Index of Abstracts (Partial list)

American Astronomical Association
Title: Black Holes Can Dance
Speaker: Sethanne Howard
Black holes can dance and yet they have no hair. Dr. Howard will discuss these and other interesting facts about the fascinating field of black holes. There will be a quick trip to a black hole and several interesting simulations of black hole behavior to show. If you ever wondered what that black hole "event horizon" means you are not alone. Such properties of black holes will be discussed.

American Society for Cybernetics

Title: Conceptions of Complexity and Implications for Economics
Speaker: Stuart Umpleby, The George Washington University, Washington, DC
Most of science consists of results obtained with rather simple descriptions – small numbers of variables and often linear relations among them. In recent years there has been growing interest in complex systems. There are at least three definitions of complex systems: 1) systems with large numbers of variables and many relationships among them; 2) systems composed of numerous autonomous (usually preprogrammed) actors/ algorithms which interact, producing often unexpected results (i.e., emergence); 3) systems involving knowing participants acting in systems in which they have an interest in the outcome. The term "complexity" can be used to refer to the first category. The terms "self-organizing systems" or "complex adaptive systems" are used for the second category. "Reflexive systems" refers to the third category. To illustrate these three categories and how they influence the creation of theories, three conceptions of economic theory will be described.

Title: Experiments in Reflexive Inquiry
Speaker: Kent Myers, Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton
We review four iterations of Virtual Systemic Inquiry (VSI), a method that embraces reflexivity. VSI exploits the free cognitive surplus available through the web and otherwise starts with no rules, just cybernetic principles: openness, variety, interaction, and an orientation to the common good. Conventional methods, while better in many ways, actually don't score highly against these criteria. We review and contrast four VSI projects in which procedures were varied and products ranged from a published book to a non-convergent, perpetual conversation. We discuss failures and successes and suggest directions for improvement. We conclude by exploring in what ways this method is reflexive and the advantages this can bring to social inquiry and specifically to public intelligence, even as it breaks all the rules.

Title: Conceptual Difficulties and Pragmatic Responses to Research & Development Contracting
Speaker: Steven C. Stryker, Professional Consultant and Trainer, Stryker Associates
Trying to define what is the true nature of Research and Development (R&D) has several different constructs. Given the need to buy R&D, one is faced with which understanding will be employed to appropriately and effectively obtain the conceptualized results. The paper will evaluate acquisition strategies that are applicable across various R&D domains. Implications for buying and doing and future R&D are shown.

American Society of Plant Biologists

Title: Inventive Thought: How to stimulate it and what to do about it when it strikes
Speaker: Mark A. Holland, Professor and Chair, Dept. of Biological Sciences Salisbury University
Many of us are raised in an environment of basic research. Applied science is otuside the realm of our every day experience. However, applied thinking can be a stimulating challenge and an enjoyable and profitable addendum to basic bench work. In this presentation, we will consider ways to stimulate innovative and inventive thinking, discuss some practical guidelines for the protection of intellectual property and consider some of the issue involved in taking science from the lab into the marketplace. This presentation will be aimed especially toward a student audience.

Botanical Society of Washington

Title: Systematic overview of the North American Paper Daisies (Asteraceae: Gnaphalieae) and the use of Lucid as an identification tool
Speaker: Christopher F. Puttock1 1Smithsonian Institution, Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History
The Gnaphalieae are a tribe of about 180 genera and 1240 species (10% of the Asteraceae), with the greatest diversity in Africa and Australia where the involucral bracts of many taxa have long brightly-colored stiff lamina. The 2006 Flora of North America North of Mexico treatment of the Gnaphalieae has 19 genera and 111 species. Three authors were engaged for the preparation of these taxa (Bayer - Antennaria; Morefield - Filagininae; Nesom - the rest). Each author has different species and generic concepts, and placed emphasis on different characters in their descriptions. Building an electronic key to these species has highlighted the difficulties that an editor has in bringing a standard terminology to a treatment, even within such a small group of taxa. The resulting process has filled in many missing character-states, resulting in more comprehensive descriptions of these taxa. These new morphological data have been assembled into the Lucid software to produce the first electronic key to the North American species of the tribe.

Title: A molecular phylogeny and classification of Leptochloa (Poaceae: Chloridoideae: Chlorideae) sensu lato and related genera.
Speaker: Paul M. Peterson1,*, Konstantin Romaschenko1,2, Neil Snow3 and Gabriel Johnson4 1Smithsonian Institution, Department of Botany MRC-166, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012 USA, 2Laboratory of Molecular Systematics, Botanic Institute of Barcelona (CSIC ? ICUB), Passeig del Migdia, s.n. 08038, Barcelona, Spain, 3Montana Natural Heritage Program, 1515 East Sixth Avenue, Helena, MT 59620-1800, USA, 4Smithsonian Institution, Department of Botany and Laboratories of Analytical Biology, Suitland, Maryland 20746 USA
Leptochloa (including Diplachne) s.l. is a diverse assemblage of C4 (NAD-ME and PCK) grasses with approximately 32 annual or perennial species. Evolutionary relationships and a modern classification of Leptochloa species based on the study of molecular characters have only been superficially investigated in four species. Our goals are to reconstruct the evolutionary history of Leptochloa s.l. with molecular data and broad taxon sampling. We conducted a phylogenetic analysis of 130 mostly Chloridoideae species, of which 22 are placed in Leptochloa, using five plastid (rpL32-trn-L, ndhA intron, rps16 intron, rps16-trnK, and ccsA) and the nuclear ITS 1 and 2 (ribosomal internal transcribed spacer regions) to infer evolutionary relationships and revise the classification. Leptochloa s.l. is polyphyletic and we find strong support for five lineages. Embedded within the Leptochloa s.s. clade are two species of Trichloris and embedded in Dinebra are Drake-brockmania and 19 species of Leptochloa. Our molecular results support the dissolution of Leptochloa s.l. into the following five genera: Dinebra with 23 species, Diplachne with two species, Disakisperma with three species, Leptochloa s.s. with five species, and a new genus, Trigonochloa with two species.

Title: Bringing taxonomic and biodiversity information to the global scientific community.
Speaker: Robin Everly, Science Librarian in Botany and Horticulture, Smithsonian Institution Libraries, National Museum of Natural History
Until recently, historical scientific print information was found mostly in libraries in North America and Europe. Several digitization projects are currently underway to bring the literature full text to the rest of the world. More importantly, this information is now becoming more easily available to the developing world where much of the biodiversity of plants and animals resides. This presentation will discuss ongoing projects such as the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) and several plant and zoological information databases. Currently, the core literature collection in BHL is natural history publications in the public domain and primarily taxonomic in its scope. Also, open access journals and how they are providing worldwide access to information to the scientific community will be discussed.

