Introduction to Machine Learning for EW

Thursday, September 5, 2019 14:00 -15:00 EDT

ABOUT

While machine learning is often discussed as a key technological advancement, its utility to Electronic Warfare (EW) is often poorly understood. The goal of this webinar is to introduce the audience to the principles of machine learning, and its relationship to modern EW systems.

While Machine Learning has been in existence for decades, its commercial utility only became prevalent recently. The rapid advance – particularly in classification systems – was due to the advent of deep learning systems, and the access to vast volumes of data, through the internet, to train these neural networks.

This webinar introduces the spectrum of machine learning technologies, with a focus on the tools for classification, clustering, regression, and dimensionality reduction. The various techniques are then explored in the context of EW, for such applications as classifying emitters, clustering radar pulses, and developing cognitive jammers. The presentation will conclude with a discussion of the challenges and opportunities in applying machine learning to EW.

Speaker and Presenter Information

PRESENTER

Kyle Davidson is a former signals officer, having served for 15 years in the Canadian Army. During this time, he held a variety of positions in the field force, on operations in Afghanistan, and as an educator. For the last five years in the Army he served at the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) as an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, from which he holds a B.Eng. and M.A.Sc. He continues to serve as an adjunct professor at RMC and is scheduled to defend his Ph.D. in EW systems engineering in the spring of 2019.

Since leaving the Canadian Armed Forces he has worked as a Radar and Electronic Warfare Scientist and later Head of Capability at Tactical Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of Leonardo MW, on a variety of projects, often related to the Eurofighter Typhoon's defensive aid suite. He is currently the Chief Engineer for Electronic Warfare Systems at MDA where he focusses on developing EW technologies and teams to support a variety of projects in the land, air, sea, and space domains.