Faculty Directory

David Finkel

Professor
Associate Department Head
Director, Specialization in Computer and Communications Networks
Co-Director, Silicon Valley Project Center

Office: Fuller Laboratories, B23
Phone: +1-508-831-5416
Fax: +1-508-831-5776
dfinkel@wpi.edu

Related Information

• Personal Page

Educational Background

• B.A., Temple University, 1966
• M.S., University of Chicago, 1967
• Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1971

Research & Teaching Interests

Computer system performance evaluation; computer and communications networks; operating system performance; distributed and multiprocessor computing systems; queuing models; simulation

IQP Advising Interests

Computers & education; education & technological literacy

Research Grants

• Stratus Computer, Inc., "Key Aspects of Transaction Processing". with Robert E. Kinicki, 1996 - 1998.
• National Science Foundation ILI Grant, "The Webware, Interfaces, and Networking Experimental Laboratory", with David C. Brown, George Heineman, Robert E. Kinicki, Matthew O. Ward, and Craig E. Wills, 1997 - 1999.
• BMC Software, Inc., "Application Performance Studies", with Mark L. Claypool. 1998 - 1999.
• National Science Foundation CCLI - Adaptation and Implementation Program, "Teaching Systems Courses with an Open Source Laboratory", with Mark L. Claypool and Craig E. Wills, 2000 - 2002.

Recent Publications

• "Garbage Collection for Java Distributed Objects", with Andrei A. Dãncus, Proceedings of the International Network Conference 2002 (July, 2002), pp. 459 - 466.

• "Transparent Process Migration for Distributed Applications in a Beowulf Cluster", with Mark Claypool, Proceedings of the International Network Conference 2002 (July, 2002), pp. 423 - 422.

• "An Open Source Laboratory for Operating Systems Projects", with Mark Claypool and Craig E. Wills, Proceedings of the 6th Annual ACM/SIGCSE Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (June, 2001), pp. 145 - 148.

• "An Applet-Based Anonymous Distributed Computing System", with Craig E. Wills, Michael J. Ciaraldi, Kevin Amorin, Adam Covati, and Michael Lee, Internet Research, vol. 11, no. 1 (January, 2001), pp 35 - 41.

• "Risks in Anonymous Distributed Computing Systems", with Michael J. Ciaraldi and Craig E. Wills, Proceedings of the International Network Conference 2000 (July, 2000), pp. 193 - 200.

View detailed list

Years of Service at WPI

• 1991 - Professor of Computer Science
• 1988 - 1991 Associate Professor of Computer Science
• 1999 - Director, Silicon Valley Project Center
• 1993 - Director, Specialization in Computer and Communications Networks
• 1992 - 1999 Associate Department Head

Professional Experience & Activities

• Bucknell University
  • Assistant Professor of Mathematics, 1971 - 1978
  • Associate Professor of Mathematics, 1978 - 1984
  • Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science, 1984 - 1988
• June 1981 - August 1984: HRB-Singer, Inc., State College, PA.
  Developed mathematical models of computer systems and performed queuing analyses and simulations to predict computer response times. Recommended design changes to improve response time.
• 1994 - 1997: International Business Software, Worcester, MA
  Software Design Consultant
• 1997 - present: Expert witness in computer-related patent infringement litigation.
• Program Committee for International Network Conference 2000, 2002, 2004.
• Steering Committee for the annual IEEE International Workshop on Modeling, Analysis and Simulation of Computer and Telecommunication Systems (MASCOTS), 2001 - present.
• Proceedings Chair, ACM SIGCSE Conference on Integrating Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE), June 2001, June 2002, June 2003.

Professional Societies/Memberships

• ACM (SIGMETRICS, SIGCSE)
• IEEE Computer Society
• Society for Computer Simulation