Capital Area Food Protection Association

Title: Produce Safety Research at ARS: From Farm to Fork
Speaker: Dr. Manan Sharma, USDA, Beltsville, MD
Over the last 20 years, there have been high profile outbreaks associated with the consumption of contaminated produce (sprouts, leafy greens, tomatoes, cantaloupes) which have sickened and killed hundreds of people. Produce commodities grown in agricultural fields have multiple opportunities to be contaminated with microbial pathogens on the way to consumers' plates, hence the "Farm to Fork" paradigm. Scientists at the United Stated Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) work to investigate mechanisms how bacteria, such as pathogenic E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes, contaminate produce commodities. These strategies include investigating novel decontamination protocols for irrigation water, examining the length of persistence of these bacterial pathogens on leafy surfaces of plants, routes of contamination of leafy greens, and if current recommendations are sufficient to provide protection against produce contamination. ARS Scientists do the "dirty" work in fields, with soil, manure and water and bacteria. Outside, inside – we traverse the fields to find where the bacteria are. Sometimes you need boots, sometimes you carry a microscope - very frequently you need both to comprehensively address produce safety issues!

Title: Foodborne Outbreak Investigations-What Happens Behind the Scenes
Speaker: Keith Lampel, FDA
According to the new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 49 million people will become sick due to foodborne pathogens. Ensuring that consumers have a safe food supply is one of the missions of the Food and Drug Administration as well as other US regulatory agencies. When food-related outbreaks do occur, the identity of the source becomes critical to prevent further spread of the contaminated food and to reduce the potential number of people who may become ill. The complexities of foodborne outbreaks are myriad in many external factors such as the food matrix, the number of potential ingredients, whether the food was imported or grown in the US, and what methods are available to identify the putative pathogen. Overall, foodborne outbreak investigations encompass the work of epidemiologists, microbiologists and an effective communication system to respond to these events.

Title: Technology at Hand in Outbreak Investigations
Speaker: George Wilson, PathSensors, Inc.
Foodborne outbreak investigations require a rapid response in the detection and identification of microbial pathogens from a wide variety of food matrices. The critical nature to quickly identify the source of the adulterant lies in the cooperative action by the food industry and regulatory agencies to ensure appropriate measures are taken to contain, and control the spread of foodborne pathogen to minimize the personal toll to the US consumer. The evolution of technology used in analytical laboratories has taken us from the laborious and time consuming "shake and plate" approach through the advent of molecular biology based methods and perhaps in the near future become the basis of novel techniques that can in minutes identify the microbial pathogen in food.

Chesapeake Section, American Association of Physics Teachers

Title: Online Introductory Physics Labs: Status and Methods
Speaker: Ann M. Reagan,College of Southern Maryland, La Plata, MD
Nearly 400 US colleges and universities offering undergraduate introductory physics courses were surveyed to determine the extent to which introductory physics instruction is currently available in a fully online format. A second survey, targeting those institutions offering online introductory physics courses, identified current approaches to and plans for making the corresponding physics laboratory course components available online. A single approach towards online laboratories was selected, and a set of experiments was developed based on program goals for technical rigor, student engagement, cost, and suitability for deployment in an online environment. Preliminary results and "lessons learned" from the deployment of these experiments in an online instructional format are discussed, as well as recommended next steps for the development of a research-based online physics laboratory curriculum.

Title: Experiments in Inductive Magnetic Levitation
Speakers: Robert Argus, Jeffrey Mickle, Jonathan Mills, Omar Moran, Tony Nguyen, Zaeema ZafarNorthern Virginia Community College, Annandale, VA
The aim of this paper was to investigate experimentally the velocity dependence of the repulsive force between a cart containing a magnet (a Nd Halbach array) and a metallic track, or a system of induction coils, as a laboratory model of the inductionally levitating magnetic cart. This system is too complicated to be treated mathematically, and so we used an experimental trial-and-error method, investigating several configurations and using existing theoretical estimates. We will present the current results and the ideas for the future improvement of our design.

Title: A Physical Model for a Toroidal Dipole Moment
Speakers: Kiarash Akhlagi, Duke Forsyth, Tanya Saha , Vikram Sarkhel, Benjamin Short Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale, VA
There are three families of electromagnetic multipoles: well-known electric and magnetic, and less known toroidal multipoles. While the magnetic dipole moment m is physically represented by a loop of current, the dipole toroidal moment t (called sometimes an anapole) is modeled by a toroidal solenoid, or by a magnetic ring magnetized along the circumferential axis. While magnetic dipole m interacts with the static magnetic field B, the toroidal dipole t interacts with the curl of B, which can be produced by the current density flowing through the toroid it or by a variable electric field in it. The purpose of this paper is to describe our experiments with this electromagnetic device – essentially a magnet without magnetic poles, and our measurements of its strength as compared with the theoretical estimates. The experiment itself may constitute one of the few available electromagnetic experiments to demonstrate directly the existence of the Maxwell term in the Ampere's Law. Frictionless Bearings in a Model of Inductive Magnetic Levitation Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale, VA Ramsey Benhusen, Brad Bynum, Doug Goncz, Faraz Hameed, Erin Jennings, Ryan Thompson We are conducting a series of experiments on levitation of a rotating circular Halbach array of Nd magnets over an inductive base made of metal plate or coils. We build the array from specifically magnetized Nd segments concentrating the sinusoidally variable magnetic field at the bottom of the ring. The ring is rotated above an inductive base, while being able to move vertically along the system of guiding rods in order to observe the levitation force on the ring against the force of gravity. The repulsion is provided by the eddy currents induced in the base plate according to the Faraday's Law.

IEEE

Title: A New Fuel Gauge
Speakers: Nick Willard, Wei He, Mingzhi Dong, Dr. Michael Osterman, Prof. Michael Pecht
After cost, the biggest practical concern for the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) into mainstream usage is the problem of range anxiety. This is the fear that an EV user experiences due to the inaccuracies of the battery fuel gauge. With EVs currently in the beginning phases of market adaptation, range anxiety is amplified by the lack of electric vehicle charging infrastructure. A miscalculation of an EV's remaining driving time can leave a user stranded with no charging station in sight. Unlike a traditional fuel gauge meter which simply measures the level of liquid fuel in a gas tank, determining the remaining charge in a battery is a much more complex problem. Physically, the charge in a battery is dependent on the reactant concentration inside each electrode but because ion transport is a micro-scale phenomenon which occurs inside of a closed battery system, this quantity cannot be measured directly. Instead the battery's state of charge (SOC) is inferred by measuring the battery's voltage potential and relating it back to SOC or by counting coulombs and comparing the charge released by the battery to the total amount of charge the battery initially had stored. The problem with these methods is that a battery's measured voltage is always influenced by an overpotential which is highly dependent on factors such as the discharge current rate and external temperature. Similarly, the battery's charge capacity is influenced by current rate, temperature, and cell aging. In order to provide the best estimate of a battery's SOC, self-adaptive techniques are described which account for real-world variability on battery discharge loads can so that remaining driving time estimations in EVs can adapt to different driving profiles and conditions.

