Current Research

Behavioral Game Theory and Game Theoretic Modeling

This research focuses on developing new game-theoretic models and solution algorithms for real-world security domains. These solution algorithms are use-inspired and designed to efficiently solve large scale real-world problems, such as the Intelligent Randomization in Scheduling (IRIS) tool created for the Federal Air Marshals. Most existing models and solution techniques either cannot efficiently solve such large scale problems or do not generalize well from one security domain to another. I plan to create a general framework of solution techniques and models that can be easily applied to numerous security domains and applications. I also focus on creating extensions to these models to address real-world concerns when dealing with human adversaries and different terrorist organizations. These include dealing with model uncertainties such as which particular terrorist organization we may face, accounting for human social biases, handling specific human preferences, addressing opponent observational uncertainty, and addressing human bounded rationality to name a few. These models will be both empirically and qualitatively validated through mathematical proofs and experimentation.

ARMOR (Assistant for Randomized Monitoring Over Routes):

This research involves working on the security patrolling problem. Specifically, when and where to patrol/monitory areas of importance. We find that it is critical to maintain a level of randomness in security while still maintaining specific quality constraints. ARMOR is a software assistant that casts this patrolling/monitoring problem as a Bayesian Stackelberg game, allowing agents to appropriately weigh the different actions in randomization, as well as uncertainty over adversary types.

Previous Research

TRUE STORY:

TRUE STORY is a system architecture that was designed to address issues concerning dynamically generated quest or story paths in persistent worlds, such as MMORPGs, for users to engage in more enhanced, interactive and personal experiences. TRUE STORY empowers persistent world designers by offering a truly modular approach for dynamically generating and presenting compelling content that results in user experiences worth telling a story about.

Phylogenic Tree Reconstruction:

The reconstruction of phylogenic tress is currently being explored for evolutionary studies. The methods used for these reconstructions are becoming more complex and rigorous as the principles behind them are becoming apparent. As more phylogenies are biologically discovered it is becoming easier to find known trees to compare results to. With concrete results at hand metods are being examined and corrected to conform to the model. I explored a character-weighting method which assigns different weights to each section of a phylogeny based on the portion of the tree that was being examined. After incorporating these weights a method known as neighbor joining was applied to the new set of data to attempt reconstruction of the deepest branch of the phylogeny

Gene Searching Algorithm:

Various gene-searching algorithms presently exist to search genomic databases for Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) sequences. However, as genomic databases continue to grow in size with the discovery of new genes and new organisms these algorithms are becoming more inefficient and uneconomical for accomplishing the task of sequence searching. The algorithm I worked on attempted to sequentially search a database of DNA and in one pass calculate the number of matches a gene sequence would experience at each position in the genome.

Synthetic Spider Silk:

Spider silk is a material that can be used for various applications ranging from military to medical. Thus, the creation of a sequence of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) taht will produce spider silk protein is being explored. Once produced this protein will be manipulated to create a synthetic spider silk as strong as naturally occurring spider silk. Through the use of restriction enzymes, synthetic genes can be assembled that mimic the behavior of spider genes and code for the production of silk protein. After the successful creation of these new strains of genes, they can be transplanted into bacteria, which will then be used to produce spider silk protein.