Spring 2014 Engineering & Computing by Michelle

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & COMPUTING / UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA / SPRING 2014

Engineering & Computing

Contents

In this issue 4/

SPRING 2014 College of Engineering & Computing Dean / Tony Ambler Director of Communications and Marketing / Kathryn McPhail Senior Director of Development / Lori Ann Summers ’88 loriann@cec.sc.edu Alumni Relations and Development / Jeff Verver ’90 verver@cec.sc.edu CEC Communications Office Swearingen Engineering Center Columbia, SC 29208 Phone: 803-777-2576 Email: mcphailk@cec.sc.edu Department Chairs John Weidner / Chemical Engineering Robert Mullen / Civil Engineering Michael Huhns / Computer Science and Engineering Roger Dougal / Electrical Engineering Jamil Khan / Mechanical Engineering University Home Page: sc.edu College of Engineering & Computing Home Page: cec.sc.edu University Writers Group / University Creative Services Editor / Chris Horn Magazine Designer / Michelle Hindle Riley Contributing writers / Steven Powell and Jeff Stensland Proofing Editor / Carolyn Parks Photographer / Kim Truett

The University of South Carolina does not discriminate in educational or employment opportunities or decisions for qualified persons on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, genetics, age, disability, sexual orientation, or veteran status. The University of South Carolina has designated as the ADA Title II, Section 504 and Title IX coordinator the Executive Assistant to the President for Equal Opportunity Programs. The Office of the Executive Assistant to the President for Equal Opportunity Programs is located at 1600 Hampton Street, Suite 805, Columbia, SC; telephone 803-777-3854. UCS 14003 3/14

Around the College News from chemical, civil, computer science, electrical and mechanical engineering departments

Big college, big impact A by-the-numbers look at the college’s economic impact on S.C.

10 /

Engineering pipeline A Boeing Co. grant is expanding the college’s efforts to bring innovative STEM education to four more S.C. middle schools.

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Remembering Frank “Fess” Herty The college’s beloved mechanical engineering professor is getting special tribute from members of the Class of 1959.

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High-tech philanthropy A special group of Microsoft employees from across the nation are investing in a common bond — computer science in the College of Engineering and Computing.

15 / Q&A with Alexandros “Alex” Pappas

A 1970 graduate in electrical engineering shares why he’s giving back to the college.

he College of Engineering and Computing is committed to not only educating and preparing much-needed engineers and computer scientists, but also to serving the economic development needs of South Carolina and producing groundbreaking research.

Our pursuit of excellence in research and education continues

to gain notice. Most recently, U.S News & World Report named the

college’s online graduate programs among the best in the country — No. 36! Because the state is also grabbing attention for its growth in innovation and manufacturing, the college partners with top industries to ensure the programs we offer and research we conduct are meeting their needs. For example, after hearing the needs of companies in our state, we created and now offer South Carolina’s only master’s degree in aerospace engineering, as well as executive master’s degrees in engineering management

TONY AMBLER, DEAN

COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE

and system design. These programs incorporate classes from various USC colleges and are geared for full-time working professionals. The college continues to work with the state’s economic development agencies to encourage more investment from existing companies and to help attract new companies to the state. We recently completed an economic impact survey (which you’ll read more about in this publication on page 7), showing in detail the strong economic benefit that the College of Engineering and Computing brings to the state. We are proving that as Gamecocks, our success has no limits.

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AROUND THE COLLEGE We highlight the accomplishments of faculty, students and alumni by showcasing work from the College of Engineering and Computing’s five departments — proving once again that the CEC is one of the university’s benchmark colleges.

B IO M EDIC AL EN G I N EERIN G

“These labs are occupied by both graduate students and undergraduate students working together to transfer the knowledge of fundamental biomedical engineering techniques and to innovate within new areas of biomedical research.” BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING PROGR AM DIRECTOR ABDEL BAYOUMI SAYS the fast-growing biomedical engineering

program has recently moved to a newly renovated space at 1200 Catawba St. The space houses laboratories for two biomedical engineering faculty members as well as two undergraduate research labs and shared equipment space. The space also houses a senior design room, set up to facilitate creativity and teamwork among undergraduate student groups. In January, a new laboratory manager, Silke Henrich, joined the biomedical engineering faculty to oversee the undergraduate teaching labs. Henrich earned her doctorate in bioengineering at the University of Sydney and comes to USC from Nephron Pharmaceuticals.