Title: Prognostics of Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) under Power Cycling
Speaker: Edwin Sutrisno, Graduate Research Assistant, Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering (CALCE), University of Maryland, College Park
Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) is a power electronic transistor used in medium to high power applications such as hybrid cars, railway traction motors, switch mode power supplies, and wind turbines. As more and more IGBTs are finding their ways into large and complex systems, the ability to detect and predict failures in IGBTs can provide a key advantage in driving down cost of maintenance while improving system availability and safety. This study begins with understanding the critical failure mechanisms of IGBTs under power cycling conditions. Aging tests are performed to collect healthy-to-failure data of IGBT samples in the form of currents, voltages, temperatures, and switching speeds. Several critical parameters are extracted and analyzed in a k-Nearest Neighbor (kNN) fault detection algorithm. The proposed kNN algorithm successfully detects faults just before the IGBTs enter an accelerated degradation stage toward latchup. A method to predict the remaining useful life of the IGB:T is also discussed.

Title: Geotherman Energy
Speaker: Nancy Landreville
The White House report, "A New Generation of American Innovation," dated April 2004 and the Department of Energy (DOE) report, "DOE Geothermal Technologies Program, Multi-Year Program Plan 2006-2011," dated August 31, 2005 discuss the remarkable capabilities of geothermal energy as an alternative energy resource. The implementation of this technology will drastically reduce cost and create a sustainable renewable energy that is never depleted. The Department of Defense (DOD) applies geothermal resources on military bases at the Navy Air Weapons Station in California. This resource has been successfully implemented for a number of DoD sites. Geothermal energy is popular in desert areas, western US states, and African and Asia countries with unusually high temperatures. Sources of geothermal energy are not contingent upon the existence of volcanic rock or geysers. Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) are available for industry and home use providing not only electricity through conversion but also have the capability of providing water to a building and/or home. Electrically-powered cooling units could enhance the comfort of a deployed workforce, for example, in any environment by drilling a geothermal well and acquiring access to the natural resource. Hospital units that require air condition units, for example, would have continual access to geothermal energy for cooling. These units could be continually sustained without loss of power. This remarkable and natural resource has the capability of replacing or supplementing our depleting oil resource. The Geothermal Technologies Program is a partnership with industry and the government to use geothermal energy in an economic and competitive manner to enhance our energy supply. Geothermal energy production provides a means for generating electricity, heat, and/or direct application capability for crop drying, heating, or heat pumps for buildings. It is an effort to provide reliable, cost competitive, and sustainable energy (not add to air pollution) thus reducing inefficient energy use overall and reducing greenhouse gases by using an alternative energy source. It is also independent of fuel price changes and dependencies on oil from foreign governments. Customer value management requires identification of the best customer base offering the greatest return on investment. Advantage is sustained when sources are widened and upgraded. Innovations shift competitive advantage when competitors do not respond to new innovations in anticipating customer needs. The value chain however, provides a tool for understanding the sources of cost advantage. Gaining cost advantage requires optimizing the linkage among activities. In the innovation stage, the full diamond is in place in a wide range of industries such as geothermal technology while biotechnology is advancing innovations in microchips. The subsequent stage is identifying and categorizing your customers. Then, evaluate and define your product after ranking it according to market value. In summation, true innovation will always test the limits and success has an eye to the future with integration of knowledge and ideas.

Title: Identification of Failure in Mechanical Equipment from System Level Signals in a Wind Turbine
Speakers: Ranjith Kumar, Michael H.Azarian and Michael G.Pecht, Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Complex engineering systems, such as a wind turbine, consist of a lot of components such as, the gearbox, bearings, generator, and rotor blades. Condition monitoring and prognostics of such complex systems often requires a multitude of sensors monitoring the different components, since each component has several relevant characteristics or degrees of freedom that can best describe its health condition. The monitoring of all these parameters for the detection of faults can be complex, not least because of the cost and reliability of the sensors themselves. In this paper, we present a component-level diagnostic method using system-level signals. A system-level dynamic model is of the system is generated using MATLAB Simulink. Fault simulation is carried out in this model, to study the effect of faults in mechanical components on system-level signals such as electrical torque of the generator of the wind turbine. In this process, the sensitivity of system-level sensor signals with respect to the model parameters is also estimated. Detectability of a particular component failure and redundancy in detected signals are discussed. In the numerical example, failure scenarios of single and multiple components are also tested.

Title: The Global Alliance for Outer Space Development, Inc.
Speaker: Dr. Edythe E. Weeks, Esq., Webster University, St. Louis, MO
Outer space is at the brink of development. Meanwhile, the US economy is troubled. Opportunities likely to emerge as outer space is developed holds the key for economic prosperity, job creation, workforce development and retraining and the creation of networks and internship and employment opportunities for students as well of members of the global general public. This paper will discuss and explore new opportunities to make innovation applications for solar and renewable energy, solar space settlements, spaceships powered by renewable energy concepts and green technology, along with strategies for protecting the air, water and outer space environment as space travel become increasingly common, will provide avenues for participation for a broad diverse range of people, by providing inspiration and motivation to pursue knowledge in creative scientific fields. The paper will also discuss how these activities can be linked to achieving key goals set forth in the NASA Authorization Act of 2010 such as Section 202(b) which discusses the restructuring of the exploration program so that it "allows the systems developed under the restructured exploration program to serve as potential test beds for the demonstration of key enabling exploration technologies and operational capabilities", as set forth in paragraph 8, and paragraph 9, which indicate that the manner "prepares for and enables human missions to a variety of destinations in the inner solar system, including cislunar space, the Moon, Lagrangian points, near-Earth objects, and ultimately Mars and its moons". The paper will propose that creating collaborative networks, and forging alliances between business entities, entrepreneurs, institutions, governmental entities, universities, K-12 institutions, students and individuals may provide the solution that will enable these key issue areas.

Title: FS-TIGBT Degradation by Power Cycling under Inductive Load with Different Switching Frequencies, Duty Cycles and Temperature Swings
Speakers: Qingguo Fan, Diganta Das, and Michael Pecht, Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering (CALCE), University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Field Stop Trench Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (FS-TIGBT) is a power switching device often under inductive load, such as the switches in motor drives and power converters. In its application circuitry, the parasitic/stray inductance causes an inductive voltage spike across an FS-TIGBT each time the device turns off because of the abrupt current drop. This study included tests to accelerate the degradation of FS-TIGBTs under repetitive inductive voltage spike with different switching frequency, duty cycle and temperature swings. In the experiments, wire bond fatigue, solder layer fatigue and aluminum reconstruction were encountered during ageing process before latch-up or second breakdown failure of the devices. Our analysis found that different temperature swings cause different ageing behaviors. An increase of duty cycle results in a decrease of a FS-TIGBT's lifetime. An increase of switching frequency results in an increase of a FS-TIGBT's. Switching frequency acts together with repetitive inductive voltage to affect wire bond degradation.

