A List
2/2/04

SLU PROFESSOR AWARDED FURTHER FUNDS FOR BIOMETRIC RESEARCH

CANTON – St. Lawrence University Assistant Professor of Mathematics, 
Computer Science and Statistics Michael E. Schuckers has been awarded 
an additional grant of $55,000 for the next phase of a biometric statistical 
research project from the Center for Identification Technology Research 
(CITeR). The organization awarded Schuckers a grant, also for $55,000, for 
the initial phase in 2003.
	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 "Comparison of Statistical Methods." 
Schuckers and a group of student researchers are evaluating various 
statistical methods that have been proposed for estimating the false-reject 
and false-accept rates of biometric identification devices. 
Biometric identification devices include such tools as voice-recognition, 
iris-recognition and fingerprint scanners. Also as part of the project, 
they are developing software that companies can use to evaluate error rates 
based on their data.
	The new award will allow the project to move toward completion more quickly. 
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.
      In the fall, Schuckers and the students who have worked with him on 
the project presented some of their research at an international conference 
on biometrics. Anne Hawley '03, of Skaneateles, NY, now a graduate student 
in statistics at North Carolina State University in Raleigh; Katherine 
Livingstone '04, of Underhill, VT; and Nona Mramba '04, of El Sobrante, CA, 
presented papers with Schuckers at the Biometric Consortium Conference held 
September 22-24 in Arlington, VA. Their presentations, given in a symposium 
on research, were titled "A Comparison of Statistical Methodology for 
Evaluating Biometric Identification Devices – Preliminary Report"; "Software 
for Statistical Error Rate Estimation"; and "Sample Size Calculations for 
Biometric Identification Devices."

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