The American Physical Society (APS) has recently named Dr. Prabhakar Misra a fellow of its organization in recognition of his outstanding contributions to physics. Election to Fellowship in the APS is an honor of distinction in that it is limited to no more than half of 1 percent of the group’s membership. Misra, a Professor of Physics at Howard University, has worked with START for the past two years on developing machine learning algorithms intended to eventually enable the prediction of terrorist threats.
Funded through the competitive Department of Homeland Security Summer Research Team Program by the Science and Technology Directorate’s Office of University Programs, Misra began working with START in 2014 on research development and applications of machine learning algorithms. The team’s primary goal was to identify patterns in terrorism-related event databases -- START’s Global Terrorism Database (GTD) and Profiles Of Incidents involving Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear by Non-state actors (POICN) database.
“The support provided by START and DHS has helped facilitate the project by utilization of computational resources,” Misra said. “START researchers have provided crucial guidance and feedback to our team via regular meetings and interactions.”
Continuing his work
Additional funding from the DHS program has allowed the team to return to START to make improvements (e.g. reduced training time and misclassification error) to the machine learning algorithms developed earlier, as well as to conduct new research involving missing data in other START databases such as Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States (PIRUS).
“Missing data is an unavoidable problem experienced by empirically-based datasets and can severely complicate data interpretation and analysis,” Misra said. “Effectively dealing with issues related to missing or incomplete data by employing a nested machine-learning approach can lead to better understanding of the data and has been shown to improve results by preventing data skewing.”
Misra and his team, which includes graduate students Raul Garcia-Sanchez and Daniel Casimir, hope their pattern recognition approach utilizing neural networks can provide greater insight into terrorism patterns and trends.
“We believe that the marriage of machine learning and advanced physics and mathematical computational techniques for the study of pattern recognition of terrorism events has wide-ranging implications,” Misra said. “Once the machine learning algorithms being developed are refined further, the ability to use these structures to predict cases with specific properties will be an invaluable resource for enhancing significantly homeland security efforts in the future. The long-term goal would be to develop a machine learning system that fully utilizes all of START’s resources to predict possible terrorist events and can serve as a foundation for seamless inter-database communications.”
Recognition for excellence
Misra is recognized by APS for his sustained contributions to “the spectroscopy of the condensed phases and exemplary mentoring of underrepresented students.” Representing more than 51,000 members worldwide --including physicists in academia, national laboratories and industry -- APS is a non-profit membership organization working to advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics.
His passion for physics goes back to his formative years during his high school days in Calcutta, India.
“I was drawn to physics because it goes beyond mathematics and can explain everyday phenomena in fairly easy to understand terms, both qualitatively and quantitatively,” Misra said. “From the moment you get up from bed to the time you go to sleep, the laws of physics govern your every movement.”
Misra’s current area of research focuses on the detailed characterization of a variety of nanomaterials (e.g. carbon nanotubes, graphene, and metal oxides) using Raman spectroscopy and Molecular Dynamics simulation techniques.
He offered a quick lesson in his research interests:
- Examples of nanoscience and nanomaterials abound all around us. One simple example is the ubiquity of natural colloids (e.g. milk, gelatin, blood, etc.). A colloid consists of particles in the size range 10-300 nanometers, whereby the nanosize constituent particles get dispersed evenly and the colloid appears homogeneous. Milk is white because it is made up of colloidal nanoparticles (called micelles). If the structure of micelles is transformed, we get a different product (e.g. milk gets converted to cheese or yogurt). This is a vital notion in nanotechnology - new materials can be engineered with very different functions by molecular reorganization. Another fascinating example is the creation of energy-saving fabrics using nano-sized piezoelectric generators, whereby so-called "smart" clothes can be powered using integrated electronics and sensors via simple body movements.
“The amazing properties of nanomaterials may help usher in an array of future technologies and products, ranging from highly efficient solar panels and transparent touch screens to ultra-strong composite materials with novel applications not yet dreamt of,” he said.
He aims to instill such a love of physics in the students he works with. He serves as Howard University’s Chapter Advisor for the Society of Physics Students (SPS), the student arm of the APS and the American Institute of Physics (AIP).
His mentorship does not end in the classroom. He recently led a Howard University student team of Physics majors, along with Dr. Bradley Carpenter of NASA headquarters, on a thrilling Zero-G Flight Experiment Low Gravity Gas-Liquid Contactor, defying gravity aboard the so-called “Vomit Comet” – a C-9 aircraft which mimics various states of microgravity and is used to train astronauts.
“Such exciting once-in-a-lifetime experience can help motivate students to pursue lifelong careers in physics and further the mission of APS,” Misra said. “I enjoy physics and working with students so I see a role for myself in training students in cutting-edge physics research involving novel materials and also in engaging students in exciting physics projects.”