Title: Microwave Plasma CVD Reactor for Single Crystal Diamond Deposition
Speakers: K. W. Hemawan, C. S. Yan. Q. Liang, Y. Meng, S. Krasnicki, J. Lai, T. Yu, H. Shu, H. K. Mao, and R. J. Hemley, Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington
Diamond has unique mechanical, thermal, optical, and electrical properties compared to other materials. These extra ordinary properties make diamond a very promising material for a broad range of scientific and technological applications. We have developed an improved microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) reactor that can produce high growth rates and high quality single crystal diamond. In particular, MPCVD reactor with evenly distributed plasma that allows larger deposition areas, higher absorbed power density, and uniform substrate temperature distribution across the substrates during diamond synthesis. Numerical modeling of the MPCVD reactor such as profile distribution of electric field, electron density and electron temperature as a function of microwave input power and operating pressure is presented. Spatially resolved in-situ optical emission spectroscopy (OES) is utilized to investigate the plasma emission such as excited species intensities, gas temperature and ratios of radical species that influence diamond growth. The correlation between the plasma properties versus operating parameters that affect diamond growth is analyzed. Synthesized multi carats, near colorless optical quality single crystal diamond are also presented.

Title: Prognostics for Cell Balancing of Lithium-ion Batteries
Speakers: Mingzhi Dong, Nicholas Williard, Wei He, Dr. Michael Osterman, Prof. Michael Pecht
Rechargeable batteries are widely used in many applications, such as consumer electronics and electric vehicles (EVs). The Lithium-ion battery has higher cell voltage, energy density, no memory effect, and is the most promising battery for EVs. When a collection of cells are connected in series, state of charge (SOC) of different cells may deviate from each other, known as cell imbalance. To avoid over-charge and over-discharge and maximize both the usable capacity and the life of the battery, many cell balancing methods have been developed. Prognostic and health management (PHM) can be implemented into cell balancing in two aspects. First, prognostics can help predict cell imbalance enabling the predictive control of cell balancing process. Accurate prediction of cell imbalance can make cell balancing process more efficient. Second, cell balancing methods can be improved by accurate SOC estimation of individual cells in a battery pack. SOC estimation has been facing difficulty due to the complexity and uncertainty of battery system. Implementation of PHM techniques can benefit the accuracy of SOC estimation by in-situ monitoring battery parameters, leading to more effective battery management systems

Title: Integrating decision making techniques into argument maps in the context of e-Rulemaking
Speaker: Keith Walker
Governments are striving to take advantage of the Internet to engage citizens in policy deliberation (e-Participation/e-Rulemaking), and argument mapping is one technique that has potential for this purpose. Argument mapping is a visual notation in which information is presented as linked nodes that are questions, ideas, pros and cons. One drawback of argument maps is that they provide little support for decision making. My work seeks to enhance the usability of argument maps for decision making, and the presentation will show a design for integrating a decision making technique with argument maps. The context of the work is federal rulemaking for the Affordable Care Act, specifically the creation of health insurance CO-OPs. An argument map was created from the rule and public comments. A decision making technique appropriate to the situation will be described, as well as a design for integrating it into the argument map

Title: State of Charge Estimation for Electric Vehicles Using Unscented Kalman Filtering
Speakers: Wei He, Nicholas Williard, Mingzhi Dong, Michael Osterman, and Michael Pecht, Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
With increasing concerns on the global warming and fossil fuel depletion, the automobile industry is facing a landmark transition in the next few years. Electric vehicles (EVs), which are powered by lithium-ion batteries, are going to penetrate into the automobile market. However, there are still some challenges for EVs that remains to be solved. The most notable one is the state of charge (SOC) estimation for optimal control and management of EV batteries. This paper propose a battery SOC estimation method using unscented Kalman filtering based on Coulomb Counting and open circuit voltage. The battery discharge data based on federal driving schedule are used to validate the proposed method. It shows that the proposed method can estimate the battery SOC with an error smaller than 4%.

Title: Simulation-based Military Training: An Engineering Approach to Better Addressing Competing Environmental, Fiscal, and Security Concerns
Speaker: Jason E. Summers, Applied Research in Acoustics LLC
Governments and militaries have long recognized that armed forces must engage in training in order to develop and maintain the proficiency necessary to effectually carry out those legitimate duties with which they are entrusted by their nation. This is made particularly salient by the increasing demands placed on individual members of the armed forces because of reduced staffing and increased task complexity. Yet training comes at a significant financial cost: roughly one third of the total defense budget in fiscal year 2012 is devoted to training. Moreover, military operations directly impact the environments in which they are carried out, while also burning significant quantities of fossil fuels. Broad societal, government-wide, and Department of Defense commitments to improved environmental management together with fiscal austerity measures enacted in response to the financial crisis will increasingly bound the scope of training operations, potentially limiting their utility. Often the challenges these bounds bring are approached only as a zero-sum problem of balancing interests, as exemplified by the 2008 Supreme Court trial over sonar training by the U.S. Navy. However, scientific advances have improved the understanding of physical phenomena and, together with innovations in modeling

Institute of Industrial Engineers (IEE)/Washington Chapter of the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science (WINforms)

Title: The Need to Integrate Human Aspect in a Process Improvement Endeavor
Speakers: Anil R. Kumar and Anand Subramanian JFAssociates, Inc
The goal of all business enterprises is to increase value for its shareholders. In order to do this, companies seek to improve their existing processes to make them more efficient, improve productivity, reduce costs, and eliminate or decrease the frequency and severity of work related injuries. All of these actions result in monetary savings and contribute to a positive corporate triple bottom line (profitability, quality, and safety). The development of a standardized methodology with which to investigate improvement opportunities is not a new concept. Throughout history, a number of techniques have been developed that begin with management involvement and attempt to provide standardized processes to solve issues. Currently, a number of techniques can be applied to situations to achieve this goal, including process improvement, lean, six-sigma, supply chain, and ergonomics; however, all of these techniques are seldom incorporated into a comprehensive approach to improve process and efficiency. The development of a standardized comprehensive process improvement methodology allows a holistic look at how work is performed so that opportunities can be determined, recommendations can be identified, and changes can be made. When key personnel are involved in process improvement (such as managers, employees, and other key stakeholders), they can collectively focus on eliminating inefficiencies and waste (e.g. money, people, materials, time, and opportunities). The result is a new process that is cheaper, faster, safer, and more efficient than the current. Process improvement is an umbrella term for a number of techniques that aim to make processes more efficient including six-sigma, lean, agile management, re-engineering, total quality management (TQM), just in time (JIT), and process excellence. One of the key components that is missing from most process improvement techniques is the consideration of the human system taking into account the human capabilities and contributions including the cognitive, physical, and physiological capacities. This paper details the results of a case study wherein the human system was considered during the project execution. The case study demonstrates that when HPI concepts are applied in concert with each other through teamwork and data analysis, the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.

