From Doctoral Student To Faculty Member: Ph.D. Project Alumnis Evaluation Of Their Preparedness

In response to the important issues regarding diversity in business schools and corporate America, the KPMG Foundation established the PhD Project. The PhD Project helps business professionals and recent college graduates earn doctoral degrees in business disciplines and join business school faculty. While the PhD Project has helped increase the number of minority faculty members in business schools, it may be helpful to gather insights from the recent PhD alumni who have received support from the PhD Project. Our study examines attitudes about preparedness of PhD Project alums for their first faculty position after completing their PhD program. Results show that PhD Project alumni and majority PhD alumni (alumni not associated with the PhD Project) felt they were prepared for their first faculty position, but they were not significantly different in their evaluation in most respects. However, to our surprise, majority PhD alumni felt they were better prepared for research than PhD Project alumni. This difference was significant and further analyses showed that younger faculty and those in the ethnic majority were better prepared for research. Both groups considered themselves well prepared for research and teaching. Neither group was as optimistic about being prepared for service responsibilities and the academic climate or politics of an academic career. Our findings show that the PhD Project is necessary to help ensure that minority faculty members are adequately prepared for research and their academic careers

Contrastive examples for addressing the tyranny of the majority

Computer vision algorithms, e.g. for face recognition, favour groups of individuals that are better represented in the training data. This happens because of the generalization that classifiers have to make. It is simpler to fit the majority groups as this fit is more important to overall error. We propose to create a balanced training dataset, consisting of the original dataset plus new data points in which the group memberships are intervened, minorities become majorities and vice versa. We show that current generative adversarial networks are a powerful tool for learning these data points, called contrastive examples. We experiment with the equalized odds bias measure on tabular data as well as image data (CelebA and Diversity in Faces datasets). Contrastive examples allow us to expose correlations between group membership and other seemingly neutral features. Whenever a causal graph is available, we can put those contrastive examples in the perspective of counterfactuals

All-Solid-State UV Transmitter Development for Ozone Sensing Applications

In this paper, recent progress made in the development of an all-solid-state UV transmitter suitable for ozone sensing applications from space based platforms is discussed. A nonlinear optics based UV setup based on Rotated Image Singly Resonant Twisted Rectangle (RISTRA) optical parametric oscillator (OPO) module was effectively coupled to a diode pumped, single longitudinal mode, conductively cooled, short-pulsed, high-energy Nd:YAG laser operating at 1064 nm with 50 Hz PRF. An estimated 10 mJ/pulse with ~10% conversion efficiency at 320 nm has been demonstrated limited only by the pump pulse spatial profile. The current arrangement has the potential for obtaining greater than 200 mJ/pulse. Previously, using a flash-lamp pumped Nd:YAG laser with round, top-hat profile, up to 24% IR-UV conversion efficiency was achieved with the same UV module. Efforts are underway to increase the IR-UV conversion efficiency of the all solid-state setup by modifying the pump laser spatial profile along with incorporating improved OPO crystals

Recent Progress Made in the Development of High-Energy UV Transmitter

In this paper, the status of an all-solid-state UV converter development for ozone sensing applications is discussed. A high energy Nd:YAG laser for pumping the UV converter arrangement was recently reported. The pump is an all-solid-state, single longitudinal mode, and conductively cooled Nd:YAG laser operating at 1064 nm wavelength. Currently, this pump laser provides an output pulse energy of greater than 1J/pulse at 50 Hz PRF and a pulsewidth of 22 ns with an electrical-to-optical system efficiency of greater than 7% and a M(sup 2) value of approx. 2. The spatial profile of the output beam is a rectangular super Gaussian. This Nd:YAG pump laser has been developed to pump the nonlinear optics based UV converter arrangement to generate 320 nm and 308 nm wavelengths by means of 532 nm wavelength. Previously, this UV converter arrangement has demonstrated IR-to-UV conversion efficiency of 24% using a flash lamp pumped laser providing a round, flat top spatial profile. Recently, the UV converter was assembled and tested at NASA LaRC for pumping with the diode pumped Nd:YAG laser. With current spatial profile, the UV converter was made operational. Current efforts to maximize the nonlinear conversion efficiency by refining its spatial profile to match RISTRA OPO requirements are progressing

Songbird organotypic culture as an in vitro model for interrogating sparse sequencing networks

Sparse sequences of neuronal activity are fundamental features of neural circuit computation; however, the underlying homeostatic mechanisms remain poorly understood. To approach these questions, we have developed a method for cellular-resolution imaging in organotypic cultures of the adult zebra finch brain, including portions of the intact song circuit. These in vitro networks can survive for weeks, and display mature neuron morphologies. Neurons within the organotypic slices exhibit a diversity of spontaneous and pharmacologically induced activity that can be easily monitored using the genetically encoded calcium indicator GCaMP6. In this study, we primarily focus on the classic song sequence generator HVC and the surrounding areas. We describe proof of concept experiments including physiological, optical, and pharmacological manipulation of these exposed networks. This method may allow the cellular rules underlying sparse, stereotyped neural sequencing to be examined with new degrees of experimental control

Plan-view Trajectory Estimation with Dense Stereo Background Models

In a known environment, objects may be tracked in multiple views using a set of back-ground models. Stereo-based models can be illumination-invariant, but often have undefined values which inevitably lead to foreground classification errors. We derive dense stereo models for object tracking using long-term, extended dynamic-range imagery, and by detecting and interpolating uniform but unoccluded planar regions. Foreground points are detected quickly in new images using pruned disparity search. We adopt a 'late-segmentation' strategy, using an integrated plan-view density representation. Foreground points are segmented into object regions only when a trajectory is finally estimated, using a dynamic programming-based method. Object entry and exit are optimally determined and are not restricted to special spatial zones

The PhD Project: How Successful Is It?

The PhD Project’s mission to diversify the work force by increasing the diversity of business school faculty is quite admirable, but is the Project successful? To gather insights toward responding to that question and to offer suggestions, we reviewed three of the Project’s objectives that relate most closely to minority doctoral students and faculty members. We examined the Project’s website, held discussions with Project staff members, and surveyed Project alumni. Among the myriad of PhD Project activities, the most important are its annual November conference for potential doctoral students and its annual minority doctoral student association meetings for each of five academic disciplines (accounting, finance, information systems, management and marketing). The annual conference attracts between 350 and 400 individuals from which about 10% enroll in doctoral programs each year. The doctoral student associations have over 1,400 members of which some 400 are current doctoral students and the others are faculty members. The Project is making significant progress toward accomplishing its mission and objectives. Areas where the Project could improve its accomplishments include identifying why those who have considered enrollment have not done so, placing greater emphasis on teaching and service at minority doctoral student association conferences, and strengthening mentoring relationships