IEEE Summit on Communications Futures
19 January 2018 – Honolulu, Hawaii

Featured Speakers

Vincent ChanVincent W.S. Chan, Joan and Irwin Jacobs Professor of EECS, MIT

Vincent W. S. Chan, the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Chair Professor of EECS, MIT, received his BS(71), MS(71), EE(72), and Ph.D.(74) degrees in EE all from MIT. From 1974 to 1977, he was an assistant professor, EE, at Cornell University. He joined MIT Lincoln Laboratory in 1977 and had been Division Head of the Communications and Information Technology Division until becoming the Director of the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (1999–2007) at MIT. He founded and is currently a member of the Claude E. Shannon Communication and Network Group at MIT’s Research Laboratory of Electronics of.

In July 1983, he initiated the Laser Intersatellite Transmission Experiment Program and in 1997, the follow-on GeoLITE Program. In 1989, he led the All-Optical-Network Consortium (1990-1997) formed among MIT, AT&T and the Digital Equipment Corporation.  He also served as PI of the Next Generation Internet Consortium, ONRAMP (1998-2003) formed among AT&T, Cabletron, MIT, Nortel and JDS, and a Satellite Networking Research Consortium funded by NSF formed between MIT, Motorola, Teledesic and Globalstar. He has founded in 2009 and served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Optical Communications and Networking until 2012. He has served in many government advisory boards and is currently a Member of the Corporation of Draper Laboratory. He is an elected member of Eta-Kappa-Nu, Tau-Beta-Pi and Sigma-Xi, and the Fellow of the IEEE and the Optical Society of America.

Throughout his career, Professor Chan has spent his research focus on communication and networks, particularly on free space and fiber optical communication and networks and satellite communications. His work has led the way to the first successful ultra-high rate laser communication demonstration in space and early deployment of WDM optical networks. His recent research emphasis is on high speed and agile heterogeneous (satcom, wireless and fiber) network architectures with stringent performance demands.

 

Debabani Choudhury, Principal Scientist, Intel Labs

Debabani Choudhury joined Intel Labs in 2006. She provides strategic research directions and leads research and development of RF/millimeter-wave technologies for next generation wireless platforms and connected vehicle integration. She has a broad range of expertise in RF, millimeter wave, and terahertz device, circuits, antennas, system, packaging, integration and technologies. She has 25+ years of research experience and holds a PhD degree in Electrical Engineering. Before joining Intel, she held senior research staff positions at HRL Labs (formerly Hughes Research Laboratories) and Millitech Corporation where she developed various millimeter-wave and terahertz technologies for imaging as well as other space and defense applications. Prior to that, she worked at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) on THz/submillimeter-wave devices and components for space-based heterodyne receiver applications. Debabani has more than 35 patents/patent applications and numerous publications. She received several NASA recognition awards for her work on heterodyne receivers, devices, multipliers, and guiding structures/ modules developed for space and defense applications.
Debabani is an IEEE Fellow.

Debabani has been on several Technical Program Committees (TPC) for IEEE and SPIE conferences including IEEE International Microwave Symposium (IMS), IEEE Antenna and Propagation Symposium (AP-S), IEEE Radio and Wireless Symposium (RWS), Wireless Power Transfer Conference (WPTC), European Microwave Conference (EUMC). She serves as member of multiple IEEE Microwave Theory and Technique Society (MTT-S) Technical Co-Ordination Committees: Microwave and Millimeter Wave Integrated Circuits; Wireless Communications; Wireless Energy Transfer and Conversion and Wireless Enabled Automotive and Vehicular Applications. She served on many IMS and RWS conference steering committee roles. She serves as the Guest Editor for multiple journals including Proceedings of IEEE, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques (T-MTT) and multiple special issues of the IEEE Microwave Magazines. She has presented numerous invited talks at various conferences, workshops, industries, and universities worldwide. She has presented and organized numerous IEEE workshops, panel sessions, and focused sessions. Currently she is serving as a member of IEEE 5G-Initiative Committee, Chair for MTT-S and ComSoc collaboration team in addition to serving as the Chair for IEEE 5G-Summit, June 2017 and June 2018.

 

Javan ErfanianJavan Erfanian, Distinguished Member of Technology, Bell Canada

In his role as Distinguished Member of Technology at Bell Canada, Javan Erfanian is responsible for the end to end wireless technology strategic direction and industry initiatives. Since 2013, he has been the Co-Lead and Chief Editor of the Next Generation Mobile Network (NGMN) Alliance’s 5G initiative and 5G White Paper, and the Lead of the NGMN Verticals Requirements initiative. He is currently the Vice Chair of NGMN 5G Board Committee, and member of the Steering Board at Wireless World Research Forum. Javan grew up in Iran and studied at the Universities of Calgary and Toronto in Canada, with research publications and many citations. He has taught many academic courses. Javan was a recipient of IEEE Millennium Medal in 2000, an author and editor of IEEE Comsoc Wireless Engineering Book of Knowledge and an IEEE Comsoc Distinguished Speaker for many years.

