Tag: Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering

SMU students share their research at SMU Research Day 2018

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date April 13, 2018

SMU Research Day 2018 featured posters and abstracts from 160 student entrants who have participated this academic year in faculty-led research, pursued student-led projects, or collaborated on team projects with graduate students and faculty scientists.

SMU strongly encourages undergraduate students to pursue research projects as an important component of their academic careers, while mentored or working alongside SMU graduate students and faculty.

Students attack challenging real-world problems, from understanding the world’s newest particle, the Higgs Boson, or preparing mosasaur fossil bones discovered in Angola, to hunting for new chemical compounds that can fight cancer using SMU’s high performance ManeFrame supercomputer.

A highlight for student researchers is SMU Research Day, organized and sponsored by the Office of Research and Graduate Studies and which was held this year on March 28-29 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center.

The event gives students the opportunity to foster communication between students in different disciplines, present their work in a professional setting, and share the outstanding research conducted at SMU.

Find out the winners of the poster session from the SMU Office of Graduate Studies.

Tags Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development, Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, Dedman College, SMU Research Day, The Guildhall at SMU

Culture, Society & Family Researcher news SMU In The News Technology

KERA: 8 Questions For The Government To Consider Before Investigating Encrypted Data

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date March 8, 2018

“This debate is quite polarizing; it’s been in the media for a couple of years now. It was quite an accomplishment on our part to agree on a set of facts, to agree on a vocabulary and to agree on the framework.” — Fred Chang, SMU

Journalist Justin Martin with KERA public radio covered the new government guidelines for investigating encrypted data from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Frederick Chang, director of SMU’s Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security and former director of research for the National Security Agency, participated in developing the guidelines.

KERA’s interview, “8 Questions For The Government To Consider Before Investigating Encrypted Data,” aired March 7, 2018.

Chang, a member of the prestigious National Academy of Engineering, joined SMU in September 2013 as Bobby B. Lyle Endowed Centennial Distinguished Chair in Cyber Security, computer science and engineering professor and Senior Fellow in the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies in Dedman College. The Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security was launched in SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering in January 2014, with Chang named as its director.

In addition to his positions at SMU, Chang is a distinguished scholar in the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas at Austin. Chang has been professor and AT&T Distinguished Chair in Infrastructure Assurance and Security at the University of Texas at San Antonio and he was at the University of Texas at Austin as an associate dean in the College of Natural Sciences and director of the Center for Information Assurance and Security. Additionally, Chang’s career spans service in the private sector and in government including as the former Director of Research at the National Security Agency.

Chang has been awarded the National Security Agency Director’s Distinguished Service Medal and was the 2014 Information Security Magazine ‘Security 7’ award winner for Education. He has served as a member of the Commission on Cyber Security for the 44th Presidency and as a member of the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Academies. He has also served as a member of the National Academies Committee on Responding to Section 5(d) of Presidential Policy Directive 28: The Feasibility of Software to Provide Alternatives to Bulk Signals Intelligence Collection.

He is the lead inventor on two U.S. patents, and he appeared in the televised National Geographic documentary, Inside the NSA: America’s Cyber Secrets. He has twice served as a cyber security expert witness at hearings convened by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology.

Chang received his B.A. degree from the University of California, San Diego and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Oregon. He has also completed the Program for Senior Executives at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Listen to the KERA radio interview with Justin Martin.

EXCERPT From KERA News:

The debate over government access to personal and private information dates back decades. But it took center stage after the 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, when Apple refused to open a backdoor into an assailant’s encrypted cell phone for FBI investigators.

The agency ultimately paid a hacker to unlock the phone instead.

Now, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has produced a set of guidelines for government agencies to consider before approaching or investigating encrypted data.

To learn more about them, I talked with Frederick Chang, the executive director of Southern Methodist University’s Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security.

He’s also a member of the National Academy of Engineering and former director of research for the National Security Agency.

Listen to the KERA radio interview with Justin Martin.

Tags Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security, Frederick R. Chang

Researcher news

Ronald A. Rohrer, Cecil & Ida Green Chair and professor of engineering at SMU Lyle, honored with TAMEST membership

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date February 23, 2018

“I’ve stayed close to industry to be a practicing engineer and close to academia to conduct deeper research on hard problems.” — Ronald A. Rohrer.

Legendary inventor and scholar Ronald A. Rohrer, Cecil & Ida Green Chair and Professor of Engineering in SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering, has been named to The Academy of Medicine, Engineering, and Science of Texas (TAMEST).

The nonprofit organization, founded in 2004, brings together the state’s top scientific, academic and corporate minds to support research in Texas.

The organization builds a stronger identity for Texas as an important destination and hub of achievement in these fields. Members of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and the state’s nine Nobel Laureates comprise the 270 members of TAMEST. The group has 18 member institutions, including SMU, across Texas.

Rohrer joins three other distinguished SMU faculty members in TAMEST — Fred Chang, executive director of the Lyle School’s Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security; Delores Etter, founding director of the Lyle School’s Caruth Institute for Engineering Education and electrical engineering professor emeritus; and David Meltzer, Henderson-Morrison Chair and professor of prehistory in anthropology in Dedman College.

Considered one of the preeminent researchers in electronic design automation, Rohrer’s contributions to improving integrated circuit (IC) production have spanned over 50 years. Rohrer realized early on that circuit simulation was crucial to IC design for progress in size reduction and complexity. Among his achievements was introducing a sequence of circuit simulation courses at the University of California, Berkeley, that evolved into the SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) tool, now considered the industry standard for IC design simulation. At Carnegie Mellon University, Rohrer introduced the Asymptotic Waveform Evaluation (AWE) algorithm, which enabled highly efficient timing simulations of ICs containing large numbers of parasitic elements.

“The appointment of Ron Rohrer into TAMEST will increase the visibility of Lyle’s outstanding faculty members,” said Marc P. Christensen, dean of the Lyle School of Engineering.

“Through TAMEST, Rohrer will share his vast knowledge and inspire additional collaborative research relationships with other outstanding Texas professors and universities. This will elevate SMU and the state as a leading center of scholarship and innovation,” Christensen said.

Once an SMU electrical engineering professor back in the late 70’s, Rohrer rejoined the Lyle School as a faculty member in 2017. He is professor emeritus of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon and Rohrer’s career has included roles in academia, industrial management, venture capital, and start-up companies.

“I’ve stayed close to industry to be a practicing engineer and close to academia to conduct deeper research on hard problems,” said Rohrer.

According to Rohrer, one pressing problem is analog integrated circuit design automation, also the name of the project-based research course he’s currently teaching.

“In the analog domain, it’s hard to design a 20-transistor circuit. My goal is to make analog integrated circuit design more accessible to students and industry, especially for our local corporate partners,” he said. “I want to get the ball rolling so younger engineers can keep it moving toward a complete solution.”

Along with his membership in TAMEST and the National Academy of Engineering, Rohrer is an IEEE Life Fellow. His professional service includes several other prominent positions with IEEE, AIEE and U.S. government committees. He is the author and co-author of five textbooks and more than 100 technical papers as well as the holder of six patents. Rohrer has received 11 major awards, including the IEEE Education Medal and the NEC C&C Prize.

Tags Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, David Meltzer, Delores Etter, Frederick R. Chang, Marc Christensen, Ronald A. Rohrer

Culture, Society & Family Feature Learning & Education Researcher news Student researchers Technology

Cyber grad and U.S. Marine Corps vet Michael Taylor proved his mettle as an outstanding student researcher

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date December 15, 2017

‘Outstanding student in computer science & engineering’ graduates Dec. 16 with master’s degree and Raytheon ticket to a Ph.D.

Michael Taylor will be the first to tell you that he was not ready for college when he graduated from Plano East High School in 2006. And he’ll also tell you that nobody was more surprised than he was when SMU admitted him in 2014, a little later than the average undergrad.

But Taylor’s disciplined approach to life, honed through five years in the Marine Corps, combined with the intelligence he learned to tap, has earned him a master’s degree from SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering that will be awarded Dec. 16. And after proving his mettle as a student researcher in Lyle’s Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security, Taylor has been awarded the first Raytheon IIS Cyber Elite Graduate Fellowship, which will fund his Ph.D. in quantum computing at SMU and then put him to work as an employee at Raytheon.

“Michael Taylor stood out to me when I first had him in an undergraduate class,” said Mitch Thornton, research director for the Deason Institute and Cecil H. Green Chair of Engineering at SMU. “I could sense there was something special about him and that he had a lot of talent. I actively encouraged Michael to do research with me and he has excelled in everything I have asked him to work on. He is a credit to the student body of SMU’s Lyle School, and a credit to the nation.”

Taylor learned to focus on the details in the Marine Corps. He had sampled community college very briefly after high school, but it didn’t stick. He knew he didn’t have skills to trade for a decent job, so joining the Marine Corps made sense to him.

“Honestly? In retrospect, I wasn’t ready for school,” Taylor acknowledged.

After the Marines, finally ready for college
Taylor’s dad was an SMU engineering alumnus, and this was not the career path he’d envisioned for his son. But it’s funny how things work themselves out. Taylor completed Marine basic training, and took an aptitude test to determine where his skills might fit the Marine Corp mission. He did very, very well.

“My score on that test – I qualified for every enlisted job in the Marine Corps,” Taylor said. “I got to pick what job I wanted.” Working as a calibration technician sounded interesting – a job that would require him to conduct testing for proper operation of a wide range of mechanical and electronic devices and tools. But before working in calibration, he’d have to go school for a year.

“Ironic, I know,” Taylor said, smiling. “I had to sign up for an extra year, so I ended up doing a five-year tour in the Marines.”

He spent most of that time working out of Camp Pendleton in California, but was deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan, from March through September 2010, at the height of the surge of U.S. troops. “I wasn’t a combat guy,” Taylor said. “But even on base, sometimes, the rockets would come in the middle of the night.”

Nearing the end of his enlistment in 2012, Taylor was getting the hard sell to stay in and make the Marines a career. By now, he had decided he was ready for college, but the career planner he met with tried hard to talk him out of it, predicting that Taylor would “fail again.”

“He actually told me if I got out of the Marine Corps and went back to college, I’d end up living under a bridge,” Taylor said, shaking his head. It just made him more determined to succeed.

He started back at community college, and this experience was very different. “It seemed like it was so hard the first time,” Taylor said. “What then seemed like a monumental task, now seemed like nothing. I started thinking, I might be able to do school, now.”

And he started thinking about SMU. Taylor’s grades at Collin County Community College were good – good enough to get him into his father’s alma mater.

SMU Prof’s mentoring made all the difference
Taylor never dared to think he could live up to what his Dad had accomplished, starting with the scholarship to attend SMU that Jim Taylor ’89 had received from Texas Instruments. “He was a technician there,” Taylor recalled, “and they paid for him to come here. As a kid, if you’d told me I could do something like that, too, I’d never have believed you. For me there was Albert Einstein, and Jim Taylor.”

