Biographical Sketch of Matthew Herman
California
I just finished my Ph.D. in September 2009.
Before coming to Davis, I lived in the San Francisco bay area for about 7 years.
I moved to San Francisco in January of 1998 and worked, first as a systems/transmission engineer,
and then as a software engineer for Harris Corporation's
Microwave Communications Division.
We designed communications infrastructure to haul multiple
T1 lines
using a combination of digital microwave radios and fiber optics. For instance, I helped to design
the backup EMS-911 emergency communications system for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in
Salt Lake City, Utah. I also did some small programming projects for the PalmPilot with a start-up company.
In 2001, right before
the dot-com bubble burst, I quit my job and played drums in a few bands and started teaching
algebra at the
Art Institute of California - SF.
Around this time I started to consider the idea of pursuing a PhD in information theory or
theoretical computer science. I knew that I needed to broaden my math skills, so I enrolled
in
San Francisco State University
and did research with Professor
Shidong Li
on minimizing the quantization error arising in wavelet filter banks.
New York
I grew up in NYC near the East Village and attended the
University at Buffalo,
State University of New York (also known as SUNY Buffalo, or just simply "UB") from 1990 - 1997.
These were important years as I learned the fundamental concepts of physics, math
and engineering. In my freshman year I took physics with Professor
Jonathan Reichert
which had a pretty big impact on me. He taught classical mechanics via modern physics.
I fell in love with physics and decided to pursue a degree in something called
Engineering Physics. It's a mish-mash of about 80% of the courses from both
physics and electrical engineering.
In my junior year I took a class on signals and systems from Professor
Mehrdad Soumekh. This was one of those
classes where everything just "clicked." For me it brought together the concepts of signal/wave
propagation (e.g., audio, speech) and was my first taste of the abstract mathematical concepts of
Fourier analysis.
I really enjoyed this class and it established the foundation for my interest
in signal processing, communication theory, compression and time-frequency analysis.
I continued doing graduate work with Professor
Ozan Tonguz
on an industry-related project researching bandwidth-efficient pulse shapes for wireless
digital communications. In 1997 I earned an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from SUNY Buffalo.
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