Education:
University of Nevada, Reno, College of Engineering
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with High Distinction, May 2004
Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering with High Distinction, May 2004
GPA: 3.79
Undergraduate Internship/Research Experiences:
Summer 2003
Hardware Engineering Intern
International Game Technology, Reno, NV
- Assisted engineers in designing digital/analog sub-components such as filters, display boards using LEDs, and small circuits for testing
- Programmed Microchip PICmicro® microcontrollers in C and 8051 instruction set
- Researched components and equipments according to a set of requirements through reading and understanding specifications and datasheets
- Produced documentations in various stages of product development
Summer 2002
EPSCoR Undergraduate Research Program Participant
University of Nevada, Reno, Dept. of Electrical Engineering
Under the supervision of Dr. Indira Chatterjee
- Investigated the effect of applying a radiofrequency current induced by a time-varying magnetic field to a microbial biofilm
- Designed a simple stacked loop antenna to generate the needed magnetic field using PSPICE for design and simulation
- Set up and conducted the entire experiment from biofilm growth, exposure under a generated magnetic field, to collecting data and analyzing results.
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Bacteria adhere to certain materials and secrete a slimy substance called exopolysaccaride that has been labeled by microbiologists as biofilm. To kill bacteria embedded in biofilms, the amount of antibiotics needed is 50 to 500 times higher than needed to kill planktonic bacteria. Bacteria embedded in biofilms have been successfully killed by the simultaneous application of a direct current and low levels of antibiotics. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain this so called "bioelectric effect". This project INvestigates the effect of applying a radio frequency current induced by a time varying magnetic field to biofilm formed by the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The effect of simultaneously subjecting the biofilm to an antibiotic is also studied.
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Summer 2001
NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates Participant
University of Central Florida, Computer Vision Laboratory
Under the supervision of Dr. Mubarak Shah and Dr. Niels Lobo
- Implemented image processing algorithms such as convolution, correlation, edge detection, connected components and template matching
- Integrated and modified image processing/computer vision algorithms into a software system that attempts to automatically detect if a person is smoking a cigarette through a video camera
| abstract |
Cigarette smoking poses dangers to our health, environment and safety. Physical smoke detectors have constraints, as they are not suitable for the level of smoke produced by a cigarette in large areas. Letting a human monitor a designated area through surveillance camera is inefficient. This project attempts to develop an automatic system that processes a sequence of images obtained from a video camera to detect if a person is smoking a cigarette. Through the segmentation of human skin, object recognition using connected components, correlation and template matching, we have found methods to track mouth and arm movements through a number of image frames with the smoker's upper body occupying 1/4 of the image size. Further work on interpreting the information extracted from tracking and detecting smoke in an image will ultimately produce such a system.
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Skills:
- Proficient in C/C++, Java and object-oriented design
- Have programmed using Javascript, HTML DOM, CSS, SQL/MySQL/Oracle SQL*Plus, PHP, Perl, QT libraries, Scheme
- Extensive usage of various versions of UNIX, Linux, Windows, Mac OS
Senior Projects:
Computer Science
Designed and implemented an instant messaging tool for an internal network on the UNIX platform. The software includes two-way communication, multiple-way communication, file transfer and a drawing board that can be used simultaneously between two users across the network. (Tools: C++, GUI design, UNIX network programming, software engineering)
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Electrical Engineering
Designed and integrated a system that helps children in case of a fire emergency. An RF transmitter is interfaced with a smoke alarm, and the corresponding receiver allows a parent or guardian to record a message beforehand. The receiver is triggered to play the message when the smoke alarm goes off. (Tools: circuit design, microcontroller programming, system integration)
Publication
Zheng, X., Sun, H., Lew, R., Dascalu, S., and Birloncea, C., "MessagePlus: Tool Support for Communication and Collaboration via Internal UNIX Networks," Proceedings of the International Conference on Education and Information Systems, Technologies and Applications (EISTA 2004), July 2004, Orlando, Florida, vol. I, pp 387-392
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Participation in Professional and Honor Societies:
Society of Women Engineers
Association for Computing Machinery
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Women in Computing
Tau Beta Pi
Phi Kappa Phi
Golden Key International Honor Society
Awards
College of Engineering Dean's List (8 times)
The National Dean's List
All-American Scholar
College of Engineering General Scholarship
Computer Science Department Award
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