Michael Taylor came to the Hilltop on the GI Bill, and SMU’s Yellow Ribbon program for military veterans covered what the GI Bill didn’t. Then, the Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security picked up the cost of his master’s degree.

Taylor’s first semester at SMU’s Lyle School was a tough adjustment after his relatively easy path at community college, but that class with professor Thornton his second semester changed everything. “Dr. Thornton offered me a position working in the Deason Institute for Cyber Security,” Taylor said. “It’s been going great since then.”

Thornton’s influence and mentoring made all the difference for Taylor.

“If I had not met Dr. Thornton, there were times I wondered if I would have gotten my bachelor’s degree. I definitely wouldn’t be getting the master’s degree. And a Ph.D. wouldn’t have been something I ever considered.”

Compelled to dive into quantum computing and cyber security
Taylor was interested in computer hardware when he arrived at SMU, but the Deason Institute opened the door to the contributions he could make in cyber security. He received the Lyle School’s 2017 Rick A. Barrett Memorial Award for outstanding work in computer science and engineering. And as he neared the completion of his master’s degree, he was tapped for the Raytheon Cyber Elite Graduate Fellowship and is looking forward to pursuing his Ph.D. in quantum computing.

“Quantum computers solve problems that are too difficult for classical computers to solve,” Taylor said. “Certain problems in classical computation are intractable, there’s no way you can solve them in this lifetime. It’s only a matter of time before quantum computers render all encryption obsolete.”

For Fred Chang, executive director of SMU’s Deason Institute and former research director for the National Security Agency (NSA), finding talented students like Taylor to fill the gaps in the cyber security workforce is “job one.” Chang testified before a congressional subcommittee in September that we are likely facing a worldwide shortage of cyber security workers five years from now.

“Today’s students will be responsible for designing, creating, operating, maintaining and defending tomorrow’s cyber infrastructure,” Chang explained. “We need a large and capable pool of folks to staff these positions for the future.”

For Taylor, cyber security is just plain compelling.

“I just like the challenge. There’s somebody out there that’s trying to crack what you have, to break you down. You have to be smarter than them. It’s a game!” — Kim Cobb, SMU

Tags Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security, Fred Chang, Michael Taylor, Mitchell Thornton

Learning & Education Researcher news SMU In The News Technology Uncategorized

Dallas Innovates: SMU, UTA Profs Named National Academy of Inventors Fellows

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date December 15, 2017

Election as a National Academy of Inventors fellow is the highest professional honor given to academic inventors.

Dallas Innovates covered the naming of Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering Professor Bruce Gnade as a Fellow to the National Academy of Inventors.

Journalist Lance Murray noted that SMU’s Gnade holds 77 U.S. patents and 55 foreign patents, and is the author or co-author of more than 195 refereed journal articles. Currently, his research focuses on flexible electronics with applications ranging from radiation sensors to microelectronic arrays for cellular recording.

The Dallas Innovates article, “SMU, UTA Profs Named National Academy of Inventors Fellows,” published Dec. 12, 2017.

Read the full story.

EXCERPT:

By Lance Murray
Dallas Innovates
Bruce Gnade, executive director of the Hart Center for Engineering Leadership and clinical professor within Southern Methodist University’s Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, and Dereje Agonafer, Jenkins Garrett professor in mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington received the honors.

The professors were included in a group of 155 fellows nationwide named Tuesday by the academy.

Election as NAI Fellow is given to academic inventors who have shown a spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and welfare of society.

NAI fellows are named as inventors on U.S. patents, and are nominated by their peers based on their contributions to innovation in areas such as patents and licensing, innovative discovery and technology, significant impact on society, and support and enhancement of innovation.

PROFS’ WORK COVERS FLEXIBLE ELECTRONICS, SEMICONDUCTOR RESEARCH
SMU’s Gnade holds 77 U.S. patents and 55 foreign patents, and is the author or co-author of more than 195 refereed journal articles. Currently, his research focuses on flexible electronics with applications ranging from radiation sensors to microelectronic arrays for cellular recording, according to SMU.

Prior to joining SMU, Gnade held leadership positions at Texas Instruments and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, where he served as a program manager overseeing influential technology research projects for the Department of Defense. He is currently serving on the Board of Directors of Oak Ridge Associated Universities.

His academic career includes faculty appointments at the University of Maryland, the University of North Texas, and the University of Texas at Dallas.

Gnade is a member of the Materials Research Society and the Society for Information Display, a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and a fellow of the American Physical Society.

Read the full story.

Tags Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, Bruce Gnade, SMU Department of Mechanical Engineering

Culture, Society & Family Events Learning & Education SMU In The News Student researchers

Dallas Innovates: Mobile Makerspace Once Known as SparkTruck Rolls Into Town

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date May 31, 2017

The big, boxy California transplant is being adopted by Southern Methodist University and will be retooled for Texas to help teachers fuel the creative spark in students.

Reporter Dave Moore with Dallas Innovates interviewed Katie Krummeck, director of SMU’s Deason Innovation Gym in the Lyle School of Engineering, and Rob Rouse, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Teaching & Learning of Simmons School about their collaboration in design-based learning environments.

The School of Engineering and SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development are building a dedicated place for students to adopt a “maker-based approach” to education.

The Dallas Innovates article, “Mobile Makerspace Once Known as SparkTruck Rolls Into Town,” published May 19, 2017.

Read the full story.

EXCERPT:

By Dave Moore
Dallas Innovates
You might call it a maker truck in the making, and it’s about to hit the streets of Dallas to promote the maker movement to teachers and students alike.

Formerly called the SparkTruck, Southern Methodist University adopted the vehicle from Stanford University in California where it resided for the past five years.

The truck made a cross-country journey to Dallas where SMU students will redesign it, inside and out, to make it a teaching tool to help K-12 teachers to inspire and to pursue professional development through innovation.

“This big truck is a kind of rolling ambassador for the maker movement,” said Katie Krummeck, director of SMU’s Deason Innovation Gym. “If you’re not familiar with it, the maker movement is all about sharing creative challenges with people from very different backgrounds to build things.“

Krummeck said the truck will be a big boost in maker education.

“The explosion in easily available digital tools and software is fueling the fire, and it turns out that this kind of hands-on maker-based instruction is a great way to engage students in whatever subject they are learning,” she said.

SMU students will retrofit the truck to ensure that its educational mission is supported by things such as workflow, storage, and comfort.

During its journey from California, the truck carried this message on its side: “This is not a maker truck” — yet.

Krummeck is familiar with the truck. She managed the SparkTruck program at Stanford before coming to SMU in 2015.

“We’re going to develop teaching frameworks, open-source curriculum, tools, and resources as well as some really engaging professional development opportunities for educators,” Krummeck said in a release. “And we’re going to deliver these resources and experiences out of the back of this mobile makerspace. We’ll know what to call it after our students put their heads together during the design challenge we have planned for May 22-26.”

Read the full story.

Tags Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development, Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, Katie Krummeck, Rob Rouse

Events Feature Researcher news Student researchers Videos

SMU Research Day 2017 visitors query SMU students on the details of their research

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date April 11, 2017

The best in SMU undergraduate and graduate research work was on full display at Research Day in the Hughes Trigg Student Center.

More than 150 graduate and undergraduate students at SMU presented posters at SMU Research Day 2017 in the Promenade Ballroom of Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom on March 28.

Student researchers discussed their ongoing and completed SMU research and their results with faculty, staff and students who attended the one-day event.

Explaining their research to others is a learning experience for students, said Peter Weyand, Glenn Simmons Professor of Applied Physiology and professor of biomechanics in the Department of Applied Physiology and Wellness in SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development.

“Research Day is an opportunity for SMU students to show off what they’ve been doing at the grad level and at the undergrad level,” Weyand said, “and that’s really an invaluable experience for them.”

Posters and presentations spanned more than 20 different fields from the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development, the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences and SMU Guildhall.

“It’s a huge motivation to present your work before people,” said Aparna Viswanath, a graduate student in engineering. Viswanath presented research on “Looking Around Corners,” research into an instrument that converts a scattering surface into computational holographic sensors.

The goal of Research Day is to foster communication about research between students in different disciplines, give students the opportunity to present their work in a professional setting, and to share the outstanding research being conducted at SMU.

The annual event is sponsored by the SMU Office of Research and Graduate Studies.

View highlights of the presentations on Facebook.

Some highlights of the research:

Adel Alharbi, a student of Dr. Mitchell Thornton in Lyle School’s Computer Science and Engineering presented research on a novel demographic group prediction mechanism for smart device users based upon the recognition of user gestures.
Ashwini Subramanian and Prasanna Rangarajan, students of Dr. Dinesh Rajan, in Lyle School’s Electrical Engineering Department, presented research about accurately measuring the physical dimensions of an object for manufacturing and logistics with an inexpensive software-based Volume Measurement System using the Texas Instruments OPT8241 3D Time-of-Flight camera, which illuminates the scene with a modulated light source, observing the reflected light and translating it to distance.
Gang Chen, a student of Dr. Pia Vogel in the Department of Chemistry of Dedman College, presented research on multidrug resistance in cancers associated with proteins including P-glycoprotein and looking for inhibitors of P-gp.
Tetiana Hutchison, a student of Dr. Rob Harrod in the Chemistry Department of Dedman College, presented research on inhibitors of mitochondrial damage and oxidative stress related to human T-cell leukemia virus type-1, an aggressive hematological cancer for which there are no effective treatments.
Margarita Sala, a student of Dr. David Rosenfield and Dr. Austin Baldwin in the Psychology Department of Dedman College, presented research on how specific post-exercise affective states differ between regular and infrequent exercisers, thereby elucidating the “feeling better” phenomenon.
Bernard Kauffman, a Level Design student of Dr. Corey Clark in SMU Guildhall, presented research on building a user interface that allows video game players to analyze vast swaths of scientific data to help researchers find potentially useful compounds for treating cancer.

Browse the Research Day 2017 directory of presentations by department.

See the SMU Graduate Studies Facebook page for images of 2017 Research Day.

See the SMU Anthropology Department photo album of Research Day 2017 poster presentations.

According to the Fall 2016 report on Undergraduate Research, SMU provides opportunities for student research in a full variety of disciplines from the natural sciences and engineering, to social sciences, humanities and the arts. These opportunities permit students to bring their classroom knowledge to practical problems or a professional level in their chosen field of study.
Opportunities offered include both funded and curricular programs
that can be tailored according to student needs:

Students may pursue funded research with the assistance of a
variety of campus research programs. Projects can be supported
during the academic year or in the summer break, when students
have the opportunity to focus full-time on research.

Students may also enroll in research courses that are offered in
many departments that permit them to design a unique project,
or participate in a broader project.

