exploits long-term behavior of applications to improve system throughput while eliminating the need for centralized coordination.

Biography: Miray Kas is a Ph.D. student at Carnegie Mellon University, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. Before that, she received her B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Department of Computer Engineering, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey in 2007 and 2009, respectively. Her current research interests span a variety of different network types including wireless ad hoc/mesh networks, social networks, and on-chip networks.

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Exploiting Half-Wits: Smarter Storage for Low-Power Devices

Presenter: Mastooreh Salajegheh (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)

Abstract:This work analyzes the stochastic behavior of writing to embedded flash memory at voltages lower than recommended by a microcontroller’s specifications to reduce energy consumption. Flash memory integrated within a microcontroller typically requires the entire chip to operate on common supply voltage almost double what the CPU portion requires. Our approach tolerates a lower supply voltage so that the CPU may operate in a more energy efficient manner.

Biography: Mastooreh Salajegheh is a PhD candidate in the Computer Science Department of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her research interest is in different aspects of low-power devices. Specifically, storage and security of resource constraint battery-powered or batteryless devices such as RFIDs, medical devices and sensor motes. Mastooreh is a member of RFID CUSP (Consortium for Security and Privacy) and works under the supervision of Professor Kevin Fu. http://www.cs.umass.edu/~negin

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The Under-Appreciated Dimension of Time in Location-Based Systems

Presenter: Karen P. Tang (University of California, Irvine)

Abstract:Empirical evidence from past studies has shown that current location-based services (LBSs) are not individually compelling enough to drive LBS adoption. To boost the adoption rate, we advocate that researchers should look at an under-explored area: the time dimension of location information. We provide examples of LBSs that share past and future locations, and describe several technical challenges for designing these types of LBSs.

Biography: Karen P. Tang is currently a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Informatics at University of California, Irvine. She received her Ph.D. from the Human-Computer Interaction Institute in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. Her dissertation examined various privacy-sensitive UI techniques for location-based systems. Karen’s research interests are broadly in the areas of usable privacy & security and ubiquitous computing. Her work has been supported by an Intel PhD Fellowship, an AT&T PhD Fellowship, and a Northrop Grumman scholarship. She received a B.S.E., with honors, in Electrical Engineering from Princeton University and also minored in Computer Science.

Panelists: Eliana Andre (Northup Grumman), Roberta Gotfried (Raytheon), Esther Kim (Salesforce.com) and Melissa Mendonca (Symantec)

Abstract: Have you ever considered a career fighting cybercrime? Are you interested in the technology behind security for the internet, mobile networks, multiple platforms and devices, and now the Cloud? It is paramount that ALL organizations build and maintain high levels of security and trust. Come and hear about careers fighting cyber crime including current and future trends in fraud and electronic threats affecting government and business.

Biographies:
Eliana Andre
For the past 15 years, Ms. Andre has focused her experience and expertise on Systems Engineering and Information Assurance activities supporting programs and Information Systems applications with Fortune 500 Companies and global Aerospace/Defense Industry providing solutions for U.S. strategic defense needs, International Military co-operations and Commercial endeavors. Ms. Andre received a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology and a Master’s degree in Information Assurance from University of Maryland. She is also a member of the Information System Security Association (ISSA) Baltimore Chapter. Ms. Andre was born in Brazil and speaks Portuguese, English, Italian and Spanish.

Roberta Gotfried
Ms. Roberta Gotfried is the Director of Engineering Learning and University Relations at Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems. Previously, she was Director of Technology Strategy and Integration and an Engineering Fellow specializing in information and cyber security. Roberta initiated some of the early research initiatives in this field at Raytheon. Over the last 2 decades, she has led research to improve security in the evolving net-centric battlespace, working with US Department of Defense, NATO, and the UK Ministry of Defence. Currently, she continues to develop strategy for Raytheon for addressing information assurance needs for customers and the warfighter.

Kim Esther
Esther Kim is currently a quality assurance manager for the Authentication and Core Security team at Salesforce.com, a leader in cloud computing, recognized by FORTUNE magazine as the world’s 4th fastest growing company. She has worked as a quality engineer and scrum master and has been engaged with the team the past 4 years. The team works on identity features leveraging various authentication protocols in addition to web security features that are used to build and grow customer trust and address security threats such as XSS and CSRF. She has a B.S. in computer science from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

Melissa Mendonca
Melissa Mendonca is a senior principal software engineer at Symantec where she has worked in computer security research and development for 15 years. She has spent many years developing file system protection and is currently working on detection and prevention of browser exploits. Melissa has a B.S. in computer science.

