Life in the Ivory Tower

Since I have two academic advisors, I thought it would be only fair to write a brief introductory essay about academic achievements of my second advisor, Dr. Carleen Maitland, who joined the IST faculty in 2002 as an Assistant Professor of Information Sciences and Technology. Dr. Maitland has a significant educational background in engineering and telecommunications. She received her MS in Engineering-Economic Systems in 1995 from the Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA) and Ph.D. from the Delft University of Technology (Nethelands) in 2001 where her research has been focused on the role of institutions in creating the potential for e-business in developing countries.

According to the matrix of Faculty Research Areas, Dr. Maitland has a diverse package of research interests, including Crisis Management and Emergency Response, Globalization, Social Impact and Social Inclusion, and Social Network Analysis. Some of her research projects have been made possible through grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), IBM, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the European Commission.  Dr. Maitland's findings have been reported in over 30 refereed articles in journals and conference proceedings.

Over the last three years (2006-2008), Dr. Maitland published numerous journal articles, book chapters, and participated in a number of refereed conferences proceedings (e.g., 5th International Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (ISCRAM) Conference in Washington, DC. May 4-7, 2008). Dr. Maitland's CV is available on the IST Faculty Information Page at: http://faculty.ist.psu.edu/maitland/cv.html.

Dr. Maitland and Dr. Tapia have shared research interests, and they are currently collaborating on the COHORT Project, which is sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF). This research should help improve delivery of relief services for disaster survivors and increase efficiency in the use of disaster relief resources.

Dr. Maitland invests a lot of energy in teaching the IST undergrads so that they could benefit from both her life and research experiences, which include scientific investigations in the areas of telecommunications, fixed and mobile Internet access technologies as well as personal experiences of having lived in both Western Europe and sub-Saharan Africa (Malawi).

Here are  a couple of courses Dr. Maitland taught in Spring 2004- Spring 2008 that would serve as a good illustration of Dr. Maitland's passion in teaching: IST 442: Information Technology in an International Context, IST 445 H: Globalization Trends and World Issues.