Students can take advantage of research opportunities outside
of their major, or design interdisciplinary projects with their faculty
mentors. The Dedman College Interdisciplinary Institute supports
such research via the Mayer Scholars.

View videos of previous SMU Research Day events:

See Research Day winners from 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2014.

Tags Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development, Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, Dedman College, James E. Quick, Peter Weyand, SMU Department of Physics

Culture, Society & Family Learning & Education Researcher news SMU In The News Subfeature

D CEO: Why You Need to Know Suku Nair

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date March 15, 2017
No Comments on D CEO: Why You Need to Know Suku Nair

The director of the new AT&T Center for Virtualization at SMU will drive crucial technical research and help create a knowledgeable North Texas employee base.

D Magazine’s D CEO profiled longtime SMU faculty member Suku Nair, a professor in the SMU Department of Computer Science and Engineering in the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering.

Nair has been named director of the AT&T Center for Virtualization at SMU. He is an internationally recognized authority on cyber security and reliable computing and communication, and founding director of the HACNet (High Assurance Computing and Networking) Lab at SMU.

AT&T and SMU in December 2016 announced the two would collaborate in a unique new research center that would deliver solutions to critical industry needs, educate the next generation of virtualized network technology experts and support Dallas’ emergence as a global information technology hub.

A $2.5 million contribution from AT&T to SMU endows the AT&T Center for Virtualization and funds its research to support the fast, reliable cloud-based telecommunications necessary for global connectivity.

Nair said at the time of the announcement that “AT&T is a leader in providing connectivity for a wide variety of resources, both on and off the cloud, requiring deployment of hundreds of thousands of complex, expensive routers. The cost comes down and the system becomes more agile and efficient if the routers can be simplified by putting the intelligence that makes them work on the cloud.”

Through the AT&T Center for Virtualization, students will leave SMU not just with textbook knowledge, but with knowledge earned through hands-on research carried out in partnership with industry. Equally important, the center will be a critical resource in Dallas as the city continues to evolve as a global information technology hub.

Read the full story.

EXCERPT:

By Danielle Abril
D CEO
Because he will spearhead technical research that could become essential to doing business in the future. He also will help provide North Texas companies with a technologically well-versed talent pool.

As director of the new AT&T Center for Virtualization at Southern Methodist University, Nair, 53, will be at the center of understanding some of tomorrow’s biggest technology challenges. And, with a $2.5 million endowment from AT&T, his center’s research will help companies across industries migrate from hardware and launch software- and cloud-based systems to increase efficiency, accessibility, and reliability.

Nair plans to work side by side at the center with companies like AT&T, which aims to commission research as it seeks out solutions to create stronger global connectivity. If all goes as expected at the new venture, Dallas could emerge as a hub for information technology, heavy with talent, companies, and research.

“This is going to be a forum for universities, industries, and government to come and freely exchange ideas,” Nair says, adding that “everyone” is dealing now with virtualization issues in business. “We have the track record, and we are in the right place and the right time.”

Nair has been working at SMU since 1990, when he joined the university as a professor in computer science and engineering. The Illinois transplant quickly recognized Dallas-Fort Worth’s robust business environment and knew he wanted to play an integral role in research for some of the largest local firms.

The Telecom Corridor in Richardson was alive and well back then, and Nair was able to land his first research contract with Alcatel in 1993. He also helped SMU launch its cybersecurity program, which has since received nearly $10 million in endowments and funding. Over the years Nair has generated several million dollars in research for companies. “Sometimes they’ll have some technology problems they want to solve,” says Nair, who brings his SMU students into the process of researching possible solutions. “It’s a very cost-effective means of doing research, and it trains students to be hired.”

The AT&T research center will be located in the Gerald J. Ford Research Building, which will be built at SMU with help of a $15 million endowment from Gerald J. Ford, Kelli O. Ford, and The Gerald J. Ford Family Foundation. The timing and location for the building, which will highlight the center on the ground floor, is still being determined. The center currently operates out of temporary space at SMU’s east campus, across from U.S. Highway 75. Nair expects the center to attract companies from the region, state, and beyond, as it delves into a topic with broad appeal and an increasingly more powerful impact.

Read the full story.

Tags Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, SMU Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Suku Nair

Culture, Society & Family Learning & Education Researcher news SMU In The News Student researchers Subfeature Technology

D Magazine Dallas Innovates: SMU Students Taking Wireless Vehicle Tech to the Streets

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date January 20, 2017

Researchers at Southern Methodist University are putting many Smart Car/Smart City theories to real-world tests.

Reporter Dave Moore with Dallas Innovates covered the research of Khaled Abdelghany in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department of the SMU Lyle School of Engineering. Abdelghany is an associate professor and chair of the department.

His research focuses on advanced traffic management systems, intermodal transportation networks, airlines scheduling and irregular operations, and crowd dynamics. The article, “SMU Students Taking Wireless Vehicle Tech to the Streets,” published Jan. 18, 2017.

Read the full story.

EXCERPT:

By Dave Moore
Dallas Innovates
In urban areas, trips by cars and trucks are often unpleasant (and all-too-familiar) adventures in avoiding accidents, potholes, construction zones, and other drivers.

Researchers at Southern Methodist University are developing technologies that allow vehicles, traffic signals, and even construction signs to share information, to reduce unwanted surprises and drama on roadways.

While what Khaled Abdelghany and his team of researchers is up to sounds incredibly complex (because it is), the net result might lead drivers to do something as simple as stopping for a cup of coffee instead of sitting in traffic caused by an accident.

“With the information we’ve been collecting, perhaps someday, you will receive a message in your car that says ‘There’s congestion ahead; why don’t you stop and get a Starbucks?’ ” said Abdelghany, an associate professor in SMU’s Lyle Civil and Environmental Engineering Department.

Abdelghany is working on the project with four students in his department, and is collaborating with Dinesh Rajan and Joseph Camp, who are professors in SMU’s Lyle Electrical Engineering Department.

RESOLVING URBAN PROBLEMS WITH SMART TECH
Their research is part of a larger initiative to resolve long-standing urban problems.

SMU, the University of Texas at Dallas, and the University of Texas at Arlington are taking part in a nationwide effort — called MetroLab Network — to solve lingering urban problems by pairing university researchers with cities and counties seeking solutions.

Launched by the White House in 2015, the MetroLab Network includes 34 cities, three counties, and 44 universities, organized into 30 regional city-university partnerships.

The Texas Research Alliance is coordinating research efforts locally. The resulting technology developed in North Texas is intended to be deployed at some point in Downtown Dallas’ West End, and, perhaps, scaled regionally or nationwide.

Abdelghany and his students chose to tackle the problem of traffic congestion for their MetroLab project in part because they had already been working on various iterations of the issue.

Over the past several years, Abdelghany has collected Dallas-area traffic data, for purposes of predicting future traffic jams, and to help develop strategies for routing traffic around tie-ups when they happen.

Read the full story.

Tags Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, Dinesh Rajan, Joseph Camp, Khaled Abdelghany, SMU Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Culture, Society & Family Learning & Education Mind & Brain Researcher news SMU In The News Subfeature

Fast Company: Why Higher Education Needs Design Thinking

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date January 20, 2017

Research professor Kate Canales believes design is crucial to disrupting higher education, and the timing has never been better.

Fast Company reporter Doreen Lorenzo interviewed Kate Canales, a research professor and the director of design and innovation programs at SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering.

Canales spoke to Lorenzo as part of Co.Design’s “Designing Women,” a series of interviews with inspiring women in the design industry. The interview published Dec. 7, 2016.

Canales oversees the popular Innovation Gymnasium and serves as Director of the new Master of Arts in Design & Innovation (MADI) program. She has a background in mechanical engineering, product design and design research. Much of her recent work focuses on building creative capacity inside organizations. She studies and teaches the ways we innovate on the basis of human needs and behavior, and is responsible for integrating empathy and creativity into the technical engineering curriculum. Kate teaches several design courses including Human-Centered Design and Building Creative Confidence.

She has worked as a designer and design researcher at IDEO and as a Creative Director at frog design, both internationally recognized leaders in the field of design and innovation.

Canales holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University. Her writing on human-centered design has appeared in GOOD magazine, The Atlantic, and The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science.

Read the full story.

EXCERPT:

By Doreen Lorenzo
Fast Company
Doreen Lorenzo: How did you end up where you are today? Did you go directly to academia or did you jump into design first?

Kate Canales: I started my early professional career at Ideo, right out of college. I grew up there over eight years. As a designer, Ideo is my hometown. Then after a couple of years working freelance, I joined frog design in Austin as a principal designer and then a creative director. In 2012 I joined SMU. Although that turn looks a little abrupt, in my heart it really made sense. I had been evolving to support work that did not just deliver great design to clients, but helped clients become more design-led. When SMU called and asked me to help them develop a design program, it was something that made a lot of sense to me. It felt like a natural progression.

Did you go to school for design?
My degree is in mechanical engineering, but I pursued a minor in studio art. Truly, I didn’t feel stirred by either one of those independently, but in the place where those two things overlapped I found a lot of fulfillment. That was design.My degree is in mechanical engineering, but I pursued a minor in studio art. Truly, I didn’t feel stirred by either one of those independently, but in the place where those two things overlapped I found a lot of fulfillment. That was design.

Let’s talk about this phenomenon that’s called design thinking. Why is it so important?
In our program at SMU, we’ve chosen to use the term human-centered design, which overlaps dramatically with what people mean when they say design thinking.

Design thinking emerged as a topic when we all started applying design methodology to problems that hadn’t traditionally presented themselves as design problems. For instance, using design as a problem-solving framework to understand how students might interact more effectively with online courses. That kind of problem might not have looked like a design problem previously. What we’ve learned is that design pairs really well with other ways of working.

Read the full story.

Tags Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, Kate Canales

Culture, Society & Family Technology

SMU engineering team to lead DARPA-funded research into holographic imaging of hidden objects

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date April 27, 2016

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency seeks technology for soldiers to “see” around corners, behind walls

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Researchers from SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering will lead a multi-university team funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to build a theoretical framework for creating a computer-generated image of an object hidden from sight around a corner or behind a wall.

The core of the proposal is to develop a computer algorithm to unscramble the light that bounces off irregular surfaces to create a holographic image of hidden objects.

“This will allow us to build a 3-D representation – a hologram – of something that is out of view,” said Marc Christensen, dean of the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering at SMU and principal investigator for the project.

“Your eyes can’t do that,” Christensen said. “It doesn’t mean we can’t do that.”

The DARPA award is for a four-year project with anticipated total funding of $4.87 million. SMU Lyle has been awarded $2.2 million for the first two years of what DARPA calls the “REVEAL” project, with the expectation that phase II funding of another $2.67 million will awarded by 2018. SMU is the lead university for the research and is collaborating with engineers from Rice, Northwestern, and Harvard.

