Daniel L. Swets, Vita

Education:

Calvin College, B.S. Computer Science, 1982-1986.

Michigan State University, M.S. Computer Science, 1987-1991.

Michigan State University, Ph.D. Computer Science, 1992-1996.

Current Professional Experience:

Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD, 1995-present

Assistant Professor, 1995.

Associate Professor, 2001.

Chair, computer science department, 2001.

I am an associate professor in the department of computer science at Augustana College. I have taught the following courses: Computers and Applications, Introduction to the Internet, Computer Science II, Fundamentals of Database Processing, Programming Languages: Java, Programming Languages: Visual Basic, Computer Organization and Digital Electronics, Computer Architecture and Assembly Language, Data Structures and Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence, Operating Systems, Computer Graphics, Theory of Computation, Computer Networks, and Parallel Processing

Associate Director, South Dakota Space Grant Consortium, 1996-present.

By serving as NASA's link to the general public in South Dakota, the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium's mission is to instill the spirit of discovery in students and educators, especially in the fields of science, match, engineering, and technology (SMET) needed for the development of the nation's workforce. My role as associate director is to serve on the SDSGC management team for the consortium-wide decision-making process, and to serve as the contact point at Augustana College for Space Grant activities.

Chair, NASA EPSCoR Steering Committee for South Dakota, 2001-present.

The South Dakota NASA EPSCoR program is designed to enhance NASA-related research in earth system science and to develop the State's infrastructure for research and technology-based economic development. My role on the Steering Committee is to help set direction for the use of start-up research funds for Program Initiation Grants and serve on the executive board to guide the program in the state.

NASA Space Grant Fellow, 1996-present.

I began research at the United States Geological Survey's Earth Remote Observation System Data Center (EROS Data Center), Sioux Falls, SD, in robust statistical smoothing methods for filtering noise out of the Normalized Derived Vegetation Index (NDVI). This vegetation index is used by a host of applications, notably for land cover analysis. This research was supported by the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium.

Fulbright Program, Council for International Exchange of Scholars, West & Central/Southern Africa Peer Review Committee, 2005-present.

The Peer Review committee evaluates applications to travel for teaching and research in sub-Saharan Africa and recommends candidates for further consideration to the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Owner, Swets Software Systems, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 1982-present.

I perform computer consulting tasks primarily for the small business community.

Past Professional Experience:

Fulbright Scholar, 2002.

I participated in the Fulbright Program, sponsored by the US Department of State, to send US scholars to other countries in order to promote mutual understanding between people of the United States and the people of other countries around the world. My duties included lecturing and doing research in Mauritius, a small island nation in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa.

Ameritech Fellow, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 1994-1995.

Through a fellowship awarded by Ameritech, I continued research on machine learning for image databases, specifically for commercial object recognition tasks.

Research Assistant, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 1994.

I initiated research on machine learning for face recognition systems and systematized a large software engineering development effort to incorporate many aspects of computer vision and image processing. This total effort will eventually include robot navigation, motion recognition, robot arm manipulation, and object recognition.

Lead Graduate Assistant, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 1993.

I managed eight teaching assistants assigned to the course Introduction to Technical Computing. In addition, I developed assignments, assisted in preparation of both course pack materials and examinations, and performed general course administrative duties.

Teaching Assistant, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 1992.

I worked on a team which designed assignments and prepared examinations; I taught laboratory sessions and maintained grades for students enrolled in the course Introduction to Technical Computing.

Software Engineer, Smiths Industries, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1987-1992.

I performed software engineering for aerospace applications on both military and commercial contracts. I initiated several research and development efforts and provided consulting services to the marketing department, accompanying marketing personnel for support from engineering on customer visits.

Instructor, Grand Rapids Community College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1990-1991.

I taught the course Introduction to the MS-DOS Workstation.

Instructor, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan, 1991.

I taught the course Structured Programming and Data Structures to students entering the graduate program in computer information systems.

Software Engineer, Rockwell International, Downey, California, 1986-1987.