Title: Rating Emmployee Performance for Non-Manufacturing Jobs Using Work Measurement Techniques
Speakers: Anand Subramanian and Anil Kumar, JFAssociates, Inc.
Traditionally, organizations in the manufacturing area and also those in the service area such as hospitality, infrastructure, security, logistics, consumer service and retail functions have a large component of their work force performing tasks that require some form of direct or indirect supervision. For such jobs in the manufacturing industry remuneration and incentives are mostly based on output and productivity achieved by the employee and is also referred to as piece-rate. In the service industry such jobs are sometimes remunerated based on the output achieved by the employee and the incentives are in the form of additional pay or time credits. In the manufacturing industry, the incentive levels are set by time standards derived using traditional work measurement techniques. Rating is a critical component of the establishing a time standard whereby an individual employee's performance is directly (based on the rater's perception) compared against the average employee's pace, skill, and/or effort. Though controversial, practiced rating practitioners are remarkably consistent. The rating practitioners train regularly and update skills to maintain a common perception of standard rating through rating 'clinics'. In this presentation, we will discuss the various rating techniques and how the traditional rating technique is modified to be used while rating non-manufacturing jobs. A case study with a methodology to rate of tasks from the service industry will be discussed and results presented.

Title: Role of Industrial Engineer in Improving Quality of Life
Speakers: Anil R. Kumar and Anand Subramanian, JFAssociates, Inc.
Industrial Engineers are typically associated with process improvement projects that involve cost reduction, efficiency improvement and time reduction. Another aspect of an industrial engineer's endeavor is to improve the quality of life while designing the workplace/system. The field of industrial ergonomics is concerned with the design of the workplace to accommodate the human capacity in order to increase productivity and decrease the risk of injury. Within the context of this definition, the workplace includes not only the layout, but the design of everything the human uses to accomplish a work related task. The human capacity includes aspects of the "physical, physiological, biomechanical, and psychological/cognitive capabilities". When there is a mismatch between the human's capabilities and the task demands not only is there a loss of productivity, but the workers can develop injuries related to cumulative trauma or instantaneous overloading of the muscular system (e.g. strain/sprain). The incidence of these types of injuries has a negative effect on industry as a result of documented injuries and illnesses and costs of treating the injuries. These situations are encountered typically when engineers fail to cater to the human aspects during planning and execution of process flows or designing work places. The present paper details efforts using ergonomics tools/methodologies which helped improve the workplace and therefore improve the quality of life of the employees performing groundskeeping tasks.

Title: Staffing Model Development
Speaker: Neal F. Schmeidler, OMNI Engineering & Technology, Inc.
Human capital planning, based on sound staffing models, provide information needed to formulate employment plans. Staffing models help decision makers estimate the number of journey-level personnel needed to perform one or more functions for a specific planning period. Credible staffing models facilitate budget formulation, cost control, alignment of resources to output expectations, workforce expansion/ contraction planning, performance measurement, and more. This presentation will expand on the CapSci 2010 discussion of steps to compute acceptable staffing models and will include a new case study.

Title: A Critique of Contemporary Approaches to ATC Modernization: A Personal Theory
Speaker: Donald Weitzman
Advances in computer hardware and software technology now promise greater automation of the air traffic control (ATC) process and a significantly different role for the controller. Yet what passes for ATC modernization these days is often misdirected by the accidents of what technological and computational tools are available. There is still an enormous gap between the kind of automated processes that are necessary to replace many of the activities of the controller and currently available automated systems. Some automated tools have gained wide acceptance as controller aids but quite incorrectly are being extended to replace rather than to aid the controller. This paper will emphasize that ATC modernization and the engineering models that drive it need to be better equipped with a dose of common sense and humility. The ATC domain is not a theoretical world that can be reduced to simple principles of engineering and physics. In the real world of ATC, that world changes and is often driven by events that you cannot foresee or predict. Put another way, in the real world of ATC, life is a lot messier than engineering theory and computer science would have you believe.

Marine Technology Society

Title: Ocean Science and Technology: Opportunities and Career Advice for Students and Young Professionals
Panelists: Jake Sobin – Manager of Member Groups and Student Outreach for the Marine Technology Society, Ryan Morton, Worley Parsons, Amanda Williams
Are you a student studying ocean science and/or technology and looking for ideas to gain hands-on experience? Are you a student wondering about the young professional world of ocean science and technology? If so, this panel discussion is for you. This panel discussion will give three young professionals, working in the field of ocean science and technology, the opportunity to tell their story on how they got where they are today. The panelists will present "lessons learned" as a young professional in the work force as well as opportunities for student (i.e. scholarships, internships, student chapters, etc.). Attendees will have the chance to ask the panelists questions and contribute to the discussion.

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

Title: The Spiritual Magnitude of Nature: from Shandigar to the Biodiversity Imperative.
Speaker: Keith P. Tomlinson, Manager and Interpretive Naturalist, Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
The human-nature relationship is truly ancient, preceding the rise of virtually all "organized" religions by hundreds of thousands of years. Does this suppose a "predisposed divinity" of the natural world in human consciousness'? Many of the most basic traits and societal norms of interacting with nature suggest this. In the United States more people visit zoos, aquaria and botanical gardens than all professional sporting events combined. The pan-global use of plants and flowers to celebrate religious and cultural events is one example of the aesthetic pursuit of nature. Perhaps even more revealing is the use of funerary objects from nature. This practice may date back well over fifty thousand years. Even in the presence of various complex theological liturgies, human societies remain deeply mystified over death and consistently reach out to nature to process grief and bereavement. The first part of this presentation will review concepts in the nature-faith continuum from a historical perspective. This will focus on the global dispersion of liturgy based theologies during the Age of Discover to parts of the world where nature based reverence was dominant. The second part of the presentation will discuss the growing place of conservation as a moral imperative within global faith communities and the evolving views biodiversity conservation.

National Capital Area Skeptics

Title: CSI Skeptic
Speaker: Prof. Walter Rowe, Department of Forensic Sciences, GWU
Network and cable television abound in shows with a strong crime scene investigation/forensic science emphasis. But how much of the forensic science shown on CSI (original, Miami and New York), Bones, NCIS, Rizzoli and Isles or Body of Proof is accurate? This presentation will examine some of the common errors made by the scriptwriters of these shows and by crime novelists such as Patricia Cornwell and Jeffrey Deaver. It will also look at scientific mistakes made by real crime scene investigators and forensic scientists.

Title: Vaccines and Autism
Speaker: Prof. Marvin Zelkowitz, Department of Computer Science, University of Maryland
Vaccines have been shown to be among the most effective and inexpensive methods to prevent serious diseases. Deadly diseases like polio, diphtheria, smallpox and measles have largely disappeared in the United States. However, measles is making a comeback in the United States and elsewhere, where it previously had all but disappeared. And measles is not an innocent childhood sickness – kids die from it. A small but vocal group of parents are convinced that the measles vaccine causes autism – a lifelong affliction, even though there is no evidence for that association. Where did that association come from, and what is behind the vaccine scare is the topic of discussion.

Title: Top scams of 2012
Speaker: Prof. Marvin Zelkowitz, Department of Computer Science, University of Maryland
Ever since there have been people and money, there have been schemers intent on taking such money for themselves. Outright theft was always an option, but carried the danger of personal injury or death. A better way to obtain such funds was for the schemer to convince the holder of the money that giving it up voluntarily was safest; hence the scam. As we navigate in an increasingly electronic world, scams have naturally moved to the Internet, where such schemers now have worldwide reach. In this talk we will discuss the top scams currently in circulation and address various ways to prevent yourself from being taken by one of these.

