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Studying Computer Systems That Network
Computer science professor studies distributed computation — computation performed by small, intelligent computing devises that communicate with each other.

September 29, 2005
By Pamela McLaren

When Spiros H. Courellis, assistant professor of computer science, gets the opportunity to discuss his research, he does so with gusto. He gestures, speaks rapidly and makes sure that his listener understands what he is discussing.

Courellis, who joined the university in 2004, plunged into Cal State Fullerton’s academic life with equal gusto. Shortly into his first semester he and four other faculty members paired up with professors from Nara University. The Japanese visitors spent four weeks working with their CSUF peers, honing their English-language skills and studying the American teaching style of actively engaging students in the classroom. It is an experience Courellis remembers well because the Nara professor discussed quantum computing with Courellis’ classes and some of the students were so impressed they talked about it for weeks. It’s one of the reasons he enjoys being in the classroom, sharing experiences and delving into issues.

Q: You’ve spent several years as a director of technology and a technologist with local companies. Now you teach and conduct research with both graduate and undergraduate students. Is that a hard adjustment to make?
A:

I’ve had experience in both industry and in teaching and, no matter where you are, you’re involved in teaching and mentoring. One aspect of research is dissemination and sharing of the work. It’s always very interactive. Doing research in isolation just doesn’t bring about the benefits that can be achieved when you work with others.

Working at a university is an excellent place to be a researcher. What better place to be where students are fresh, unbiased and eager to learn? And when they graduate they increase the university, the college, the department’s sphere of influence.


Q: What are your research interests?
A:

I have been studying distributed computation — that is computation performed by small, intelligent computing devices that communicate with each other. An example of this is a set or group of sensors that gather information and send it back to a central location, such as what Caltrans uses on freeways and roads. This information helps them learn where bottlenecks occur.

Something that we may see happening in the future are sensors embedded in our bodies that would monitor things like blood pressure and heart rate, and send information to our doctors who can track how well we are physically without having to make a visit to their offices. The sensor would alert the doctor if something is wrong.


Q: Sounds like an interesting concept.
A:

Currently there is a trend that is called pervasive computing. What that means is to enable, computationally, the majority of devices around us. Wouldn’t it be nice if our refrigerators could keep track of when we’re running out of something? There is technology being developed that would scan the storage area of your refrigerator and track what is there and what isn’t. And then you could order items online — without having to spend a Sunday afternoon in long grocery lines!

To take it to another level: You have hundreds of acres of farmland — how do you know how much water or fertilizer the fields need? Or which fields even need water? Right now, farmers just open the gates and flood the fields — but that’s a waste of water. You can have systems that measure the amount of moisture in the soil and tell you what area to water.


Q: How would you do this?
A:

Through embedded systems. In order to be successful, embedded systems have to have a very small footprint. Your computer is nice but you need small devices to do this type of work. Also, these devices have to be able to communicate with each other, they must be reliable or cheap to replace and, very importantly, they must be able to run on low power. It wouldn’t be very practical if the sensor in your chest needed so much power that it burned or damaged the skin surrounding it.

Another special twist for these systems is that each unit in the system must be able to do some of the work on its own, as well as part of a group. That is a plan based on what happens in nature. Neurons and cells process information and communicate to other parts of the body, such as the brain. Ants and bees as individuals each have their own tasks but they work as a unit as well. So it is with embedded systems.


Q: What are you working on right now?
A:

I’m exploring how to build a secure, real-time, embedded operating system. Why do we want this? When you have so many small units, you don’t want an external factor either accidently or purposely being able to disrupt the system. Security is a key to the operation and communication of many systems.

I’m investigating encryption algorithms that are scalable. You can adjust their strength and complexity depending on application.

I am also researching the communication network made up from small devices. We are looking at algorithms that move information reliably from one small device to the other and optimize the performance of the network.


Q: And you are doing the research with the assistance of students?
A:

Yes, I have very good graduate students who are working with me on all these projects. I also work with undergraduate students and am trying to introduce some industrial-type relationships. My goal is to create a resource that will focus on applied interdisciplinary research and development. Education and local industry — there should be connections between the two.

The potential to do great things is there.

 


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Spiros Courellis
Spiros Courellis, assistant professor of computer science, scans data on the computer screen of student Hung-Hsun Wang, as does fellow computer science majors Huanjun Liu and Sean Augustine. The three students are working with Courellis on distributed computation — computation performed by small, intelligent computing devises that communicate with each other.


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