Abstract

or making my graduate school life survivable. I especially want to thank Patrick Eaton for being a great friend, colleague, and officemate while here in Illinois. His tools certainly made IMPACT a friendlier system to use and his humor made Illinois a friendlier place to live. I owe a great amount of thanks to Greg Chiocco, Tim Smith, Seth Bumpurs, Mike Brogioli, and Mike Adams for supporting me throughout my career at RPI and here at Illinois. iii Finally, and most importantly, I extend my deepest gratitude and appreciation to my parents. I would like to thank my mother for always encouraging me to do that little extra and my dad for bringing home that first computer because without that, and their love, support, and guidance, I would not be where I am today. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE 1 INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.1 Organization of the Thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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