Speaker: Dr. Tracy Camp When: Wednesday, Nov 28th, 2007 Time: 2:00pm Where: ECS 243

Abstract: The Toilers are a unique group of staff, graduate students, and undergraduates who research ad hoc networks, specifically wireless sensor networks (WSNs) and mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). These types of networks are defined by a lack of a fixed infrastructure, multi-hop communication, unreliable wireless links, and decisions made based on local knowledge. Overcoming these challenges presents several open research questions, such as energy-efficient routing, in-network processing, adaptive behavior, and security. Applications of WSNs and MANETs are diverse, and include environmental monitoring, structural monitoring, search and rescue, and tracking. This talk will present highlights of past successes, current research challenges, and future directions of the Toilers. In the past, the Toilers have invented, implemented, and compared MANET protocols. We have shared simulation code developed by Toiler members with more than 700 researchers in 49 countries during the previous four years. Presently, the Toilers are exploring projects which have an interdisciplinary theme. In conjunction with several engineering departments at CSM, we have proposed to develop WSNs to monitor diverse geosystems. Two distinct projects aim to break down the barriers between the network and link layers, and between the link and physical layers. Looking forward, the Toilers plan to advance theory and practice. For example, we are defining effective practices to improve the confidence in simulation results of ad hoc networks. This talk will present an overview of the Toilers past, present, and future projects, while tying them to the themes of ad hoc network research.

Biography:
Tracy Camp is a Professor of computer science at the Colorado School of Mines. She is the Founder and Director of the Toilers (http://toilers.mines.edu), an active ad hoc networks research group currently consisting of five faculty members and 18 students. Dr. Camp has received 12 grants from the National Science Foundation, including a CAREER award in 1997 and an award in 2003 with an acceptance rate of only 4.5%. In total, her projects have received over $3 million dollars in external funding. This funding has produced 11 software packages which have been requested from (and shared with) more than 700 researchers from 49 countries (as of June 2006). In July 2006, she was awarded IEEE Senior Member status. Dr. Camp has published over 50 refereed articles and 9 invited articles, many of which are in prestigious venues. As of May 2006, her articles have been cited over 1,200 times (per Google Scholar).