{"41544":{"#nid":"41544","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Goldwater Scholar Reveals Talent for Cryptography","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Parish likes to stay as busy as a yellow jacket. When he\u0027s not in class or researching quantum cryptography, he\u0027s building a robotic sub or working for the Department of Defense as part of Georgia Tech\u0027s cooperative education program. As Tech\u0027s newest recipient of the national Barry Goldwater Scholarship, all his hard work seems to be paying off.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022John is the caliber of undergraduate student who comes along only once or twice in an advisor\u0027s career,\u0022 said Steven McLaughlin, professor of electrical and computer engineering and director of Georgia Tech Lorraine in Metz, France. \u0022He is certainly the best undergraduate student I have worked with in my twelve years of teaching and research.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EParish came to Tech from Houston in the fall of 2002. When he was in middle school and high school, several people told him he\u0027d never make it in college, especially in any field that was math or science related.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENow, he\u0027s working with McLaughlin on developing a method for encrypting communications that will be able to withstand the growing power of computers to crack them.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022A lot of the cryptographic methods in use now are still based on computational complexity,\u0022 Parish said. \u0022The idea is that computers are going to keep getting faster and people are going to be able to break those easily. If someone develops a quantum computer, you\u0027d be able to break virtually any cryptographic protocol that\u0027s based on computational complexity.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOne of the benefits of quantum cryptography over traditional methods is due to a rule in known as the uncertainty principle. That rule states that observing or measuring a quantum particle, such as a photon, disturbs that particle - meaning an eavesdropper would be easily detected because the very act of listening causes changes in the encoded bits.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBut serious challenges remain before quantum cryptography can be used reliably. Since quantum cryptography relies on the distribution of one quantum bit between parties, it\u0027s currently very difficult to establish wireless communication between two parties if the receiver\u0027s location is unknown. It is also difficult to communicate with more than one party at a time.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EParish\u0027s research could help solve those problems. In a paper he\u0027s submitting for publication in a scientific journal, Parish proposes a solution.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESuppose Agent Base wants to send a secret message to Agent Field, who\u0027s in an undisclosed secret location. Base sends out a reference signal - comprised of many photons - in all directions. Field receives the signal and uses a device to reduce it to just one photon, which he encodes with a secret quantum key the two will use to decode their messages. He sends that photon back to Base, who measures it in order to find out the secret key. Base and Field can now communicate using the key to code and de-code their messages.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis method eliminates the need for Field to wear a tracking device, which could also be used by opposing agents. It also allows other agents that Base wants to talk with to receive the reference signal and beam back their own keys to Base.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Using this you\u0027ll be able to have a multi-user free space system. The concept is totally new,\u0022 said Parish.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELast fall, Parish began a new student organization, the Marine Robotics Group. The group is building a robotic submarine, which they plan to enter into a competition this summer.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs to his future plans, Parish said he would like to earn a doctorate and pursue a research career, most likely in electrical engineering.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENamed in honor of the former Arizona senator, the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship Program is designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. The award covers the cost of tuition, fees, books and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year for up to two years.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Quantum cryptography and robotic subs help John Parish capture the prestigous Goldwater Scholarship.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"John Parish wins prestigious Goldwater Scholarship"}],"uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2005-04-25 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:27","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2005-04-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2005-04-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"41545":{"id":"41545","type":"image","title":"John Parish","body":null,"created":"1449174325","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:25:25","changed":"1475894373","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:39:33","alt":"John Parish","file":{"fid":"190065","name":"tki34916.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tki34916_3.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tki34916_3.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1175693,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tki34916_3.jpg?itok=KhdnmTqP"}}},"media_ids":["41545"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.act.org\/goldwater\/","title":"Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2389","name":"goldwater"},{"id":"167285","name":"scholarship"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}