NPRE Assistant Prof. Clair J. Sullivan has been selected for a prestigious Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award (YFA) for work that combines nuclear engineering with big data analytics.
Current, commercial, off-the-shelf technology can be used to create very dense networks of radiation detectors. Sullivan’s project, “A New Approach to Stand-Off Detection of Special Nuclear Material Using Big Data Analytics,” is aimed at sorting potential radiation threats from non-threatening stimuli.
“(The equipment) can pick up all kinds of nuisance alarms; it’s a total needle in the haystack kind of problem,” Sullivan said.
Her solution is to pull in other sources of data, including real-time weather, traffic patterns, geographic information system data, and other open-source data, to adjudicate potential detection on the radiation network. “When you have a puzzle, what do you do? You start by grouping together like colors, then the edges, so you can start assembling.”
“Big data” is defined by the “four Vs”: volume, velocity, veracity, and variety. The volume of data in true big data is considered to be larger than any single computer or cluster of computers can analyze. Velocity refers to the fact that all data useful to this project is in constant motion between the cloud and several series of computer servers. Data veracity suggests that not all of the data points within a data stream are correct, thus requiring complicated filtering mechanisms. Finally, proper analytics require the inclusion and analysis of a variety of data types to adjudicate an alarm.
“Then you look for hits in the time-tagged, geo-tagged data,” Sullivan said.
The objective of the DARPA YFA program is to identify and engage rising research stars in junior faculty positions at U.S. academic institutions and expose them to Department of Defense needs as well as DARPA’s program development process.
The YFA program provides funding, mentoring, and industry and DOD contacts to awardees early in their careers so they may develop their research ideas in the context of DOD needs. The program focuses on untenured faculty, emphasizing those without prior DARPA funding. The long-term goal of the YFA program is to develop the next generation of academic scientists, engineers and mathematicians in key disciplines who will focus a significant portion of their career on DOD and national security issues.