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COMPUTER SCIENCE & ENGINEERING

Look who’s watching Imagine slipping on a pair of special glasses outside a club and identifying who has extra tickets for the concert simply by looking around. Once inside, you scan the crowd and find friends and acquaintances from afar, even when their backs are turned. If the notion sounds far-fetched, consider that Google is already investing in technology at USC that could make such scenarios a reality. Srihari Nelakuditi, an associate professor of computer science and engineering, is a recipient of a Google Faculty Research Award and is developing the app for Google Glass with fellow researchers at Duke University. “There has been a lot of interest among students, and I think this will help with recruitment to the program. Students want to do research, yes, but they also want to work on something that’s cool,” Nelakuditi said. How InSight works • InSight app gathers images throughout the day as one uses the mobile device • advanced technology analyzes a user’s clothing patterns and colors and, combined with location, creates a unique user “fingerprint” • others wearing Google Glass, which is equipped with virtual reality technology, can identify friends based on that fingerprint • in addition to identification, InSight app users can communicate through text messages.

CIVIL AN D ENVI RO N M ENTAL EN G I N EERI N G

Alumnus returns to teach 42 years after graduation

ELEC TRIC AL EN G I N EERI N G

UNMANNED AVIAN VEHICLE: SIR BIG SPUR’S NEW RIDE? Sir Big Spur, USC’s beloved live gamecock, might arrive at the first football game of 2014 in a new “ride,” thanks to the ingenuity of several electrical engineering students. As part of their capstone senior design project, the students are designing and building an unmanned vehicle for the finefeathered fowl. They call themselves Team UAV — short for unmanned avian vehicle. “We want to make something that’s attractive, reliable, sustainable and efficient,” said Luke O’Hara. Faculty member and electrical engineering department chair Roger Dougal is overseeing this and four other senior design projects. “The students spent the first semester developing the concept and design,” Dougal said. “The team has tested some of the basic components using a cardboard box, but the final product will be built during spring semester. It will be much flashier.” Once complete, Sir Big Spur’s new ride will be fitted with a sound system, LED display and electronic goal post. If the project goes as planned, the new vehicle will deliver the big

After a 37-year career at one of the nation’s leading steel product manufacturers, USC alumnus Hamilton Lott Jr. has headed back to campus to teach in the civil and environmental engineering department. Lott graduated from the college in 1972 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. Shortly after, he began his career with Nucor as design engineer at Vulcraft in Florence, S.C. His work with Vulcraft took him to three states, as he served in positions ranging from engiYEARS neering manager to general manager. He retired in 2013 after serving as Nucor’s executive vice president for 14 years. Lott is now teaching civil engineering systems, a course on engineering decision-making, economics and project management. “Lott’s extensive experience in engineering management at a Fortune 200 company will provide our students an excellent opportunity to learn both the theory and application of engineering decision making from a real world prospective,” said Robert Mullen, department chair of civil and environmental engineering.

bird of campus to the first game at Williams-Brice stadium in August with Gamecock fans cheering him on.

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K EEPI N G FI RST-YE AR ELEC TRIC AL EN G I N EERI N G STU DENTS

Plugged in

CH EM IC AL EN G I N EERI N G Chemical engineering professor Ralph White received the Olin Palladium Award from the Electrochemical Society (ECS) for his pioneering work on the mathematical modeling of electrochemical systems. The award, given every two years, was estab-

