Thursday, June 14th at 11:00 a.m., IEEE AESS and SC Distinguished Lecturer Michael C. Wicks, Ph.D., will be presenting “Advanced Sensor Concepts, Exploitation, Signal Processing and Systems Engineering”.
Day & Time: Thursday, June 14, 2018
11:00 a.m. ‐ 12:30 p.m.
Speaker: Michael C. Wicks, Ph.D.
DIEEE AESS and SC Distinguished Lecturer
Endowed Chair and Professor of Electrical Engineering
University of Dayton, Dayton OH 45469 USA
Host: Dr. Raviraj Adve
Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Toronto
Location: BA 1200 (Bahen Center)
University of Toronto
40 St. George Street, Toronto
Canada M5S 2E4
Contact: Dr. Mehrdad Tirandazian
Organizer: Aerospace and Systems, Man and Cybernetics IEEE Toronto Section
Abstract: In this talk, a number of concepts and technologies forming the foundation for the exploitation of sensors from a Big Data perspective are presented. A signal processing and systems engineering approach is discussed, and heuristic techniques are presented as being critical to leap ahead advances in sensor exploitation. While radar centric in nature, the foundation for a more general sensors approach to Big Data exploitation is discussed. Archival data is considered to be essential to the optimal exploitation of sensor phenomena, as humans are unable to fully observe or even comprehend the volumes of rapidly changing data available today. Topics as diverse as radio frequency tomography for below ground imaging, millimeter wave sensing for exquisite feature extraction, target resonance and dynamic imaging of targets obscured by clutter and cover, as well as space-time adaptive processing are presented. The integrating theme of Big Data exploitation in the Internet of Radar is discussed within the context of these enabling sensor technologies as is the “Velocity of Sensor Data.”
Biography: Dr. Wicks is a leading research scientist in remote sensing, signal processing and systems engineering, with a current focus on distributed sensing and radio frequency technology. He has pursued a variety of research interests in his career, including: cognitive radar, radio frequency tomographic radar, counter explosive sensor technology, cognitive radar and radio, space object sensing, missile defense, deep earth probing radar, multi-dimensional adaptive processing for airborne and space based radar, ultra-wideband radio and radar, passive and active multi-static systems, and concealed weapons / contraband detection and carrier identification. He pioneered the concept of knowledge-based signal processing and waveform diversity, and has led national and international research teams on the design, development and fielding of novel algorithms, architectures and systems for remote sensing from space, air and surface platforms.
Sponsored research is currently focused on advanced algorithms for the detection and track processing of airborne targets obscured by wind farm clutter, as is research on spatially and spectrally diverse sensing for the automatic detection, identification, and feature exploitation of objects under cover, e.g. below ground, inside structures, or under foliage. Space object identification is also a topic of current research. The design and analysis of distributed radar for exoatmospheric surveillance is complimented by analysis and experiments for side-looking imaging and surface moving target indication radar. Recent research has resulted in the development of a mobile waveform diverse distributed MIMO radar system and a radio frequency tomography test bed at the University of Dayton. Research on integrated close-in sensing and long range wide area surveillance radar is addressing feature extraction, in addition to detection processing and track formation. Algorithms and architectures for the numerical and symbolic (heuristic) processing of sensor data is a primary focus of this research.