Comprehensive Engineering Conference
With four exclusive parallel conference tracks, this year’s IEEE-FW Section MetroCon provides one of the strongest programs ever, allowing the attendee to rapidly grasp the technical and societal implications of some of our most promising and innovative new developments. Each track has been organized in well coordinated morning and afternoon sessions to help achieve maximum exposure in minimum time.
This year's keynote speaker will be Dr. E. Douglas Harris,
Associate Dean and Research Professor,
Executive Director,
CyberSecurity and Emergency Preparedness Institute, Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD).
For the past ten years, Dr. Harris has been UT Dallas’s principle investigator for the world-wide telecommunications industry’s Quality Measurements Repository System (MRS). The MRS system at UT Dallas receives and stores all of the product performance information for the telecommunications industry world wide. UT Dallas researched and developed the MRS system to meet very rigorous confidentiality, security and reliability standards established by the QuEST Forum. The QuEST Forum is an international consortium of telecommunications service providers and suppliers. The MRS is a web-based computer information system and is considered to be one of the most secure systems in the world. In January of 2000, it was the first system in the U.S. to be certified to the rigid British Standards Institute Standard (BSI) BS 7799 for Information Security. This rigorous security standard is now ISO/IEC 27001.2005.
Since the spring of 2000, Dr. Harris has been UT Dallas’s principle investigator for a highly secure, highly available internet based emergency response system– called “E-Plan.” This critical emergency response system is being funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It enables “first responders” to instantly view critical data and emergency plans needed during hazardous material emergencies. The effort to develop this system has required rigorous research and coordination with the DHS & EPA, first responders, FEMA, and the Region 6 Response Team. This program has been implemented in numerous cities across all the 50 states with twelve states having all of their hazardous facilities in the E-Plan system. It is currently considered one of the best first responder information programs in the U.S. to help mitigate hazmat incidents and terrorist acts.
Dr. Harris started his career at Texas Instruments where he spent over 15 years prior to joining the academic ranks. From 1973 to 1978 he was Corporate Manager of Automation at Texas Instruments (TI). His efforts produced very creative and sophisticated computer aided design automation systems for effectively dealing with the rapidly changing high-tech environment at TI. The automation research group consisted of more than 125 personnel, many with Ph.D.’s in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and computer science. From 1978 to 1981 he was the Vice President at Productivity International, Inc. where he completed several major consulting jobs in the area of CAD/CAM systems and Management of Technology at the following corporations; Chrysler Corporation, Whirlpool Corporation, Dresser Industries and Recognition Equipment.
In 1978 he went to Southern Methodist University (SMU) directly from Texas Instruments and in 1988 he was appointed Assistant Dean in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) at SMU. In August of 1996 he was appointed Associate Dean in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at The University of Texas at Dallas, the position he currently holds.
His education and his 20+ years of industrial managerial experience with high technology programs have provided a platform for managing large and difficult university based research programs. Dr. Harris has been an Associate Dean and Research Professor at the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) for twelve years. Before joining UT Dallas in 1996 he was the Assistant Dean of Engineering at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas for over eight years. In addition, he has been the Executive Director of the CyberSecurity and Emergency Preparedness Institute (CSEPI) at UT Dallas for the past six years. Under his direction the University of Texas at Dallas has received the Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education and the Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Research from the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Over the past five years UT Dallas has received $14 million dollars for Information Assurance and Cyber Security Research.
During his academic career he has supervised and graduated twelve Doctor of Engineering doctoral students. Dr. Harris has also served as an advisor on seventeen other doctoral committees; three in electrical engineering, four in mechanical engineering, five in computer science, two in operations research, and three others. He has published over 40 referred papers and taught in both engineering (21 years) and business schools (4 years).
Dr. E. Douglas Harris received his engineering M.S. degree in Management of Technology/ CAD/CAM, the Executive M.B.A. in General Management, and the Doctor of Engineering (D.Engr.) in Management of Technology degrees from Southern Methodist University.
He is a member of the National Engineering Honor Society (Tau Beta Pi), the Operations Research Honor Society (Omega Rho) and an honorary member of the Golden Key National Honor Society.
Our plenary speaker will be Mr. Shawn Mulvaney.
Mr. Mulvaney is a Senior LM Fellow with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. He serves as Air System Architect for the JSF program, and maintains an active consulting schedule with several current F-16 programs. His presentation will open the conference with a discussion of "Air Systems Architecture Integration."
Four exciting tracks, our plenary speaker, and our lunchtime keynote speaker will make this year’s MetroCon one that will be hard to forget. We hope to see you all there!
-- The 2010 IEEE-FW MetroCon Organizing Committee