I engineered software to comply with change requests made by NASA on the flight code for the Space Shuttle Orbiter Backup Flight System. I rose to acting lead engineer, managing six fellow engineers in the System Management and Special Processing area of the Backup Flight System.

Publications:

Stuart Ness and Daniel Swets, “Heritage and Future: Transitioning from AVHRR to MODIS,” in Proceedings of the South Dakota Academy of Science, Vol. 85, 2006.
Paul Marshall and Daniel Swets, “Statistical Software for Satellite Image Processing,” in Proceedings of the South Dakota Academy of Science, Vol. 85, 2006.
Paul Marshall and Daniel Swets, “Developing Parallel Algorithms for Seasonal Metrics Extraction,” in Proceedings of the South Dakota Academy of Science, Vol. 84, 2005.
Daniel L. Swets, Tim Stavenger, and Jeri Peterson, "Parallel NDVI Smoothing Algorithm Comparison: A Study using a Windows-based PVM cluster and a multithreaded implementation," in Proceedings, 30th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of the Environment (ISRSE), Honolulu, Hawai'i, November 10-14, 2003.
B. C. Reed, D. Swets, L. Bard, J. Brown, J. Rowland, "Interactive visualization of vegetation dynamics," in Proceedings, International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), Sydney, Australia, August 9 - 13, 2001.
Daniel L. Swets and Juyang Weng, "Hierarchical Discriminant Analysis for Image Retrieval," IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 385-401, 1999.
Daniel L. Swets, Shaun E. Marko, James Rowland, Bradley C. Reed, "Statistical Methods for NDVI Smoothing," in Proceedings, American Society for Photogramity and Remote Sensing, 1999.
Juyang Weng and Daniel L. Swets, "Face Recognition," in Biometrics, Anil Jain, Ruud Bolle, Sharath Pankanti, editors, Kluwer Academic Press, 1998.
Daniel L. Swets, Yogesh Pathak, and John J. Weng, "An Image Database System with Support for Traditional Alphanumeric Queries and Content-Based Queries By Example," in Multimedia Tools and Applications, Vol. 7, Number 3, Kluwer Academic Publishers, November, 1998.
Daniel L. Swets and John J. Weng, "Discriminant Analysis and Eigenspace Partition Tree for Face and Object Recognition from Views," in Proceedings, International Conference on Automatic Face and Gesture Recognition, 1996.
Daniel L. Swets and John J. Weng, "Using Discriminant Eigenfeatures for Image Retrieval," IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Machine Intell., Vol. 18, No. 8, pp. 831-836, August, 1996.
Daniel L. Swets, The Self-Organizing Hierarchical Optimal Subspace and Learning Inference Framework for Object Recognition and Image Retrieval, Ph.D. Thesis, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 1996.
Daniel L. Swets and John J. Weng, "View-based recognition using SHOSLIF," in Proceedings, International Conference on Neural Networks and Signal Processing, (Nanjing, China), December 1995. Most Excellent Paper award.
Daniel L. Swets and John J. Weng, "Image-based recognition using learning for generalizing parameters," in Proceedings, Asian Conference on Computer Vision, (Singapore), December 1995.
Daniel L. Swets and John J. Weng, "Efficient image retrieval using a network with complex neurons," in Proceedings, International Conference on Neural Networks (Perth, Western Australia), November 1995. Invited Paper.
Daniel L. Swets and John J. Weng, "Efficient content-based image retrieval using automatic feature selection," in Proceedings, International Symposium on Computer Vision, (Coral Gables, Florida), pp. 85-90, November 1995.
Daniel L. Swets, Bill Punch, and John J. Weng, "Genetic algorithms for object recognition in a complex scene," in Proceedings, International Conference on Image Processing, (Washington, D.C.), pp. 595-598, October 1995.
Yuntao Cui, Daniel L. Swets, and John J. Weng, "Learning-based hand sign recognition using SHOSLIF-M," in Proc. International Conference on Computer Vision, (Cambridge, Massachusetts), pp. 631-636, June 1995.

