The National Science Foundation is working with Dr. Jeff Reed and Dr. Jerry Park, both faculty members of Wireless @ Virginia Tech, to host the 2015 Enhancing Access to the Radio Spectrum (EARS) workshop. The purpose of the workshop is to assemble an interdisciplinary group of distinguished researchers and spectrum stakeholders so that they can discuss and create a vision for future spectrum use, identify the problems to be overcome, the research needed to overcome these problems, and the financial and human capital resources necessary to support this vision.

UPDATE: JANUARY, 2016 - Final Report is available HERE

UPDATE: October 23, 2015 - Power point slide presentations and reports are linked up to the appropriate panel session or breakout session as they are received on the Agenda Page.

WHERE: The Virginia Tech Executive Briefing Center
2nd Floor, 900 N. Glebe Rd., Arlington, VA 22203.

OCTOBER 19, 2015

Dr. Pramod Khargonekar, Assistant Director, Directorate for Engineering, National Science Foundation

Dr. Pramod P. Khargonekar was appointed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to serve as Assistant Director for the Directorate of Engineering (ENG) in March 2013. In this position, Khargonekar leads the ENG Directorate with an annual budget of more than $800 million. The ENG Directorate invests in frontier engineering research and education, cultivates an innovation ecosystem, and develops the next-generation of engineers. He is a member of the senior leadership team at NSF and thereby involved in setting priorities and policies at NSF.

Khargonekar received B. Tech. Degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India, in 1977, and M.S. degree in mathematics and Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Florida in 1980 and 1981, respectively.  He has held faculty positions at the University of Florida, University of Minnesota, and The University of Michigan. He was Chairman of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from 1997 to 2001 and also held the position of Claude E. Shannon Professor of Engineering Science at The University of Michigan.  From 2001 to 2009, he was Dean of the College of Engineering and is currently Eckis Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Florida. He also served briefly as Deputy Director of Technology at ARPA-E, U. S. Department of Energy in 2012-13.

Dr. Erwin Gianchandani, Acting Deputy Assistant Director, Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering, National Science Foundation

Dr. Erwin Gianchandani is the Acting Deputy Assistant Director of the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) at the National Science Foundation (NSF), where he contributes to all aspects of the directorate’s management, including strategic planning and oversight of day-to-day operations. Most recently, Dr. Gianchandani has been the deputy division director for the CISE Division of Computer and Network Systems (CNS). Before joining NSF in 2012, Dr. Gianchandani served as the inaugural director of the Computing Community Consortium (CCC), providing leadership to the computing research community in identifying and pursuing audacious, high-impact research directions. Prior to the CCC, Dr. Gianchandani was an AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at NSF and contributed to the establishment of NSF’s smart health and wellbeing program. Previously, he was director of innovation networking at the University of Virginia, reporting to the university’s vice president for research. Dr. Gianchandani has published extensively and presented at numerous international conferences on the subject of computational systems modeling of cellular reaction networks, with the goal of better understanding disease mechanisms and identifying therapeutic targets. Dr. Gianchandani received his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering, M.S. in biomedical engineering, and B.S. in computer science from the University of Virginia.

OCTOBER 20, 2015

Dr. Phil Fleming, CTO, North America Nokia Networks

Dr. Phil Fleming is Chief Technology Officer of North America at Nokia Networks. He earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Michigan, after which he worked for nine years (1982-1991) at Bell Labs as a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff (DMTS). For the next two decades Dr. Fleming led a team of researchers and advanced technologists in designing and developing innovative solutions in packet scheduling and radio receiver/transmitters for WiMAX and LTE as a Fellow of the Technical Staff and Senior Director at Motorola Solutions. In 2011 he joined Nokia Solutions and Networks to be their head of Advanced Radio Technology and Engineering, and later head of Advanced Technology. Currently at CTO, Dr. Fleming looks for opportunities for research and strategic collaborations with telecom technologists in North America and worldwide.

Travel reimbursements will be available for those of you without current EARS project funding. Currently the minimum (note minimum, not maximum!) amount you will be eligible to be reimbursed is $500. The final amount that you will be reimbursed will be determined following the workshop as it will be based on actual attendance numbers. You will be required to provide documentation / original receipts for travel (including airfare or mileage) & hotel rooms. Meals are provided on October 19th and 20th. For anyone traveling in on Sunday, October 18th you may receive the allowable M&IE for the day of travel.

Below is a brief description of the information that we will be collecting during onsite check-in. It is imperative that you have this information in order to complete the necessary paperwork and to receive your reimbursement in a timely manner. Any documentation not provided onsite, must be submitted by 5:00pm (EST) on Friday, November 6, 2015 in order to be considered for reimbursement.

1. Full Legal Name

2. Current Address (mail payments to)

3. Email Address

4. SSN#

5. Proof of Residency, if not US Citizen

6. Phone Number

7. All travel receipts - Confirmation emails/communications (i.e. airline confirmations) with total amount are acceptable

8. If driving: MapQuest (or other) directions showing mileage

If you are a current Virginia Tech employee with direct deposit on file, payment will be submitted via direct deposit, otherwise payment will be sent via check. You should expect to see your reimbursement 45-60 days after paperwork has been processed (December 20, 2015).

Again, documentation received after 5:00pm (EST) on Friday, November 6, 2015 will not be eligible for reimbursement.

If you have any questions regarding the funding level that you have been approved for please contact Joyce Donathan at donathan@vt.edu. Any other questions that you may have regarding the reimbursement process can be directed to Anna Gest at anna.irene@vt.edu.

REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED

If you have any questions or concerns, please email the workshop coordinators, Nancy Goad at gsimp55@vt.edu or Joyce Donathan at donathan@vt.edu. We look forward to hearing from you.