M.V.S. Chandrashekhar faces one of the most difficult tasks in teaching: guiding freshman engineering majors through their first college-level engineering course. It’s a pathway fraught with attrition, but last semester, he kept his electrical engineering class engaged with an innovative project. Chandrashekhar’s syllabus was, by design, devoid of formal exams. Instead, the class was divided into 15 four-person teams, each charged with designing and building a display for the Tinker Tech space in Columbia’s Edventure Children’s Museum. Each team received a kit — the Analog Discovery USB device, made by Digilent. “For a hundred bucks, just the cost of a textbook, you get a USB device that gives you access to oscilloscopes, voltage sources and all sorts of funky electrical characterization instruments that would have cost about $30,000 and required a lab bench ten years ago,” Chandrashekhar said. The new technology opened a lot of doors. “They can do a project in a more rational way, where they’re reading up on theory and following a guide, or they can just try out new ways and see how they work, which is how a lot of learning works best.” The student teams provided periodic video updates that charted their progress and also defended their design choices to their professor and peers. The biggest trial came in December when children visiting the museum got to test out the designs. “You want to keep them engaged, and this is one way of doing it,” he said. “If you lose them freshman year — well, that’s it. Done.”

lished in 1950 to honor distinguished contributions to

CH EM IC AL EN G IN EERI N G

the field of electro-

‘SMART’ GAS FILTER

chemical or corrosion science. White

One of the thinnest membranes ever made is also highly discriminating as a gas filter.

delivered a general

Engineers at Carolina have constructed a graphene oxide membrane less than two

address about his

nanometers thick that can differentiate between hydrogen and carbon dioxide molecules.

research at the annual ECS meeting in California.

The selectivity is based on molecular size, the team reported in the journal Science. Hydrogen and helium pass relatively easily through the membrane, but carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon monoxide and methane move much more slowly. “The membrane behaves like a sieve,” said Miao Yu, a chemical engineer in the College of Engineering and Computing who led the research team. “Having membranes so thin is a big advantage. It represents a completely new type of membrane in the separation sciences.” The membrane has a range of potential applications, from sequestering carbon dioxide to purifying hydrogen for use in fuel cells. Yu also thinks the membrane could work in purifying tainted water produced by hydraulic fracturing.

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Big college, big impact The College of Engineering and Computing pumps nearly $38-million into the state’s tax base each year and creates more than 9,500 jobs throughout the state, according to a recent economic impact study prepared by CCM Economics. The report further revealed that the college benefits Columbia and the state by generating more money than it receives from

9,500

jobs created by CEC in South Carolina,

5,800 in the Columbia metro area.

taxpayers and by bringing in millions in grant funding for research. “These findings show that our college and its faculty, staff, students and alumni improve the city and the state,” said Tony Ambler, dean of the college. “Though as a public university, we rely on tax dollars, in part, to operate, we still generate millions more than we use.”

$578-million increase in wages in the state generated by CEC.

37,800,000 $37.8-million, amount of tax collections CEC generates, which is nearly $31-million more than it receives in state appropriations.

$5.62:1 5.62:1, the ratio of state tax revenue generated by the CEC to state funds appropriated to the college.

590

590 research grants garnered by CEC faculty since 2009, totaling more than

$117 million

33 percent of CEC grants pay for salary and benefits

of faculty and staff doing work on the grants.

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FACULTY CALL-OUTS

CO M PUTER SCI EN CE & EN G IN EERI N G Michael Huhns, professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, received an IBM Faculty Research Award to investigate mechanisms that allow cloud and virtualization users to share cloud resources across institutions in the Southeast. “We are helping to develop the means for organizations to link their computing resources into a shared pool, resulting in a larger and more cost-effective cloud,” said Huhns.

COMPUTER SCIENCE & ENGINEERING

HACKING PACEMAKERS Sensors that monitor the rhythm of a beating heart in implanted cardiac defibrillators and pacemakers are vulnerable to tampering, according to research led by computer

ELEC TRIC AL AN D CH EM IC AL EN G I N EERI N G Two CEC faculty members were named Carolina Distinguished Professors — one of the highest honors awarded by the university. Roger Dougal, professor and chair of electrical engineering, and James Ritter, professor of chemical engineering, were appointed to the five-year professorships. “They have produced work of a very high caliber for years, and we are immensely proud of their achievements,” said Dean Tony Ambler. “Their work is highly relevant to national security — a factor we’re emphasizing as part of CEC’s economic impact strategy.” Electrical engineering professor Guoan Wang is focusing

science professor Wenyuan Xu.   Using a human model, Xu and a team of international researchers discovered they could forge an erratic heartbeat with radio frequency electromagnetic waves. Theoretically, a false signal like the one they created could inhibit needed heart pacing or induce unnecessary defibrillation shocks. “As researchers, it’s our responsibility to always challenge the common practice and find defenses for vulnerabilities that could be exploited before unfortunate incidents happen,” Xu said. “We hope our research findings can help to enhance the security

on improving high-frequency radio signal transmission

of sensing systems that will emerge for

for use in the next generation of biosensors. “By

years to come.”

