Grad School

As you may know, Kevin and I are currently in a masters program at BYU in Electrical Engineering. I thought it would be fun to let you know some of the classes I've been taking.

670 (Stochastic Processes) This class is all about probability, especially for systems. When you put something into a system, what will you get out? If you only get what came out of the system, can you estimate what was put in? When can you ignore events that happened in the distant past? How good are statistical tests at indicating if something is present or not?

775 (Error Control Coding) This class talks about how to improve one aspect of digital communications. Whenever you use a cell phone or other wireless devices, the signal (like your voice) gets transmitted through the air to the receiver on the other end. But between you and the receiver there may be a lot of noise, which may corrupt the signal and cause errors. This class discusses how to "code" the signal so that on the other end you can fix the errors that were caused by the noise. So, it's basically a class on dealing with noise. And then some.

564 (Radar and Satellite Communications) Radar and satellite are all about detecting things. Is there a target there? Is it moving? Is what you saw a missile or the moon? How can you prevent false alarms?

671 (Mathematics of Signals and Systems) So this is basically a linear algebra class. Linear algebra is basically solving Ax = b, where A is a matrix (think of systems of equations from your algebra class in junior high). But from its humble beginnings, this class answers a lot of interesting questions. Like, what's the best way to solve the equation? If you have a bunch of data points, can you create a line or a curve which fits the data pretty well? How do you optimize things?

The cool thing is, even though all this stuff is pretty theoretical, it actually has a ton of applications. For example:

(670) Given that a test indicating the presence of hCG is positive, what is the probability that hCG is actually present?

(775) How do you deal with the noise caused by the construction across the street when certain limitations are set (such as not being able to use any of your preferred pain medicines for headaches)?

(670, well, all of them) How do you best filter out the noise to detect a signal with a rate of 150 beats per minute (particularly when that signal is buried under lots of junk and a louder signal with a rate of approximately 80 beats per minute)?

(671)  How can you tell if something is an inner product space? What properties does it take on?

(564) Given that you wake up nauseous every morning, can you detect when you will actually throw up vs. when you will be fine (that is, the nausea is a false alarm)?

and of course,

(671) Given that a body increases its mass by approximately half a kilogram per week, what is the best-fitting apparel for the curves that will soon be appearing and will change from this

to this by the middle of May?

(thanks to Matthew and Stephanie for letting me borrow their high-tech future camera!)



I'd say grad school has been a great preparation for life.
















(I guess I'm also taking a writing class. This post has been its application.)


(Kevin's in most of these classes with me. Except that instead of taking 775, Kevin's taking Real Analysis, which has been good for him in answering questions such as, "Is this really happening?" "When will this feel real?" "Do I dare analyze her mood?" "Am I really doing a 4th load of dishes in a row?")


Answers:
1) The probability is not 100%, since tests can give false positives. But not these types of tests, at least not very often.
2) Tylenol.
3) I dunno . . . the doctor used a nifty little radio/stethoscope thing that did it just fine.
4) In my case, something is an inner product space if it expands as the inner product expands.
5) Nope.
6) Whatever it is, I am going to have to buy it at some point.

...and not that any of you care . . . but I don't think I look as pregnant in real life as I appear in my first picture. I blame it on the shirt since I stretched it out by taking the second picture first. So you're not seeing a baby bump, I promise. Just poofy shirt and awkward angle and bad posture. And in my second one . . . well, hopefully the baby won't be as lumpy as it looks in this picture.