Co-investigators for the SMU team are Duncan MacFarlane, Bobby B. Lyle Centennial Chair in Engineering Entrepreneurship and professor of electrical engineering; and Prasanna Rangarajan, a research assistant professor who directs the Lyle School’s Photonics Architecture Lab.

DARPA’s mission, which dates back to reaction against the Soviet Union’s launch of SPUTNIK in 1957, is to make pivotal investments in breakthrough technologies for national security.

In seeking proposals for its “REVEAL” program, DARPA officials noted that conventional optical imaging systems today largely limit themselves to the measurement of light intensity, providing two-dimensional renderings of three-dimensional scenes and ignoring significant amounts of additional information that may be carried by captured light. SMU’s Christensen, an expert in photonics, explains the challenge like this:

“Light bounces off the smooth surface of a mirror at the same angle at which it hits the mirror, which is what allows the human eye to “see” a recognizable image of the event – a reflection,” Christensen said. “But light bouncing off the irregular surface of a wall or other non–reflective surface is scattered, which the human eye cannot image into anything intelligible.

“So the question becomes whether a computer can manipulate and process the light reflecting off a wall – unscrambling it to form a recognizable image – like light reflecting off a mirror,” Christensen explained. “Can a computer interpret the light bouncing around in ways that our eyes cannot?”

In an effort to tackle the problem, the proposed research effort will extend the light transport models currently employed in the computer graphics and vision communities based on radiance propagation to simultaneously accommodate the finite speed of light and the wave nature of light. For example, light travels at different speeds through different media (air, water, glass, etc.) and light waves within the visible spectrum scatter at different rates depending on color.
The Goal for the DARPA program is to develop a fundamental science for indirect imaging in scattering environments. This will lead to systems which can “see” around corners and behind obstructions at distances ranging from meters to kilometers.

People have been using imaging systems to gain knowledge of distant or microscopic objects for centuries, Christensen notes. But the last decade has witnessed a number of advancements that prepare engineers for the revolution that DARPA is seeking.

“For example, the speed and sophistication of signal processing (the process of converting analog transmissions into digital signals) has reached the point where we can accomplish really intensive computational tasks on handheld devices,” Christensen said. “What that means is that whatever solutions we design should be easily transportable into the battlefield.”

The SMU-led DARPA project is working under the acronym OMNISCIENT – “Obtaining Multipath & Non-line-of-sight Information by Sensing Coherence & Intensity with Emerging Novel Techniques.”

The team unites leading researchers in the fields of computational imaging, computer vision, signal processing, information theory and computer graphics. Guiding the Rice University component of the research are Ashok Veeraraghavan, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Richard Baraniuk, Victor E, Cameron Professor; leading the Northwestern component is Oliver Cossairt, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science and head of the university’s Computational Photography Lab; and the Harvard research is led by Todd Zickler, professor of electrical engineering and computer science. Wolfgang Heindcrich, director of the Visual Computing Center at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, will be a consultant to the SMU Team.
— Kim Cobb

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Tags Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, Duncan MacFarlane, Marc Christensen, Prasanna Rangarajan

Learning & Education Researcher news Technology

SMU Lyle School cyber defender Fred Chang named to National Academy of Engineering

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date February 9, 2016

Academy membership is among the highest distinctions in engineering, honoring those who have made outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice or education.

Dr. Fred Chang, Bobby B. Lyle Centennial Distinguished Chair in Cyber Security, Southern Methodist University, testifies before the US House Science Committee on information security at HealthCare.gov. (Photo: Jay Mallin. jay@jaymallinphotos.com)

Fred Chang, director of SMU’s Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security and former director of research for the National Security Agency, has been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Engineering.

Chang and other new members will be formally inducted during a ceremony at the NAE’s Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 9, 2016.

The U.S. National Academy of Engineering is a private, independent, nonprofit institution that supports engineering leadership.

Its mission is to advance the wellbeing of the nation by promoting a vibrant engineering profession and by marshaling the expertise and insights of eminent engineers to provide independent advice to the federal government on matters involving engineering and technology.

“I feel incredibly honored to be elected into the National Academy of Engineering,” Chang said. “The level of innovation and accomplishment achieved by its members is inspiring, and I take great pride in joining them. I am grateful to many, many colleagues who have worked with me and helped me over the course of my career, including those at SMU.

“This recognition further motivates me to continue pursuing the challenge of securing cyberspace,” Chang said. “It means continuing the important research we are doing at SMU, to help advance the science of cyber security, and training a workforce of skilled cyber defenders.”

Chang joined SMU in September 2013 as Bobby B. Lyle Endowed Centennial Distinguished Chair in Cyber Security, computer science and engineering professor and Senior Fellow in the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies in Dedman College. The Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security was launched in SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering in January 2014, with Chang named as its director.

“Being inducted into the National Academy of Engineering is one of the highest honors a professor can achieve,” said Lyle School Dean Marc Christensen. “We are so pleased that Professor Chang is being recognized as one of the brightest minds of our generation at a time when his expertise in cyber security is so critical to our nation’s future.”

Chang is the second Lyle School professor to be named to the NAE. Delores Etter, the founding director of the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education in the Lyle School, a Caruth Professor of Engineering Education, a distinguished fellow in the Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security and a senior fellow in the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies, was elected to the NAE in 2000.

He is the lead inventor on two U.S. patents (U.S. patent numbers 7272645 and 7633951), and he appeared in the televised National Geographic documentary, Inside the NSA: America’s Cyber Secrets. He has twice served as a cyber security expert witness at hearings convened by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology.

Dr. Chang received his B.A. degree from the University of California, San Diego and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Oregon. He has also completed the Program for Senior Executives at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Chang joins the National Academy of Engineering with 79 other new U.S. members and 22 new international members, bringing the group’s total membership to 2,275 U.S. members and 232 foreign members.

Membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature, and to the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education. — Kimberly Cobb, SMU

Tags Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security, Frederick R. Chang

Culture, Society & Family Economics & Statistics Researcher news Technology

Survey finds executive cybersecurity decisions are evolving from compliance to proactive cyber-risk management

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date October 27, 2015

SMU Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security releases new study on how financial, retail, healthcare and government sectors manage cyber risks

A new research study from SMU’s Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security finds that executives are changing the way they manage and invest in cybersecurity, moving away from limited, reactive approaches and adopting systemic risk management frameworks that combine hardware, software and operations protocols to mitigate cyber risk.

The study, Identifying How Firms Manage Cybersecurity Investment, was sponsored by IBM Security and based on a semi-structured survey of 40 executives across financial, retail, healthcare and government sectors. Participants, most of whom were chief information security officers (CISOs), were selected primarily from large firms.

The study revealed several signs of increasing support for cybersecurity programs, including:

More than 80 percent of those interviewed reported broad and increasing support among senior-level management and corporate boards for their cybersecurity efforts.
Eighty-eight percent of respondents reported that their security budgets have increased.
The majority of respondents cited news coverage of large and harmful security breaches as the driver of that support.
In an interesting twist of perception, while 46 percent of interview subjects believe their organization is spending the right amount of money on cybersecurity, 64 percent reported that their peers were spending too little.

While most of those surveyed said getting funding for their cybersecurity efforts is not a hurdle, many executives talked about the difficulty they experience in finding and hiring skilled cybersecurity personnel. And while findings were similar across most of those interviewed from the private sector, the relatively small number of government executives surveyed noted that the lengthy budgeting processes they must work through make it difficult to react quickly to the emergence of new threats.

“Cybersecurity is more than a technology challenge,” said Fred Chang, director of the Deason Institute in SMU’s Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering. “Dealing with the landscape as it exists today means making decisions within specific management cultures and understanding what drives the decision-making process. By explaining the move from compliance to risk-based cybersecurity programs we see in many C-suites, this report connects the dots for people making important decisions about what it takes to maintain privacy, financial security and operating capability — all of which are vulnerable.”

The widespread use of security frameworks shows a general maturation of cyber risk management, the study notes.

“Companies are realizing that simply checking the box for compliance requirements is no longer a sufficient security strategy,” said Bob Kalka, Vice President, IBM Security. “Hackers are becoming increasingly sophisticated in the battle for corporate data, and the survey results show that companies are evolving their security to keep pace. The increasing use of strategic, risk-based frameworks is a huge step forward in protecting these organizations’ most critical assets.”

“This report is powerful information for anyone guiding cybersecurity decisions today,” Chang said. “And it’s a good example of the kind of interdisciplinary focus the Deason Institute brings to the table.”

Chang joined SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering in September 2013 with the goal of creating a cybersecurity program that takes an interdisciplinary approach to what is frequently perceived as a strictly technical issue. The Deason Institute, launched in January 2014, provides SMU and the Lyle School with the critical resources to advance that goal. Chang’s career spans service in the private sector and in government, including as the former Director of Research at the National Security Agency.

The research team for this study also included Deason Institute Principal Investigator Tyler Moore and Scott Dynes, a visiting scholar at the Institute. Moore’s research focuses on the economics of information security, the study of electronic crime and the development of policy for strengthening security. Dynes’ research addresses how firms identify and manage cyber risks at the firm and sector levels, and he is well published on topics related to incentives for firms to invest in information security, as well as the economic consequences of information security failures.

Interviews with the 40 executives cited in the survey were conducted in person or by phone with one or two researchers, and lasted from 30 minutes to an hour. The interviews were semi-structured in that researchers worked from a list of common questions in every interview, but allowed the answers to those questions to serve as a launching point for follow-ups. Of the participants, 33 represented U.S. organizations and the remaining seven were international.

Interview questions included:

What methods and inputs do you use to prioritize cyber investment?
Do you feel you have adequate information in managing overall cyber risk?
Is your management supportive? Do you have sufficient budget?
What factors are driving cybersecurity investment at your firm?
How do you decide among offerings in the marketplace?

A key study finding was the central role that frameworks now play in defining how executives perceive risk, and how much money they are willing to spend to mitigate that risk. “Using these frameworks provides a platform for CISOs to make an understandable, compelling case for specific cybersecurity products and operations,” Moore said. Or as one interviewed executive put it, “Security has to be able to have a basis to argue its point of view in a compelling story with some thought behind it, rather than ‘I want to get these things because it’s the next cool security thing that’s out there.’”

Worth noting, Moore added, is that the lack of qualified, available cybersecurity professionals creates its own set of problems. “In some cases, CISOs say their senior management wants to fund cybersecurity measures more quickly than they can staff them,” Moore said. “In other cases, senior management is hesitant to fully fund proposed cybersecurity projects because they fear the CISO doesn’t have the personnel available to implement them.”

