Mark D. Smiley, PhD

Specialties: Forth, Visual Basic, mathematics, graphics, fractals, chaos.

Northern Virginia / Washington D.C.

My Email Addresses

My Home Page

Summary

  • I am a Ph.D. Mathematician with a passion for Forth and computer graphics, particularly on PCs. I taught Mathematics and Computer Science for 15 years at the college level. I have been running a computer consulting business on and off since 1984. My computer specialties include Forth, Graphics, and Visual Basic. In Mathematics, I teach Real Analysis, Differential Equations, Dynamical Systems, Calculus, and others. My research lies in the areas of fractals (particularly Hausdorff Dimension) and chaos. I have created a new class of fractals, the coincident self-similar sets, for which I created formulas to compute the dimensions of a subclass. I also devise and implement algorithms to represent various 2D and 3D mathematical objects on the computer. My most recent consulting job was an embedded system, written in ANS Forth, for a kidney preservation system, including user-friendly menus, real-time data acquisition and graphics.

    I seek full or part-time employment, preferably in the Northern Virginia or D.C. area. I live near the Dulles Airport, and if you pay my expenses in addition to my hourly fees, I am willing to relocate to other locales for about two weeks at a time.

Index

Education

  • Ph.D. in Mathematics: Metric Dimensions of Fractals, 6/90, Auburn University.
  • M.S. in Mathematics: Ergodic Theory, 8/83, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  • B.S. magna cum laude in Mathematics, 5/79, Denison University, Granville, OH.

Experience

  • Senior Programmer Analyst 4/96 to present, iTV Corporation, San Mateo, CA. Headed the team to build an internet browser in ANS Forth for a TV internet box using Chuck Moore's i21 MISC chip.

  • Computer Consultant, 12/84 to present, part-time. Programming projects have included:

    • an embedded system for a kidney preservation machine using ANS Forth on a TDS2020 computer (powered by an Hitachi H8/532), including real-time data aquisition and graphics, operating several pumps, extrema identification, and a user-friendly menu system.

    • a heart disease detector with real-time VGA graphics for a Birmingham Hospital,

    • a complete VGA/EGA/CGA graphics package for the F-PC compiler, and

    • several instructional graphics programs for Auburn University and Goucher College.

  • Senior Research Analyst, Market Metrics, Lancaster, PA, 1/95 to 6/95. Three projects:

    • Designed a Geographical Information System for Wal*Mart to display maps which illustrate the impact a potential new store will have on nearby stores. Technical lead for the project, responsible for negotiating specifications with Wal*Mart, designing the program, assigning tasks to programmers, cost estimation, budget planning, progress reporting, tracking with Microsoft Project.

    • Used Visual Basic and Visual C to design and implement an expert system to explain why a product sells well at a given store.

    • Extracted mathematical formulas from C code and documented an existing model.

  • Assistant Professor, Goucher College, Towson, MD, 9/90 to 12/94. Taught: Real Analysis I and II, Differential Equations, Discrete Dynamical Systems, Calculus 1-3, Geometry, History of Math, Intro. to Finite Math, Intro. to Computers, BASIC Programming, Forth Programming, Mathematical Typesetting with TeX and LaTeX, Precalculus using graphing calculators. Directed two Senior theses on fractals.

  • Programmer, Formal Systems, 12/88 to 12/89, part-time. Programmed in Forth, Assembler, and FORTRAN on IBM-PCs and ATs with VGA graphics. Wrote the real-time video player and image displayer sold with all their graphics products.

  • Instructor, Auburn University at Montgomery, AL, 9/83 to 8/87.

  • Programmer, Softweaver, Santa Cruz, CA, 6/86 to 9/86. Programmed in Forth on a MacIntosh and an IBM-PC.

Computer Languages

  • Forth (Standards: ANS, '83, '79)(Implementations: ANS Forth for TDS2020[H8/532], F-PC, F88, FF, F83X, F83S, F83, MVP, MM), Visual Basic for Windows, Visual C, 8086 Assembler, QuickBasic, FORTRAN, TeX, LaTeX, Animation Master, PoV (raytracer), Renderman (3D), Postscript, GWBASIC, LOGO, and SFTRAN. Member F-PC working group.

Operating Systems

  • Windows '95, Windows, MS-DOS.

Software Products

  • JULIAM, an MS-DOS program that draws Mandelbrot and Julia sets, using a variety of fast algorithms. Written in F-PC Forth. Includes a 39-page manual.

  • The graphics package for F-PC Forth. It runs in SVGA, VGA, EGA, and CGA modes. Distributed by the Forth Interest Group. Favorably reviewed in the German magazine: DOS Shareware, Nr. 3, März, 1992, p. 71-76.

  • RGB Kaleidoscope, a screen saver for Windows displaying 16.7 million colors.

Selected Honors

  • President Beta of Maryland Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi (science), Mensa.

Book

  • Learning Microsoft QuickBasic Through VGA Graphics, Kendall/Hunt Pub. Co., 1992, ISBN 0-8403-8057-7, 164 pp.

Selected Articles

  • Qualitative Solutions to Ordinary Differential Equations in Two Dimensions, 1994 FORML Conference Proceedings, Forth Modification Laboratory, to appear.