redefining how these machines transmit and receive signals, we hope to enhance their performance,” he said. He envisions health care professionals one day being able

The findings reveal new security risks in relatively common analog sensors — sensors that rely on inputs from the human

to monitor a patient’s vital signs remotely and take appropriate

body or the environment to cue particular

action when necessary. When applied to health care, these new

actions. Beyond medical devices, analog

devices could reduce emergency room visits, post-surgical proce-

sensors are also used in microphones,

dures and hospital infections. For high-risk patients, the research

Bluetooth headsets and computers in web-

could save lives.

based phone calls. In those devices, too, the researchers discovered vulnerabilities.

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ELI — the path to sustainable energy The newly established Energy Leadership Institute is leading groundbreaking energy research across South Carolina and the region. The interdisciplinary research team covers the technical, economical and environmental aspects of energy production, distribution and utilization including wind, solar, nuclear, wave, coal, natural gas and fuel cells. The ELI is a collaborative effort including MORE THAN more than 125 faculty members from six of the university’s colleges — Engineering and ComputFACULTY ing, Arts and Sciences, Darla Moore School of Business, Law, Arnold School of Public Health and Mass Communications and Information Studies. “The business of energy is much more than purely technical,” said Dean Tony Ambler. “All energy production has both economic and environmental impacts. USC boasts dozens of experts who are researching not only the production of alternative energy sources, but also the public health impact, political and business strategies, infrastructure support, societal needs and acceptance of these options.” USC already houses eight Centers of Economic Excellence, financially supported by the state of South Carolina’s SmartState Program. “Our state has made a significant investment in energy research because of the economic growth it can bring to the state. We are already recognized for our leadership in fuel cell technologies and nuclear energy. With the location of many energy-based companies within a hundred miles of downtown Columbia, the ELI will also train the next generation of professionals needed to advance the energy industry,” said Ambler. SmartState chair and chemical engineer, John R. “JR” Regalbuto is the inaugural director of ELI. Currently, Regalbuto is planning a national “Path to Sustainable Energy Security” workshop geared toward developing an energy independence plan for the United States that will also address the combined needs of energy production and policy. “Our vision is to prepare a roadmap that can’t be ignored because it will be prepared not by a single author but by a panel of the country’s leading alternate energy experts and practitioners,” he said.

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M ECHANIC AL ENG IN EERING

3D PRINTING AS A TOOL FOR ENGINEERING EDUCATION The often awe-inspiring innovations created with 3D printing are making headlines around the world. The technology is opening up research and development opportunities from biomedical applications to artifact preservation and beyond. Mechanical engineering faculty members Xinyu Huang and David Rocheleau are exploring the applications of 3D printing with their students. Last semester, mechanical engineering students designed a hoist using gears, shafts and bearings created with a stereolithography-based 3D printing system. Because of the low cost and fast turnaround time of 3D printing fabrication, the students were able to assemble and test the hoist, as well as measure its performance and load capacity within just a few months. “With this exercise, equations come to life,” Huang said. “Gear teeth interference, bending strength estimation and glue joint strength used to be a couple of numbers that came out of messy equations. Now, a student can see that these numbers actually predict pretty closely the behavior and load capacity of mechanical devices.”