Presentations:

Stuart Ness and Daniel L. Swets, Poster: “Heritage and Future: Transitioning from AVHRR to MODIS,” Undergraduate Student Research Activities Poster Session, Pierre, SD, February, 2006.
Paul Marshall and Daniel L. Swets, Poster: "Seasonal Metrics Extraction from Smoothed NDVI images," Undergraduate Student Research Activities Poster Session, Pierre, SD, February, 2005.
Stuart Ness and Daniel L. Swets, Poster: "Satellite Program Calibration: Developing an Algorithm to Make Corrections to Satellite Data," Undergraduate Student Research Activities Poster Session, Pierre, SD, February, 2005.
Daniel L. Swets and Aaron Cusher, "Data Extraction and Visualization," Council on Undergraduate Research Posters on the Hill, Washington, DC, April, 2003.
Bill Delfs and Daniel L. Swets, Demonstration: "Rocket Fuel: mixing solid and liquid fuels," Space Days 2001: A Space Oddesy in South Dakota, Rapid City, South Dakota, 2001.
Levi Bard and Daniel L. Swets, Presentation: "Phenology viewed from satellite images," Space Days 2001: A Space Oddesy in South Dakota, Rapid City, South Dakota, 2001.
Levi Bard and Daniel L. Swets, Poster: "Visualization of Satellite Phenology," 2001 South Dakota State Legislature "Undergraduate Student Research Activities Poster Session," Pierre, SD, Feburary, 2001.
Catherine Van Note and Daniel L. Swets, Poster: "Metrics and Applications of Smoothed NDVI," the Council of Undergraduate Research "Posters on the Hill" session, Washington, DC, April, 2000.
Catherine Van Note and Daniel L. Swets, Poster: "Seasonality Metrics," 2000 South Dakota State Legislature "Undergraduate Student Research Activities Poster Session," Pierre, SD, February, 2000.
Catherine Van Note and Daniel L. Swets, Poster: "Smoothing an NDVI Signal," 1999 South Dakota State Legislature "Undergraduate Student Research Activities Poster Session," Pierre, SD, April, 1999.
Rolf Nyhus and Daniel L. Swets, Poster: "Cluster Computing," 1999 South Dakota State Legislature "Undergraduate Student Research Activities Poster Session," Pierre, SD, April, 1999.
Catherine Van Note and Daniel L. Swets, Poster: "Smoothing A Noisy Signal," presented at Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD, April 1999.
Rolf Nyhus and Daniel L. Swets, Poster: "Cluster Computing," presented at Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD, April, 1999.
Seth Norris and Daniel L. Swets, Poster: "Recycled Computers," presented at Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD, April 1999.
Catherine Van Note and Daniel L. Swets, Poster: "Smoothing an NDVI Signal," 1999 NASA Space Day, Spearfish, SD, April, 1999.
Rolf Nyhus and Daniel L. Swets, Poster: "Cluster Computing," 1999 NASA Space Day, Spearfish, SD, April, 1999.
Seth Norris and Daniel L. Swets, Poster: "Recycled Computers," 1999 NASA Space Day, Spearfish, SD, April, 1999.
Shaun Marko and Daniel L. Swets, Poster: "Smoothing a Noisy System," 1998 South Dakota State Legislature "Undergraduate Student Research Activities Poster Session," Pierre, SD, April, 1998.
Shaun Marko and Daniel L. Swets, Poster: "Smoothing a Noisy System," 1998 NASA Space Day, Pierre, SD, April, 1998.
Daniel L. Swets, Poster: "Smoothing a Noisy System," 1997 NASA Space Day, Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD, April, 1997.

