Dr. Michael Fiske, CEO of Fiske Software and a leading innovator in addressing the problem of malware, will be the key speaker Feb. 26 at an event at the Naval Post Graduate School to be held jointly by the Monterey Bay Chapter of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, and the Naval Postgraduate Schoo’s Graduate School of Operations and Information Sciences and Information Sciences Department to honor John McReynolds “Jack” Wozencraft.

Wozencraft was an electrical engineer, information theorist and a pioneer of coding theory. Wozencraft developed the sequential decoding techniques for convolutional codes, which are used for reliable data transfer in digital video, radio, mobile communication, and satellite communication. The codes eliminate errors with low computing power.

After graduating from West Point in 1946, Wozencraft served in U.S. Army Signal Corps. After leaving the Army, he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, received his Sc.D in 1957 and then served as a member of the faculty at MIT. In 1965, with Irwin M. Jacobs, he co-authored “Principles of Communication Engineering.”

Following his retirement from MIT in 1976, he came to Monterey and taught at the Naval Postgraduate School. He was appointed distinguished professor in 1985 before retiring in 1987. He was awarded the IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal in 2006. He died in 2009.

“He’s a distinguished AFCEA lifetime member of our chapter and distinguished professor of NPS. We hope this AFCEA Monterey Bay Chapter colloquia will become an annual Winter Quarter educational event,” said Larry Reeves, president of the chapter and, along with NPS Professor Dr. Dan Boger, is organizing the event.

Fiske is working on an Active Element Machine, which can execute multiple instructions simultaneously as every one of its computing elements is active, magnifying the computing speed. The Active element machine can perform tasks that digital computers are unable to compute.

“I think it is safe to say that today’s Internet has complex security problems and needs immunity solutions all of us can use, not just a small segment of government, or a band-aid industry with after-the-fact fixes,” Reeves said. “I decided Dr. Fiske’s work needed to be presented to a broader audience.”

The event begins at 4 p.m. in the Mechanical Engineering Auditorium at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey. An RSVP is required by Feb. 20 if you intend to attend. Please provide each person’s name as it appears on a photo ID, an email, and telephone number. This information will be provided to Naval Support Activity security personnel at the Sloat and 10th Street gate entrance.

Guests driving should have their driver’s license, current registration, and proof of insurance to park on a Navy facility. Open parking should be available next to the Watkins Mechanical Engineering Auditorium. Plan to arrive at the gate at 3:30 p.m. to allow time to for security and to park.

Email Larry Reeves at LJReeves1012@gmail.com for more information.