Opening for New Doctoral Students

We are in the process of expanding our research program under the umbrella of Cognitive Dynamic Systems: Specifically, we are seeking two new Ph.D. students, starting in September 1, 2014, who are expected:

• To develop a passion for working in challenging areas of the exciting integrative field of Cognitive Dynamic Systems.
• To work as a member of a new research team.

The topics to be covered by this new team will address the following:

• a) Probabilistic Reasoning Machine for reciprocally coupling the perceptor and controller of a Cognitive Dynamic System, emphasizing overall system stability.
• b) Expansion of the Cognitive Controller by adding pre-adaptive learning machine for risk control.
• c) Implementation of a two- or three-layered Cognitive Dynamic System with Cognitive Radar for the experimental study, which includes a) and b) in a non-stationary and non-Gaussian environment.

each applicant is expected to write a one-page article of a part of the new program, an include three references for consultation.

Welcome to Cognitive Dynamic Systems:
Innovative Mathematical Modeling for Practical Applications

Research into Cognitive Dynamic Systems (CDS) in the CSL has been going for over six to seven years, during which time we have made signicant contributions to Cognitive Radio and Cognitive Radar. In the last six months, we have broadened our research interest in Cognitive Control. Last but by no means least, the research program into CDS also includes the application of cognition to the cocktail party problem, work on which is carried out in collaboration wih the University of Sherbrooke, Québec.

To elborate on the essence of the research program into CDS, exemplified by the projects just described, the objective is to learn from cognitive neuroscience novel ideas so as to make a difference in their engineering applications. Looking back on the works done in this integrative field, it can be justifiably said that what we now know about cognitive radar, cognitive control, and cognitive radio, is much deeper than how it was six years ago.

By the same token, we are confident that in the next six years, our knowledge into cognitive dynamic systems will be not only productive but also much richer in depth as well as breadth than it is today.

 

Historical Notes on Cognitive Dynamic Systems at the Cognitive Systems Laboratory at McMaster University

	Picture taken on the occasion of Simon Haykin receiving the Lifetime Innovator Award

Simon Haykin is Distinguished University Professor at McMaster University. For much of the past ten years he has focused his research effort to how to learn form the human brain and apply it to a new generation of Cognitive Dynamic Systems, exemplified by the following:

1. Cognitive radio, on which the first journal paper, entitled "Cognitive Radio: Brain Empowered Wireless Communications", was published in the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications (JSAC)., February 2005.

2. Cognitive radar, on which the first journal paper, entitled "Cognitive Radar: A way of the Future", was published in the IEEE Journal on Signal Processing. January 2006. The forthcoming paper, entitled "Cognitive Radar: Step Toward Bridging Gap Between Neuroscience and Engineering", will be published in the IEEE Proceedings, November 2012.

3. In the last few months of 2011, the notion of the "two-state model" was discovered for the first time, with one state representing a target state; and the other state, named the "entropic state", representing environmental uncertainties and disturbances. This new notion opened the way to formulate the basics of Cognitive Control, in the implementation of which use was made of reinforcement learning for the first time ever. A white paper on Cognitive Control was submitted to the IEEE Proceedings few months ago.

4. In November 2006, a point-of-view article in the Proc. IEEE was published, describing the new integrative field of "Cognitive Dynamic Systems." A follow-up to the that first article will be published in the Proc. IEEE, July 2012.

5. Perhaps the biggest look to the future developed in the course of a four-month collaborative work with Dr. Tim Nohara, President of Accipiter Radar Technologies, Fonthill, Ontario. In the White Paper, entitled "Cognitive Radar Information Networks", ideas were described for the first time ever, addressing the issue of security across the Great Lakes in North America by exploiting the information-processing power of cognition

6. Last but by no means least, the first book, entitled "Cognitive Dynamic Systems," was published by Cambridge University Press, in March 2012.

In light of what has been described here, working in collaboration with a gifted and dedicated research group of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, it can be justifiably said that at the Cognitive Systems Laboratory, McMaster University, we have taken steps aimed at harnessing the information processing power of the human brain for building a new generation of engineering systems. This joint effort has been truly exciting.