Eric McKinney

Signal Processing / Artificial Intelligence Engineer

Space Dynamics Laboratory

Hi! I’m Eric.

I am a signal processing / artificial intelligence engineer at the Space Dynamics Laboratory. My recent work involves bolide detection, and geolocation algorithms. My PhD from Utah State University was in eye tracking, spatial statistics, and visualizations, advised by Dr. Jürgen Symanzik and in collaboration with Dr. Breanna Studenka. I earned a Masters degree in statistics at USU by modeling bridge tendon strength with Dr. Yan Sun and Dr. Marc Maguire. I also earned a BS in Mathematics from Weber State University where I did undergraduate research with Dr. Mahmud Akelbek in graph theory.

Interests

Computational Statistics
Bolide Detection
Knowledge Sharing

Education

PhD in Statistics, 2022
Utah State University
MS in Statistics, 2017
Utah State University
BS in Mathematics, 2014
Weber State University
Residential Electrical Certificate, 2015
Ogden-Weber Applied Technology College

Posts

Tracking revisions with latexdiff and latexpand

This post details the setup and use of latexdiff and latexpand for tracking revisions in $L A T E X$ documents. Revisions are tracked by first flattening $L A T E X$ documents (with chapters, a reference section, etc.) into a single .tex file, and then comparing the differences between an old.tex file to a new.tex file. Let me know if you notice a typo or have suggestions in the comments below.

Last updated on Oct 14, 2025 2 min read

Tracking revisions with latexdiff and latexpand

Hello World!

Hello World! This is my first post. A big shout out to Netlify for hosting this website.

Also a big thank you to the HUGO Academic theme template author George Cushen.

Last updated on Oct 29, 2022 1 min read

Projects

Last updated on Nov 11, 2022

ANOVA Applet

Last updated on Nov 11, 2022

Normal Distribution Applet

This applet allows the user to adjust the mean and standard deviation of a normal distribution. You may also calculate probabilities between two adjustable points.

Last updated on Nov 11, 2022

Law of Large Numbers Applet

This applet shows the proportion (relative frequency) of heads when flipping a fair coin. As the number of coins increases the long term relative frequency will approach 0.5 (the expected value).

Last updated on Nov 11, 2022

2018 Data Expo R Shiny App

This is an R Shiny app that Cameron Zabriskie and I created together. The app displays weather characteristics for major cities across the United States of America.

Last updated on Nov 11, 2022

Binomial Distribution Applet

This applet allows the user to specify the parameters of a binomial distribution, and calculate the probability of a specific outcome.

Last updated on Nov 11, 2022

Histogram Applet

This is an applet that allows the user to adjust the bin width of a histogram.

Publications

Eric McKinney (2022). Extensions to the Syrjala Test with Eye-Tracking Data Analysis Applications in R. All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 8539.

PDF DOI

Jürgen Symanzik, Eric McKinney, Joanna Coltrin, Breanna Studenka (2020). Eye-Tracking in Practice: An Application to Human Postures. In ISPC.

Slides

Eric McKinney, Jürgen Symanzik (2019). Modifications of the Syrjala Test for Testing Spatial Distribution Differences Between Two Populations. In JSM.

PDF

Eric McKinney, Minwoo Chang, Marc Maguire, Yan Sun (2019). Prediction of Stress Increase at Ultimate in Unbonded Tendons Using Sparse Principal Component Analysis. In IJCSM.

PDF DOI

Jürgen Symanzik, Chunyang Li, Breanna Studenka, Boyu Zhang, Eric McKinney, Brennan Bean, Melanie Athens, Madison Hansen (2018). Eye-Tracking in Practice: The EyeTrackR R Package and its Use in a Study on Human Postures. In ISSAS.

Slides

Jürgen Symanzik, Eric McKinney, Breanna Studenka, Brennan Bean, Melanie Athens, Madison Hansen (2018). Eye-Tracking in Practice: Results from a Study on Human Postures. In JSM.

PDF Slides

Jürgen Symanzik, Chunyang Li, Boyu Zhang, Breanna Studenka, Eric McKinney (2017). Eye-Tracking in Practice: A first Analysis of a Study on Human Postures. In JSM.

PDF Slides

Contact

416 E Innovation Ave, Space Dynamics Laboratory, North Logan, UT 84341