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Dear Friends of EECS,
Welcome to our first electronic newsletter! We're proud of our size and our continued growth, which coincides with the College of Engineering's prominence in the development of President John Bardo's vision for WSU becoming an Innovation University. In early 2015, the university will break ground on a new Experiential Engineering and Maker Space Building, the first phase in the development of the Innovation Campus. The new 160,000 sq. ft. building will house 25 laboratories and provide valuable space for our growing programs. Current enrollment numbers show that EECS remains the largest department within the College of Engineering, with 1,147 students. That's a 13% increase over last year, an increase that mirrors the growth of the College overall.
While we are energized by the growth and change, we do not want to let our size inhibit our ability to develop a sense of community within the department. For this reason, we are undertaking a number of steps to increase internal and external communication with our students, staff, faculty, alumni and friends. This newsletter is part of that strategy. We hope to publish four times a year, focusing on faculty, staff, students and alumni.
Whether its in person here at Jabara Hall or online through email or Facebook, we look forward to engaging with you. Please share your news with us so we can share with others.
Sincerely,
Chair, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
WSU College of Engineering
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Dr. Chakravarthy in his lab.
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Dr. Animesh Chakravarthy, an assistant professor in both Aerospace Engineering and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science departments , has earned distinction as a National Science Foundation CAREER grant award winner this year. According to NSF, "the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program grants are the most prestigious awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations." Dr. Chakravarthy received a $400,000 award for his investigation, "Generalizations in Obstacle Avoidance Theory." In layman's terms, he explains his research this way: "In the not-too-distant future, there will be scenarios comprising of teams/swarms of air, ground and underwater autonomous vehicles having to perform their tasks in cluttered, unknown environments. This project will develop control and guidance strategies that enable these vehicles to navigate safely without encountering collisions with other vehicles and obstacles that share their environment." Read Dr Chakravarthy's award abstract here.
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Alumni
| Photo credit: pipelineentreprenuers.com |
Tahir Ahmad graduated in May 2007 with bachelor's degrees in electrical and computer engineering. Ahmad won 1st place that same year in the Shocker Business Plan Competition with an idea developed in his senior design class that his since become his company, Petro Power LLC. Drawing on his research into the oil and gas industries of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, Ahmad developed a concept for remote well monitoring via laptops and cell phones. In doing so, he made remote monitoring an affordable option for smaller oil and gas producers. In 2009, Ahmad was identified as one of the most innovative entrepreneurs in the state when he was named a Pipeline Fellow. The fellowship provides leadership training and connects rising entrepreneurs to potential investors. Ahmed told The Wichita Eagle he gets ideas by listening to customers: "Normally, I listen to my customer on what their problems are, to see if there is an opportunity there. Problems mean money."
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Students
| Photo credit: NIAR |
William Klausmeyer, a WSU sophomore in electrical engineering, has designed a control panel and software at the new Ballistics and Impact Dynamics Lab at the National Institute for Aviation Research. The lab is located inside the former Britt Brown Arena at the Kansas Coliseum. Klausmeyer is a Wallace Scholar from Wichita, who graduated from Kapaun-Mt. Carmel High School. According to his NIAR supervisor, Paul Jonas, Klausmeyer shows uncommon engineering skill and professionalism. "We will continue to get William involved in as many projects as we can and try and have him meet as many of the key players in industry or government as we can so that he continue to learn and gain all of the experience we can give him." Currently, Klausmeyer is finalizing a control panel installation for the NIAR Direct Effects of Lightning laboratory. "With voltages approaching 66,000 volts and currents up to 200,000 amps his attention to detail and his ability to coordinate with staff engineers regarding the design of the control panel is essential and we have confidence in his ability and accuracy," Jonas said.
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IN THE NEWS
Dr. Murtuza Jadliwala, an assistant professor of computer science, says that because data security technology has not kept pace with internet use, tens of millions of people are at risk from unsecured data stored on remote servers. Jadliwala's comments were featured in a recent article about internet security in The Wichita Eagle.
Dominic Canare, who received a master's degree in computer science in 2008 and is an adjunct who teaches Engineering 101, is leader in the local "maker space movement." Canare was featured in The Wichita Eagle in a story on MakeICT, a local nonprofit that has built a community of innovators, equipping them with tools to build their ideas. The Eagle quoted Canare as joking that "MakeICT techies are so talented 'they can make 3-D printers that make 3-D printers.' " Other MakeICT members featured in the story include EECS undergrad students Richard St. Aubin and Austin White.
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We appreciate your support of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department. If you wish to express your support with a financial contribution, please know it will benefit current and future students, faculty and staff, and programs that enhance the student experience. All donations are tax deductible.
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