Profile

As a May 2003 graduate from UMBC’s Information Systems Program, Darniet Jennings, Ph.D., is a fully prepared professional with experience in both theory and industry.

“The main reason I decided on UMBC’s Information Systems Ph.D. Program is because it is interdisciplinary and I knew that I would have the opportunity to pursue my own specific research interests under the guidance of quality faculty,” says Jennings. “Also, the great location enables you to have a strong connection with neighboring organizations.” Indeed, while continuing his coursework and research, UMBC’s proximity to Baltimore and Washington has allowed Jennings to do consulting work for NASA Goddard Space Center and teach courses at the University of Maryland, Baltimore and Loyola College as well as UMBC.

Jennings’ interests include virtual reality/virtual environment systems, especially regarding information transfer between man and machine. For his dissertation, he chose to examine the environmental property of occlusionor obscurity in a visual field.

Jennings conducted an experiment in which 120 UMBC undergraduate students were asked to sit at a computer and complete a variety of tasks in a 3D virtual environment based on an office motif (to allow them to draw on prior experience and known quantities). The five tasks were designed to test and evaluate different aspects of the visual and decision-making processes. ”The main idea is that you’re looking for things that you can either see, can’t see because the objects or information is inside of another object, or can’t see because it is blocked by an occluding object,” says Jennings.

The fact that the results in a virtual environment can be designed to mimic a physical environment introduces many practical applications for this kind of research. For example, in low visibility situations, such as fog, the information obtained from virtual research could then be modified and transferred to real-life situations. There are also many business and medical applications. Medical applications are of particular interest to Jennings, who just recently received an appointment as adjunct assistant professor at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

His mentor, Professor Anthony F. Norcio, has helped Jennings on a variety of levels. “Dr. Norcio’s direction and expertise strengthened the research considerably,” says Jennings. “Beyond that, his willingness to embrace a research topic not generally explored in our style of department was invaluable. The interdisciplinary nature of the information systems research environment created an opportunity for a unique and robust treatment of a traditionally cut and dry area.”

Jennings has been a student at UMBC since 1994, when he started as an undergraduate Meyerhoff Scholar majoring in information systems and computer science. In graduate school, he served as Graduate Student Association president (1999-2000) and sat on several university committees. Jennings already has several opportunities for post graduate work. Aside from his efforts at GW, he will work full time as a software systems architect with Verizon Communications conducting applied research and development work on a nationwide systems project. Jennings will also continue teaching at UMBC.

“There are a lot of great problems to be solved everywhere you look,” says Jennings. “My UMBC graduate experience has been very gratifying, and I do not believe I would have been able to produce this particular work at any other institution.”