georgia institute of technology – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Preventing Problems: Georgia Tech Helps to Develop System That Will Detect Insider Threats from Massive Data Sets

By Guest PostNovember 13, 2011Technologyadams, advanced statistical anomaly detection methods, algorithm, anomaly detection at multiple scales, army research office, carnegie mellon university, cyber network, darpa, david a bader, defense advanced research projects agency, edmond chow, electronically recorded activities, email, erica briscoe, file transfers, fred wright, georgia institute of technology, georgia tech research institute, gtri, homicidal, insider threats, irfan essa, john fratamico, joshua l davis, lora weiss, oregon state university, prototype, richard boyd, saic, scalable graph processing algorithms, science applications international corporation, soldier in good mental health, text messages, university of massachusetts, unusual activity

When a soldier in good mental health becomes homicidal or a government employee abuses access privileges to share classified information, we often wonder why no one saw it coming. When looking through the evidence after the fact, a trail often exists that, had it been noticed, could have possibly provided enough time to intervene and prevent an incident.

With support from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Army Research Office, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are collaborating with scientists from four other organizations to develop new approaches for identifying these “insider threats” before an incident occurs. The two-year, $9 million project will create a suite of algorithms that can detect multiple types of insider threats by analyzing massive amounts of data — including email, text messages and file transfers — for unusual activity. (more…)

Choosing Microsoft Over the NFL

By Guest PostOctober 9, 2011Sports, Technologyacc, albert rocker, atlanta, atlantic coast conference, biggest software company, celebrity, david dowling, florida state, game, georgia institute of technology, georgia tech athlete, gigantic championship rings, irwin dolobowsky, it infrastructure, Microsoft, microsoft recruiter, national football league, nfl, trish lincoln, university of washington, virginia tech, yellow jackets

*Albert Rocker found himself at a crossroads of two big dreams: The Georgia Tech athlete had to choose between playing a final year of college football for a shot at the National Football League, or accepting a job offer from “the biggest software company ever created.”*

REDMOND, Wash. – It was the toughest decision of Albert Rocker’s life: should he pursue a career in the National Football League (NFL), or one at Microsoft?

At the Georgia Institute of Technology, Rocker was an outside linebacker for the Yellow Jackets football team with one year of eligibility remaining – one last football season to woo the NFL. Rocker played in a total of 38 games over his college career, including all 13 games of his junior season in 2010 – he was set to be a starter if he returned for his last year of eligibility. (more…)

Breaking Down Plastics: New Standard Specification May Facilitate Use of Additives that Trigger Biodegradation of Oil-Based Plastics in Landfills

By Guest PostSeptember 27, 2011Environmentanaerobic biodegradation, anaerobically biodegradable and recyclable, anaerobically biodegradable conventional plastics, anaerobically biodegradable in municipal landfill facilities, atmospheric warming gases, biodegradation, biodegrade, biogas methane, biogenic carbon, bioplastics, carbon dioxide, charles lancelot, chemical additives, electricity, erin prowett, gautam patel, georgia institute of technology, georgia tech research institute, global climate change, gtri, humus, landfills, lisa detter hoskin, methane, north carolina state university, oil derived plastics, organic substances, oxobiodegradables, oxygen and ultraviolet light, pec, pet products, plastic materials, plastic packaging, plastics environmental council, polyethylene, polymer biodegradation, polypropylene, recycling, recycling of plastic water bottles, styrofoam, typical us landfills, united states, us plastics industry, walton collins

Despite efforts to encourage the recycling of plastic water bottles, milk jugs and similar containers, a majority of the plastic packaging produced each year in the United States ends up in landfills, where it can take thousands of years to degrade. To address that problem with traditional polyethylene, polypropylene, Styrofoam and PET products, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are working with the Plastics Environmental Council (PEC) to expand the use of chemical additives that cause such items to biodegrade in landfills.

Added during production of the plastic packaging, the compounds encourage anaerobic landfill bacteria and fungi to break down the plastic materials and convert them to biogas methane, carbon dioxide and biogenic carbon – also known as humus. These additives – simple organic substances that build on the known structures of materials that induce polymer biodegradation – don’t affect the performance of the plastics, introduce heavy metals or other toxic chemicals, or prevent the plastics from being recycled in current channels. (more…)

Better Weather: Water-vapor Profiling System Could Result in More Accurate, Less Costly Forecasting

By Guest PostNovember 4, 20102 commentsEnvironment, Nature, Scienceatmosphere, bennett aerospace, david roberts, georgia institute of technology, laser radar, lidar, light detection and ranging, prototype, researchers, Technology, water vapor, water vapor profiler, wav-pro, weather forecasting

A vehicle from the National Severe Storms Laboratory observes conditions around a tornado in Wyoming during June of 2009. Image credit: Mike Coniglio, NOAA/NSSL

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Bennett Aerospace are leveraging light detection and ranging (lidar) technology to develop a ground-based system that will automatically measure water vapor in the atmosphere. Known as”WaV-Pro^TM,” for Water Vapor Profiler, the system aims to provide more frequent data collection that could dramatically improve weather forecasting.

Initial work on the project began in mid-2009, when Bennett Aerospace, in collaboration with the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), won a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop design requirements for the system. Recently, the researchers won a Phase II grant to build and test critical components needed for a final operating prototype of WaV-Pro. (more…)

Cunning Machines: Researchers Give Robots the Capability for Deceptive Behavior

By Guest PostSeptember 9, 2010Weaponsalan wagner, algorithms, battlefield, cognitive deception, georgia institute of technology, movies, office of naval research, robot, robot deception, ronald arkin, terminator

A robot deceives an enemy soldier by creating a false trail and hiding so that it will not be caught. While this sounds like a scene from one of the Terminator movies, it’s actually the scenario of an experiment conducted by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology as part of what is believed to be the first detailed examination of robot deception.

(more…)

Tag Archives: georgia institute of technology

Preventing Problems: Georgia Tech Helps to Develop System That Will Detect Insider Threats from Massive Data Sets

Choosing Microsoft Over the NFL

Breaking Down Plastics: New Standard Specification May Facilitate Use of Additives that Trigger Biodegradation of Oil-Based Plastics in Landfills

Better Weather: Water-vapor Profiling System Could Result in More Accurate, Less Costly Forecasting

Cunning Machines: Researchers Give Robots the Capability for Deceptive Behavior