Other -- Projects

Advanced Computing and Information Solutions

BioComputation

Section 508 and Accessibility Standards

Technology Transfer Office

The Research Computing Facility (RCF)

Advanced Computing and Information Solutions

Bryn Dews, Bill Donaldson, and Joe Sain

Bedford and Washington

The Advanced Computing and Information Solutions (ACIS) division will be presenting the following demonstrations at this year's MITRE Technology Symposium.

Voice Enabled Services (ConnectMe)
Voice access to corporate information is a key enabler for ubiquitous computing. ConnectMe is a voice service that will allow speaker-independent voice recognition of over 9,000 names in MITRE's Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). The service will enable a user to be connected to a MITRE employee or tenant just by speaking the person's name. Callers can use a single phone number to access this service while in their office, on a cell phone, or while traveling. We were able to build ConnectMe using the data available in LDAP and have acceptable recognition. We have added a Web interface to allow people to change the pronunciation of their name. This has a secondary benefit of making the correct pronunciation of colleagues' names accessible from the MII.

Wireless LAN Pilot
Wireless LANs provide easy deployment and accessibility for mobile users. However, wireless LAN technology has not been designed to provide the security required for deployment at MITRE. MITRE is conducting a pilot test of wireless LANs that has widespread coverage and provides an excellent experimental network for evaluating wireless services and testing several security designs that are easy to use. We also are evaluating how to use VoIP over the wireless LAN on laptops and on xPDAs.

My MII on the Internet
MyMII on the Internet enables employees to access MII services from outside MITRE's firewall using SecureID authentication. The services currently available include the Time Reporting System, MII PhoneBook, MII Banners, and the Administrative menu. This system will be available as a limited pilot test early in the third quarter of this fiscal year.

My MII Portal
The MyMII Portal, the next phase in the evolution of the MII, is currently conducting a limited pilot test. Building on the personalization that was released with the previous version of the MII, MyMII offers MITRE employees a customizable view of the content and services that they choose, as well as the ability to add or remove services and organize services the way they would like to see them displayed on their home page. New services are currently being developed and will be phased in as the pilot continues, eventually expanding to all of MITRE.

MII Integrated Instant Messaging
An extension of the MII phonebook is being tested to provide quick access to two different instant messaging tools, AOL Instant Messenger and Jabber, with the goal of providing a collaboration tool that keeps MITRE traffic inside the firewall. Ultimately, this project will settle on a set of standard clients, providing a supportable client for each supported operating system. A beta pilot of the AIM interface was available beginning in the second quarter of this fiscal year

Audio Indexing/Hotspotting
In collaboration with the Audio Hot Spotting Project, ACIS will capture and index the video and audio of the keynote speaker in real time and make it available at the Symposium. Users will be able to search both the presentation and selected components of MITRE's multimedia catalog by keyword.

BioComputation

Jordan C. Feidler, Principal Investigator

Bedford and Washington

Problem
A large and expanding repertoire of available physiological, biochemical, and molecular approaches has resulted in dramatic growth in the biological sciences. Unfortunately, these advances in biotechnology also lower the barrier to developing novel biological weapons for use in asymmetric warfare or terrorist activities. In addition, the biomechanisms within cells are working molecular-scale devices that have vast potential for applied use.

Objectives
DARPA's BioComputation Program will develop a computational framework, BioSPICE, that facilitates the rapid construction of sophisticated simulations of intracellular processes. This system will enable researchers to rapidly explore the effects of a novel pathogen and to quickly identify possible intervention strategies. Another goal is to develop novel and useful computational architectures, sensor devices, and physical structures using biomolecules.

Activities
Biologists, mathematicians, and computer scientists are developing the BioSPICE architecture. Experimental researchers are using BioSPICE to explore the logical implications of alternative competing hypotheses and to simulate the behavior of cells. DNA and RNA nucleotides are being used to perform massively parallel, NP-hard computations, and being programmed to self-assemble into physical structures. MITRE is identifying additional high-impact research opportunities.

Impacts
BioSPICE will speed response to a novel biological threat by allowing researchers to rapidly simulate cellular processes and refine hypotheses before conducting costly wet-lab experiments. In addition, advances in engineering and information technology will derive from demonstrations of using cellular machinery to compute, sense the environment, and self-assemble. Finally, this program will cultivate a cadre of interdisciplinary researchers.

Section 508 and Accessibility Standa

Margot Peet, Principal Investigator

Washington only

Problem
Section 508 requires federal agencies to provide disabled employees and members of the public access to electronic and information technology that is comparable to those who are not disabled. Within the next decade, accessible E&IT will become part of the IT landscape, just as wheelchair ramps required by the Americans with Disabilities Act are now part of the architectural landscape.

Objectives
We will monitor and influence government and commercial trends through participation in the National Committee for Information Technology Standards (NCITS) IT Access Standards Committee and selected related activities. We will provide corporate reach-back in the area of Section 508 and universal access in the form of a mini-TEM on the subject.

Activities
Continuing activities begun in FY01, we will participate in NCITS accessibility standards activities, as well as other government-sponsored activities, e.g., GSA sponsored Accessibility Forum. We will continue to provide corporate reach-back to sponsors. In FY01 we established a "virtual team" of individuals with interest in accessibility. We will organize a mini-TEM on Section 508 and universal usability in FY02.

Impacts
Section 508 will change the IT landscape over the next 5–10 years. Larger issues of universal usability will also be positively impacted by the stimulus of this federal legislation. Under FY01 funding, MITRE actively participated in accessibility community activities. We will continue this participation in standards work as well as providing reach-back to sponsors.

Technology Transfer Office

Gerard Eldering, Technology Transfer Office Director

Bedford and Washington

Technology transfer can highlight MITRE's achievements and innovations while making our technology affordable, supportable, and available to our government sponsors, academia, and industry. It can be accomplished through a variety of means, such as licensing, cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs), open source publishing, consortia, and industry standards. MITRE's Technology Transfer Office (TTO) can help employees develop transfer strategies, plan and execute transfers, negotiate licenses, assess risk, evaluate patent applications, and develop business plans for corporate business investments.

At the symposium, the TTO will be joined by its partners, the Open Channel Software Foundation and LaunchFuel, who will be available to discuss ways they can help us facilitate the technology transfer process.

The Research Computing Facility (RCF)

Dave Goldberg, Associate Department Head, Research Computing Facility

Bedford and Washington

The Research Computing Facility (RCF) provides a distributed computing environment to the MITRE technical community. Our mission is to help MITRE researchers focus more on their research efforts, and less on their computing assets. Our solution is a highly scalable environment, largely based on the Andrew File System (AFS), that ensures users a common view of their home directory, project spaces, and application suite regardless of geographic location or supported UNIX platform (currently Solaris, Irix and Linux). We also do our own research into the state of the art in various information technologies to ensure that we are able to provide our customers with up-to-date capabilities and expertise in the management of their resources. Worthwhile learnings are passed on to MITRE's customers. We also provide system administration services to non-RCF managed machines on a consulting basis. This year's research is looking into how to manage high capacity storage technology and how to centralize system management across a Wide Area Network (WAN).