Day in the Life of a Computer Scientist

Justin F. Brunelle The MITRE Corporation

& Old Dominion University 11/09/2011

Justin F. Brunelle – Computer Scientist

The MITRE Corporation ◦ Application Developer/KM Researcher

Old Dominion University Alumnus/Student ◦ BS and MS in CS (2008, 2010)

◦ PhD Student

Dr. Nelson

WS-DL – Digital Preservation

BS in Computer Science ◦ Continued mentorship

Intelligent Tutoring Systems

◦ Research assistant ◦ Professional developer

MS in CS ◦ Continued research

Serious Games

◦ Published 5 papers on Serious Game Design Daytona, Boston

◦ Wrote book chapter on Applied Natural Language Processing

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ34qeF1rBHpL0jhaE4tEH-HGWQ-V2tCkiAQL8xo55j-RYFz3U3Ve26ZAvN

PhD

Digital Preservation ◦ Ensure Web pages are stored over time

◦ Visit CNN.com on September 11th?

◦ Visit weather.com during Hurricane Katrina?

◦ Eliminate the 404 error?

◦ Save Facebook?!

http://www.mementoweb.org

Discuss opportunities in Computer Science

Give a description of my career

Answer questions

Wireless Sensor Networks

VANETs

Xbox Kinect

Medical Modeling

Machine Learning

Search Engines

Big Data

http://cdn.techd.in/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/8.5-Million-Settlement-Deal-For-Google-Buzz-Lawsuit-Now-Closed.jpg?0 http://oneforty.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/facebook.jpg

Computers are dumb

Good at repeatable tasks ◦ Simple Computation

◦ Following instructions

Bad at derivation/abstraction ◦ What’s right or wrong?

◦ Deductive reasoning

How do you make a PB&J sandwich?

http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/national-peanut-butter-and-jelly-day.jpg

Get PB and J

Get bread and knife

Insert knife into PB

Spread PB onto bread

Insert knife into J

Spread J onto bread

Put bread together (condiment-side in)

Enjoy

http://static1.freeaddictinggames.com/thumbs/2028.jpg

I work at The MITRE Corporation ◦ Hampton, VA

Application Developer ◦ (aka programmer)

◦ Web Development

◦ Satellites

◦ IC CAE

◦ Information Researcher

http://www.mitre.org

Not for profit

Government owned

FFRDC ◦ Supports DOD, IRS, FAA, etc.

http://img.docstoccdn.com/thumb/orig/73624417.png

Operate as strategic partners with their sponsoring government agencies

Organized as independent entities with limitations and restrictions on their activities

Assist the U.S. government with scientific research and analysis, development and acquisition, and systems engineering/integration

Bring together the expertise and outlook of government, industry, and academia to solve complex technical problems

Area of Educational Degree

Number of Staff With Degree

Electrical Engineering

Social Sciences

Other Degree

Mathematics

Physics

Other Sciences

Other Engineering

Management & Business

Computer Science

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000

Mature Judgment Technical Skills

Systems Engineering

Software & Database Engineering

Networking & Communications

Economic/Business Analysis

Information Security

Modeling & Simulation

Other Engineering

More than 20 Years of Experience

<5

6 - 10

11 - 15 16 -

20

Where our staff come from

Industry 73%

Govt. 2%

Academia 3%

New Grads 2%

Self Employed 2%

Military 12%

Bachelor’s

Doctorate

Master’s

Other 6%

Images from Dr. Robert Cherinka’s presentation

Fortune 100

◦ 10 years in a row

Computerworld

◦ 6 years in a row

Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public

Service

Fast Company “50 Most Innovative Companies”

13 http://www.mitre.org

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Waterfall_model_(1).svg

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ls6rm0lIPb1qa559ao1_400.jpg http://trickyrelativity.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/watercooler.jpg

Solving Problems

Group work

Programming ◦ 10 lines per day?!

Theory

PUZZLES!

Feedback Incorporated Into Product Backlog

I work normal hours ◦ Never eat Funyuns or drink Mountain Dew

Small teams

Give talks at schools

Work in the community

Research doesn’t happen in a vacuum

http://www.fritolay.com/assets/images/blue/funyuns-original.gif

People Process Technology

Images from Dr. Cherinka’s presentation

20

MITRE Internship / Co-Op Opportunities

© 2008 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved

Balancing Theory with Practice is Key!

Promote and motivate interest in STEM

Offer “real world” exposure with hands-on experience

Provide an opportunity to consider MITRE as a career

How? ◦ Contact me

Justin F. Brunelle

jbrunelle@mitre.org

757-896-8569

http://www.justinfbrunelle.com

For the opportunity and honor

All the great questions I’m about to get!