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Title: More than Just Standards: NIST Law Enforcement Standards Office Forensic Science Program Update
Speaker: John Paul Jones II
A recent survey revealed crime laboratory management is familiar with standard reference materials produced by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), such as the Human DNA Quantitation Standard. Yet there is so much more activity taking place on the NIST campus than standards creation. The Forensic Science Program (FSP) at the Law Enforcement Standards Office (OLES) within NIST conducts and coordinates research and provides technical services to address the needs of the forensic science community. The FSP focuses on creating new material standards; initiating metrology research; evaluating technologies; and establishing expert working groups to facilitate knowledge exchange and identify best practices. These activities have been used to support forensic science disciplines such as: arson; digital and multimedia forensics; DNA; fingerprints; firearms and toolmarks; odontology; controlled and dangerous substances; toxicology and trace analysis. Topics that will be covered during this lecture include: " Expert Working Group on Human Factors in Latent Print Analysis " Expert Working Group on the Preservation of Biological Evidence " 3D Topography Correlations of Bullets and Casings " Photo scales and Forensic Photogrammetry " Computer Forensics " NIST OLES's Research on the Scientific Working Groups"

Title: Trace Explosive Detection Research Program at NIST
Speaker: Greg Gillen, PhD Surface and Microanalysis Science Division Materials Measurement Laboratory National Institute of Standards and Technology
The NIST Surface and Microanalysis Science Division has been working to build a chemical metrology program to help support the widespread operational deployment and effective utilization of trace explosives detection devices throughout the United States. A second objective is to develop at NIST the specialized measurement expertise that will be needed to support the next generation of explosive detection equipment. The low volatility of most high explosives makes direct analysis of vapors impractical. Therefore, most detection systems are based on either airborne or surface swipe collection of micrometer-sized explosive particles with subsequent thermal vaporization of the particles into an ion mobility spectrometer for identification. The effective collection and thermal desorption of the explosive particles is the critical front-end process for the successful and reproducible detection of explosives. We are using existing expertise in particle analysis, analytical chemistry and chemical microscopy to study the explosives collection and detection process in detail. This information will be used to help facilitate the continued development, characterization, calibration and standardization of both tabletop and handheld explosive detection devices. This presentation will include a discussion of our ongoing research in this area and a demonstration of some of the advance metrology tools being used to characterize individual explosive particles. Finally, some of our recent efforts in preparation of standards for trace explosive detection will be discussed including the use of drop-on-demand ink jet printing of explosives and the production of simulated fingerprints containing explosive residues.

Title: NIST Fire Dynamics Analysis of the Station Night Club Fire
Speaker: Daniel Madrzykowski, PE, FSFPE Fire Research Division Engineering Laboratory National Institute of Standards and Technology
A fire occurred in The Station night club on the night of Feb. 20, 2003. The band performing that night used pyrotechnics that ignited foam insulation lining the walls and ceiling of the platform being used as a stage. The fire spread quickly along the walls and ceiling area over the dance floor. Smoke was visible in the exit doorways in a little more than one minute, and flames were observed breaking through a portion of the roof in less than five minutes. Egress from the nightclub was hampered by crowding at the main entrance to the building. One hundred people lost their lives in the fire. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), under the authority of the National Construction Safety Team (NCST) Act, conducted an investigation to establish the likely technical causes of the building failure that led to a high number of casualties. This presentation focuses on the fire analysis portion of the NIST technical investigation. Both physical and numerical simulations were conducted and an overview of the results will be shown with videos and data. The potential impact that an automatic sprinkler system would have had on the fire is demonstrated. Throughout the presentation, the type of information or materials that need to be collected when conducting a forensic fire reconstruction will be discussed.

Title: Metrology Needs and NIST Resources for the Forensic DNA Community
Speaker: Michael D. Coble, PhD
Forensic DNA profiling was first used in the mid-1980s and has been used to convict the guilty and exonerate the innocent ever since. DNA typing has evolved from focusing on multi-locus markers throughout the nuclear DNA genome to the use of autosomal Short Tandem Repeat (STR) markers. Other marker systems such as mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosomal STR testing have also found an important niche in criminal cases, the identification of missing persons, and historical investigations. Given the importance of forensic DNA testing to the criminal justice system, it is critical that all forensic DNA laboratories include proper controls and validated procedures for making quality measurements. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Applied Genetics group has developed several Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) to meet the needs of the forensic DNA community. This presentation will discuss a brief history of forensic DNA testing and the development of NIST SRMs, new assays/technologies, and educational resources developed for the forensic DNA community over the last twenty years.

Optical Society of America, National Capital Section

Title: Beryllium Receiver Telescopes for Space Lidar
Speaker: H. John Wood, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD.
A brief history of Beryllium receiver telescopes will be presented – Voyager IRIS (1977) through ICESat-2 ATLAS (2012). Opto-mechanical issues affecting the performance of the telescope have become more important as the field of view is reduced to improve signal to noise performance.

Title: A Partially Transparent Petaled Occulter for Exoplanet Detection
Speaker: Shahram (Ron) Shiri, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD.
NASA's Exoplanet Exploration Program searches for habitable worlds and life elsewhere in the Universe. One of the main focuses of this program is direct imaging of exosolar planets and identification of Earth-like planets orbiting bright stars. Since starlight is many orders of magnitude brighter than light reflected by an orbiting planet, its detection presents a scientific and technological challenge. Because of intensity enhancement by the Poisson spot, a conventional circular disk cannot be used to reduce the starlight brightness. Recent analysis of a partially apodized petaled occulter shows such a structure could reduce the intensity along the optical axis behind the occulter in excess of 10 orders of magnitude as required by NASA missions.

Title: Flexible displays for the Army
Speaker: Eric Forsythe, Army Research Lab, 2800 Powder Mill Road, Adelphi, MD
The talk will present the Army's advancements in flexible displays at the Flexible Display Center. Reflective electrophoretic flexible displays have made significant advances towards commercialization and system integration. The talk will present the technology advances for organic light emitting diodes and the evolution to flexible OLED displays. Finally, we will present future flexible electronics concepts that leverage the display platform.

Title: Towards High-Efficiency Quantum-Dot Solar Cells
Speaker: K. A. Sablon, Army Research Lab, 2800 Powder Mill Road, Adelphi, MD
According to Shockley and Queisser, the maximum efficiency for the conversion of unconcentrated solar radiation is 31%. A major factor limiting the conversion efficiency in single junction cells is that sub-bandgap photons are not absorbed. In response, low-dimensional quantum structures were proposed to be used in solar cells, providing an approach complementary to the multi-junction solar cells. Quantum dots (QDs) are very promising candidates with the potential to create energy levels that can better match the solar spectrum. They provide greater freedom in absorption band and strain engineering as compared with bulk materials and QWs, with predicted efficiencies of ~64%. However, experimental results have shown limited progress. In fact, introducing dots into the solar cells give rise to additional channels of recombination, which increase the recombination losses. To minimize the in turn decreases recombination via QDs. These factors significantly improve the solar cell conversion efficiency.

