Leonard Lightfoot

"difficult takes a day, impossible takes a week"

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RESUME

EDUCATION

  • Ph.D. Candidate, Electrical Engineering,                             Expected:  Dec. 2009
    Michigan State University (MSU), East Lansing, MI

               
  • M.S. Electrical Engineering, Dec. 2006
    Michigan State University (MSU), East Lansing, MI                                  GPA: 3.68
    Thesis: Energy Efficient Link-Layer Security Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

  • B.S. Computer Engineering, May 2004
    Minor: Mathematics and Physics                                                               GPA: 3.5
    Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA), New Orleans, LA

EMPLOYMENT       

  • Research Assistant                                                    Aug. 2005 - Present

    Broadband Access Wireless Communication Research Lab, Michigan State University

    • Design security enhancement techniques for PHY-layer communication system.

    • Develop novel space time coded collision-free frequency hopping orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system.

    • Develop and simulate an energy efficient security protocol for wireless sensor networks with an emphasis on node authentication, integrity and confidentiality. 

              

  • Instructor                                                                  June 2007 - Aug. 2007

    Diversity Programs Office, College of Engineering, Michigan State University

    • Taught math and MATLAB software to underrepresented Middle and High School students that participated in the Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program (DAPCEP) at Michigan State University College of Engineering.

    • Attended weekly meeting to discuss challenges faced during the program and ways to improve teaching/learning.

 

  • Engineering Research Intern                                   May 2006 - Aug. 2006

    The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD

    • Collaborated with the development, documentation and testing of advanced passive sonar warfare technology called general purpose acoustic analyzer tool (GPAAT).

    • Designed and optimized I/O and DSP tools for GPAAT using Matlab software.           

 

  • Teaching Assistant                                                   Aug. 2005 - Dec. 2005

Electrical & Computer Engineering, Michigan State University

  • Taught electronics laboratory course, which entailed giving weekly lectures and providing assistance to students with lab exercises and projects.

 

  • Academic Assistant                                                 Aug. 2001 - May 2004

            Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans, LA

    • Tutored students in various subjects including College Algebra, Calculus I-III, Linear Algebra and Differential Equations.

CAREER RELATED COURSES

Analog and Digital Communications, Linear Control Systems/Theory, Wireless Communications, Estimation and Detection Theory, Stochastic Systems, Error Correcting Codes, Advanced Computer Networks, Information Theory, Multimedia Networks, Cryptography and Network Security.
 

PROJECTS               

Advanced Computer Networks: Analyzed and simulated security protocols for cooperative clustered wireless sensor networks.
Information Theory: Channel capacity of space time coded system in the presence of partial-band interference.
Master’s Thesis: Simulated and developed energy efficient link-layer security protocol (LLSP) for wireless sensor networks on TinyOS sensor platform.
Wireless Communications: Simulated Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) system using pilot tones to estimate the channel.
Analog and Digital Communications: Simulated digital cellular communication standard (IS-136) for ideal channel, two-ray multi-path channel and estimated channel.
Cryptography and Network Security: Simulated the Advance Encryption Standard (AES) and designed an error tolerant encryption algorithm.
Multimedia Networking: Quantizer design for end to end multimedia system.

COMPUTER SKILLS

MATLAB, C/C++, Java, Visual Studio, VHDL, TinyOS and PCB design.

AWARDS & FELLOWSHIPS

NSF-Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (NSF-AGEP) Fellowship (2008)
Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) Fellowship (2005 - 2007)
Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship (2004 - 2007)
Michigan State University Distinguish Fellowship (2004)
Xavier University of Louisiana Academic Scholarship (2000 - 2004)
Shell Oil Company Scholarship (2000 - 2004)