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A List
6/26/06
GRANT AWARDED FOR SLU PROF'S STUDY OF BIOMETRICS TESTING COSTS
CANTON - St. Lawrence University Assistant Professor of Mathematics,
Computer Science and Statistics Michael E. Schuckers has been awarded a grant of
$32,400 from the Center for Identification Technology Research (CITeR) for a
research project focusing on developing methods for reducing the cost of testing
the performance of biometric authentication devices.
The grant from CITeR, which is a National Science Foundation Industry/University
Cooperative Research Center based at West Virginia University (www.citer.wvu.edu)
and in which St. Lawrence is a participating institution, funds a project entitled
"Sequential Test Design for Bioauthentication Error Rate Testing." Biometric
identification devices include such tools as voice-recognition, iris-recognition
and fingerprint scanners.
Typical statistical testing is done by collecting a fixed number of data points,
and then determining whether or not the system meet specific criteria. Sequential
analysis allows continuous testing, as each data point is observed. After each point
is observed, a decision is made as to whether or not the specific criteria are met
or whether more data needs to be collected. That allows testers the option of
stopping the process if there are clear determinations either way.
"Potentially, there can be significant savings in the cost of testing from using
sequential methods," Schuckers commented. He added that he is designing tests for
biometric authentication systems to determine whether the devices have false-accept
and false- reject rates that are sufficiently low to be used in a security environment.
Schuckers is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University, with a master's degree
from the University of Michigan and Ph.D. from Iowa State University. He taught at
West Virginia University prior to joining the St. Lawrence faculty in 2002, and has
published widely in the statistics of biometric identification.
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More information: Michael Schuckers' Web Site
Science At St. Lawrence
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