George Mason University
March 29 to March 30, 2015
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Mark J. T. Smith
Mark J. T. Smith received his B.S. degree from MIT and his Ph.D. degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology, all in Electrical Engineering. He joined the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) faculty at Georgia Tech in 1984, where he remained for the next 18 years. Although he worked primarily on the Atlanta campus, he also spent several terms during 1991-93 on the European campus in Metz, France. Smith also served a four year term as the Executive Assistant to the President of Georgia Tech during his time there. In January, 2003, he joined the faculty at Purdue University as Head of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. A current member of the board, Smith has been engaged with the national ECE Department Heads Association, where he has served as Secretary/Treasurer, Vice President, and President from 2005-2008.
In 2009, Smith was named Dean of the Purdue University Graduate School. Presently, he is a member of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee for the Council of Graduate Schools and a member of the GRE Board of Directors. Additionally, Smith is the Co-PI and architect of the CIC AGEP grant titled “Professorial Advancement Initiative,” is a member of the Purdue University ADVANCE team, and was the former PI of the Midwest Crossroads AGEP grant.
Smith’s scholarly interests are in the area of digital signal processing. Over the years, he has supervised and graduated 30 Ph.D. students. He holds the Michael & Katherine Birck endowed chair in ECE at Purdue, is a Fellow of the IEEE, and is a former IEEE Distinguished Lecturer. He has six patents and has authored or co-authored more than 260 publications, including six international standards publications. Smith is the co-author of two introductory books, Introduction to Digital Signal Processing and Digital Filtering; co-author of the graduate level textbook, A Study Guide for Digital Image Processing; co-editor of the book, Wavelets and Subband Transforms; and editor of a new book, GPS for Graduate School – Students Share Their Stories.
In addition to professional service, teaching, and research, Dr. Smith’s past includes training and competition in the sport of fencing. He was a national champion of the United States in 1981 and 1983 and is a two-time member of the U.S. Olympic team (1980 and 1984).
Congratulations to the following 2015 presentation winners!
Oral Presentations
First Place - Olivia Leaven, Bennett College, Serious Psychological Distress Disparities by Sex and Age
Second Place - David Vasquez, Virginia Tech, Examining the relationship between dominance status and disease transmission in house finches
Third Place - Alia Woffard, Elizabeth City State, Early Effects of Chloroquine in Embryonic Chickens
Poster Presentations
First Place - Korey Smith, Johnson C. Smith University, Examining working memory capacity and neural activity in prefrontal and posterior parietal cortices
Second Place - Ama Agyapong & Tanviben Patel, Elizabeth City State, Optical Properties of Niobium (Nb) and Tantalum (Ta) Doped Vanadium Dioxide (VO2) Thin Films
Third Place - Tai'Brionne Dozier, Johnson C. Smith University, Developmental Cannabinoid Exposure Alters MAP2 and Nf-200 Expression in Zebra Finch Song Regions