Title: "Painting With Light on a Canvas of Ice"
Speaker: Dr. Peter Wasilewski, Emeritus Scientist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
This session will feature a presentation of "Frizion" - the science of polarized light transformed into art by NASA emeritus scientist Dr. Peter Wasilewski. With a doctorate from the University of Tokyo and an abandoned football tryout with the Baltimore Colts behind him, Pete explored and fell in love with the ice of Antartica and stood where an ancient volcano now bears his name - Mount Wasilewski. Through the medium of ice, a familiar and intriguing compound found throughout the universe, and the principles of polarized light, Pete has created a novel art form known as "Frizion". His presentation will contain examples of his art and an explanation of the optical principles that are the foundation of his creations.

Title: Lightweight and high angular resolution x-ray optics for astronomical missions
Dr. Peter N. Blake, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD.
Astronomical observation in the x-ray band (wavelength from ~100 - 0.1 Angstroms) must take place above the atmosphere on a space platform. Imaging optics for the x-ray photons generally use the Wolter I design. Current manifestations of that design include the Chandra X-Ray Observatory – with polished Zerodur shells offering high resolution, and Suzaku (formerly ASTRO-EII) – whose epoxy replicated aluminum foils trade off resolution for high collection area. At the Goddard Space Flight Center, the Next Generation X-Ray Optics program, headed by William W. Zhang, is developing a new technology utilizing replicated thin glass mirrors that promises a new high-resolution, high collection x-ray optical telescope.

Title: Photonics Experimentation for Military Applications
Speaker: Richard L. Tober, Army Research Lab, 2800 Powder Mill Road, Adelphi, MD
Military applications are some of the most demanding in the world yet have great potential for emerging technologies. Photonics, in particular, has an ever increasing role on the battlefield. However, the path from concept to transition can be difficult since access to relevant experimental environments is outside the realm of most researchers. Fortunately though, OSD sponsors Adaptive Red Team events that enable tactically significant experimentation. We will describe how these venues provide an effective means to assess technology alternatives, system limitations and vulnerabilities; and inspire collaborative research. Specific examples of recent events and participating technologies will be presented and discussed in terms of value added for improving the photonic technologies.

Title: An Overview of Optical Biometrics for Military Applications
Speaker: Keith Aliberti, Army Research Lab, 2800 Powder Mill Road, Adelphi, MD
Biometrics refers to the automatic identification of a person based on his/her anatomical (e.g., fingerprint, iris) or behavioral (e.g., signature) characteristics or traits. In the commercial world, this method of identification has enabled some key advantages over traditional identification methods (e.g. ID cards, PIN numbers, passwords, etc). As a result, biometric systems are readily being deployed to enhance security and reduce financial fraud. Over the last few years, optics- and photonics-based biometrics have experienced an expanded role in military operations such as combat identification (friend, foe, or neutral), offensive operations (intelligence support to targeting), force protection (base access), detention operations, civil-military operations (track target members of a population), and personnel recovery and identification. To accomplish these tasks, various biometric traits amenable to optical detection are being used for real-time recognition, the most popular being face, iris and fingerprint. In addition, in some newer applications, multi-modal biometrics are being employed to attain better identification and verification. This talk will give an introduction to Biometrics, discuss the current modalities, address future military applications, and present some issues related to policy concerns over the acquisition of biometric information.

National Science Foundation (Plenary)

Title: NSF Investments in STEM Education
Presenters: Sue Kemnitzer, Deputy Division Director, Division of Engineering Education and Centers: Engineering Education Programs Elizabeth VanderPutten, DRL Cluster Coordinator, Resources, Models and Technologies: Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings Janice Cuny, Program Director for Computing Education: Computing Education for the 21st Century and the SC 10K Initiative Sylvia James, Deputy Division Director (Acting), Division of Research on Learning: Informal Science Education Initiatives Teresa Mourad, Director of Education and Diversity Programs, Ecological Society of America: Partnerships for Diversifying and Improving Ecology Education

The mission of the National Science Foundation (NSF) is to "promote the progress of science" which is implemented primarily through the funding of more than 10,000 research grants each year in all areas of science and engineering, except for the medical sciences. Integral to the NSF mission is also a charge to provide support for science and engineering education. While the majority of the education activities are funded by the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR), examples of projects that support science education at the K-12, undergraduate, and graduate levels and beyond may be found across NSF in all directorates and programs. NSF supports a wide array of educational research, teacher professional development, curricula, and programs in formal and informal settings as a means to contribute to the preparation of the future STEM workforce. This informative session highlights NSF investments that are contributing to innovative approaches in STEM education while also harnessing the enthusiasm and insight of scientists and engineers. The presenters include NSF program officers and a veteran Principal Investigator, representing programs in the following Directorates: Engineering (ENG), Education and Human Resources (EHR), and Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Learn how the Division of Engineering Education and Centers supports multidisciplinary research to address challenges from a systems engineering perspective to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship, while also attracting new talent and creating alternative academic pathways. Find out about the award winning projects that are supported by programs in the Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) and current trends in educational research and development. Discover how CISE supports educational research on learning, the development of interventions to engage and retain students from the underrepresented groups, and the CS 10K Project, which aims to transform high school computing education in 10,000 high schools. Finally, providing a perspective from the field, learn how NSF funding is used by a professional society to promote the participation of underrepresented minorities in ecology, enhance undergraduate biology and generate cross-sector initiatives for environmental literacy.

Philosophical Society

Title: Wind and Solar -- the Past or the Future
Speaker: Kenneth Haapala, former Executive Vice President of the Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP) and current editor of The Week That Was (TWTW) - the weekly bulletin of SEPP
The political leaders of many European nations, such as Ireland, England, Germany, and Denmark, have committed their nations to programs of closing traditional sources of electricity, such as coal generation, and relying on alternative sources, such as wind and solar generation. To varying degrees, twenty-nine states in the US have made similar commitments. Generally, hard data is difficult to obtain, but that which is available indicates that these programs will be costly and economically destructive. The leaders committed to these sources before one-hundred-year old technological problems have been solved. One problem is low-cost storage of electricity on a commercial scale. A second problem, particularly in the US, is transmission of electricity from possible producing areas in the West and Midwest to the heavy consuming areas of the East. A brief overview of the history of wind generated electricity in the US will be presented. The current experiences of wind and solar projects in diverse locations will be discussed to include critical assumptions that proved to be wrong. The selection of projects will be based on the availability of data, not projections from future endeavors. A robust, but proper, discussion will be encouraged.

