Doug Cooper is a mathematician in the Advanced Information Technology Branch (AIT) of the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, DC, where he is currently developing methods to schedule computer applications on a network of distributed processors. The NRL is the Navy's corporate research lab and the scientists there address basic research issues related to the Navy's environment of sea, sky and space. The function of AIT is to develop and implement hardware and software solutions for Navy problems. Doug has been with NRL since he completed his Ph.D in January 1993.
He joined the Processing Systems Section to work on the Processing Graph Method Tool (PGMT), being developed to address the problems that arise when computers with different architectures and processors operate as a network. The PGMT provides an environment to develop programs which run on a distributed system. Part of this project is the production of a Graphical User Interface (GUI), which is used to draw a graph where each node represents a procedure. Doug is looking at the part of PGMT that schedules the execution of problems on a distributed heterogeneous multiprocessor configuration. He believes that this part of the project will generate some interesting problems in mathematics. Initially, the PGMT will be placed on parallel machines which perform signal processing for sonar or radar on Navy ships. Subsequently, the PGMT will be utilized for more general command, control, communications and intelligence applications. This is expected to be a multi-year project and the members of the group include mathematicians, electrical engineers and computer scientists.
Previously Doug worked with the Shallow Water Acoustics Section at NRL. There he worked on acoustic problems which involved applications of linear algebra, partial differential equations and information theory. However he moved to AIT when he heard they were staffing a new project. Although he had no experience in object oriented analysis and design, NRL was willing to give him the time to come up to speed in the area. He views the move as offering him more opportunities in the future.
Doug has a B.S. and a M.S. in applied mathematics from the University of New Mexico and a Ph.D in mathematics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. When he entered the job market, he looked for research positions in government, industry and academia. One reason he decided upon a research position is he thought this kept his future options open--it would be easier to move from research to industry or teaching than to move from industry or teaching back into research. The mathematics subjects he has found particularly useful for his work are linear algebra (both theoretical and numerical) and optimization. He believes for a mathematician to work in a nonacademic position it is useful to also have background in an area outside mathematics. His mathematics degree made him a strong candidate for the jobs he considered and gave him good problem solving skills, but each of his job offers has been due to his demonstrated ability to apply mathematics to problems in other fields. Although the work was not much different from his graduate research, he found participating in a summer program at the General Electric Corporate Research and Development also strengthened his resume.
More about Doug's background and interests can be found by accessing his Web site at NRL.
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