Category: Workshops

by Office of Innovation and Commercialization

For several years, Michigan Tech has partnered with the State of Michigan and other stakeholders to create an entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem. Members of the community at large can participate in this process at an event on the Michigan Tech campus.

Michigan Tech hosts one of five hubs that make up the Michigan Translational and Research Commercialization (MTRAC), funded by the state’s Michigan 21st Century Jobs fund through the Michigan Strategic Fund. MTRAC-supported projects have secured more than $315 million in follow-on funding.

Join us at noon on September 10, 2021 in GLRC 202 to hear directly from the program directors of each hub to learn about program requirements and what makes for a competitive proposal. Directors will have a few appointments on a first come, first serve availability following the seminar for one-on-one meetings with prospective principal investigators.

MTRAC provides matching funds for researchers to accelerate the transfer of new technologies from universities, hospital systems, and nonprofit research centers into the commercial market. Funding is available under any of the five statewide hub programs organized around the following technology areas:

• Ag Bio Innovation Hub (managed by Michigan State University)
• Life Sciences Innovation Hub (managed by the University of Michigan)
• Advanced Transportation Innovation Hub (managed by University of Michigan)
• Advanced Materials Innovation Hub (managed by Michigan Tech)
• Advanced Computing Innovation Hub (managed by Wayne State University)

Prospective entrepreneurs will learn about moving technology from lab to market. Program objectives, goals and scope will be discussed by representatives from the five MTRAC hubs and representatives from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC).

Please RSVP to the event.

August 2-6, 2021. PinT 2021 will be offered in a virtual-format. 

Register online on the Registration Page.

Computer models and simulations play a central role in the study of complex systems in engineering, life sciences, medicine, chemistry, and physics. Utilizing modern supercomputers to run models and simulations allows for experimentation in virtual laboratories, thus saving both time and resources. Although the next generation of supercomputers will contain an unprecedented number of processors, this will not automatically increase the speed of running simulations. New mathematical algorithms are needed that can fully harness the processing potential of these new systems. Parallel-in-time methods, the subject of this workshop, are timely and necessary, as they extend existing computer models to these next generation machines by adding a new dimension of scalability. Thus, the use of parallel-in-time methods will provide dramatically faster simulations in many important areas, such as biomedical applications (e.g., heart modeling), computational fluid dynamics (e.g., aerodynamics and weather prediction), and machine learning. Computational and applied mathematics plays a foundational role in this projected advancement.

The primary focus of the proposed parallel-in-time workshop is to disseminate cutting-edge research and facilitate scientific discussions on the field of parallel time integration methods. This workshop aligns with the National Strategic Computing Initiative (NSCI) objective: “increase coherence between technology for modeling/simulation and data analytics”. The need for parallel time integration is being driven by microprocessor trends, where future speedups for computational simulations will come through using increasing numbers of cores and not through faster clock speeds. Thus as spatial parallelism techniques saturate, parallelization in the time direction offers the best avenue for leveraging next generation supercomputers with billions of processors. Regarding the mathematical treatment of parallel time integrators, one must use advanced methodologies from the theory of partial differential equations in a functional analytic setting, numerical discretization and integration, convergence analyses of iterative methods, and the development and implementation of new parallel algorithms. Thus, the workshop will bring together an interdisciplinary group of experts spanning these areas.

The 2021 EAI International Conference on Applied Cryptography in Computer and Communications (AC3 2021) takes place May 15-16, 2021.

Register for the virtual conference here.

Dr. Bo Chen, Computer Science, founding general chair of the new EAI conference, says the conference has brought together researchers, developers and practitioners from around the world who will focus on, discuss, and explore the area of applied cryptography in computer and communication systems.

Conference Topics

Conference topics include all aspects of applied cryptography, including symmetric cryptography, public-key cryptography, cryptographic protocols, cryptographic implementations, cryptographic standards and practices, as well as using cryptography to solve real-world problems.

Technical Program

The AC3 2021 technical program includes four main conference tracks at which 11 papers will be presented virtually in oral presentations.