Potomac Chapter of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society

Title: Ensuring Exceptional Operator Performance: Psychological Influences of Design through Human Systems Integration (HSI).
Speaker: Gerald P. Krueger Krueger Ergonomics Consultants, Alexandria, VA
Since World War II, engineering psychologists contributed immensely to making the design of complex, sophisticated equipment – user friendly. Initially, efforts involved ensuring suitable operator usability in design of large military systems. Subsequently, human factors specialists and industrial engineers blended proven psychological and ergonomic principles to develop user-centered designs of myriad configurations of human operated systems to meet other government and commercial equipment procurement requirements (e.g. in public transportation, medical, banking, communication systems, etc.) That human-centered approach to design morphed into what is now called Human Systems Integration (HSI) including early conceptual and developmental stage considerations of seven human-oriented design domains: Manpower allocation (how many people will be required to operate and maintain systems), Personnel (identify the skills required), Training (new equipment training, school house and sustainment training), Human Factors Engineering and Ergonomics, control of Health Hazards associated with operating or maintaining equipment, System Safety, Habitability and Personnel Vulnerability. The presentation provides a short history of such developments, and highlights practical examples from recent HSI activities in international border-crossing and airport security screening measures, uniform protective clothing design, and more.

Title: Driver Opinions of Simulator-based Commercial Vehicle Training
Speakers: Justin Morgan, Myra Blanco, and Richard Hanowski Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA
Simulator-based training provides an opportunity to train drivers in a potentially lower cost and safer environment than traditional, behind-the-wheel, methods of training. As prices for commercial vehicle simulation equipment have fallen, some motor carriers have adopted simulators for use during in-house driver training. The result of focus groups with drivers who experienced truck simulator-based training at two large motor carriers is presented. One carrier used the truck simulator exclusively for regularly scheduled refresher training, while a second used the simulator for both regular and novice (pre-commercial driver's license) driver training. In general, drivers at both carriers had positive opinions of simulator-based training. Most suggestions to improve the program were directed towards modification of how the program was implemented and/or creating a more realistic simulation of the driving environment.

Title: The Nature of Error: Implications for Health Care
Speaker: Marilyn Sue Bogner Institute for the Study of Human Error Bethesda, Maryland
Despite over a decade of efforts directed to reducing health care error including having care providers report their errors for accountability, implementing financial disincentives for errors in health care facilities, and instituting pay for performance all targeted to the health care provider, the incidence of error has not decreased. Indeed, by some measures it has increased. Nonetheless efforts to address error continue to focus on the health care provider. One reason for this lies in the tenacious acceptance of purported definitions of error which actually are descriptions of errors. Although useful in determining trends those definitions do not address the nature of error. The nature of error is the process by which an error occurs – the process involves action which is behavior. As attested in the literature of all disciplines – physical as well as social sciences – behavior of all entities of study is the function of the target entity interacting with factors in the environment. Thus the approach that the health care provider is the sole source of error is inaccurate and misleading. It is little wonder that efforts based in that approach have not been fruitful in reducing error. Considering the nature of error, that is, identifying and addressing factors in the context of care that induce the care provider to act in a manner that results in an error has profound implications for effectively reducing health care error.

Salisbury University - Washington Academy of Sciences Student Chapter

Title: Temporal hierarchy of membrane restructuring during cold acclimation in fish
Speaker: K. J. Ward and E. E. William, Department of Biological Sciences, Salisbury University
Climate change may have dramatic affects on the diversity and abundance of fish. It has been shown fish can restructure membrane phospholipids to aid in their survival in response to a change in water temperature. Biochemical evidence suggests these changes do not occur at the same time or rate. Some reactions occur rapidly, whereas others are delayed. We are currently trying to elucidate this hierarchy for mRNA expression for reactions involved in membrane restructuring. We have developed primers for many of the enzymes involved in these restructuring pathways including de novo phospholipid synthesis, in situ phospholipid modifications and phospholipid head group alterations. Our goal is to develop additional real time probes based on PCR products obtained from primers designed for enzymes in these restructuring pathways. To date, five such probes have been developed and preliminary data show that changes in mRNA expression are occurring at different rates. These data will help us further understand temperature acclimation of fish at the molecular level. This work is supported by the Department of Biological Sciences and the Henson School of Science and Technology at Salisbury University.
Title: Temperature as a cellular stress of Chinook salmon embryo cells
Speaker: A. Reese and E. E. Williams, Department of Biological Sciences, Salisbury University
In this study, we used Chinook salmon embryo cells (CHSE-214) to assess the relationship between the timing of the expression of heat shock mRNAs and the timing of heat-induced cell death. We first examined the timing of cell death [lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release] after a 24hr exposure to 22, 30, 37, 45, and 55oC. As expected, cells did not release LDH after 24 hrs of exposure to their acclimation temperature (22oC). At 30oC LDH release was detected beginning at 6, and all of the cells were dead by 24hrs. Exposure to 37oC, LDH released at 3hrs; all cells were dead by 6hrs. At 45oC the cells released LDH within the first hour, and were all dead by 3hrs of exposure. At 55oC the cells began to release LDH within the first 15mins, and were all dead within 1hr of exposure. mRNAs for heat shock proteins were assessed at 37oC and it was found that the constitutive heat shock protein (Hsc70) was present at all time points, and there was no significant difference in the expression of the message for the inducible form of the heat shock protein (Hsp70) over a 6 hour period. These data will help us to further understand the molecular meaning of the critical thermal max of fish. This project is supported by the Department of Biological Sciences, and the Henson School of Science and Technology of Salisbury University.
Title: Investigation of novel dipolar cycloaddtions of oxazolium salts
Speaker: N. Elbers, L. Hill, and S. Habay, Department of Chemistry, Salisbury University Our lab recently developed a new 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of 2-acyl-5-amino oxazolium salts for the production of cis-octahydroindole ring systems. These structural motifs are found in a variety of medicinally relevant natural compounds, including the aeruginosin and dysinosin families of natural products. Access to these compounds and other analogs in larger quantities and through more efficient pathways would facilitate medicinal research into new therapies. We present here our efforts to widen the scope of our method by activation of the reaction substrates by transition metals and advancements toward an asymmetric version of the cycloaddition reaction.

Washington Academy of Sciences (Plenary)

Title: English as a Second Language: Analog Communication in a Digital World
Panelists: Ted Cohen, University of Chicago, Paul Werbos, NSF, Richard Hill, Washington Academy of Sciences
In a 1917 publication of a letter by a British Admiral, the Oxford Dictionary discovered what may be the first use of OMG ("Oh My God"). Almost a century later this term survives today with a myriad of others, categorized in what we call Internet slang. This form of slang has its roots in English, which is the most popular language spoken in cyberspace, generating close to 80 percent of global electronic traffic. Technical fluency is often judged on how well we communicate using both formal and informal forms of English technical words, and more times than not brevity is key when bandwidth restrictions or the haste of communicating an idea is critical. Informal forms such as FFI (for further information) and PCM (please call me) is not confined to technical communications, but can be found in business and professional communication. Is the new language replacing the traditional, expedited through the advancement of broadcasting and computational technology? Who speaks this language; a new and tech-savvy global class that can read and process modern hieroglyphs? And how on earth will they talk with the rest of us? WDYT (What do you think?)