The interviews were conducted between February and October 2015 and participants were assured anonymity for themselves and their firms. The authors note that the advantage of the semi-structured interview methodology is that it enables the researcher to glean detailed contextual information that would not be possible under a more structured interview scenario. The disadvantage, they note, is that the contextual findings do not generalize to the profession as a whole.

The findings described in the report, Identifying How Firms Manage Cybersecurity Investment, are not to be construed as an endorsement of any person, product or company by the Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security at SMU. Note that the respondent opinions presented in the report do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the study authors or the study sponsor, IBM. The study’s objective is to relay as accurately as possible the statements of the interview subjects.

Read an independent analysis based on the Deason Institute report by sponsor IBM Security at this link. — Kim Cobb

The mission of the Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security in SMU’s Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering is to advance the science, policy, application and education of cyber security through basic and problem-driven, interdisciplinary research. The Lyle School, founded in 1925, is one of the oldest engineering schools in the Southwest. The school offers eight undergraduate and 28 graduate programs, including masters and doctoral degrees.

SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls approximately 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools.

Tags Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security, Frederick R. Chang

Researcher news Technology

SMU’s Deason Institute for Cyber Security and Raytheon partner for strategic cyber research

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date August 24, 2015

Collaboration between university and industry leader benefits ‘anyone with a laptop or smart phone’

Raytheon Company has named Southern Methodist University (SMU) as a strategic partner in cyber research based on the company’s collaborative efforts with the Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security in SMU’s Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering. The strategic partnership includes joint research projects in cyber security, Raytheon internships for SMU students, and strategic education initiatives benefiting both SMU and Raytheon.

“We are very proud to have earned this designation,” said Fred Chang, director of the Deason Institute and the Bobby B. Lyle Endowed Centennial Distinguished Chair in Cyber Security. “The work we do together benefits SMU and Raytheon, government and industry, and ultimately anyone with a laptop or smart phone. It will also help train our students to become part of a desperately needed workforce of cyber defenders.”

”Collaboration between academic centers of excellence like SMU and industry leaders like Raytheon is a powerful engine for innovation,” said Dave Wajsgras, president of Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services. “This strategic partnership is an example of Raytheon’s commitment to growing the cyber workforce and enhancing the technology and capabilities needed to help our customers and society face the ever growing cyber threat.”

Raytheon also utilizes the Lyle School’s training for its own workforce. Fifty-nine Raytheon employees have graduated from the school’s Master of Security Engineering program since 2005 when the program began.

“The work Dr. Chang is directing through the Deason Institute taps the University’s strengths in technology, social science, policy and the law to attack perhaps the most challenging problem facing our society today: cybersecurity,” said Lyle School Dean Marc Christensen. “It’s one reason why this strategic partnership with Raytheon is so important to us.” — Kimberly Cobb

Follow SMUResearch.com on twitter at @smuresearch.

Tags Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security, Fred Chang

Researcher news Technology

SMU Lyle School’s Delores Etter named to prestigious ‘100 Inspiring Women in STEM’ list

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date August 24, 2015

INSIGHT Into Diversity Magazine cites Etter for work to increase number and diversity of young people who pursue STEM careers

Delores Etter, founding director of the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education in SMU’s Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, has been named to receive INSIGHT Into Diversity’s “100 Inspiring Women In STEM” award.

The award is presented by the magazine as a tribute to 100 women whose work and achievements not only encourage others in their individual STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields, but also inspire a new generation of young women to consider STEM careers. Read the full article, ‘100 Inspiring Women in STEM Awards,’ in the September issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity.

“Our sincerest congratulations go to Dr. Etter and Southern Methodist University on receiving this prestigious national honor,” said INSIGHT Into Diversity Publisher Lenore Pearlstein. “She is truly an inspiration to all of us who are working so diligently to make a difference in the lives of all women and other underrepresented individuals.”

Etter’s career has included teaching at the US. Naval Academy, leading large projects at the Pentagon, and now teaching and mentoring students at SMU, where she was founding director of the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education from June 2008 to May 2015. In that position, she and her team have created websites and related activities and mounted successful summer programs such as Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) camps – many targeted specifically to girls – to teach youngsters that engineering is both fun and within their grasp.

Etter a mentor to students, promoting number and diversity of students pursuing STEM
Etter remains at SMU as Caruth Professor of Engineering Education, a distinguished fellow in the Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security, and professor of electrical engineering in the Lyle School.

“Prof. Etter is extremely deserving of this prestigious award,” said Lyle School dean Marc Christensen. “During her seven years leading the Caruth Institute, she continually focused on ways to increase the number and diversity of students who graduate from U.S. high schools with both the enthusiasm and knowledge to pursue careers in STEM education.

“Here at the Lyle School, we know that a diverse mix of engineers — men, women, and people representing a variety of different cultures – are best positioned to work together in teams to solve tough problems,” Christensen said. “You can see that at work in our current student population, many of whom caught the spark for learning math and science as youngsters through programs like those Dr. Etter and her team have organized.”

SMU-Lyle is celebrating its 10th year as an engineering school where women make up more than 30 percent of incoming undergraduate students. Nationally, enrollment of women in engineering schools averages just under 20 percent.

Etter part of SMU-Lyle’s success that women make up more than 30 percent of incoming undergraduate students
“The work Dr. Etter is passionate about is key to that success story,” Christensen said, “and we are very glad that she continues her relationship with the Caruth Institute as the Caruth Professor of Engineering Education.”

Etter’s research interests include digital signal processing and biometric signal processing, with an emphasis on identification using iris recognition. She also has written a number of textbooks on computer languages and software engineering.

She is an internationally recognized leader in science and technology and engineering education. As one of the few subcabinet appointees for both the Bush and Clinton administrations, she has served as the assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition and as the deputy under secretary of defense for science and technology. In addition to her public service Etter has had a distinguished career as an academic and engineering researcher, having held the position of ONR Distinguished Chair in Science and Technology at the United States Naval Academy, and professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder and the University of New Mexico.

Etter recognized with nearly every major award given to engineering educators and researchers
Etter has been recognized with nearly every major award given to engineering educators and researchers. She was elected into the prestigious National Academy of Engineering, the highest recognition afforded an engineer in this country.

She has been awarded the Defense Department Medal for Distinguished Public Service, confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a member of the National Science Board (which governs the National Science Foundation), appointed a member of the Defense Science Board, and served as principal U.S. representative to the NATO Research and Technology Board.

Etter was a recipient of the Federal WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) Lifetime Achievement Award, the IEEE Harriet B. Rigas Award, the Charles Hutchinson Memorial Teaching Award from the University of Colorado, the IEEE Education Society Achievement Award, the IEEE Millennium Medal, and the SPIE Defense Security Lifetime Achievement Award. She also has been elected a fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education, the IEEE, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In 2009 the Department of the Navy created annual technical awards and named them the Delores M. Etter Top Engineering and Scientist Awards. — Kimberly Cobb

Follow SMUResearch.com on twitter at @smuresearch.

Tags Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, Caruth Institute for Engineering Education, Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security, Delores Etter

Culture, Society & Family Earth & Climate Energy & Matter Learning & Education Slideshows Technology

SMU’s engineering students to test new virtual reality game to practice solving hands-on infrastructure failure problems

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date April 9, 2015

Games let people experience the unknown and unfamiliar in a virtual world, and have the power to engage their users.

SMU’s engineering students will help test a new virtual reality game that will someday be rolled out to classrooms everywhere to help students design, inspect and test geotechnical — soil and rock — systems virtually.

SMU will receive $80,000 in funding as part of a larger $650,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, which was awarded to professors at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y.

Called Geo Explorer, the game places students in a virtual field-testing experience to learn how to use the instrument and interpret its results, said Usama El Shamy, associate professor, department of civil and environmental engineering, SMU Lyle School of Engineering.

“Nowadays, Students get hands-on lab experiences testing element-level samples in geotechnical engineering classes,” said El Shamy. “When it comes to field testing, they only see images of the instrument and deal with raw test data.”

The game will broaden the learning experience considerably.

“The game is intended to place the students in a virtual environment where they can perform the field test, and gather and interpret its data as they play,” he said.

“Other modules of the game will place the student in the position of an engineer inspecting the integrity of a levee after a rain storm. The student should be able to promptly report any warning signs of potential failure of the levee,” El Shamy said. “Failure to do a timely report would result in failure of the levee, or, in other words, game over.”

Mixed-reality and mobile game virtually brings students into the field with immersive learning
Geo Explorer is a mixed-reality and mobile game to virtually bring students into the field to conduct geotechnical site investigations and evaluations. It’s being developed by Rensselaer civil engineering faculty Tarek Abdoun and Victoria Bennett.

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“Geo Explorer has a tremendous potential to teach students about the deadly consequences of deteriorating infrastructure,” Bennett said. “Games let people experience the unknown and unfamiliar in a virtual world, and have the power to engage their users.”

The immersive learning from playing Geo Explorer will let students participate in geotechnical field testing, inspect levees during and after extreme storms, assess stability and make decisions about future actions related to flood-control infrastructure.

El Shamy will test the use of the game in SMU’s undergraduate geotechnical engineering classes, which are part of the Lyle School’s civil engineering program, then provide feedback on the game’s design and impact on intended learning outcomes. Preliminary testing of the game in classes will start in April.

A bridge to the lab, Geo Explorer incorporates testing actual soil samples
Geo Explorer also includes a bridge to the actual laboratory. Players will not only use mobile devices, downloading field data, receiving messages from characters and collaborating with classmates, but will test actual soil samples in the lab and can upload results to the game.

Abdoun and Bennett note that natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina illustrate the serious consequences of a deteriorating infrastructure and a public ill-equipped to respond to weather extremes.

Such challenges cannot be adequately met in the traditional classroom.

Games like Geo Explorer can address the gaps in geotechnical engineering education by providing realistic virtual experience with the unfamiliar, letting participants weigh choices and experience their consequences.

“Ultimately, Geo Explorer will be available for free and be scaled for use by students from kindergarten through high school, particularly in districts with a high percentage of minorities who are underrepresented in technical fields,” Abdoun said.

Concept opens up possibilities for developing games in other areas of science and technology
Geo Explorer is intended to educate the workforce in science, technology, engineering and math, said Rensselaer’s Shekhar Garde, dean of the School of Engineering.

“Geo Explorer has a great potential to educate students about grand challenges in infrastructure resilience, sustainability and stewardship,” Garde said. “It also opens up possibilities for developing games in other areas of science and technology for a range of applications in human health, including chemical and biological safety.”

Funds will be used to utilize the game in a geotechnical course that integrates Geo Explorer. The project builds on game modules developed by Deltares, an institute for applied research in water, subsurface and infrastructure based in the Netherlands.

Besides SMU and Rensselaer faculty, other partners include Casper Harteveld, Northeastern University; Flora McMartin, Broad-Based Knowledge; and Joseph Tront, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Manhattan College; and California State University Fullerton. — Southern Methodist University, Rensselaer Polytechnic

Follow SMUResearch.com on twitter at @smuresearch.