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Engineering pipeline Boeing-funded project expands engineering education in four middle schools Designing a robot car tops the lesson plan for Daniel Parks’ “We did so many projects in that two weeks which I am seventh-grade class. He admits that unlike the social studies now teaching my students.” course he taught last year, the students are actually engaged  In addition to paying for the teachers’ instruction, the and interested.  grant was also used to purchase equipment and supplies “The kids love it. This is why I love teaching,” Parks said. for the schools. “They love tinkering. For many of my students, this was a “The Boeing grant allowed me to spent $25,000 on first time building something.”   building materials, including the 17 Vex robot kits, autocad Parks is the first Project Lead the Way teacher at West software and engineering notebooks that students can write Ashley Middle School in Charleston. PLTW is the leading andsketch in every day,” Parks said, adding that PLTW classes provider of innovative STEM education curriculum used in are changing the way students such as 12-year-old Matthew middle and high schools across the United States. Baumgardner think about engineering and computing. In spring 2013, The Boeing Company donated $100,000 “I have been thinking about the possibility of pursuing to the USC’s College of Engineering and Computing, which a career in civil engineering,” Baumgardner said. “I have supports the state’s PLTW program. The grant funded the always loved the thought of designing and building roller expansion of the PLTW program to four Charleston-area coasters. And, one of my favorite assignments was designing middle schools, including College Park Middle, West Ashley a robotic claw. It gave me a true challenge that made me Middle, Alston Middle and St. George Middle. stop and rethink my steps many times.” Each school sent educators to PLTW’s summer workCurrently, USC supports 98 PLTW high schools and shops to learn how to teach classes such as design and 79 middle schools. PLTW high school students can earn modeling automation and robotics, and flight and space. college credit for engineering courses taken in high school. Parks was one of nearly 200 teachers from across the country “Our high school has Project Lead the Way, as well,” Parks who attended the two-week training session last summer. said. “My students are now getting an early foundation that “The summer courses were intense. It was hard work, will help them in high school courses. When they get to be but I was more than adequately prepared to teach,” he said. freshmen, I feel they will excel.”

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Remembering Frank “Fess” Herty

From left, Walter Guy, George Zupp and Harold Benson inside a space shuttle exhibit at the Johnson Space Center.

The influence of a beloved USC engineering professor led 15 students from the mechanical engineering Class of 1959 to work for NASA after graduation. Now 55 years later, those alumni are joining together to honor the memory of Professor Frank “Fess” Herty and to help the next generation of engineering students. In 1958, Bill Dusenbury graduated from USC and accepted a position at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the precursor to NASA. During a visit back to USC, he spoke with his former professor about his new career. Impressed with what he heard, Herty encouraged his students to consider working for NASA, too. And they listened! Fifteen went to work at NASA’s Langley Research Center, home of the Space Task Group, later known as the Manned Spacecraft Center, and, ultimately, as the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Four of the

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15 USC alumni stayed at Langley and 11 went to Houston. “Professor Herty was a major factor in this large number of graduates going to NASA in 1959 and from then on,” said Harold Benson, ’59. “No doubt, all who studied under Fess Herty regarded him for the valuable lessons he provided at USC. He generously welcomed students into his home to study and had a desire to help students who were struggling in a class.” Recently, this unique alumni group began making contributions to the Professor Herty Endowed Scholarship Fund, which was established in 1964 to help fund the education of engineering and computing students. “To continue producing high-quality mechanical engineers from USC, the CEC relies on the Herty Endowed Scholarship Fund. Collectively, we can make a significant impact with a major gift donation to enhance this fund,” Benson said.

High-tech philanthropy Armed with a big idea and a short email list, Zoher Bharmal, MS computer science ’98, started a unique effort to fund scholarships for computer science students at USC. Bharmal, who is an employee at Microsoft’s Irving, Texas, facility, wanted to establish an endowment to give back to the university where he and his wife, Farida, earned their degrees. But he could not fully fund the $25,000 required to endow a scholarship. He turned to Microsoft’s matching gift program, which provides dollar-for-dollar money to charitable organizations or institutions selected by Microsoft employees. Then, he looked for employees within Microsoft who were USC alumni. Though he had not met any of these colleagues who were scattered across the country, he sent them an email detailing his hope to fund a computer

science scholarship through their collective contributions. Within a week, six USC alumni/Microsoft employees joined the effort. “What’s interesting about this group is that most of us don’t know each other, but we are joined by our interest in giving something meaningful back to USC,” Bharmal said. “We may live thousands of miles apart — Seattle, Dallas, Washington, D.C. and Charlotte — but we have a common bond.” “I’ve considered giving to the university, but wanted my efforts to go to something beyond a general fund,” said Evan Dodds, one of the group. “When I saw the opportunity to participate in the endowment, I jumped on board. With Microsoft’s match, you feel even better that you can give even more.” Using Microsoft’s payroll deduction and matching gift contributions,

