Browsing by Author "Mengel, Susan (TTU)"
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Item An evolutionary approach for the hierarchical scheduling of safety-and security-critical multicore architectures(2020) Woolley, Brandon; Mengel, Susan (TTU); Ertas, Atila (TTU)The aerospace and defense industry is facing an end-of-life production issue with legacy embedded uniprocessor systems. Most, if not all, embedded processor manufacturers have already moved towards system-on-a-chip multicore architectures. Current scheduling arrangements do not consider schedules related to safety and security. The methods are also inefficient because they arbitrarily assign larger-than-necessary windows of execution. This research creates a hierarchical scheduling framework as a model for real-time multicore systems to integrate the scheduling for safe and secure systems. This provides a more efficient approach which automates the migration of embedded systems’ real-time software tasks to multicore architectures. A novel genetic algorithm with a unique objective function and encoding scheme was created and compared to classical bin-packing algorithms. The simulation results show the genetic algorithm had 1.8–2.5 times less error (a 56–71% difference), outperforming its counterparts in uniformity in utilization. This research provides an efficient, automated method for commercial, private and defense industries to use a genetic algorithm to create a feasible two-level hierarchical schedule for real-time embedded multicore systems that address safety and security constraints.Item Development cycle modeling: Process risk(2020) Denard, Samuel; Ertas, Atila (TTU); Mengel, Susan (TTU); Ekwaro-Osire, Stephen (TTU)The first part of this paper outlined the Statistical Agent-based Model of Development and Evaluation (SAbMDE) and demonstrated the model's ability to estimate development cycle resource utilization. This second part of the paper explores the model's ability to compute development cycle information content and process risk. Risk managers focus mostly on outcome risk, i.e., the likelihood that a running system will behave in an undesirable manner. SAbMDE assumes that a subset of outcome risks are not inherent and immutable but are, instead, the result of defects and vulnerabilities introduced during the system's development process. The likelihood of defect and vulnerability introduction is a process risk. SAbMDE further assumes that measuring process risk is a prerequisite for minimizing defects and vulnerabilities and, therefore, outcome risk. The model implements the measurement with Shannon's information-probability relationship similar to its use in Axiomatic Design Theory (ADT). This paper details the SAbMDE's information and risk calculations and demonstrates those calculations with examples. The process risk calculation is consistent with and offers a mechanism for the ADT Information Axiom.Item Development cycle modeling: Resource estimation(2020) Denard, Samuel; Ertas, Atila (TTU); Mengel, Susan (TTU); Ekwaro-Osire, Stephen (TTU)This paper presents results produced by a domain-independent system development model that enables objective and quantitative calculation of certain development cycle characteristics. The presentation recounts the model's motivation and includes an outline of the model's structure. The outline shows that the model is constructive. As such, it provides an explanatory mechanism for the results that it produces, not just a representation of qualitative observations or measured data. The model is a Statistical Agent-based Model of Development and Evaluation (SAbMDE); and it appears to be novel with respect to previous design theory and methodology work. This paper focuses on one development cycle characteristic: resource utilization. The model's resource estimation capability is compared to Boehm's long-used software development estimation techniques. His Cone of Uncertainty (COU) captures project estimation accuracy empirically at project start but intuitively over a project's duration. SAbMDE calculates estimation accuracy at start up and over project duration; and SAbMDE duplicates the COU's empirical values. Additionally, SAbMDE produces results very similar to the Constructive Cost Model (COCOMO) effort estimation for a wide range of input values.Item Mechanisms and techniques to enhance the security of big data analytic framework with MongoDB and Linux Containers(2022) Mailewa, Akalanka; Mengel, Susan (TTU); Gittner, Lisa (TTU); Khan, Hafiz (TTUHSC)The frequency and scale of unauthorized access cases and misuses of data access privileges are a growing concern of many organizations. The protection of confidential data, such as social security numbers, financial information, etc., of the customers and/or employees is among the key responsibilities of any organization, and damage to such sensitive data can easily pose a threat to the future of a business and the security of the customers. Therefore, this paper proposes and implements some security mechanisms and techniques, such as secure authentication, secure authorization, and encryption, to assure the overall security of a big data