Tags Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, Slideshow Feature, Usama El Shamy

Culture, Society & Family Economics & Statistics Researcher news SMU In The News Student researchers Technology

CoinDesk: Research — Over $11 Million Lost in Bitcoin Scams Since 2011

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date January 30, 2015

The researchers painstakingly read forum threads post by post, even translating messages written in languages other than English.

With the cryptocurrency Bitcoin increasingly popular for digital transactions, the digital currency news site CoinDesk covered the research of SMU Bitcoin experts Marie Vasek, lead researcher on the study, and Tyler W. Moore, both in SMU’s Computer Science and Engineering Department in the Lyle School of Engineering.

The study by Vasek and Moore, “There’s no free lunch, even using bitcoin: Tracking the popularity and profits of virtual currency scams,” found that fraudulent schemes have scammed at least $11 million in Bitcoin deposits from unsuspecting cyber customers over the past four years.

Bitcoin is the digital world’s most popular virtual currency, with millions in circulation.

The study is the first empirical study of its kind. Vasek and Moore found that hucksters used four different types of schemes through authentic-looking web-based investment and banking outlets to lure customers and heist deposits.

Vasek explained to CoinDesk journalist Joon Ian Wong how the researchers extracted Bitcoin addresses linked to the frauds, enabling them to look at transactions from victims to fraudsters recorded on the transaction addresses.

The CoinDesk article, Research: Over $11 Million Lost in Bitcoin Scams Since 2011, published Jan. 29, 2015.

Read the full story.

EXCERPT:

By Joon Ian Wong
CoinDesk
Scams promising bitcoin riches have netted swindlers at least $11m in the last four years, researchers have found.

Some 13,000 victims handed over their money unwittingly in 42 different scams over that time period, their data suggests.

However, the total amount of funds cheated from victims over this period is almost certainly higher than the estimated $11m the research identified.

A co-author of the research, Marie Vasek, said:

“There are a lot of scams that we couldn’t measure at all. There were scams we couldn’t find or verify … We think presenting our findings as they are, a lower bound, makes a lot of room for us and others to further quantify scams in this space.”

Vasek, who researches computer security at Southern Methodist University, co-wrote the paper with Tyler Moore, an assistant professor in computer science at the same institution.

Painstaking search
The paper, titled There’s No Free Lunch, Even Using Bitcoin: Tracking the Popularity and Profits of Virtual Currency Scams, has been presented at the Financial Cryptography and Data Security conference taking place in Puerto Rico this week.

Vasek and Moore combed online repositories of scam accusations, including a mega-thread of scams, hacks and heists on the Bitcointalk forum that has been maintained since 2012, as well as the subreddit r/bitcoin, BadBitcoin.org and CryptoHYIPs.com.

This process required the researchers to painstakingly go through forum threads post by post, even translating messages that were written in languages other then English, as well as visiting the websites that scammers created to publicise themselves.

“We went through every single post to determine if the scheme was a scam, any associated bitcoin addresses with the scheme, and any associated scams,” Vasek said.

Using this method they found 349 scams, which were then whittled down to 192 deceptions after excluding phishing, malware and pay-for-click websites, which fall outside the scope of the study.

Read the full story.

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Tags Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, Marie Vasek, SMU Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Tyler W. Moore

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$2.5 million awarded to Retina Foundation and SMU Lyle to study macular degeneration

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date January 29, 2015

Research partners in collaborative venture will help rapidly prototype new diagnostic and clinical treatment approaches

An example of the impaired vision of a person suffering with macular degeneration. — Vision impaired by age-related macular degeneration, a progressive, degenerative disease of the retina and the most common cause of vision loss for people over 50.

The Retina Foundation of the Southwest and SMU’s Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering will collaborate to create the Clinical Center of Innovation for Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

Supported by a $2.5 million grant award from the W. W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation at Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT), the center will be housed at the Retina Foundation in Dallas.

The new collaborative venture will help to rapidly prototype new diagnostic and clinical treatment approaches, focusing on the specific needs of patients who are losing their vision to age-related macular degeneration.

Physician Karl Csaky, Chief Medical Director and T. Boone Pickens Senior Scientist at the Retina Foundation of the Southwest, will lead the joint venture, along with Marc Christensen, Dean of SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering.

Age-related macular degeneration is a progressive, degenerative disease of the retina and is the most common cause of vision loss for individuals 50 years and older. Currently, there are 18 million Americans who have some form of age-related macular degeneration.

Pictured, left to right, Marc Christensen, Dean, Lyle School, SMU; Monica Egert Smith, Community Philanthropy Director, W.W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation; Brent Christopher, President and CEO, Communities Foundation; and Karl Csaky, Chief Medical Officer, Retina Foundation.

It is projected that the population over the age of 60 will double by the year 2030, which will dramatically increase the number of individuals affected by this disease. At present there are few effective treatments for the majority of patients who suffer from age-related macular degeneration.

“I am extremely thankful to the Caruth Foundation for providing their generous support for a unique approach to help patients with age-related macular degeneration,” said Dr. Csaky. “This one of a kind initiative will focus on leveraging the strengths of two preeminent Dallas institutions.”

This $2.5 million award from the W. W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation at CFT recognizes the great need to develop an innovative approach to medical research for age-related macular degeneration, adapting new technologies and treatments that directly correlate to the patients’ disease state. “This type of unique partnership between a top engineering school and a clinical research organization has the potential to be replicated in other areas of medicine as well,” said Brent Christopher, President and CEO of Communities Foundation of Texas. “This model of pairing disparate disciplines to tackle challenging medical issues is the transformational approach Will Caruth would have championed.”

Since 1982, the Retina Foundation of the Southwest has been on the leading edge of basic research to better understand age-related macular degeneration and how it works to destroy central vision, which is necessary for reading, writing and driving. The Foundation also works closely with patients in a clinical setting to better understand the vision loss they are experiencing over time.

SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering is dedicated to the role of innovation in finding solutions to real-world problems and has a dedicated space for those pursuits – the Deason Innovation Gymnasium. The Lyle School will help to accelerate the clinical application of technologies.

“We are grateful for this opportunity to collaborate with Retina Foundation doctors to help develop and prototype treatments tailored to patient needs,” said Christensen. “For example, we’ll be in a position to tackle problems such as the delivery of medication to the retina through polymer chemistry and mechanical engineering. Engineering and medicine can partner in astounding ways, and we are excited to see how our framework for fostering innovation accelerates solutions to medical challenges.”

The opportunity presented by the W. W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation at CFT to collaborate with the Retina Foundation of the Southwest supports SMU and the Lyle School in the University’s commitment to increased research being advanced by the Second Century Campaign. — Kim Cobb

Click here and scroll down for information about the collaborative entities.

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Culture, Society & Family Economics & Statistics Student researchers Technology

Bitcoin scams steal at least $11 million in virtual deposits from unsuspecting customers

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date January 27, 2015

First empirical study of its kind identifies fraud on seemingly legitimate web sites purposely designed to steal customers’ funds

Fraudulent schemes have scammed at least $11 million in Bitcoin deposits from unsuspecting cyber customers over the past four years, according to new cyber security research from Southern Methodist University, Dallas.

Bitcoin is the digital world’s most popular virtual currency, with millions in circulation.

In the first empirical study of its kind, SMU researchers found that hucksters used four different types of schemes through authentic-looking web-based investment and banking outlets to lure customers and heist deposits, said computer security expert Marie Vasek, lead researcher on the study.

“Our calculation of $11 million is almost certainly at the low-end,” said Vasek. “The amount of Bitcoin that depositors have lost to these scams is probably many millions more.”

Typically the scams succeed by exploiting not only people’s greed, but also the urge to “get rich quick,” coupled with the inability to judge the legitimacy of web services to decide which financial sites are good or bad, said Bitcoin and cyber security expert Tyler W. Moore, co-researcher on the study.

“Because the complete history of Bitcoin transactions are made public, we have been able to inspect, for the first time, the money flowing in and out of fraudulent schemes in great detail. It’s like having access to all of Bernie Madoff’s books for many of these scams,” said Moore, director of the Economics and Social Sciences program of the Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security in SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering.

13,000 victims and counting in four different kinds of scams
The researchers identified 41 scams occurring between 2011 and 2014, in which fraudulent sites stole Bitcoin from at least 13,000 victims, and most certainly more.

“We found that the most successful scams draw the vast majority of their revenue from a few victims,” Vasek said.

The researchers were only able to track revenues for about 21 percent of the scams, which would indicate that the amount of Bitcoin actually stolen most likely far exceeds $11 million.

The findings emerged when the researchers ran a Structured Query Language database dump of all relevant Bitcoin transactions, then analyzed Bitcoin addresses (the account numbers) of both victims and the siphoning transactions of scammers.

The researchers presented the findings, “There’s no free lunch, even using bitcoin: Tracking the popularity and profits of virtual currency scams,” at the 2015 19th International Financial Cryptography and Data Security Conference, Jan. 26-30, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Vasek is a graduate student in the Lyle School’s Computer Science and Engineering Department. Moore is assistant professor in the Lyle School’s Computer Science and Engineering Department.

“The amount of fraud being attracted by Bitcoin is a testament to the fact the virtual currency is gaining in legitimacy,” said Moore. “But scams that successfully hijack funds from depositors may end up scaring away consumers who will fear using Bitcoin for their legitimate digital transactions.”

There are 13.7 million Bitcoin in circulation, according to blockchain.info. The number of Bitcoin transactions exceeds 100,000 per day.

The research was partially funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate, Cyber Security Division, and the Government of Australia and SPAWAR Systems Center Pacific.

Four scams, each with varying lifespans, strategies and success
Vasek and Moore identified four common scams by tracking forum discussions, where scams are often initially advertised and later exposed, and by tracking web sites.

High-yield investment programs, otherwise known as online Ponzi schemes, which promise investors outlandish interest rates on deposits. The scammers lure both unsuspecting victims as well as those fully aware it’s a Ponzi scheme who hope to cash out in time. Of all the scams, this type has taken in the lion’s share of money from victims. The biggest of these scammers was Bitcoin Savings & Trust, formerly First Pirate Savings & Trust. When such schemes collapse, as they eventually do, and often within about 37 days, they’re replaced with a new program, often run by the same criminals, say the researchers. These scammers consistently pay out to their investors far less than they take in.

Mining investment scams are classic advanced-fee fraud, taking orders and money from customers but never delivering any mining equipment — specialized computer processors and electronic devices for mining Bitcoin. These retailers typically endure for 145 days, much longer than Ponzi schemes. Vasek and Moore looked at Labcoin, Active Mining Corp., AsicMiningEuipment.com and Dragon-Miner.com.

