Miller, Cory Ignatius, University of Delaware (2015) “Estimation and control with censored data”,Advisor: Zurakowski, Ryan M. Censored measurements are a particular form of output nonlinearity in which the measured output is a continuous function of the state within a certain dynamic range, and is constant outside this range.

How fast is online learning evolving? Are wind turbines a promising investment? And how long before a cheap hoverboard makes it to market? Attempting to answer such questions requires knowing something about the rate at which a technology is improving. Now engineers at MIT have devised a formula for estimating how fast a technology is advancing, based on information gleaned from relevant patents.

In our "What should we learn from... " series we report on a special issue from IEEE Potentials in March/April 2015. It gave some interesting comments on Biomimicry or Bioinspiration covering fields such as sensors networks, vision systems, health care and robot design which we believe are very relevant to the signal processing community.

Topological data analysis (TDA) is an emerging multi-discipline area of research spanning topology, statistics, machine learning, signal processing and computation geometry. In our video of the month, Gunnar Carlsson, Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Stanford University and co-founder of Ayasdi, offers a nice and concise introduction to TDA.

As a special benefit to IEEE members for the month of April, IEEE-USA will offer “Starting Your Start-up – Book 3: Competitive Analysis,” by Tanya Candia. This e-book is for engineers or entrepreneurs who have a great product or service idea, but no real marketing expertise. It gives advice on how to map out the competitive landscape, discern the product’s compelling value, and sell against any and all competitors.

For our May 2015 issue, we cover recent patents granted in the area of visual gait recognition. The section below covers patents granted recently for gait recognition technologies in computer generated reality, visual behavior recognition, access management and motion classification. In patent no.

The 2015 IEEE Panel of Conference Organizers (POCO) will take place 16-18 July, in Glasgow, Scotland. IEEE POCO convenes organizers, volunteer leaders, and decision makers to address conference leadership practices, changes in policies, challenges in the conference landscape, and new conference initiatives. IEEE volunteers involved in conferences can apply to attend as a hosted attendee and receive complimentary registration. Many IEEE organizational units will cover the cost of travel and lodging.

Here are three facts to tell members about the IEEE Member Discounts Program:

1. Discounted products and services and insurance are not just in the US anymore.
2. IEEE members can buy at better rates than the public any day, not just when there is a sale.
3. When you get benefits from Member Discounts, they are yours even when you change jobs.

In addition, when IEEE members participate in Member Discounts, IEEE earns royalties.

As part of the January 2015 Board Retreat, IEEE President and CEO Howard Michel convened a diverse group of participants including the IEEE Board of Directors, the executive staff team, and select volunteers to engage in a candid and productive dialogue around IEEE’s future direction and strategy. A three-day retreat resulted in 12 strategic topics, each with recommendations and perceived importance of the recommendations.