RUCINSKA MEMORIAL FUND TO SUPPORT UNH STUDENTS
DURHAM, N.H. – UNH Barbara Rucinska Memorial Fund (BRMF) to support UNH students at the First IEEE (Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.)Workshop on: Critical Infrastructure, Critical Embedded Systems & Design Methodology for Global Security.
Dr. Barbara Rucinska, 59, of Parshley Lane, Strafford, NH, died March 20, 2008, at her home, after a long battle with cancer. For the past 20 years Rucinska held various positions in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department at UNH, including Instructor, Adjunct Assistant Professor, and Research Scientist. She taught various courses in circuits, logic design, computer organization, and VLSI. She conducted research and published papers in several areas, including collaborative engineering, failure modelling, and distributed systems. She loved people and people loved her.
The UNH ECE and the IEEE Boston Section announced May 5, that the Barbara Rucinska Memorial Fund (BRMF) will partially underwrite the participation of undergraduate ECE668, “Introduction to Computer Engineering” students, and graduate students taking ECE993 “Embedded Systems Engineering: System-on-a-Chip (PSoC) Design,” in the First IEEE Workshop on: Critical Infrastructure, Critical Embedded Systems & Design Methodology for Global Security (1st IEEE GS Workshop).
The BRMF was established by the UNH ECE to be a Memorial to the life of the late Dr. Barbara Rucinska, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and founding member of UNH Critical Infrastructure Dependability Laboratory (CIDLab). Dr. John LaCourse, Professor and Chair of the UNH ECE, said of Barbara at a recent UNH memorial service, “Barbara’s students were her “family” and she was totally committed to them.”
Dr. Rucinska’s professional life since 2001 was devoted to security engineering. She was a pioneer in offering university level courses in security engineering and in particular approaching it from the systems perspective. The Barbara Rucinska Memorial Global Security Engineering Workshop Series (BR Workshop Series) has been established, as a permanent recognition of Barbara and in honor of her professional contributions to the field of security engineering. Barbara’s commitment to students and security engineering are being honored through the BRMF’s support of the attendance and participation of the UNH undergraduate and graduate students at the 1st IEEE GS Workshop.
Global Security affects all countries and peoples who have access to a modern “Western Lifestyle.” Global Security Engineering should take advantage of the concepts that have been developed, and the best practices that are employed on a Global-scale. The BR Workshop Series serves as a means of coordinating this process through a cooperative program of associating the individual workshops with a number of European and other relevant International Technical Conferences. The 1st GS Workshop is sponsored and hosted by the IEEE Boston Section, with the technical assistance of the UNH CIDLab. The 1st GS Workshop can be viewed as the prototype for subsequent workshops in the BR Workshop Series, to be held on a global scale: e.g. International Workshop on Information Technology 2008 {IT 2008, Gdansk, www.it2008.gda.pl), and Water Side Security 2008 {WSS 2008, Copenhagen, www.wss2008.org}.
The 1st IEEE GS Workshop will be held on May 14, 2008, at the Westin Hotel, Waltham, MA, in conjunction with, and immediately following, the 2008 IEEE Conference on Technologies for Homeland Security (HST’08). The focus of 1st IEEE GS Workshop is on developing the new discipline of Critical Embedded Systems and the application of a formal Design Methodology to the design of Transportation and other Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources. Specifically, the 1st IEEE GS Workshop will formally introduce the concept of applying System Level modeling and simulation tools to the global challenge of insuring the security of the modern “Western Lifestyle” against “All Hazards.”
This new concept of Global Security guides the development of the Global Ambient Intelligence Network (GAIN), a prototype of a flexible, multi-capable sensor-focused network that can be used to monitor and control any critical infrastructure on a global basis. UNH CIDLab is developing GNAT (Global Network Academic Test Initiative), a preliminary implementation of the GAIN. GNAT-1 takes advantage of the UNH ECE expertise in Microelectronic Design Methodology in specifying, testing, and verifying trusted microelectronics devices, to insure the reliability of critical infrastructure and other mission critical systems based on those devices.
In addition to participating in the technical session of the 1st IEEE GS Workshop, the UNH students will have an opportunity to present their ECE668 and ECE993 Class Projects work to the eminent scientists and engineers from Europe, the US and Canada, who are participating in the workshop. All participants from graduate students, to full professors will have an opportunity and an obligation to plan subsequent workshops in the BR Workshop Series.
About UNH Dept of ECE
Since its founding in 1910, the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department has made the job of teaching undergraduate students a major priority. The department provides educational programs in Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering and related fields at the bachelor's, master's and doctoral levels of high quality, breadth and depth to serve industry, government and academic institutions of our State and Nation. We enjoy a reputation with industry for graduating students who can excel and lead in the workplace. The ECE Department conducts research to advance knowledge and apply that knowledge in areas relevant to our State and Nation. Finally, in order to meet the demands of the information age and global competition, the Department makes available the accumulated expertise, knowledge, and experience of the faculty to industry and government. www.ece.unh.edu/index.htm
About IEEE Boston Section and Homeland Security
The IEEE, the world’s largest professional technical organization, has over 380,000 members in 150 Countries, with over 300 local Sections worldwide. The IEEE’s 37 Technical Societies (e.g. Communications, Computer, etc.) with 1,150 local chapters are the primary means for disseminating technical information. The Boston Section www.ieeeboston.org, with 10,000 members, is one of the largest and most active sections (25 chapters); annually offering more than 100 technical meetings. Our members are employed by global enterprises (e.g. Raytheon, Verizon, EMC, etc.) as well as start-ups. From September through May the “Reflector” (also distributed to NH and RI sections) features: chapter meetings; editorials; Conferences; Short Courses. Since 2002, the Boston Section has organized one of the premier homeland security technical conferences. The 2008 IEEE Conference on Technologies for Homeland Security (HST’08) features a keynote address by Dr. John H. Marburger, III, Science Advisor to the President, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, "Nuclear Defense Research and Development - a Roadmap for Interagency Coordination." www.ieeehomelandsecurityconference.org/
Note: Separate Registration for HST’08 and 1st IEEE GS Workshop
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