analytic framework with MongoDB free community edition. This paper presents the fourth phase of our continuous research where in the first phase we proposed a data analytic framework with MongoDB and Linux Containers (LXCs) with basic security requirements. Next, in the second phase we proposed a vulnerability analysis testbed to find vulnerabilities associated with the system. Finally, in the third phase we discussed in detail root causes and some prevention techniques of vulnerabilities found in the system. In addition, this paper introduces a new security mechanism for privacy preserving data handling with MongoDB to ensure the privacy of the data before being processed. Our results show, with our initial model of the analytic framework, how well our newly introduced security mechanisms work and how these security mechanisms and techniques can be used to assure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CIA) of any data science project conducted on our proposed analytic framework. In addition, these security mechanisms and techniques help us to strengthen the current system against zero-day attacks where attacks on vulnerabilities that have not been patched or made public yet. Therefore, our vulnerability analysis testbed which is proposed in the second phase of this research will not be able to finds vulnerabilities related to zero-day attacks.Item Modification and assessment of a residential summer program for high school women(2018) Cloutier, Aimee; Zheng Yew, Guo (TTU); Gupta, Siddhartha (TTU); Dissanayake, Kalpani (TTU); Monaco, Paula; Mengel, Susan (TTU); Morse, AudraThe importance of reducing the gender gap in engineering programs by recruiting and retaining female students is well recognized. Although women hold roughly half of all jobs in the United States, only 24% of STEM jobs are occupied by women. The problem is even more pronounced for engineering, where women held about 12% of jobs as of 2013 (Corbett & Hill, 2015). Consequently, interactive, hands-on outreach programs are a common tool used by universities to encourage interest in engineering from K–12 students. Engineering—Get Into Real Learning (E-GIRL) is a week-long, residential summer program offered by Texas Tech University for female high school students. The primary goal of the program is to help participants make informed decisions about engineering majors and careers. To this aim, the purposes of the program are: (1) to offer a platform for female high school students to learn about the various disciplines of engineering offered at Texas Tech University and other universities; (2) to provide a realistic university experience, including coursework, social, and professional development opportunities; and (3) to provide hands-on exposure to a real-world engineering problem. E-GIRL ran for the second time in the summer of 2016, based on the favorable support it received in 2015. Primary components of this year’s program were a multidisciplinary group project focused on the theme of CO2 capture and storage, as well as a series of two-hour classes taught by university faculty and graduate students in the following six engineering disciplines: chemical engineering, civil engineering, environmental engineering, industrial engineering, mechanical engineering, and computer science. This paper presents the multidisciplinary structure of the program and its connection to the project that was assigned to program participants. The curriculum structure, the in-class activities, and the method of delivery for each discipline are explained in depth. The assessment of the program’s second year, including comparisons to the results from the first year and modifications to the program based on feedback from previous program participants, are discussed. Assessment was conducted through engineering skills assessment questionnaires, which required students to self-evaluate their competence in 18 skill sets before and after the program. These skill sets are qualities often identified to be important for engineers, and encompass traits associated with problem solving, project management, teamwork, and communication skills. Key results show improved self-assessment for most of the engineering skills after the program. Additionally, the skills that did not show improved self-assessment ratings after the program were consistent throughout both years. Qualitative results show a more matured and complete understanding of engineering and the individual engineering disciplines upon completion of the program. Through oral presentations, participants demonstrated in-depth engagement with the environmental conservation theme of the project. The environmental conservation theme is consistent with the participants’ aspirations for considering an engineering career and championing sustainability, which was highlighted by program participants in 2015 as a desired additional focus of the program. Overall, the program provided an opportunity for participants to experience the multidisciplinary nature of engineering, aided participants’ understanding of the roles of individual engineering disciplines, and furnished a realistic preview of student life in a university.