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Dr. L. Montgomery (Monty) Smith


Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Degree Program Chair
MS-21
University of Tn Space Institute
Tullahoma, TN 37388-9700

Phone: (931) 393-7480
Fax: (931) 393-7542
msmith@utsi.edu

Dr. L. Montgomery (Monty) Smith

Education

  • 1974-1978   Rhodes College, B.S., Mathematics and Physics
  • 1981-1982   The University of Tennessee, B.S., Electrical Engineering
  • 1982-1984   The University of Tennessee, M.S., Electrical Engineering
  • 1984-1988   The University of Tennessee, Ph.D., Electrical Engineering

Professional Experience

  • 1995-Present   Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering
    The University of Tennessee Space Institute Tullahoma, TN 37388-9700
  • 1997-1998   ASEE/NASA Summer Faculty Fellow (Summers)
    Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL 35812
  • 1989-1995   Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering
    The University of Tennessee Space Institute, Tullahoma, TN
  • 1984-1989   Engineer, Center for Laser Applications
    The University of Tennessee Space Institute, Tullahoma, TN
  • 1980-1981   Radiological Physicist
    Tennessee Department of Public Health, Nashville, TN 37243
  • 1978-1979   Assistant Physicist
    Southern Research Institute, Birmingham, AL 35209

Research Interests

  • Electro-Optics
    Fourier optics, Optical image formation and processing, Interferometry, Electromagnetic field calculations, Nonintrusive diagnostic methods.
  • Digital Signal and Image Processing
    Digital filter design and implementation, Finite wordlength effects.
  • Data Analysis
    Reduction and processing of experimental data, Statistical methods for dealing with the effects of noise.

Research

  • 2006-Present, Aerospace Testing Alliance
     Development of Dynamic High Density Telemetry. Communication and electromagnetic theory support for the development of telemetry modules for use in turbine engine testing.
  • 2004-2005, Aerospace Testing Alliance
    Noise Detection Algorithms for Turbine Engine Structural Assessments, Investigation and development of signal processing algorithms for identifying and reducing noise corrupting engine test data; experimental analysis of strain gauge failure modes.
  • 2001-Present, General Atomics
    Hypersonic Vehicle Electric Power System. Optical and video diagnostic experiments for turbulent plasma flows in laboratory simulations of jet thruster.
  • 2000-2003, Air Force
    Development of a COTS System For Data Acquisition and Processing (Co-P.I.) Small Computer parallel processor system integration for high-speed data acquisition, analysis and display; development of digital signal processing software; timing and benchmarking of commercial processor chips.
  • 1994-2002, Air Force
    Technical Support for DECADE pulsed X-Ray Facility (Co-P.I.) Acceleration and use of Monte Carlo codes for radiation environment modeling of the test chamber in a pulsed- power nuclear weapons effects simulator; instrumentation diagnostics for plasma cableguns; circuit modeling of opening switches.
  • 1987-1999, Martin Marietta
    Digital Signal processing of Underwater Acoustic Signals (Co-P.I.) Engineering support for the AMPIP I & II underwater acoustic signal processors, including digital filter design and implementation, and beamformer sensor coefficient design. Also involved wideband signal generation for ion trap mass spectrometers.

Courses Taught

  • ECE 503 Modern Transform Methods
  • ECE 504 Random process Theory for Engineers
  • ECE 505and 506 Digital Signal processing I and II
  • ECE 543 and 544 Digital Communication Systems I and II
  • ES 566 and 568 Optical Engineering I and II
  • ECE 572 Digital Image Processing
  • ECE 599 Multidimensional Digital Signal Processing
  • ECE 599 Fiber Optics Communication Systems
  • ECE 599 Monte Carlo Computational Methods

Theses Directed

  • I. P. Lescano-Mendoza, ``Multichannel Time-Stamping-Based Correlator and Hardware Simulator for Photon Correlation Spectroscopy,'' May 2008.
  • T. C. Dolan, ``Digital-to-Analog Conversion of a Chirp Signal with a Maximally-Flat Spectrum Using nth-Order Bessel Functions of a Fixed Argument,'' (Capstone Project), May 2008.
  • B. L. Ellis, ``Predictive Models of an Electro-Mechanical Driving System for Failure Testing of Strain Gauges,'' August 2007.
  • D.H. Crider, “Determination and Analysis of the Spectral Emissivity of a Blackbody Simulator Source,” August 2006.
  • W. Su, “Decomposition of High-Order FIR Filters and Minimum-Phase Design,” August 2002.
  • N.A. Waivio, “A Circuit model of a RF Plasma Generator,” December 2000.
  • T.W. Hayes, “Implementation of the FFT Digital Signal Processing Algorithm in Enhanced PC Processors,” (Capstone Project), December 1999.
  • M. Gopalan, “Adaptation of a Long Period Composite Random Number Generator for Parallel Programming Applications,” August 1999.
  • M.E. Henderson, Jr., “On Optimal Ordering of Subfilters in the Cascade Realization of High-Order FIR Digital Filters,” December 1998.

Patents

  • "Method and Apparatus for Measuring Small Spatial Dimensions of an Object," Patent Number 4,947,323 held through the University of Tennessee Research Corporation.

Professional Activities and Awards

  • Member, Sigma Xi
  • Senior Member, IEE
  • Member, Optical Society of America
  • Registered Professional Engineer, State of Tennessee
  • UTSI Faculty Assembly President, AY 1998-1999
  • UTSI Vice President’s Award for Teaching Excellence, 1998
  • Outstanding Young Scientist, National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, 1994
  • Referee for:
    • Optical Engineering
    • Applied Optics
    • IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems
    • IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics
    • IEEE Transactions on Magnetics
    • IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science
    • IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing
    • IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement
    • Signal Processing Letters
    • Electronics Letters
    • Optics Express

Publications

  • L. M. Smith, "Wideband Bessel Function Chirp Signals and Their Application to the Test and Evaluation of Audio Systems," submitted to IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, March 2008.
  • B. L. Ellis and L. M. Smith, "Modeling and Experimental Testing of Strain Gauges in Operational and Failure Modes," accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, March 2008.
  • With D. R. Keefer and N. W. Wright, "A Fiber-Optic Interferometer for In Situ Measurement of Plasma Number Density in Pulsed-Power Applications," submitted to Review of Scientific Instruments, January 2003.
  • With B. W. Bomar, "Design of FIR Digital Filters - Least-Squares and Related Techniques," The Circuits and Filters Handbook, 2nd Ed., Boca Raton, FL; CRC Press, 2003, pp. 2639-2649.
  • With D. R. Keefer and N. W. Wright, "Novel Designs For the DECADE Coaxial Plasma Gun," IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, vol. PS-30, October 2002.
  • With D. R. Keefer and N. W. Wright, "Interferometric Investigation of a Cablegun Plasma Injector," IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, vol. PS-28, December 2000.
  • With M. E. Henderson, "Roundoff. Noise Reduction in Cascade Realizations of FIR Digital Filters," IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, vol. SP-48, April 2000.
  • "Decomposition of FIR Digital Filters for Realization Via the Cascade Connection of Subfilters," IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, vol. SP-46, June 1998.
  • With B. W. Bomar and R. D. Joseph, "Roundoff Noise Analysis of State-Space Digital Filters Implemented on Floating-Point Digital Signal Processors," IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II, vol. CAS-44, Nov. 1997.
  • With R. D. Hochstedler, "Accelerating Execution of the Integrated TIGER Series Monte Carlo Radiation Transport Code," IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, vol. NS-44, February 1997.