Victims make deposits into scam wallets under the promise the service offers greater transaction anonymity. If the deposit is small, scammers leave the money, but if it rises above a threshold, scammers move the money into their wallet. Services such as Onion Wallet, Easy Coin and Bitcoinwallet.in each surfaced with transfers from victims siphoned to one address held by a scammer.

Exchange scams, such as BTC Promo, CoinOpend and Ubitex, offer PayPal and credit card processing, but at a better exchange rate than competitors. Customers soon find out, however, they never get Bitcoin or cash after making payment. Longer-lived exchange scams survived about three months. Wallet and exchange scams exploit the difficulty in judging the legitimacy of web services.

The study is not a comprehensive review, the researchers note, as they were limited to those scams for which they could determine a minimum estimate of the prevalence and criminal profits of the scams after analyzing the public ledger of all Bitcoin transactions ever executed.

The researchers conservatively estimate that $11 million has been taken by scams, while only $4 million has ever been returned. Most of the successful scams catch a few “big fish,” say the researchers, who pay the bulk of the money into the scam.

“Bitcoin scams pose a problem for more than the victims who directly lose money,” Moore said. “They threaten to undermine trust in this promising technology, and cast a chilling effect on those interested in trying out new services. By mining the public record for fraudulent transactions, we hope to deter would-be scammers and assist law enforcement in cracking down on the bad actors.” — Margaret Allen

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Tags Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, Marie Vasek, SMU Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Tyler W. Moore

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KERA: Bitcoin — Behind The Cryptocurrency Curtain

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date November 18, 2014

“It’s like any other digital commodity in that it finds its value in the people who use it…” — Tyler Moore

KERA Public Radio journalist Justin Martin tapped the expertise of SMU Bitcoin and cybersecurity expert Tyler W. Moore, an assistant professor of computer science in the Lyle School of Engineering.

An expert on the digital currency Bitcoin, Moore’s expertise draws in part on his research surrounding Bitcoin, the exchanges that trade in the currency and patterns of online usage. One of Moore’s studies found that online money exchanges that trade hard currency for the rapidly emerging cyber money have a 45 percent chance of failing — often taking their customers’ money with them.

The finding is from a computer science study in which Moore applied survival analysis to examine the factors that prompt Bitcoin currency exchanges to close.

KERA’s interview with Moore, “Bitcoin: Behind The Cryptocurrency Curtain,” was published online Nov. 17.

Listen to the interview.

EXCERPT:

By Justin Martin
KERA
Fans of bitcoin tout the digital currency as secure, anonymous and efficient. But wildly fluctuating exchange rates and charges recently in an alleged bitcoin Ponzi scheme in North Texas have put a spotlight on bitcoin’s risks.

Tyler Moore is an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at Southern Methodist University and he joins KERA’s Justin Martin for a conversation on bitcoin.

Interview Highlights: Tyler Moore …

… On bitcoin and cryptocurrency:

“Bitcoin is a currency just like dollars or euros or pounds, but it’s completely digital so there’s no paper equivalent. To do that, you need to have some rules in place so that people can’t willy-nilly copy the bits and steal each other’s bitcoins – so that’s where the crypto comes in – you have some cryptography to protect against double spending and sort of enforce the rules of the system.”

… On how to acquire bitcoin:

“So there’s two main ways – the more esoteric way is to mine bitcoins, but if you’re new to bitcoin the most common way is to go to a currency exchange, just like you would when you enter a new country, go the airport, go to the exchange, and provide your dollars and get whatever currency you’d like. You can get to an online currency exchange and pay your dollars and whatever the current market rate is they’ll give you the equivalent in bitcoin.”

… On bitcoin’s value:

“It’s like any other digital commodity in that it finds its value in the people who use it. Which is one reason we see these huge fluctuations in that there can be wildly differing demands for the currency at a given time.”

Listen to the interview.

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SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

Tags Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, Tyler W. Moore

Culture, Society & Family Economics & Statistics Researcher news SMU In The News

Dallas Morning News: Until bitcoin has oversight, it’s a volatile uncertainty

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date March 18, 2014

“The bitcoin ecosystem is in need of regulatory oversight and reform.” — bitcoin expert Tyler Moore, SMU assistant professor

Journalist Will Deener with The Dallas Morning News tapped the expertise of SMU Bitcoin and cybersecurity expert Tyler W. Moore, an assistant professor of computer science in the Lyle School of Engineering.

Moore’s expertise draws in part on his research that found that online money exchanges that trade hard currency for the rapidly emerging cyber money known as Bitcoin have a 45 percent chance of failing — often taking their customers’ money with them.

The finding is from a computer science study in which Moore applied survival analysis to examine the factors that prompt Bitcoin currency exchanges to close.

Moore is an expert in security economics, cyber security, cyber crime and critical infrastructure protection. His most recent research studies are The Ghosts of Banking Past: Empirical Analysis of Closed Bank Websites and Empirical Analysis of Denial-of-Service Attacks in the Bitcoin Ecosystem.

The papers were presented earlier in March at the co-located conferences, 18th International Annual Financial Cryptography and Data Security Conference and the 1st Workshop on Bitcoin Research.

Bitcoin writer Garrick Hileman also covers Moore’s research at the conference in “Pirate Treasure Resurfaces at Bitcoin’s First Academic Workshop” on the digital currency news blog CoinDesk.

Read the full story.

EXCERPT:

By Will Deener
Dallas Morning News
Bitcoin was a dream come true for computer geeks, libertarians and big government paranoids.

Just imagine a digital currency untethered from government regulators, existing only in the virtual world of computer code and cheaper to use than credit cards.

But the recent collapse of a leading bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox, has raised concerns about the legitimacy of this virtual currency.

A $470 million digital heist last month at the Tokyo-based exchange pushed the company into bankruptcy and left many bitcoin investors empty-handed with little recourse.

Mt. Gox chief executive Mark Karpeles offered some hollow condolences during a late February press conference in Tokyo. He basically said, oops, there was a bug in the bitcoin software, which allowed thieves to hack their way into the system and fraudulently withdraw bit coin.

And to think this was supposedly the precursor to a digital Utopia.

Investors in traditional currencies — U.S. dollar, Japanese yen or Swiss franc — need a cast iron stomach, a savvy trading strategy and a fat wallet because big losses are inevitable.

Breaking news in these markets is like waving a biscuit at a mad dog. It comes fast, and it ain’t pretty.

But at least sovereign governments and regulatory authorities stand behind and monitor traditional currencies. While Bitcoin’s exchange rate is even more volatile than traditional currencies, there is no oversight from the FDIC, Federal Reserve or U.S. Treasury.

Tyler Moore, an SMU assistant professor in computer science and engineering, said he doesn’t believe the Mt. Gox fiasco will spell the demise of bitcoin, but regulatory safeguards are needed. Moore co-authored a research report last year in which he examined the risks of investing in bit coin.

“The bitcoin ecosystem is in need of regulatory oversight and reform,” he wrote in an email response to my questions. “Bitcoin currency exchanges act like de facto banks. Many customers leave the bitcoins in accounts at the exchanges, but there are no capital requirements as there are for traditional banks.”

Read the full story.

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SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

Tags Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, Tyler W. Moore

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USA Today: Bitcoin tumbles after China crackdown

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date December 19, 2013

“The currency that is supposedly beyond state control is actually still within the grip of governments …” — Tyler Moore

Journalists Alistair Barr and Kim Hjelmgaard with USA Today tapped the expertise of SMU Bitcoin and cybersecurity expert Tyler W. Moore, an assistant professor of computer science in the Lyle School of Engineering.

The finding is from a computer science study in which Moore applied survival analysis to examine the factors that prompt Bitcoin currency exchanges to close.

Moore carried out the research with Nicolas Christin, with the Information Networking Institute and Carnegie Mellon CyLab at Carnegie Mellon University.

USA Today’s coverage, “Bitcoin tumbles after China crackdown,” was published online Dec. 18.

Read the full story.

EXCERPT:

By Alistair Barr
and Kim Hjelmgaard
USA Today
Bitcoin was supposed to be beyond the reach of governments, but investors in the virtual currency are realizing that is not the case.

The price of a Bitcoin slumped Wednesday after China’s largest exchange for the virtual currency said it would stop accepting deposits in yuan — China’s local currency.

The much-ballyhooed Bitcoin currency has lost more than half its value since hitting records above $1,100 at the end of November. On Wednesday, the price of a Bitcoin fell 18% to $558 and traded as low as $422.50 earlier in the day, according to an index run by CoinDesk, a website focused on digital currencies.

The exchange, BTC China, had to “temporarily stop its yuan account recharging functions,” according to comments it made on Weibo, a popular Chinese micro-blogging service similar to Twitter.

“Bitcoin is inherently volatile, but the decision by this large exchange has played a role,” said Tyler Moore, a Southern Methodist University assistant professor in computer science who has studied Bitcoin. “Stopping new deposits prevents new Chinese investors from piling more yuan into Bitcoin, eliminating some of the demand.”

Bitcoin is a digital currency and payment method that is not regulated by any government. Instead, software controls how many Bitcoins are produced, leaving it less prone to the whims of central banks, some of which have caused inflation in the past by printing too much paper currency.

The Bitcoin software first emerged in 2009 via a person or group using the name Satoshi Nakamoto. Since then, many other developers have jumped on board to support the currency and make it more accessible to consumers and investors.

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Money News: In Search of ‘Perfect Money’ — Hackers Switch to New Digital Currency

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date August 9, 2013

The financial news web site MoneyNews published a Reuters article that covers the Bitcoin research of SMU cybersecurity expert Tyler W. Moore, an assistant professor of computer science in the Lyle School of Engineering.

Moore’s research found that online exchanges that trade hard currency for the rapidly emerging cyber money known as Bitcoin have a 45 percent chance of failing — often taking their customers’ money with them.

The finding is from a new computer science study that applied survival analysis to examine the factors that prompt Bitcoin currency exchanges to close.

Moore carried out the research with Nicolas Christin, with the Information Networking Institute and Carnegie Mellon CyLab at Carnegie Mellon University.

Reuters’s coverage, “In Search of ‘Perfect Money’: Hackers Switch to New Digital Currency,” was published online Aug. 9.

Read the full story.

EXCERPT:

Reuters
Money News
Three months after a team of international law enforcement officials raided the digital currency firm Liberty Reserve, cyber experts say criminals are increasingly turning to another online currency called Perfect Money.
Idan Aharoni, the head of cyber intelligence at EMC Corp.’s RSA security division, said that some online scam artists and thieves are using Perfect Money’s digital currency to launder money and conceal profits in much the same way they allegedly did with Liberty Reserve’s currency.