Grants:

“Drought Risk, Impact, and Mitigation Information System,” funded by USDA through the National Drought Mitigation Center, $37,768, 2006.
Equipment grant from the U. S. Department of the Interior, US Geological Survey, National Center for EROS, Sioux Falls, SD, 2000 valuation, $462,782, 2005.
NASA Space Grant, funded by NASA through the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium, $100,574.57 ($48,353 from NASA, grant number NGT5-40042), 2004-2005.
NASA Space Grant, funded by NASA through the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium, $73,022.48 ($35,375 from NASA, grant number NGT5-40042), 2003-2004.
"Heritage and Future: Transitioning from AVHRR to MODIS," a Program Initiation Grant from the South Dakota NASA EPSCoR program, $22,239.75 ($10,084 from NASA), 2003-2004.
"A Comparative Investigation of Reforestation Following Periodic Fires in the Black Hills, South Dakota, and Siberia, Russia," a NASA EPSCoR research grant, funded by NASA as a portion of the State-wide South Dakota NASA EPSCoR award, $155,052.20 ($71,052.20 from NASA, grant number NCC5-588), 2004-2006.
NASA Space Grant, funded by NASA through the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium, $57,000.00 ($36,000 from NASA, grant number NGT5-40042), 2002-2003.
Fulbright Grant from the U. S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, to spend a semester in Mauritius as a lecturer/researcher, 2002.
Equipment grant from the U. S. Department of the Interior, US Geological Survey, EROS Data Center, Sioux Falls, SD, 1996 valuation $163,135.00, 2001.
"A Comparative Investigation of Reforestation Following Periodic Fires in the Black Hills, South Dakota, and Siberia, Russia," a NASA EPSCoR research grant, funded by NASA as a portion of the State-wide South Dakota NASA EPSCoR award, $224,518.30 ($106,578.30 from NASA, grant number NCC5-588), 2001-2004.
NASA Space Grant, funded by NASA through the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium, $53,791.82 ($30,000 from NASA, grant number NGT5-40042), 2001-2002.
NASA EPSCoR planning grant, funded by NASA through the South Dakota NASA EPSCoR Consortium, $60,000 ($30,000 from NASA, grant number NCC5-402), 2000-2001.
NASA Space Grant, funded by NASA through the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium, $60,752.65 ($30,000 from NASA, grant number NGT5-40042), 2000-2001.
TEAGLE Service Learning Grant, funded by the Teagle Foundation, for the further development and expansion of ties with a local elementary school for database processing projects in my Database Processing class, $1500, 2000.
Institutional grant from Precision Computer Systems, Inc., Sioux Falls, SD, $30,000 approximate award amount in computer equipment, 1998-1999.
NASA EPSCoR planning grant, funded by NASA through the South Dakota NASA EPSCoR Consortium, $77,500 ($47,500 from NASA, grant number NCC5-402), 1999-2000.
Institutional Grant from Microsoft Corporation's Academic Instructional Use License Agreement program, 1999. $11,000.
NASA Space Grant, funded by NASA through the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium, $58,314.10 ($30,000 from NASA, grant number NGT5-40042), 1999-2000.
TEAGLE Service Learning Grant, funded by the Teagle Foundation, for the development of ties with a local elementary school for database processing projects in my Database Processing class, $500, 1999.
NASA Space Grant, funded by NASA through the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium, $56,604.72 ($30,000 from NASA, grant number NGT5-40042), 1998-1999.
Institutional Grant from Microsoft Corporation's Academic Instructional Use License Agreement program, 1998, $4950.
Institutional Grant from Borland International's Scholar Program, grant number 0172, 1998, $6,450.
NASA Space Grant, funded by NASA through the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium, $60,254.66 ($34,000 from NASA, grant number NGT-40046), 1997-1998.
"Acquisition of Laboratory Equipment for Parallel Algorithm Research in Image Processing," funded by the National Science Foundation, $143,801 ($97,910 from NSF, grant number CDA-9724462), 1997-2000.
"Assessment of Land Cover Classification, Phenology and Biomass Production in Great Plains Grasslands," funded by the U. S. Geological Survey, Central Region, $56,954 ($45,845 from USGS, cooperative agreement 1434-CR-96-AG-00777), 1997-1998.

Further Information:

Web home page: http://faculty.augie.edu/~swets

Email: Daniel.Swets@augie.edu