Building Research Excellence
Florida International University's (FIU's) CREST, the Center of Emerging Technologies for Advanced Information Processing and High-Confidence Systems (ETECH CREST) is housed in its School of Computing and Information Sciences and its Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Four major research thrusts are being pursued. Together they create a multidisciplinary research and education environment whose objectives are intertwined and where research efforts are brought together in synergy with key academic and industry partners, creating intellectual merit. The thrusts are mutually supportive, providing one another with strong impetus for cohesiveness and potential for new research findings and educational breakthroughs.
The High-Confidence Reactive Software Systems thrust seeks to advance the state of the art of building high confidence reactive software systems by developing efficient and scalable methods for modeling, specifying, analyzing, and implementing such systems. Systems being used as test beds include the Communication Virtual Machine, a new user-centric approach for conceiving, generating, and delivering communication applications on-demand. Our research expertise on software modeling and development has also helped researchers in enhancing a job scheduling software for flexible manufacturing systems at University of Wisconsin at Madison (through a CREST - SBIRIIa award) and in adapting simulation software to enable new energy research at FIU's Applied Research Center and Georgia Tech (through a CREST supplemental award).
The Multidimensional-Multimodal Data Modeling and Query Research thrust focuses on the intelligent use of databases for data mining, modeling, and analysis through effective queries. The querying support process is to yield efficient access over multidimensional multimedia data sets and to effectively address the issues of interpretation and visualization of such complex data sets. This work is enhancing the collaborative capabilities of our TerraFly Web-based data dissemination testbed. TerraFly allows its users to "fly over" and manipulate geospatial data. The system, available at http://TerraFly.fiu.edu, contains textual, remotely-sensed and vector data (graphical maps), which can be viewed and manipulated via applets using any standard Internet browser. Textual data is available for the description and location of specific areas of interest. TerraFly's graphical user interface and portability make remotely sensed data available to both casual and expert users. The TerraFly project was recently covered by worldwide press, including NPR and FOX TV News.
The Assistive Technology Research thrust is based on the design and development of real-time assistive systems that focus on Visual Impairments and Blindness, and Motor Disability, which are achieved through integration of highly dependable and sophisticated real-time software and databases to hardware designs. These developments include: (1) stable eye-gaze tracking system through software-compensated and embedded user profiles to assist persons with motor disabilities; (2) Human-Computer Interface (HCI) design for visually-impaired persons, where mathematical assessments are made of the visual aberrations using a wavefront analyzer and unique deconvolution mechanisms; and (3) an automated book reader for blind individuals
The Advanced Information Processing with Neuroscience Applications thrust focuses on signal and imaging techniques that have significant real-world applications, while the Neuroscience research aims to meet the impending needs for new developments in bio-signal processing and neuro-rehabilitation as the functional mapping of the brain and the causality of key brain dysfunctions are elicited. This thrust establishes an integration of multimodal technologies, exploiting and complementing the strengths of each modality, in order to create a cohesive platform providing a holistic view of the brain's structure with its functional correlations, both in its normal physiologic state and under specific pathologic conditions.
The thrusts engage a well-qualified cadre of students to perform CREST-related research. Fewer than 3% of the U.S.'s approximately 1,500 Ph.D.s graduates in computer science and engineering each year are Hispanic or African American; fewer than 20% are women. In its first-phase, the FIU CREST has graduated 37 Ph.D. students-32% have been underrepresented minorities and 38% have been women; CREST has also graduated 33 M.S. students-58% have been underrepresented minorities and 30% have been women. Additionally, the FIU CREST has been acknowledged in over 250 publications, been awarded 2 patents with another US patent application pending, leveraged $12.7M in research awards and $4M in in-kind equipment, begun a significant collaboration with IBM, established strong international partnerships, and received a $1.4M endowment from the Ware Foundation. Furthermore, the joint Neuro-Engineering program between FIU and Miami Children's Hospital, with support to two faculty lines and a postdoctoral scientist, continues to grow and brings added strength to the research capabilities of the Advanced Information Processing with Neuroscience Applications thrust
CREST has been a driving force behind institutional change and new practices at Florida International University. Our School of Computer Science had been a semi-autonomous organization, reporting to the Provost for budgetary matters and to the College of Arts and Science for academic matters. We have moved into the re-named College of Engineering and Computing and have taken on a new name ourselves-the School of Computing and Information Sciences (SCIS). The PI of the CREST project was named the Dean of this new School and now has additional power in institutionalizing the CREST activities that have led to increased interaction with industry (including the formation of the Latin American Grid described below) and of increasing our cadre of Hispanic computer science doctoral students from 3 before CREST to 23; the latter represents nearly 13% of the nation's population of such students. FIU President Modesto Maidique has written that he is "particularly pleased with the recruitment of so many underrepresented graduate students, which will only enhance FIU's diverse enrollment and the role we play as the Nation's largest doctoral-granting majority-minority university."
Recognizing the critical need for broadening the participation of minorities in computing, SCIS and IBM jointly founded the LA Grid Initiative. The initiative fosters diversity in computing by focusing on three key areas: Technical Platform Development, Research, and Hispanic Computing Talent Development. The Technical Platform Development program provides the infrastructure and computing resources necessary for the Research program, wherein IBM Scientists and FIU faculty collaborate on joint research projects involving many Hispanic students. The Hispanic Computing Talent Development program focuses on broadening the participation of Hispanics in computing by providing students with summer internships, executive mentorships, and executive lectures and round tables that provide deep insight into current technology and business issues facing the computing industry.
"IBM is investing talent, technology and resources for this initiative to make it a catalyst to build the next generation of technology talent across the U.S. and Latin America," said Pete Martinez, vice president, IBM Consulting Services. "The strong partnership... will play an important role in creating jobs, driving innovative technology into the marketplace and stimulating Florida's economy." We believe that the LA Grid Initiative will play a major role in broadening the participation of minorities in computing by involving Hispanic students in its research activities, internships and mentoring programs.
FIU's NSF Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) award, leveraged from CREST and LA Grid and one of only 20 awards made in response to 500 proposals, creates a "Global Living Laboratory for Cyber-Infrastructure Application Enablement" that facilitates collaborative research at prestigious international academic and industry research sites in Argentina, China, France, India, Japan, Mexico, and Spain. PIRE and LA Grid directly address the issues raised in the National Science Board's recent report on International Science and Engineering Partnerships. CREST students participating in PIRE are co-supervised by FIU faculty members and their international collaborators; PIRE provides training in the culture and language of their international partners' countries as well as travel to perform hands-on research in the partner's laboratories
CREST funding has enabled FIU's research programs in computing to become stronger and to expand. We are reaching a more diverse group of students than ever before and are making strong ties with industry that will help our students be competitive in the global marketplace.