Moderator: Samantha S. Foley (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
Panelists: Elizabeth Bautista (Lawerence Berkeley National Laboratory), Laura Monroe (Los Alamos National Laboratory), Alisa G. Neeman (University at Buffalo),Cathy Palmer (Microsoft), and Sreeranjani Ramprakash (Argonne National Laboratory)

Abstract: Solving grand challenge computing problems, such as the simulation of climate change, can only succeed by bringing together a diverse group of technical people. What skills are needed to make this success possible? How do scientific problems differ from business ones? In this panel, women who help solve these computing challenges on the largest computers in the world will share their experiences working in these rewarding interdisciplinary groups.

Biographies:

Samantha Foley
Samantha Foley is a postdoctoral research associate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory where she interned twice during graduate school. She works on a component framework developed for fusion energy simulation, which is also used for other plasma physics and battery modeling applications. Her Ph.D. and postdoctoral research focuses on better use of compute nodes and cores for loosely coupled applications within a single batch allocation. She received her Ph.D. in computer science from Indiana University in 2010. Her research interests include scientific computing, resource management, and generally making HPC easier to use through better tools, development techniques and education.

Elizabeth Bautista
Elizabeth Bautista has been with Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) for 12 years and is currently an HPC Systems Analyst for NERSC Division as a member of the team that manages a distributed cluster for detector simulation and data analysis for large-scale Physics, Astrophysics and Nuclear Science applications. She was previously the Workstation Group Team Lead managing desktop support needs for NERSC Division staff. She is involved with the outreach programs with the Lab and the UC Office of the President. She has a BS in Computer Information Systems and an MBA in Technical Management from Golden Gate University.

Laura Monroe
Laura Monroe has been at Los Alamos for 10 years, and NASA Glenn for 3 years before that. She received her Ph.D. in Mathematics with Dr. Vera Pless. Since then, she has been working in the areas of visualization, graphics and HPC. Currently, Dr. Monroe is Team Leader of Special Projects, and Project Leader of ASC Production Visualization. Recent projects include design and procurement of LANL’s latest HPC Visualization cluster, serving on the design team for LANL’s capability system, Cielo, participating in a research project on streaming techniques for large data, and leading the design of LANL’s new Visualization Corridor.

Alisa Neeman
Alisa Neeman is a scientific programmer at University at Buffalo’s Center for Computational Research (CCR). She works on the hpc2.org web portal, teaches, and helps students, researchers and industry clients use CCR’s supercomputing resources. Prior to working for CCR, Dr. Neeman worked as a Graduate Student Researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory and as an intern at IBM. Dr. Neeman received her Ph.D. in computer science from UC Santa Cruz in 2009. Her research interests include scientific visualization, grid computing and storage systems.

Cathy Palmer
Cathy Palmerhas worked in HPC since obtaining her Ph.D. in parallel scheduling in the 90′s from University of Washington. Around that time, she was a DARPA intern and one of the early members of Systers. She then joined a small team at Tera, developing a new operating system for a multi-threaded architecture. After Tera acquired Cray Research from SGI, forming Cray Inc., she joined a cluster development team, and then served one year as Software Project Leader for Red Storm. In 2006, she joined Microsoft, where she has been leading the system administration group for Microsoft’s HPC Server platform.

Sreeranjani Ramprakash
Sreeranjani Ramprakash is a Technical Support Specialist at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility. There she works on process automation in support of their IBM Blue Gene/P machine. Previously, with the Grid Infrastructure Group at TeraGrid she created a distributed application for budget and invoicing reform. Before that, she worked for a startup firm specializing in Cluster and Grid Computing middleware, first doing software support then doing software development. She received a MS from UT Arlington with a thesis on developing a monitoring system that improved job scheduling on their grid infrastructure for the ATLAS high-energy physics experiment.

Moderator: Cara de Urioste (Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology)
Panelists: Zhen Fang (Facebook), Susan Fong (Pixar Animation Studios), Sara Haider (Twitter), and Heather Morelli (Expedia)

Abstract: Want to develop the next generation of tweets? Can you draw? What happens when you Like someone on Facebook? This session provides a glimpse of multidisciplinary technical roles for women. Consider a career as a Character Set Artist. Try your hand as an Advertising Auctions Expert. Develop a virtual travel tour. Listen to an industry panel talk about multidisciplinary careers in technology for women.

Biographies:

Cara de Urioste
As Director of Development, Cara is responsible for developing current and new Institute sponsors and partners to grow ABI and expand the organization’s programs in support of its mission. Prior to joining ABI, Cara was Director of Strategic Partnerships at Vantive Corporation, where she designed and implemented the company’s new North American partner strategy. She previously was Director of Business Development for Wayfarer, Inc., which was acquired by Vantive. Prior to that, Cara was Manager of Channel Development at Remedy Corporation. She also spent a four-year tenure at Symantec as the number one performing Corporate Sales Representative three consecutive years and Manager of Worldwide Sales Communications.