• Track 1 – Blockchain
• Track 2 – Authentication
• Track 3 – Secure Computation
• 4 – Practical Crypto Application. Aside from the high-quality technical paper presentations, the technical program also features two keynote speeches, and one technical workshop.

Keynotes

The two keynote speeches will be delivered by Prof. Kui Ren (ACM Fellow, IEEE Fellow), Zhejiang University, China; and IEEE Fellow Prof. Robert Deng, Singapore Management University.

Workshop

A workshop, the First International Workshop on Security for Internet of Things (IOTS 2021), includes four technical papers which aim to develop cryptographic techniques for ensuring the IoT security. The conference, originally planned to be held in Xiamen China, was moved it online for the health and safety of participants.

Register to participate in the virtual conference here. Use the “Sign up for free access to the livestream” option.

European Alliance for Innovation (EAI) is an international professional community and a nonprofit organization. The goal of EAI is to empower the global ICT research and innovation community, and to promote cooperation between European and International ICT communities.

EAI Conferences span the globe with opportunities to meet, explore, and contribute to the world of ICT research. With 100+ annual events (including MobiQuitous, SecureComm, etc.), EAI is one of the world’s most prolific scientific communities.

EAI Conferences are published via Springer’s LNICST and EAI’s EUDL, and they are indexed in all leading indexing services, including EI, ISI, Scopus, CrossRef, Google Scholar, dblp, MAS, EBSCO, Microsoft Academic Search, CiteSeerX, and more.

An NSA/NSF GenCyber Cybersecurity Teacher Camp for K-12 teachers will take place at Michigan Tech the week of July 19 – 23, 2021. This residential camp is offered at no cost to all participants.

Topics include fundamental security knowledge, cyber hygiene, and other topics such as email phishing, password management, and cyber ethics. Participants will also learn how to develop lesson plans to teach cybersecurity in K-12.

Room and board are included. Each teacher participant will receive a stipend of $500 for attending and completing camp activities. Commuting is also possible. Camp activities will count for 25 State Continuing Education Clock Hours (SCECH).

Find complete details and apply here.  The application deadline is May 1, 2021.

Funding of the camp is provided jointly by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) through a grant award led by Professor Yu Cai and Tim Van Wagner, both from the College of Computing Department of Applied Computing.

Watch a video from the 2019 GenCyber Teacher Camp below.

Monday, March 22, 2021 6-7 p.m.

An exciting scholarship opportunity has been announced for Michigan Tech students who wish to pursue cybersecurity-related degrees and work for government agencies after graduation.

Two informational sessions will be presented, on March 22 and March 30, both from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. EST, to help students complete the application process for the CyberCorps: Scholarship for Service (SFS) Program.

Both sessions will provide the same information. Prior registration is required. Following, you will receive a confirmation email and instructions for joining the session.

View the blog post here: https://blogs.mtu.edu/computing/2021/02/19/info-sessions-for-cybercorps-scholarship-are-march-22-march-30/

More info about the SFS Program: https://www.mtu.edu/sfs/

Meet the VPR Sponsored Operations Team and VPR Staff

by Office of the Vice President of Research

Join VPR team members and other members of the Michigan Tech research community from noon to 1 p.m. tomorrow (Jan. 12) for presentations and discussion to help you and your team as you pursue funding for your research and other externally supported programs.

This month’s discussion will be led by Will Cantrell, associate provost and dean of the Graduate School. Cantrell will describe how researchers can work with graduate students to provide the best learning experience while achieving research goals, followed by a question and answer session.

Session attendees will also have a chance to meet the Sponsored Programs Operations Team and VPR Staff. Attendees will have the chance to ask presentation and general VPR-related questions at the end.

by Research Development

The eighth annual research day event will be held Thursday (Jan. 7). We welcome research faculty from all ranks, research staff, postdocs, and staff who support research to join, learn, and share. The theme for the day is: Research Efficiency; Knowing the right things to optimize your research strategy.

All information and sessions happening on Research Day can be accessed through the Research Day site.

