Boris Rozovsky and Roger Jelliffe

Who Would’ve Figured?
Mathematicians impact society with real-life applications

By Nicole St.Pierre

USC College mathematics professors Boris Rozovsky, Rudolf Blazek and Alexander Tartakovsky model a high-speed system to squash computer viruses before they paralyze networks.

Gary Rosen tests a Velcro wristwatch that relies on sweat to measure alcohol concentration in the blood.

Roger Jelliffe develops software to determine the optimal drug dosage level for individual patients.

Mathematics graduate student Harish Krishnaswamy simulates thermal vision drones that map a stealth target’s trajectory in complete darkness. The research, funded by the Department of Defense, will be used to develop cameras that would be attached to unmanned aircraft.

This is hardly what most people expect to find in a mathematics lab. But at USC College, the Center for Applied Mathematical Sciences (CAMS) is racing to develop tools that have real-world applications.

“One of our most important goals is the fast transfer of results from basic research to appropriate programs,” says Rozovsky, who has directed CAMS since 1992.

In recent years, the center has strengthened partnerships with industrial organizations such as Raytheon Company, Northrop Grumman Corp., NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Lockheed Martin, to name a few. The result of these burgeoning collaborations: cutting-edge research projects that have real-world implications.

A Multidisciplinary Model
A defining characteristic of the CAMS program is that virtually all of its research projects are multidisciplinary. More than 30 CAMS-affiliated members are scattered throughout USC, both at the University Park Campus and the Health Sciences Campus.

The center’s major research programs include mathematical modeling and control, mathematical methods in pharmacokinetics, stochastic and chaotic systems, turbulence theory, industrial and financial mathematics, and information assurance. To support its research, CAMS receives grants from various sources, including the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health.

Combating Cyberterrorism
The U.S. Army and U.S. Navy are currently funding Rozovsky’s group research to develop algorithms that rapidly detect computer viruses before they pose harm to high-speed networks. Currently, many computer networks’ intrusion-detection systems do not respond fast enough when a virus or worm attacks. This slow response, combined with a high false-alarm rate, inspired the research, which uses statistical modeling to better understand the dynamics of data network flow.

“Commercially available high-speed intrusion detection systems are still in their infancy. This is a major problem since high-speed computer networks, including the backbones of the Internet and large, distributed computer networks, are being upgraded to support ultrafast communications,” says Rozovsky, who collaborates with electrical engineering professor Edmond Jonckheere and computer scientists from UC Santa Cruz and the University of Delaware on the project.

Real-World Applications
Other notable collaborations include Chunming Wang’s work with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Funded by the Department of Defense, the joint-research project develops tools that quickly forecast weather conditions in the top layer of the atmosphere through which crucial telecommunications signals for aircraft navigation often cross.

“If a pilot relies on autopilot to land a plane when there are unfavorable weather conditions in this upper atmosphere, the telecommunications signals could get garbled, causing his landing to be off by meters,” says Wang, an associate professor of mathematics. “That’s why understanding how to forecast weather changes in this layer of the atmosphere within a short period of time is so important.”

Another CAMS project that has far-reaching implications is Rosen’s development of an ultrasmart Velcro wristwatch. On the watch, a biosensor gathers data from body sweat that is transmitted via real-time radio waves to a computer. Within seconds, the watch wearer’s blood-alcohol concentration can be accurately determined.

“A breathalyzer is an extremely obtrusive way to gather field data for research on alcohol’s effect on the body and to monitor treatment regimens for alcohol addiction,” says Rosen, a mathematics professor in the College who collaborates with professors at UCLA and Brown University on the project.

While Rosen is primarily responsible for developing the mathematical model-based data analysis system that will transform sweat-alcohol content into blood-alcohol concentration, he notes that the commercial implications for this technologically advanced wristwatch could be huge.

It All Adds Up
“Very few people question the fundamental importance of mathematics. But more and more, it is becoming the glue that holds emerging disciplines together. Mathematics is crucial to applications in engineering, medicine, finance and the sciences,” Rozovsky says, noting that mathematics was the backbone of University Professor Michael Waterman’s work in computational biology, specifically genome sequencing.

“Without the use of cutting-edge applied mathematics, many recent technological and scientific advances simply would not be possible. That is the expertise CAMS’s faculty bring to the table,” he says proudly.