Curriculum Vitae

www.kolta.net/cv

 

Michael Kolta, Ph.D.

Click here to e-mail Mike Kolta

Website:    www.kolta.net

 

EDUCATION

 

University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY

Ph.D. Computer Science, Minor: Computer Music, August 2009

·   Advisor: Dr. Seth Chaiken

·   Area of Interest: Artificial Intelligence/Music Information Retrieval

·   Dissertation: "Machine Learned Melody Matching using Strictly Relative Musical   Abstractions"

           

University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY

M.S. Computer Science, May 2007

·   Advisor: Dr. Seth Chaiken

·   Area of Interest: Artificial Intelligence

·   Master's Project: Invented an original board game similar to chess and implemented an AI

agent to play against a human user

           

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

B.S. Industrial & Management Engineering, Minor: Electronic Arts, May 1998

·   Dean's List and National Dean's List

 

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

 

Strayer University, Washington, DC, 2010 - present

Full Time Instructor – School of Information Systems

·   Teach several online courses in an asynchronous environment

·   Topics: Systems Analysis and Development, Enterprise Architecture, Directed Research

Project (Master’s capstone project), Programming in C++

·   Train other instructors in the use of online course content delivery software and andragogy

·   Responsibilities: answering questions, grading tests and assignments, and fostering online

discussions

Program Lead, 2011 - present

·   Assist the Dean in running the School by communicating with Course Leads and researching

new educational technology

Subject Matter Expert, 2011

·   Developed new Introduction to Programming course, CIS110, based on Visual Logic

 

Walden University, Minneapolis, MN, 2009 - present

Contributing (Adjunct) Faculty

·   Teach several online courses in an asynchronous environment

·   Topics:  Database Management Systems, Information Systems, Information Technology,

Object Oriented Programming, Operating Systems, and others

·   Responsibilities: answering questions, grading assignments, and fostering online discussions 

          Subject Matter Expert, 2009 - 2010

·   Assisted in the development of the new Web Programming course (ITEC2080)

 

 

 

Excelsior College, Albany, NY, 2008 - present

Adjunct Instructor

·   Teach several online courses in an asynchronous environment

·   Topics: audio, video, graphics, programming in Actionscript, Object Oriented Programming

·   Responsibilities: answering questions, grading tests and assignments, and fostering online

discussions

Course Writer

·   Implemented a major revision for Introduction to Multimedia (IT325)

           

University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY, 2003 - present

Creator and Instructor -  Web Programming I, 2007 – present

·   Lectures are a mixture of pre-recorded audio files and text for this online course

·   Topics: the Internet, HTML, Cascading Style Sheets, and JavaScript

·   Responsibilities: preparing syllabus and tests, pre-recording the lectures, answering students'

questions via virtual office hours, preparing assignments, preparing online material, and

grading all assignments and tests

 

Adjunct Instructor - Enterprise-Wide Application Development, 2008 – 2009

·   600 level graduate course, part of MBA program

·   Students design and build their own online business including a business plan and functional

website

·   Present final product to industry representative

·   Topics: database tier design, Java/J2EE, JDBC, security, XML

·   Responsibilities: preparing and delivering lectures, assisting students in computer lab, and

grading assignments

 

Adjunct Instructor - Special Topics in Information Technology2008

·   600 level graduate course, part of MBA program

·   Students learn Java Programming and SQL

·   Apply these skills to Data Mining for Business Applications

·   Topics: database theory, Java, SQL

·   Responsibilities: preparing and delivering lectures, assisting students in computer lab, and

grading assignments

 

Instructor - Elements of Computing, 2004 - 2008

·   Manage up to 6 Teaching Assistants with average enrollment of 200 students

·   Topics: history of computers, computer hardware, number conversion, and programming in

Visual Basic

·   Programming Topics: Graphical User Interfaces, variables, arrays, loops, procedures,

functions, file input and output, threading, and sorting

·   Internet Topics: HTML, multimedia, and security

·   Responsibilities: preparing syllabus and tests, lecturing, answering students' questions,

preparing assignments, preparing online material, and overseeing the grading of all

assignments and tests

           

Graduate Teaching Assistant - Computer Music, 2005 - 2006

·   Maintain media lab equipment

·   Provide assistance to students in learning how to use lab equipment and complete assignments

 

Graduate Teaching Assistant - Discrete Math, 2003 - 2004

·   Responsibilities: running discussion sections, holding office hours, and grading homework

           

The College of St. Rose, Albany, NY, 2008 - 2009

Visiting Professor of Computer Science

·   Taught 4 courses per semester

·   Topics: history of computers, hardware, number conversion, and programming in Visual Basic

and Alice

·   Programming Topics: Graphical User Interfaces, variables, arrays, loops, procedures,

functions, file input and output, threading, and sorting

·   Internet Topics: HTML, multimedia, and security

·   Responsibilities: preparing syllabus and tests, lecturing, answering students' questions,

preparing assignments, preparing online material, and grading of all assignments and tests

           

Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY, 2001 - 2003

Adjunct Instructor – Web Programming

·   Taught 3 sections: 2 traditional and 1 online

·   Created all online content including audio recordings and web-based presentations

