Zoom: https://illinois.zoom.us/j/87104892389?pwd=ZDBKVTA3WjVHR1dybllMVmwyem9KZz09
Abstract:
Advanced orchestration methods for networked systems can provide powerful tools to model and instantiate networks. Analysis of these networks should be realized through unified interfaces to decouple vendor tools and features in order to facilitate instructional delivery of impactful knowledge and hands-on experiences on networked distributed systems and technologies. Realistic network topologies that are hosting real-life services should be prepared as educational sandboxes and furthermore, these systems should have access mechanisms to examine packet traces and make observations on system state, performance, and security for hands-on lab activities. We develop and maintain an innovative learning platform that provides these advanced interfaces for our educational aspirations and implementations on the performance, resiliency, and cybersecurity of distributed networked systems. I will present the learning opportunities and governing principles of our instructional approaches along with our custom learning platform that has been in use for more than seven years by more than a thousand students and educators so far. The platform and our instructional methods include lectures and labs (with various means of delivery), thorough web-based documentation of content for asynchronous consumption, and a real-time lab environment built on Jupyter Lab Notebooks, utilizing our software-defined infrastructure testbed for both prepared labs and free-form student exploration. We provide instantaneous feedback to students through an automated grading of exercises and automated state analysis of per-student lab network systems. The platform also has a rich framework for instructors to employ per-student lab assignments, quizzes and exams with automatic grading.
Bio:
Deniz Gurkan received her BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering from Bilkent University, in Ankara, Turkey, in 1996 and 1998, respectively. Her PhD is also in Electrical Engineering, received from the University of Southern California in 2003. She briefly worked as a lecturer at the California State University in Long Beach, Electrical Engineering and the Claremont Graduate University, Applied Mathematics departments while also conducting research explorations as a post-doc at the USC's Information Sciences Institute. She then joined the faculty at the University of Houston in 2004. In her tenure at UH, her research has evolved into fiber-optic sensors, sensor networking, distributed systems, network measurements, network infrastructure, and software-defined networks. She is now the director of the UH Networking Lab which has a software-defined infrastructure (SDI) testbed where networking research is conducted with advanced software development practices and sponsored by federal agencies as well as industry by more than $2.5 million during the last five years. Her lab develops and maintains a suite of software frameworks that range from network resource orchestration to advanced services for learning platforms. She develops and utilizes her own materials for teaching computer networking foundations with a strong focus on lower layer fundamentals and functional protocol observations in a lab environment. Her course modules include content for basic networking, network programming, network troubleshooting, and cybersecurity in the network layer. Her recent research interests are on network security, network traffic modeling, network resource management, and network function design and development. Her research has been funded by federal programs and industry, resulting in over 60 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals and supervision of over 90 students at MS and PhD levels. She is the faculty advisor of the UH Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS) student chapter. She is also an active member of her community through her volunteering role as a leader in the BSA Scouting troops of both of her children, as a mentor and a judge in organizations such as the NCWIT (National Center for Women and Information Technology), in teaching networking to high school teachers and students formally through NSF-RET and other local and state outreach mechanisms, and through running workshops on career advancement in various venues such as the AAUW (American Association of University Women) STEM outreach to middle schools.
Faculty Host: Yael Gertner
Meeting ID: 871 0489 2389; Password: csillinois
