Welcome To CIS Department of University Of Massachussetts Dartmouth

*Seminar Schedule for Fall 2004*
Date	Speaker	Title	Institution	Location
9/24/04	Morgan McGuire	Computer graphics and game design	Brown University	DION 101
10/8/04	Li Shen	Spherical Parameterization for 3D Closed Surfaces and Its applications	UMassD	DION 101
10/22/04	Boleslaw Mikolajczak	Verification and Validation of Concurrent Object-Oriented Systems using Colored Petri Nets	UMassD	DION 101
11/5/04	Vinod Vokkarane	Multi-Layer Survivability in IP-over-Optical Networks; Quality of Service in Optical Burst-Switched Networks"	UMassD	DION 101
11/12/04	Shelley Zhang	The formation of virtual organization	UMassD	DION 101
11/19/04	Ramprasad Bala	Mesoscale Feature Tracking and their role in Climate Studies	UMassD	DION 101
12/3/04	Graduate Students	Research Assistant presentation on research projects	UMassD	DION 101

*Seminar Schedule for Spring 2004*
Date	Speaker	Title	Institution	Location
3/5/04	Jurgen Schulze	Volume rendering in the CAVE	Brown University	DION 101
3/26/04	Sol Neeman	Arts, Computers and Artificial intelligence	Johnson and Wales University	DION 101
4/9/04	Haiping Xu	A Security Based Model for Mobile Agent Software Systems	UMassD	DION 101
4/23/04	Emad Aboelela	TCP: From Static to Mobile Networks	UMassD	DION 101
5/7/04	Jan Bergandy	Design Patterns and Software Development Process	UMassD	DION 101

Abstract: Design Patterns and Software Development Process

Design pattern, or a pattern in general represents a reusable artifact, a reusable solution to a well-defined problem with particular set of constraints within a specific domain. The process of "registering" patterns and using them in solving new problems is an integral part of design abilities of an individual. The seminar will introduce the concept of design patterns and their classification and address the role of patterns in software development process. Discussion will focus on patterns in context of software artifacts. Ideas for using the pattern approach to process artifacts will also be explored.

Abstract: TCP: From Static to Mobile Networks

The TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) has been the predominant transport protocol used in the wired Internet to deliver data. The traditional TCP faces some challenges with wireless-mobile networks. TCP must handle mobility-induced disconnection and reconnection where packet losses are not mainly due to network congestion. In this seminar simulation results will be analyzed to show how the traditional TCP need to be improved to handle the unique characteristics of mobile networks. Mechanisms that have been proposed in the literature to improve performance of TCP over mobile networks will be presented. Future research to address this problem and explore modifications in TCP so that it can perform as well as in static, wired or wireless networks will be also discussed.

Abstract: A Security Based Model for Mobile Agent Software Systems

Mobile agent technology is a new paradigm of distributed computing
that have many advantages over the conventional client-server model.
However, it has not become popular due to some problems such as
security. In this talk, we propose a security based model for mobile
agent software systems. We use formal methods not only for the
purpose of specifying agent behavior, but also for designing agent
architectures. During the presentation, we first briefly introduce
the formalism called agent-oriented G-net model, which is based on
the G-net formalism (a type of Petri nets), to serve as the high-
level design for mobile agents. Then we present a facilitator agent
model, which handles the safe communications between mobile agents,
and also works as the core facility for agent migration. The resulting
Petri net model can be used as a foundation for formal Petri net
analysis and simulation techniques. The methodology is illustrated
on a case study that reveals a design error in our initial design
of the facilitator agent model.

Abstract: Arts, Computers and Artificial intelligence

This talk will present some ideas on the relation between the arts, mathematics and computers. A comparison between the arts, science and math will be presented followed by a brief discussion of what constitute valuable art, aesthetics and whether there is an objective basis for the arts. Also some mathematical aspects of music, including the structure of tonal and atonal music will be discussed. The second part will include a method for mechanical composition of music based on histogram analysis of musical information to generate new music and mechanical composition of poetry using computerized dictionary and formal grammar.

Date: March 5, 2004
Speaker: Jurgen Schulze
Title: Volume rendering in the CAVE

Abstract:

In the talk I will present my research about interactive visualization of volumetric datasets in virtual environments. The three major topics will be:volume rendering algorithms, rendering with parallel computers, and a user interface for the CAVE. Direct volume rendering is the display of three dimensional scalar fields without prior data conversion to polygonal models. For example, a computer tomography (CT) scan from a hospital consists of a number of images, which the computer can stack on top of each other to reconstruct the original 3D object. This display method requires a great deal of computing power because for each reconstructed 3D image every pixel of each 2D image needs to be taken into account. Parallel computers can be used to increase the rendering speed of large volumetric datasets. I will present a new method that runs the CPU-based shear-warp algorithm on a parallel computer to show the results in a CAVE. The CAVE is a small room whose walls are projection screens. Typically, four screens are projected on: the front, left, and right walls, and the floor. Stereo rendering allows for virtual reality applications. The users interact with a 3D mouse which transmits its location and orientation to the computer.