About Us

Sam Siewert: Inventor, Engineer, Instructor

Throughout his career working in such diverse industries as aerospace and telecom, Sam Siewert consistently saw a need for deeper understanding of real-time automation of things that are human in nature, such as vision or hearing, as well as traditional digital control systems. This insight, combined with his first-hand understanding of what employers look for in new employees, inspired Sam to begin teaching so that he could help people learn how to push technology to do things it can not yet do.

In addition to his career, Sam is a veteran instructor at the Center for Advanced Engineering and Technology Education (CAETE), the distance learning and professional studies arm of the College of Engineering and Applied Science at CU. He teaches Real-Time Embedded Systems, a topic on which he has published a book used in classrooms world wide, and written several professional articles. He also teaches Real-Time Digital Media and Control Systems, a new Linux-based course he developed.

What is your specialty?

The area I have worked in for 20 years and have been teaching for eight years is what I call “embedded systems software and firmware.” Firmware exists somewhere between hardware and software. Real-time systems use firmware to glue together hardware and software to deliver a product needed in a specific industry. I like to work with a combination of robotics, computer vision and audio real-time systems. What strings all of these seemingly diverse areas together is the idea that we can automate things in computing that are humanlike.

I call this “debugging with headphones” or “debugging with our eyes,” because we are building systems that operate in the same timeframe as humans. This is very different, because computers usually work either faster or slower than the human body or brain. A simple example of this is the idea that we can use a seeing robotic arm, and write the code to find recognize and grab objects from a space.

How does this power the workings of our world?

It is important for a variety of different industries, including hard real-time systems, critical systems like an airplane’s flight control system where failure is not an option, to soft real-time systems, where the outcome is not critical but can have important consequences. An example of a soft real-time system is the ability to stream news feeds and audio/video messages to mobile devices like a Blackberry, which can affect the smooth flow of information for commerce.

As a teacher, I take very seriously that my students will go out into the world and make things happen. They will be responsible for designing and building systems that are critical to how our world works.

What is the biggest challenge this area of computing faces?

There are no systems out there that can see, recognize and parse what we as humans see with the same accuracy and performance. In our work, we are constantly working to solve problems that seem unsolvable. But this is also the best part. We create computers that do things way beyond what they can do now. And, the fun of having a really challenging problem is that infinite learning can occur.

As a specific challenge is overcome, less attention is paid to it and we move on to the next unsolved problem. For example, five years ago voice-over IP was hot, but it has by and large been figured out – for example Skype. Now things like digital video on demand from large content pools and computer vision systems are the new exciting things because they have yet to be figured out.

I always tell my students that this is a great career choice; it never gets boring and there is great employment opportunity because we are always on to the next unsolved problem.

How do real-time systems interface with the Internet?

The Internet is being reinvented as we speak and real-time systems will play an important role in the next life of the Internet, or Web 2.0 as some call it. This metamorphosis is happening because the Internet is forming cultural intelligence that is beyond the individual. This collective intelligence will be used for things we don’t yet know, but one example we can understand today is on-line gaming. This is all interactive and real time.

It is exciting unsolved challenges like this – where we don’t yet know how real-time systems will interface with the next development – that inspired me to teach.

How do you prepare students to embark on a career working on real-time systems?

To be successful in their careers, engineers will need to not only enter the workplace being experienced and self-guided, but will also need to know how to constantly reeducate themselves to stay ahead of an ever-changing industry. I help my students learn how to teach themselves to push technology to do things it can not yet do.

In my own career I have always approached a new problem by learning the theory behind it, then practicing on hardware or software to make sure I really understand the theory and, finally, putting together an actual product. This last part, which leverages what I learned from theory and practice, is the most important.

Based on my own experience, I developed what I call the “one-third, one-third, one-third method.” The first third starts with the presentation of theory through traditional lecture and reading. The second third is a lab and the last third is a project component. This is the exploratory learning part – something I wished I had in my own education. In this segment I ask students to be creative and think of new ways to put things together to build a new and interesting system. I am there as a resource and a guide when they need help, but the students are ultimately doing it on their own.

Another element that drives creativity and learning in the classroom is encouraging students with differing backgrounds and outlooks to work together on projects. For example, if you have an engineer with 20 years of experience working with a young student just starting out, you get cross education, which is extremely valuable. I, too, am constantly learning from my students. They may create something I never thought of, which can spark my creativity in teaching.

How do you define success as an instructor?

It is a great experience for me to see the light bulb go on for a student. This always happens in the third section of class when they connect theory and practice to put something together that works predictably and is repeatable. I am also inspired by my students when we work together as collaborators and they take things further than I would to discover something new.

And, just like projects I have worked on in my own career, I am proud of students who put the theory and practice they learned in class to work on the job as significant contributors to the development of important things like aircraft flight software, space telescope instrumentation, or on-demand digital media systems.