Zhen Fang
Zhen is a Developer Advocate on the Facebook Platform team focusing on helping developers fully leverage distribution, identity and user engagement using Facebook APIs. In her 3 years at Facebook, Zhen has also worked on Facebook Mobile, the launch of Facebook Connect and the Open Graph protocol. Prior to Facebook, Zhen has spent several years as a developer at Microsoft and some time in management consulting

Susan Fong
Susan has been with Pixar Animation Studios for 10 years. In her current role, she is supervising a project which will deploy a new physically based shading and lighting system at Pixar. In addition, she is responsible for shepherding the rendering process for a film from start to finish, working with all departments to ensure assets and pieces of the pipeline are as optimized as possible to minimize the computing resources required. Susan graduated with a Bachelors in Computer Science from Georgia Tech, and a Masters in Computer Science from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Sara Haider
Sara Haider is on the mobile team at Twitter, where she’s an engineer on Twitter for Android and is leading Twitter’s efforts around women in engineering. When she first joined Twitter in the fall of 2009, she managed Twitter’s user services engineering team. Before joining Twitter, Sara worked at a consulting firm and also interned at Google. Sara graduated from the University of Waterloo with a degree in Software Engineering.

Heather Morelli
Heather Morelli has been with Expedia for 12+ years, from testing the website, to leading large groups of testers to establishing a new Technical Training Department for 800 technologists. She earned her BSE in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan where she competed on the Women’s Crew Team, where she twice competed at NCAA’s. Today, Heather is the Director of Test for Expedia Worldwide Engineering where she works with many teams to ensure the highest quality for Expedia Branded Points of Sale. In her free time, she enjoys traveling with her husband, Mike, and competing in triathlons.

Panelists: Cynthia Dion-Schwarz (Office of the Director, Defense Research and Engineering), Tamara Kolda (Sandia National Laboratories), Margaret Loper (Georgia Institute of Technology, Research Institute), Amy Sharma (Georgia Institute of Technology, Research Institute), and Kelly Sweetingham (Booz Allen Hamilton)

Abstract:The defense industry represents a wealthy pool of potential technology jobs, but it has a very unique culture. While women are successful in defense careers; the path can be difficult to navigate because there are few women mentors available. This panel will share stories, advice and lessons learned of successful women in the defense industry. Knowing how to work within a culture allows more immediate success.

Biographies:

Cynthia Dion-Schwarz
Dr. Dion-Schwarz is the Director of Information Systems & Cyber Security in the Research Directorate, Office of the Director, Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E). She is responsible for the strategic oversight of the science and technology research in Information Technologies in the DoD. She has conducted research for Los Alamos National Laboratory and the National Research Laboratory. She received her BS in Physics and Mathematics in 1988 from George Mason University. She received her PhD in Physics in 1995 from University of Maryland at College Park, and earned a Senior Executive Leadership Certification in 2005 from Georgetown University.

Tamara Kolda
Dr. Kolda is a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff in the Informatics and Decision Sciences department at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California. Her research interests include multilinear algebra and tensor decompositions, data and graph mining, optimization, nonlinear solvers, graph algorithms, cybersecurity, parallel computing and the design of scientific software. Before joining Sandia, Tammy held the Householder Postdoctoral Fellowship in Scientific Computing at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She received her Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the University of Maryland at College Park in 1997.

Margaret Loper
Dr. Loper is the Chief Scientist for Georgia Tech Research Institute’s Information & Communications Laboratory. Margaret has twenty-five years of experience in Modeling & Simulation. Her technical focus is parallel and distributed simulation, and she has contributed to the areas of temporal synchronization, simulation testing, and simulation communication protocols. Margaret earned a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a M.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Central Florida, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Clemson University.

Amy Sharma
Dr. Sharma is a Research Engineer II at Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), Sensors and Electromagnetic Applications Laboratory, focusing on radar applications. She received her BSE in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering from Duke University and then worked as a VHDL logic designer at IBM. She returned to Duke and earned her PhD in BME, specializing in nuclear medicine and radiation physics. Her subsequent post-doc focused on developing machine-learning, statistical-based, computer aided detection algorithms. Dr. Sharma then spent a year in Washington, DC as an AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the National Science Foundation working on Broadening Participation in Computing.

Kelly Sweetingham
Dr. Sweetingham is currently employed as an Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton doing research and development in the area of Social Network Analysis. She uses analytic techniques to investigate dynamic network analysis and examine structural properties of subgraphs to find emerging leaders with a network. Previously, she worked at Northrop Grumman, using applied mathematics in the areas of geolocation and signals intelligence. She received a Ph.D. from North Carolina State University in Applied Mathematics, during which time she worked as an intern for the Naval Surface Warfare Center.