Douglas S. J. De Couto

STATUS

Ph.D. Candidate in Computer Science, member of the Parallel and Distributed Operating Systems Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Laboratory for Computer Science. Currently designing, implementing, and deploying new network protocols and systems for large scale wireless ad hoc networking. This work is part of the Grid project in mobile networking. General interests are in all manner of practical computer systems, especially those which cross hardware and software boundaries, or are especially constrained by performance or resource requirements. Also candidate for the Financial Technology Option, M.I.T. Sloan School of Management.

EDUCATION

Massachusetts Institute of Technology . . . Cambridge, MA
Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Engineering, and Minor in Philosophy, June 1998. Undergraduate GPA: 5.0/5.0, Graduate GPA: 4.9/5.0
M.Eng. Thesis: Instrumentation for Rapidly Acquiring Pose-Imagery.
Graduate Classes include: Computer Systems; Computer Architecture; Programming Languages; Distributed Algorithms; Embodied Intelligence; Computational Biology and Biological Computation; Computer Graphics; Finance Theory; Options and Futures Markets; and Fixed-Income Securities.

The Hotchkiss School . . . Lakeville, CT
Graduated Cum Laude, June 1993, with prizes in Physics, Drama, Latin, and Chemistry.

EXPERIENCE

Massachusetts Institute of Technology . . . Cambridge, MA
Fall 2002
Head teaching assistant for 6.170, Laboratory in Software Engineering. Duties included class administration, teaching weekly section meetings, tutoring, grading, and test and problem set preparation.

Compaq Western Research Laboratory . . . Palo Alto, CA
June 2001--August 2001
Summer intern. Implemented and measured the performance of dynamic voltage scaling algorithms for reducing the power consumption of the Itsy pocket computer.

M.I.T. Laboratory for Computer Science . . . Cambridge, MA
January 2000--present
Graduate student in the Parallel and Distributed Operating Systems Group. Researching effective techniques for large scale mobile ad hoc networking.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology . . . Cambridge, MA
Spring 2000
Teaching assistant for 6.033, Computer System Engineering. Duties included tutoring students, grading, and test and problem set preparation.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology . . . Cambridge, MA
Fall 1999
Teaching assistant for 6.170, Laboratory in Software Engineering. Duties included teaching weekly section meetings, tutoring, grading, and test and problem set preparation.

S/Y Starr Trail . . . At Sea!
January 1999--June 1999
Crew member on Starr Trail, a Farr 72' sloop with a carbon fiber rig, for a voyage from Key West to Tahiti. Stops included Aruba, Panama (including the Canal), Costa Rica (including the Cocos Islands), the Galapagos Islands (with a side trip to Ecuador), Easter Island, Pitcairn Island, and various atolls in French Polynesia. Duties included standing watch, sometimes as Watch Captain, and routine vessel cleaning and maintenance.

Independent Consulting Services . . . Hamilton, Bermuda
September 1998--October 1998
IT Consultant. Worked on systems including Windows NT, Novell servers, Microsoft Access, SQL, and Lotus Notes.

M.I.T. Laboratory for Computer Science . . . Cambridge, MA
June 1996--June 1998
Graduate student in the Computer Graphics Group. Specified, designed, and constructed large portions of a ``pose-image'' acquisition system for the City Scanning Project, in concert with external contractors. Implemented a complex software system in C++ and Visual Basic using Win32 systems programming and a semi-real-time subsystem for Windows NT.

ORBIS Investment Advisory Limited . . . London
January 1997
Member of the IT department. Implemented a custom business process using Visual Basic, Microsoft Access, and SQL.

The Bermuda Biological Station for Research, Inc. . . . Ferry Reach, Bermuda
Summer 1995
Bermuda Programme intern in the BATS Satellite Lab. Investigated cyclic variations in the sea surface temperature around Bermuda using recent satellite data, and constructed composite data sets and images.

M.I.T. Sea Grant College Program . . . Cambridge, MA
Summer 1994
Summer intern with the Moorings Project. Measured forces on small pleasure boat moorings, relating these forces to local weather data, primarily to prevent hurricane damage in small, crowded harbours. Work culminated with a publication and presentation at MTS '94, a marine technology conference.