  • Graphing Functions in Forth, 1993 FORML Conference Proceedings, Forth Modification Laboratory, 1994, p 98-122.

  • A Graphics Package for F-PC, 1992 FORML Conference Proceedings, Forth Modification Laboratory, 1993, p 14-28.

  • Graphics and Floating Point in Real-Time Action, Forth Dimensions, Vol. XIV, No. 5, January/February 1993.

Selected Presentations

  • Qualitative Solutions to Ordinary Differential Equations in Two Dimensions, 16th FORML Conference, Asilomar, CA, November 26, 1994.

  • Using Computer Graphics to Visualize Mathematics, MD-DC-VA MAA Meeting, November 12, 1994.

  • Scientific Visualization with Computer Graphics, Goucher College, November 8, 1994.

  • Graphing Functions in Forth, 15th FORML Conference, Asilomar, CA, November 27, 1993.

  • An Introduction to Chaos, Goucher College, Towson, MD, March 8, 1993.

  • A Graphics Package for F-PC, 14th FORML conference, Asilomar, CA, November 28, 1992.

  • A Crash Course in Forth, invited address, Baltimore chapter of the ACM, November 17, 1992.

  • Graphics in F-PC, invited address, MD FIG Meeting, Parsons Auditorium, Johns Hopkins Univ. Applied Physics Lab., Laurel, MD, August 19, 1992.

  • Coincident Self Similar Sets and their Hausdorff Dimension, special session on real functions, Joint Mathematics Meetings, Baltimore, MD, January 10, 1992.

  • Co-attractors and Hausdorff Dimension for Self-similar Sets, Fractal Geometry Conference, Regional Institute in Dynamical Systems, Boston University, July 7, 1991.

  • Box and Hausdorff Dimensions of Fractals, MD-DC-VA MAA Conference, Towson State University, November 17, 1990.

  • Non-integer Dimensions, South East Approximators Conference, Department of Algebra, Combinatorics, and Analysis, Auburn University, April 27, 1989.

  • Quick TeX: An introduction to TeX, invited address, Auburn University, in two parts: April 13, and 20, 1989.

  • Elementary Notions of Metric Dimension, Auburn University Dynamical Systems Seminar, Auburn, Alabama, in three parts: January 21, 28, and February 4, 1988.

  • A Crash Course in Forth, Heath-Zenith Users Group, Montgomery, Alabama, in two parts: May 6, 1985 and June 4, 1985.

  • Hausdorff Dimension, Auburn University Chaos Seminar, Auburn, Alabama, April 24, 1985.

Selected Awards, Grants and Honoraria

  • $600 Interdisciplinary Studies Grant to develop a computer visualization laboratory, Summer 1994.

  • $7500 Interdisciplinary Studies Grant to develop a course combining Mathematics, Computer Science, and Art; Summer 1993.

  • Article: Graphics and Floating Point in Real-Time Action, won second place ($250) in the "Forth on a Grand Scale" competition, Fall 1992.

  • $2,500 Dean's Summer Research Grant, Beatrice Aitchison '28 Fund, Summer 1992.

  • NSF support to attend the Fractal Geometry and Complex Analytic Dynamics Conferences at the Regional Institute in Dynamical Systems, Boston University, July 7-18, 1991.

  • $650 (Canadian) to attend the NATO Summer School on Fractal Geometry in Montreal, Canada, July 6-21, 1989.

Reviews

  • My graphics package for F-PC Forth was favorably reviewed in the German magazine: DOS Shareware, Nr. 3, März, 1992, p. 71-76.

Selected Conferences Attended

  • SIGGraph '95 (ACM Special Interest Group in Graphics), Los Angeles, CA, August 8-10, 1995.

  • Sixteenth FORML (Forth Modification Laboratory), Asilomar, CA, November 25-27, 1994.

  • Workshop on Basic Issues in Computer-aided Math Visualization, The Geometry Center, Minneapolis, MN, August 13-14, 1994.

  • Fifteenth FORML (Forth Modification Laboratory), Asilomar, CA, November 26-28, 1993.

  • Fourteenth FORML (Forth Modification Laboratory), Asilomar, CA, November 27-29, 1992.

  • Fractals in Engineering, École Polytechnique, Montreal, Canada, June 3-5, 1992.

  • The Head and Heart of Chaos: Nonlinear Dynamics in Biological Systems, an NIH Workshop, Washington DC, June 15-16, 1992.

  • SIGGRAPH '91, Las Vegas, NV, July 27 to August 2, 1991.

  • Fractal Geometry and Complex Analytic Dynamics Conferences at the Regional Institute in Dynamical Systems, Boston University, July 7-18, 1991.

  • NATO Summer School on Fractal Geometry, University of Montreal, Canada, July 6-21, 1989. $650 (Canadian) grant from NATO.

  • Mandelbrot Conference, Cincinnati, OH, September 14-18, 1987. $275 Honorarium.

  • FORML, Forth Modifications Laboratory, Asilomar, CA, November 28-30, 1986.

  • FIG, Forth Interest Group, San Jose, CA, September 20-22, 1985.

  • Chaos Conference, Georgia Tech., Atlanta, GA, March 25-29, 1985.

  • Chaos Conference, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, March 16-18, 1983.