On behalf of their clients, which include major financial institutions, Aharoni and his team monitor Internet forums that hackers use to sell stolen credit card information. After Liberty Reserve was taken down in May, activity on these forums initially slowed and then picked up again, with some hackers saying they would accept Perfect Money for payments, he said.

“We expected a large migration to another e-currency, and that has happened,” said Aharoni, whose RSA unit sells security services to 30,000 corporations and government agencies, including the popular Secure ID tokens that protect access to computer systems.

Perfect Money, which has been in operation since at least 2007, could not be reached for comment. A request submitted through its website failed to elicit a response, and the company does not list a phone number for its offices or identify any management or employees. [ … ]

[ … ] A Reuters review of postings on Internet message boards for digital currencies found hackers offering to sell stolen credit cards are open about accepting Perfect Money as payment.

“If it was expected at first that the Liberty Reserve takedown would have a long-lasting, substantial effect on the level of fraud, that’s not true,” Aharoni said.

Tyler Moore, an assistant professor at Southern Methodist University, said a 2011 study he conducted with two other academics found that Liberty Reserve and Perfect Money were two of the most widely accepted digital currencies for online Ponzi schemes. Of 1,000 websites that linked to Perfect Money, they found 70 percent that were Ponzi schemes.

“Perfect Money seems to be a very popular choice among this subculture,” Moore said.

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Business Insider: Bitcoin Is Sacrificing Its Soul To Survive

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date June 4, 2013

Technology reporter Matt Twomey with Business Insider covered the Bitcoin research of SMU cybersecurity expert Tyler W. Moore, an assistant professor of computer science in the Lyle School of Engineering.

The finding is from a new computer science study that applied survival analysis to examine the factors that prompt Bitcoin currency exchanges to close.

Moore carried out the research with Nicolas Christin, with the Information Networking Institute and Carnegie Mellon CyLab at Carnegie Mellon University.

Twomey’s coverage, “Bitcoin Is Sacrificing Its Soul To Survive,” was published online June 2.

Read the full story.

EXCERPT:

Matt Twomey
Business Insider
It’s been a wild couple months for digital currencies. This past week saw the bust of Liberty Reserve for its alleged role in billions of dollars of illicit transactions, and two days later the largest bitcoin exchange said it would now require all accounts to be verified.

For the digital currency to survive, must it sacrifice its soul? Can it thrive if it does?

To be sure, there are important differences between bitcoin and Liberty Reserve. Where Liberty was effectively a black box for transactions, controlled by a single entity, bitcoins are traded on a peer-to-peer network independent of any central authority. (Bitcoin did have its own law-enforcement episode on May 17, when the Department of Homeland Security froze the accounts of two U.S.-based bitcoin processors. The alleged misdeed: failing to properly register.)

In the Liberty Reserve case, the illegalities were brash, according to U.S. officials. One million users across the world—one-fifth of them Americans—made 55 million transactions over seven years to the tune of $6 billion, with few questions asked while Costa Rica-based Liberty collected 1 percent, investigators said. The network is thought to have been employed in the $45 million ATM heist for which eight people were arrested in May.

Chicago-based investment fraud attorney Andrew Stoltmann said bitcoin holders should be spooked, because the digital exchanges have been used by criminals for money laundering as well.

But Peter Vessenes, chairman and executive director of the Bitcoin Foundation, was unfazed by the Liberty Reserve crackdown.

“The U.S. put out guidance recently through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and we’ve been following up on that guidance and crushing bad actors,” he said in an interview with CNBC Asia. “We’re seeing a bit of a sweep right now,” he said.

“There’s nothing to indicate that good players who are working hard to stay regulated have anything to worry about.”

And there’s the rub: The techno-libertarian fantasy of an unfettered digital currency is losing its veil of anonymity and is dependent upon ensuring the appeasement of government regulators. It’s enough to make a cryptotarian anarchist blanch.

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SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

Tags Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, Tyler W. Moore

Learning & Education Researcher news Student researchers

Center for Creative Leadership to study innovative learning method of SMU Lyle School

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date March 19, 2013

Interdisciplinary approach teaches soft skills like cooperation and communication across disciplines and genders

The Innovation Gym in SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering was buzzing and clanking on a recent morning as students tested robots they built for a specific task — collecting and remediating water samples. Lyle faculty and students have been doing the water work by hand in refugee camps in Africa and Bangladesh.

The strong work dynamic that emerged among members of the first-year design class and their embrace of the inter-disciplinary team approach used to teach it has drawn the attention of the Center For Creative Leadership, which will send a team of researchers to SMU Lyle in fall 2013 to study the student techniques.

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What the team gleans from observing the SMU course could foster new tools and processes that can benefit organizations and educational institutions around the country.

“I had a chance to visit the Lyle School in February and see first-hand the innovative structure of the first-year design course,” said Kristin Cullen, faculty researcher with CCL’s Research, Innovation and Product Development Group. “Using student teams – really cross-functional teams – and having them work on a very intense project really does mirror the type of environment students will be in when they leave college and enter the workplace.”

“They are using what we would call agile work processes.” Cullen said. “We’re very interested in working with the Lyle School to learn about the relationships and the networks these students develop over the course of their project to learn what makes them successful as a team and as individuals in the course. The plan moving forward is to share what we find with other universities.”

Cullen expects that her team will provide feedback to the students and teachers throughout the fall, but says they will also return at the end of the semester to show the SMU Lyle students what they have learned from observing them.

“This kind of experience is as much about teaching soft skills like cooperation and communication across disciplines and genders as it is about engineering,” said Andrew Quicksall, the Lyle School’s J. Lindsay Embrey Assistant Professor. The robotics assignment that the first-year design students have been working on this academic year is based on the remediation work Quicksall and Lyle graduate students have been doing in refugee camps where ongoing water quality issues are posing health problems.

The Lyle School’s Hart Center for Engineering Leadership began a partnership in 2011 with CCL, a global nonprofit education and research organization, to bring leadership development to all Lyle students. One of CCL’s goals in the partnership is to prepare students to work in volatile and fast-changing work environments, said Preston Yarborough, CCL project manager at the Lyle School. “Success in today’s workplace requires an astute understanding of the informal networks that really drive how organizations work,” Yarborough said.

Teaching the first-year design course is a team experience, too – tapping the skills of Quicksall, an environmental engineer; Mark Fontenot, a Lyle computer science lecturer; Kate Canales, director of design and innovation programs at Lyle; Adam Cohen, visiting assistant clinical professor in mechanical engineering, Joseph Cleveland, visiting lecturer in electrical engineering, and CCL’s Yarborough.

The Introduction to Engineering Design class is the first of its kind at SMU – a “Ways of Knowing” course designed to cut across disciplines to explore how natural scientists, social scientists, humanists, artists, engineers and professionals in business and education go about addressing important issues. Under the new University Curriculum, all undergraduates who enter SMU in the 2012-1013 academic year and thereafter will be required to complete one “Ways of Knowing” class taught collaboratively by faculty members from different disciplines and organized around a major topic or question.

As highlighted in CCL’s 2011 Annual Report, understanding team networks is a “big idea” that the organization sees impacting leadership in the 21st century. The CCL team’s research at SMU’s Lyle School is being funded by an Alfred J. Marrow New Directions in Leadership Series grant supported by Naomi and Paul Marrow. — Kimberly Cobb

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Tags Adam Cohen, Andrew Quicksall, Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, Joseph Cleveland, Kate Canales, Mark Fontenot, Preston Yarborough

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SMU-North Texas Food Bank study will analyze causes of hunger in Dallas and rural North Texas

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date November 6, 2012

SMU with The Hunger Center of North Texas will look at the impact of social networks and social capital

Economics researchers at SMU will analyze the roles social networks and isolation play in fighting hunger in North Texas.

Recent studies have found that household economic resources are not the only factor contributing to food insecurity, according to SMU economist Thomas B. Fomby.

About 1 in 6 U.S. households are affected by food insecurity, meaning there’s not enough food at all times to sustain active, healthy lives for all family members, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“This study will analyze the role of other factors causing food insecurity, such as urban or rural settings, access to nutrition assistance programs, access to inexpensive groceries, family support and social stigma,” Fomby said.

Fomby, professor of economics and director of the Richard B. Johnson Center for Economic Studies, and Daniel Millimet, SMU professor of economics, are conducting the study. A $120,000 grant from the North Texas Food Bank is funding the research. The study will be complete in March 2014.

Household income a powerful predictor, but social networks play role
Although household income is the single most powerful predictor of food security, poverty and hunger are not synonymous. According to Feeding America, 28 percent of food insecure residents in Dallas County are ineligible for most nutrition assistance programs because they have incomes above 185 percent of the federal poverty level; and the U. S. Department of Agriculture reports that 58.9 percent of U.S. households with incomes below the poverty level are food secure. The reasons for this are not well understood.

“With this research, we expect to better understand the causes of food insecurity in North Texas and improve the assessment of at-risk households,” Fomby said.

The SMU study is one of two major research projects launching The Hunger Center of North Texas, a new collaborative research initiative created by the North Texas Food Bank. The University of North Texas is also collaborating on a study.

The studies will focus on the impact that “social networks” and “social capital” have on household food security. The central questions are:

How do social relationships and community conditions make it easier (or harder) for low-income households to keep healthy food on the table?
How do these social and community influences differ in the City of Dallas and rural areas of North Texas?

Groundbreaking research may help leverage social forces to reduce food assistance
“We believe that this research will be groundbreaking,” said Richard Amory, director of research for the North Texas Food Bank. “Nutrition assistance programs tend to approach individuals and households in isolation. Understanding the role that communities play in food security may help us leverage social forces to develop more effective programs and, ultimately, reduce the need for food assistance.”

The studies will start to shed some light on issues related to hunger in the community, said Kimberly Aaron, vice president of Policy, Programs and Research for the North Texas Food Bank.

“In performing our due diligence on existing research, while forming The Hunger Center, it became clear that many factors related to food insecurity are not well understood,” Aaron said.

SMU and the North Texas Food Bank recently formed a partnership, “Stampede Against Hunger,” to build on SMU’s strong support for NTFB, connecting campus groups already working with the food bank, as well as encouraging new types of participation for the campus and alumni community.

SMU support for the food bank has ranged from traditional food drives and volunteer work in the NTFB distribution center, to research for the food bank conducted by students in the Cox School of Business and the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering. Faculty and students from the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development volunteer regularly in NTFB nutrition courses and Fondren Library staff organize a “Food for Fines” drive each year, waiving library fines in exchange for donations of non-perishable food items.

Fomby and Millimet are in the SMU Department of Economics in Dedman College. — Nancy George, and the NTFB

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For more SMU research see www.smuresearch.com.

Tags Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, Cox School of Business, Daniel L. Millimet, Dedman College, Fondren Library, Richard B. Johnson Center for Economic Studies, SMU Department of Economics, Thomas B. Fomby

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