Dr. Delores Etter

A Vision of the Future - Smaller and Smarter Systems

Abstract  

Technology has given us the capabilities to develop systems that continue to get smaller and smarter. Examples of these smaller and smarter systems include microrobots, micro air vehicles, and micro satellites. Signal processing has allowed us to also expand the capabilities of these systems to interact with their environment through new sensing systems and faster computers. But one of the most exciting new capabilities for these smaller and smarter systems is the possibility to work together collaboratively. Collective behavior opens up many new possibilities. Consider the opportunities for swarms of micro air vehicles, or clusters of microsatellites, or groups of underwater autonomous vehicles. Learning algorithms and adaptive signal processing becomes a key element of the development of these new systems. This presentation will consider some of the new technologies and algorithms for this vision of the future. Cooperation Program between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the U.S. She is also responsible for the DoD High Performance Computing Modernization Program, the Defense Modeling and Simulation Office, management oversight of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), and executive agent for software intensive systems. From 1990-1998, Dr. Delores Etter was a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her research interests are in adaptive signal processing, speech and speaker recognition, digital filter design, and software engineering. She has also written a number of textbooks on computer languages. Her educational interests include the development of collaborative experiments in virtual teaming of students using the Internet and the development of distance learning technologies.

Biography

Dr. Etter has held the positions of Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology, and Deputy Director of Defense Research and Engineering, since June 1998. She is responsible for Defense Science and Technology strategic planning, budget allocation, and program execution and evaluation. Additionally she ensures that the National Defense objectives are met by the $9 billion per year DoD Science and Technology Program. Dr. Etter coordinates NATO science and technology collaborative efforts and is the Principal U.S. Representative to the NATO Research and Technology Board and to The Technical Cooperation Program between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the U.S. She is also responsible for the DoD High Performance Computing Modernization Program, the Defense Modeling and Simulation Office, management oversight of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), and executive agent for software intensive systems. 

From 1990-1998, Dr. Delores Etter was a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her research interests are in adaptive signal processing, speech and speaker recognition, digital filter design, and software engineering. She has also written a number of textbooks on computer languages. Her educational interests include the development of collaborative experiments in virtual teaming of students using the Internet and the development of distance learning technologies. During 1979-1989, Dr. Etter was a faculty member in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of New Mexico (UNM). She served as Associate Chair of the Department from 1987-1989. During 1989, she also served as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at UNM. Dr. Etter spent two summers at Sandia National Laboratories working in the area of seismic signal processing. During the 1983-1984 academic year she was a National Science Foundation Visiting Professor in the Electrical Engineering Department at Stanford University. Dr. Etter attended Oklahoma State University and the University of Texas at Arlington, and received B.S. and M.S. degrees in mathematics in 1970 and 1972 from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. She received her Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of New Mexico in 1979. She and her husband, Jerry, reside in Northern Virginia.