·   Online course enrollment consisted of working professionals at IBM

·   Redesigned online course for high school students to contain simpler material and more

multimedia content

 

Adjunct Instructor – Introduction to the Internet

·   Taught 3 three sections covering the basics of Internet technology and HTML

·   Instructed students in building their own websites

           

Dutchess Community College, Poughkeepsie, NY, 2001-2003

Adjunct Instructor – Physics

·   Taught two sections and enrollment consisted of working professionals at Verizon

·   Introduced 'Gadget of the Day' to relate course material to current technology

·   Topics: Kinetics, Electricity and Magnetism

 

Adjunct Instructor - Applications in Interactive Computing

·   Enrollment consisted of working professionals at IBM

·   Instructed students in using Visual Basic to solve engineering problems

·   Topics: decisions, repetition, arrays, functions and object linking and embedding

 

Adjunct Instructor - Computer Information Systems

·   Taught two sections covering the basics of computer software and hardware terminology

·   Instructed students in using office software

 

Adjunct Instructor - Digital Electronics II

·   Enrollment consisted of working professionals at Verizon

·   Introduced group project investigating current computer technology and build a 'business' within

budget

 

AWARDS AND CONFERENCES

 

University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY, March 2008

·   Sharing Knowledge, Insights and Lessons Learned (SKILL) Conference

·   Presented learning tool entitled "Gadget of the Day"

·   Discussed real world technology in the classroom showing applications of the CS concepts

presented in class

 

 University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY, April 2007 and 2008

·   New Trends in Informatics Research Conference

·   Presented progress on research for dissertation entitled "Melody Matching

using Strictly Relative Musical Abstractions"

 

 University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY, 2007

·   College of Computing and Information Student Service Award - "Recognition for dedicated

service that added greatly to the education of his fellow students"

 

 

RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS

 

 US Patent Office, Alexandria, VA, June 2011

Patent:  # 7,962,530

·   Title: "Method for locating information in a musical database using a fragment of a melody"

·   Based on doctoral dissertation research

 

 University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY, August, 2009

Dissertation: "Machine Learned Melody Matching using Strictly Relative Musical Abstractions"

·   Utilizes fuzzy logic and DNA matching technologies to find approximate melodic matches for

imperfect queries

·   Interdisciplinary combination of Music Information Retrieval, Bioinformatics, Computer

Science, and the sub-field of Machine Learning

 

In Progress

          

"An Updated Survey of Music Information Retrieval Systems (2005 - 2011)"

·   In 2005, Typke et al. published "A Survey of Music Information Retrieval Systems"

·   This paper will be a survey of new MIR systems not covered in that paper

·   It is restricted to those which are publicly accessible including academic and commercial

systems 

 

"Application of Machine Learning Methods to Improve the Scoring Matrix of the 

Smith-Waterman Algorithm"

·   Conducted a study using the Smith-Waterman algorithm, originally developed for DNA

matching

·   Requires a Scoring Matrix which derives its values from biological facts

·   Applied to the field of Music Information Retrieval

·   Given copyright laws, melodies must be unique, like strands of DNA

·   Demonstrated promising results when Smith-Waterman is applied to melody matching, but the

Scoring Matrix is less deterministic

·   Machine Learning methods are shown to positively affect the quantities in the Scoring Matrix,

resulting in better matching and better searches

·   Implications include a strong potential for the combination of the Smith-Waterman algorithm

and Machine Learning methods in other fields        

 

INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE

 

CNN International, Atlanta, GA, 2000 - 2001

Computer Animator/Multimedia Engineer for Design Team

·   Created 3D animated graphics for worldwide television news enhancement

·   Wrote Visual Basic scripts to query the Reuters feed, then update and activate the graphics in

real time

·   Implemented graphic and audio environments for both television and the Internet

·   Composed music for promotional materials

·   Built tutorial websites to assist new employees in the use of an automated graphics system

·   Compressed multimedia for Internet streaming

           

Autodesk Inc., Henniker, NH, 1998 – 2000

Software Test Development Engineer for Raster Design

·   Developed scripts and test plans for quality assurance purposes

·   Employed various methods including the creation and implementation of automated tests

using SilkTest

 

COMPUTER SKILLS

 

Languages: Java, Java EE, C++, C, JavaScript, VB Script, HTML, Alice, Perl, SQL, UNIX Shell,

      Rexx, LISP

 

 Applications:

·   2-D Graphics: Adobe Photoshop, CAD Overlay

·   3-D Graphics: AutoCAD, Pro-Engineer, Flash, frost

·   Audio: Sonar, Pro-Tools, Korg Triton Music Workstation

·   Automation: SilkTest, SQA Robot

·   Simulation:   Maple, SAS, LindoMatlab, Arena

 

FOREIGN LANGUAGES

 

·   Some familiarity with Spanish, Arabic

 

MEMBERSHIP AND LEADERSHIP

 

  Memberships

·   Engineering Honor Society (ΤΒΠ) – Lifetime

·   Industrial Engineering Honor Society (ΑΠΜ) – Lifetime

·   Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) - Lifetime

 

  Leadership

·   Manager and Lead Singer of the band "Faded ReFLEXion"

·   Program Lead at Strayer University, School of Information Systems"