Interested participants are encouraged to RSVP for sessions here.

Husky Innovate is organizing Innovation Week, a series of innovation themed events the week of January 25 to 29, 2020. Our goal is to provide opportunities for students, faculty and alumni to meet virtually to engage around the topic of innovation.

We will host panel discussions, alumni office hours and the Bob Mark Business Model Pitch Competition from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 28.

We will celebrate entrepreneurship, innovative research and projects on campus and within our extended MTU community.

If you are interested in hosting an innovation tour, participating in a panel discussion, leading a workshop or something else, sign-up here.

Faculty and staff are invited to celebrate innovation week with an innovation themed learning module or student activity.

The ICC’s Center for Human-Centered Computing invites Michigan Tech faculty, staff, students, and alumni to a keynote lecture by leading accessible design expert and research scientist Dr. Richard E. Ladner on Friday, November 13, 2020, at 1:00 p.m., via online meeting.

His talk, “Accessible K-12 Computer Science Education,” is the final event of HCC’s Husky Research Celebration, a showcase of interdisciplinary HCC research through a series of virtual lab tours, virtual mini talks, and lectures presented in a 360-degree virtual space. More details here.

Ladner is a Professor Emeritus in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington, where he has been on the faculty since 1971.

His current research is in the area of accessible computing, a subarea of human-computer interaction (HCI). Much of his current research focuses on accessible educational technology.

Ladner is principal investigator of the NSF-funded AccessComputing Alliance, which works to increase participation of students with disabilities in computing fields. He is also a PI of the NSF-funded AccessCSforAll, which is focused on preparing teachers of blind, deaf, and learning disabled children to teach their students computer science.

Lecture Title: Accessible K-12 Computer Science Education

Lecture Abstract: For the past twelve years there has been rapid growth in the teaching of computer science in K-12 with a particular focus on broadening the participation of students from underrepresented groups in computing including students with disabilities. Popular tools such as Scratch, ScratchJr, and many other block-based programming environments have brought programming concepts to millions of children around the world. Code.org’s Hour of Code has hundreds of activities with almost half using block-based environments. New computer science curricula such as Exploring Computer Science and Computer Science Principles have been implemented using inaccessible tools. In the meantime the United States has about 8 million school children with recognized disabilities which is about 16% of the K-12 student population. It is generally not the case that these students are adequately served by the current K-12 computer science education or any of the block-based programming environments.

In particular, the approximately 30,000 blind and visually impaired children are left out because only a few educational tools are screen reader accessible. In this talk we address this problem by describing two programming environments that are accessible: the Quorum Language and Blocks4All. The Quorum Language, created by Andreas Stefik, is a text-based programming language whose syntax and semantics have been created to be as usable as possible using randomized controlled trials. The language is not at all intimidating to children. For younger children, Lauren Milne created Blocks4All a block-based programming environment that can be used by anyone including children who are blind or visually impaired. Blocks4All uses a touchscreen platform similar to ScratchJr and takes advantage of the fact the blind children already know how to use touchscreen devices using their built-in screen readers. The challenge for the future of K-12 computer science is to be more inclusive to all students regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, and disability status.

Founded in 2015, the Institute of Computing and Cybersystems (ICC) promotes collaborative, cross-disciplinary research and learning experiences in the areas of computing education, cyber-physical systems, cybersecurity, data sciences, human-centered computing, and scalable architectures and systems, for the benefit of Michigan Technological University and society at large.

The ICC creates and supports an arena in which faculty and students work collaboratively across organizational boundaries in an environment that mirrors contemporary technological innovation. The ICC’s 55 members represent more than 20 academic disciplines at Michigan Tech.

The Center for Human-Centered Computing (HCC) focuses on the research and development of novel interfaces for human-agent interaction, assistive technologies, intelligent health, computational modeling, and examining trust and decision making in distributed systems.

The Center is directed by Associate Professor Elizabeth Veinott, Cognitive and Learning Sciences, a cognitive psychologist who focuses on two main areas of research: decision making and learning using serious video games.