 

 David Freeman, Research Scientist/Engineer at Facebook

David Freeman is a research scientist/engineer at Facebook working on spam and abuse problems. He previously led anti-abuse engineering and data science teams at LinkedIn, where he developed statistical models to detect fraud and abuse and built scalable modeling and scoring infrastructure. He is an author, presenter, and organizer at international conferences on machine learning and security, such as NDSS, WWW and AISec, and is currently writing (with Clarence Chio) a book on Machine Learning and Security to be published by O’Reilly. He holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from UC Berkeley and did postdoctoral research in cryptography and security at CWI and Stanford University.

Any communications network is a target for spam and unwanted contact. While small amounts of spam will frustrate some users, if left unchecked the problem can lead to a loss of user trust that ultimately destroys the network.
Reactively taking down bad accounts and content doesn’t necessarily help: the adversary adapts quickly and there are always more of them.

In this talk we will discuss several foundational principles for stopping unwanted communications in a proactive, sustainable and scalable manner. These principles include:
(a) measuring the problem in order to understand what is
wrong and how to prioritize your efforts;
(b) building “defense in depth” to stop as much bad activity as possible while minimizing impact to good users, and
(c) detecting abuse by using signals that are hard for the adversary to change.

 

Michaela IorgaMichaela Iorga, Senior Security Technical Lead for Cloud Computing, National Institute of Standards and Technology

Dr. Michaela Iorga serves as senior security technical lead for cloud computing with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Computer Security division. She also chairs the NIST Cloud Computing Public Security Working Group and co-chairs the NIST Cloud Computing Public Forensic Science Working Group. Having previously served in a wide range of consulting positions in both government and private sector industries before joining NIST, Dr. Iorga, a recognized expert in information security, risk assessment and information assurance for cloud, fog and IoT-based systems, has a deep understanding of cybersecurity, identity and credential management, and cyberspace privacy issues, as well as an extensive knowledge base in the development of complex security architectures. In her role as senior security technical lead at NIST and chair of the NIST Public Security and Forensics Working Groups, Dr. Iorga supports the development and dissemination of cybersecurity standards and guidelines that meet national priorities and promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. Dr. Iorga is particularly focused on working with industrial, academic, and other government stakeholders to develop a high-level, vendor-neutral cloud and fog computing security and forensics guidance under the NIST Strategy for Developing a US Government Cloud Computing Technology Roadmap. A proven leader and expert in problem-solving and analysis, Dr. Iorga is also managing several other NIST efforts that include the development of the Open Security Controls Assessment Language, Cognitive-based IoT fingerprinting, Risk Management for Cloud-based Systems and Fog Computing definition. Past projects focused on development of Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules (Federal Information Processing Standard 140-3), implementation of a NIST public, secure randomness source; development of security testing requirements for electrical smart meters; ad-hoc network security and smartcards for personal identity verification (PIV). Dr. Iorga received her Ph.D. from Duke University in North Carolina, USA.

 

Nir KshertiNir Kshetri, University of North Carolina-Greensboro and Kobe University

Nir Kshetri is Professor at University of North Carolina-Greensboro and a research fellow at Kobe University. He has authored seven books, one of which has been selected as an Outstanding Academic Title by Choice Magazine and has published over 110 articles in various journals. Nir is a consultant for the Asian Development Bank. He also participated as lead discussant at the Peer Review meeting of the UN’s Information Economy Report 2013 and 2015. Nir is the winner of 2016 Bryan School Senior Research Excellence Award. He is also a two time winner of the Pacific Telecommunication Council’s Meheroo Jussawalla Research Paper Prize (2010 and 2008). Nir has been quoted/interviewed and/or his work has been featured by hundreds of media outlets worldwide such as Foreign Policy, Bloomberg TV, CBS News, Fortune, Time, Christian Science Monitor, U.S. News & World Report, New Boston Post, Observer and Salon.

 

Georg MohsGeorg Mohs, Senior Director of System Design and Product Management, TE SubCom

As Senior Director of System Design and Product Management, Dr. Georg Mohs is responsible for the engineering solutions of TE SubCom’s transoceanic telecommunications cable systems.  Dr. Mohs began his work with TE SubCom in 2001, holding various positions in Transmission Testing, System Design and Transmission Research before moving closer to the commercial side of the business with roles in Technical Sales and Project Management support.  He holds 9 US patents and has published more than 100 articles in peer reviewed international journals and conference proceedings at multiple industry conferences, including OFC and ECOC.  Dr. Mohs is a Senior Member of IEEE.  He holds a Ph.D. in Optical Sciences from the University of Arizona.

 

Tao ZhangTao Zhang, Distinguished Engineer / Senior Director at Cisco Corporate Strategic Innovation Group

Tao Zhang is an IEEE Fellow, Distinguished Engineer / Senior Director, Corporate Strategy Group, Cisco Systems. He joined Cisco in 2012 as Chief Scientist for Cisco’s Smart Connected Vehicles business. Since then, he has also been leading initiatives to develop strategies, technology, and eco-systems for the Internet of Things (IoT) and Fog Computing. He is a co-founder and Board Director of OpenFog Consortium, the CIO and a Board Governor of IEEE Communications Society, and a co-founder and founding Board Director of the Connected Vehicle Trade Association (CVTA). Prior to joining Cisco, Dr. Zhang was Chief Scientist and Director of Wireless and Vehicular Networking at Telcordia Technologies (formerly Bell Communications Research or Bellcore). For over 25 years, Tao has been in various technical and executive positions, directing research and product development in vehicular, mobile, and broadband networking.