CEEN Department Cyber Infrastructure Vision: Education, Outreach and

Research

Dr. Bing Chen, Computer and Electronics Engineering

College of Engineering

Peter Kiewit Institute, Omaha campus

August 15th, 2005

State of US Engineering Education

• Static student enrollments in ECE

• International competition– esp. Pacific rim

• US undergraduate enrollments impacted– Offshore job migration perceptions– Dot-Com Bust

• Lack of diversity– Found in ECE faculties– Low minority / women student enrollment

• “Programs are largely unchanged since the Sputnik era” [Bruce Kramer, NSF]

CEEN Goals

• Improve student retention– 1st year: 50% average– 2nd year: 20% average

• Attract more students– Underrepresented minorities– Women

• Enhance:– Level of individual creativity– Sense of discovery from courses and laboratories

• Increase faculty research and satisfaction

Department Objectives: Education

• Search for a unifying theme– Enhance student interest– Bring anticipation for the next course in the sequence

• Increase outreach to K-12 students– Schools with high underrepresented minority

populations• e.g., Omaha Public Schools

Research That Improves Faculty Productivity

• Proposal: sharing CEEN courses– Analogy: Like farmers of old sharing implements and

working together– With upper-Midwest ECE departments– Increase subject availability to students– Free more faculty to pursue other research and

educational opportunities

• Advantage: Internet2 Abilene Network– Distribute and receive courses

Education Solution Paths

• Applying the TekBot robot– Developed as a learning platform at Oregon State U.– Diffuse into the CEEN programs into all 4 UG years

• Review NSF programs– Support for program improvements and outreach to K-12

• Solution:– Outreach: NSF ITEST (Information Technology Experiences For

Students and Teachers)– Self-improvement: A&I (Adaptation and Innovation)

• Announcements pending in Aug./Sept. for $1.2M and $160K

The Access Grid (AG)• Access Grid offers:

– Multimedia large-format displays– Presentation and interactive environments– Interfaces to Grid middleware and to visualization environments– High-end audio and visual technology needed to provide a high-quality

compelling user experience

• AG supports distance group-to-group interactions across the Grid.– e.g., uses of AG:

• Large-scale distributed meetings / collaborative work sessions• Seminars / training• Lectures / tutorials• Virtual site visit meetings / remote panel discussions / grid based

demonstrations• Research

• The Access Grid has member sites in over 47 countries

Access Grid Concepts

• AG prototype Demonstration at UKY Chautauqua– Shared PowerPoint– Large-format displays– Multiple audio and video streams– Supporting distributed meetings

Access Grid Basics

Ambient mic(tabletop)

Presentermic

Presentercamera

Audience camera• Designed spaces for group

interactions

• Hands free audio

• Multiple video and audio streams

• Wide field of view

Microphones:(13) student(1) instructor(2) operator(4) wireless

PKI-161 AG Setup

EchoCanceller/

Mixers

SeamlessRGB Video

S-Video

Analog Audio

Digital Video

Digital Video

Digital Audio

Shared App, Control

RS232 Serial

I2 AbileneINPUTS:

Cameras 1-6, DVD/VCRSmartBoard,

Sympodium, Polycom, Inst. PC, Visual Pres.

Audio Capture Svr

Control Svr

Video Encoding Svr 3

Video Encoding Svr 2

Display Svr

Video Encoding Svr 1

The Next-Generation AG Powerhouse

• Right now PKI-161 supports:– Seamless screen real estate (Default: not seamless)– 26 students (Default: 3-10)– Multiple presenters at same site (Default: 1 per site)– Multiple media formats at the same time: DVD/VCR, visual

presenter, Sympodium, SMARTBoard, Instructor PC/Laptop (Default: one or none at a time)

– Hands-on or hands-free microphone system (Default: hands-free)

– Uses of: distance education and video conference (AG, Polycom, or AG/Polycom),… also presentation room and normal classroom (Default: video conference only)

Our Access Grid Project Goals• Connecting people and teams via the Grid

• Improve the user experience– Drop the idea of one-on-one teleconferencing– Provide a sense of presence– Support natural interaction methods

• Implement quality and efficient digital IP-based audio/video– AG development of HD / DV or MPEG-4 video

• Enable complex multi-site visual and collaborative experiences– HeyeWall, VR Caves– Distance Learning

• Build on integrated Grid services architecture– Develop new tools specifically to support group collaboration

Our AG Active Research Issues

• Recording, playback, and production of multistream media

• Friendly AG: AG to the end-user desktop– Potential replacement for NetMeeting, etc.