Royal Bermuda Yacht Club . . . Hamilton, Bermuda
Summer 1991, 1992, 1993
Sailing instructor for an all day long children's sailing camp, with month long sessions. Planned curriculum, supervised and instructed children, and performed fiberglass maintenance and other boat repair tasks.

REFEREED PUBLICATIONS

Douglas S. J. De Couto, Daniel Aguayo, John Bicket, and Robert Morris. ``A High-Throughput Path Metric for Multi-Hop Wireless Routing.'' Proc. ACM MobiCom, September 2003.
Download: PDF, Postscript. Abstract.

Douglas S. J. De Couto, Daniel Aguayo, Benjamin A. Chambers, and Robert Morris. ``Performance of Multihop Wireless Networks: Shortest Path is Not Enough.'' Proc. First Workshop on Hot Topics in Networking (HotNets-I), October 2002.
Download: PDF, Postscript. Abstract.

Jinyang Li, Charles Blake, Douglas S. J. De Couto, Hu Imm Lee, and Robert Morris. ``Capacity of Ad Hoc Wireless Networks.'' Proc. ACM MobiCom, July 2001. pp. 61--69.
Download: PDF, Postscript. Abstract.

Jinyang Li, John Jannotti, Douglas S. J. De Couto, David R. Karger, and Robert Morris. ``A Scalable Location Service for Geographic Ad Hoc Routing.'' Proc. ACM MobiCom, August 2000. pp. 120--130.
Download: PDF, Postscript. Abstract.

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Douglas S. J. De Couto, Daniel Aguayo, Benjamin A. Chambers, and Robert Morris. Effects of Loss Rate on Ad Hoc Wireless Routing. MIT Laboratory for Computer Science technical report MIT-LCS-TR-836, March 2002.
Download: PDF, Postscript. Abstract.

Douglas S. J. De Couto and Robert Morris. Location Proxies and Intermediate Node Forwarding for Practical Geographic Forwarding. MIT Laboratory for Computer Science technical report MIT-LCS-TR-824, June 2001.
Download: PDF, Postscript. Abstract.

Robert Morris, John Jannotti, Frans Kaashoek, Jinyang Li, and Douglas De Couto. ``CarNet: A Scalable Ad Hoc Wireless Network System.'' SIGOPS European Workshop, September 2000.
Download: PDF, Postscript. Abstract.

Michael Bosse, Douglas De Couto, and Seth Teller. ``Eyes of Argus: Georeferenced Imagery in Urban Environments.'' GPS World, April 2000. pp. 20--30.
Download: PDF, Postscript

Norman Doelling, Frank E. De Simone, Douglas De Couto, and Kurt Zala. ``Preventing Failure in Mooring Systems.'' Proceedings of MTS '94: Challenges and Opportunities in the Marine Environment, Washington, D.C., September 7--9, 1994. pp. 517--523.
Download: PDF, Postscript. Abstract.

SCHOLARSHIPS

The Bank of Bermuda Ltd. . . . Hamilton, Bermuda
Recipient of the 1997 Sir John W. Cox Graduate Scholarship (4 years).

The Bank of N.T. Butterfield and Son Ltd. . . . Hamilton, Bermuda
Recipient of the 1993 Sir Harry D. Butterfield Undergraduate Scholarship (4 years).

LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE

Co-Program Chair, Second Annual Student Oxygen Workshop, July 2002.
Member, M.I.T. Committee on Campus Race Relations, 2000--2003.
Big Brother, Big Brother of Massachusetts Bay, 2000--2004.
Treasurer, M.I.T. Nautical Association, 2000--2001.
Captain, M.I.T. Varsity Sailing, 1996--97.
M.V.P., M.I.T. Varsity Sailing, 1993--94, 1994--95, 1995--96.
Living group ``Hall Chair''. Organized hall events and managed hall funds, 1995--1997.
Commodore, M.I.T. Nautical Association, 1994--96.

BACKGROUND & OTHER INTERESTS

Citizen of Bermuda (F-1 Visa). British passport.
Sailing Fanatic (dinghy and ocean racing); Represented Bermuda at the 1990 and 1991 World Youth Sailing Championships.