• Secure communications via AG

• Improving sense of presence and point of view

• Network monitoring and real-time management

• Role of Back-channel communications

Why Travel?

• A few current professional reasons for travel:– Taking courses from a distant university / school– Face-to-face business sessions or training workshops

• Problems:– Post 9/11 concerns

• How safe are the skies?

– Costly for everyone involved• Monetary: travel, hotel, car rental/taxi fees, lost

work/productivity• Human condition: no home comforts, separation of family

Why Travel… When You Can Use AG?

• AG is the solution– Real-time face-to-face meetings– Multiple media formats– Cost effective (find a node in your area)

• PKI-161– Shown in the previous slides

Satellite COmmunications for LeAarning (SCOLA)

• SCOLA provides:– Real-time video of foreign language programming

• News and cultural programs in native languages from 58 countries in 44 languages

– 3 channels of programming delivered to:• Colleges, K-12 schools, cable systems, foreign language and

foreign policy institutes

SCOLA Transmission Method

Internet2Network

SCOLA

Universities

Research LabInstitutions

List of SCOLA CountriesArgentinaArmenia

AzerbaijanBasqueBelarusBrazil

BulgariaCanada

CataloniaChileChina

ColombiaCosta Rica

CroatiaCubaCzechDubai

El SalvadorEstonia

FinlandFranceGaliciaGeorgia

GermanyGreeceHungaryIceland

IranIsraelItaly

JapanJordan

KazakhstanKoreaKyrgyzLatvia

LithuaniaMexico

Moldova

MyanmarNetherlandsNicaragua

PeruPhilippines

PolandPortugalRomaniaRussia

SloveniaSouth Africa

SpainSwedenTaiwanTurkeyUkraine

USAUzbekistan

VaticanVietnam

Universities receiving SCOLA•Arizona State University

•College of William and Mary

•Columbia University

•Harvard University

•Lehigh University

•Louisiana State University

•Michigan Technological

•Mississippi State University

•Northern Michigan University

•Notre Dame

•Rice University

•Rochester Institute of Tech.

•Syracuse University

•Tufts University

•University of Kansas

•University of North Carolina

•University of Pennsylvania

•University of Vermont

•University of Washington

•University of Iowa

•Virginia Commonwealth

•Duke University

•New York University

•Northern State University

•Stanford University

•Texas Tech University

•University of Oregon

•University of Pennsylvania

•University of Utah

•Wake Forest University

•Berlitz Language Center

•Florida A&M University

•North Carolina State

•North Dakota State

•Northwestern University

•St. Cloud State University

•State University of New York

•Texas Christian University

•University of Alabama at Birmingham

•University of Alaska Fairbanks

•University of Arkansas

•University of Indiana Purdue

•University of New Mexico

•University of Oklahoma

•University of Rochester

•West Virginia University

SCOLA Research Areas

• High-Speed Network Protocols

• Next Generation of Internet

• Internet2

• Real-Time Video Broadcasting over High-Speed Networks

• Components:– Quality of Service (QoS) issues for real time applications such

as monitoring number of frames lost in video broadcasting– Routing for multiple requests, including the multicast issues– Network adaptability

Internet2 – Abilene Network (at least 1000 times faster than current Internet)

Future SCOLA Work

• SCOLA Archiving

• Content based video indexing

• Development of a protocol model for real-time (time sensitive) applications over the next generation of Internet

Economic Development for NebraskaCollaboration of University, Industry, and NSF

NSF EPSCOR

UNLCOE

CEEN

SCOLACorp

InternationalBroadcastDeployedover Internet2