USC Alumni/Microsoft Employees Endowment Fund contributor list: Zoher Bharmal ’01 (Dallas, TX) Evan Dodds ’00 (Charlotte, NC) Scott Landry ’99 (Charlotte, NC) Jaime Burroughs ’92 (Charlotte, NC) Amy Vargo ’97 (Charlotte, NC) Ryan Yandle ’07 (Seattle, WA) Eljin Brown ’96 (Seattle, WA) Misty Jordan ’92 (Washington, DC)

the group is expected to fully fund the scholarship within 18 months. For information regarding contributions to the USC Alumni/Microsoft Employees Endowed Scholarship Fund, contact Jeff Verver at the College of Engineering and Computing at verver@ cec.sc.edu, (803) 777-3612.

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AEROSPACE MASTER’S STUDENT NAMED TO ELITE GROUP

Maintaining safety, saving money Travis Edwards is part of a USC effort that helps keep Sensors installed in several locations on a gear housing, America’s soldiers safe and its military helicopters ready for for example, record vibrations. Properly interpreted, the action. And his contribution hasn’t gone unnoticed: Aviation vibration signature can be used to show that a component Week recently named the mechanical engineering master’s has significant life remaining, even if an arbitrary limit in candidate one of 20 promising young engineers in aerospace. hours of usage has been exceeded. With the strength of the program here, Edwards knew In cars, stretching an oil change by a thousand miles that staying at the USC College of Engineering and might save a few bucks. But with multimillion-dollar aircraft, Computing for a master’s degree would bolster his career savings are measured in tens of thousands of dollars and in options. He took a research position in the Condition-Based the millions for an entire helicopter fleet. Maintenance (CBM) Laboratory immediately after earning “One of our earlier projects had almost a 17:1 return on a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 2012. investment,” says Edwards, referring to a research project “I’ve always been interested in aerospace, so that was a big that cost the Army just over half a million dollars but saved factor in my continuing here as a graduate student,” he says. more than $10 million in maintenance costs. The team in the CBM lab is working closely with the U.S. Joining the CBM lab and helping move its work forward Army to enhance performance and maintenance procedures was an important part of Edwards’ recent selection by Aviaon the AH-64D, the Apache helicopter. tion Week as one of 20 promising young aerospace engineers “We’re trying to improve the component life of the tail in their 20s. Beyond awards, working in the CBM lab gives rotor swashplate right now,” he says, referring to the him the kind of experience that aerospace employers value. mechanics that turns the rotor blades on the tail section. “I get hands-on, actually-touching-the-equipment experience Monitoring the condition of components is the heart in this program. It’s not just theoretical work here,” Edof the CBM method. The goal is to move away from a wards says. “And I also get to deal with the customer. With scheduled maintenance plan, such as an automobile oil a masters, normally you just have research experience; here change every 3,000 miles, and instead replace parts only I will actually have two years of work experience under my when necessary based on their actual condition. belt because I’m providing a product to the customer — the Army in this case.”

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QA &

Questions for Alexandros “Alex” Pappas Alexandros “Alex” Pappas graduated from

Q: What is your proudest career achievement?

USC in 1970 with a degree in electrical

A: Over my academic career, I have taught medical

engineering, and his interests in biomedi-

students, residents, nurses and other health care profes-

cal engineering led him to medical school

sionals. Those medical students awarded me the Golden

at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. From there, a career in pathology

Apple Award on three occasions and the Humanitarian of the Year Award.

soon took him to the University of Arkansas for Medical Services where he was director of the clinical laboratory

Q: Why did you and your wife, Ann, choose to

and a professor for more than 25 years. Recently, he and

support the CEC biomedical engineering program

his wife, Dr. Ann Ward Maners of Rock Hill, established

and its students?

an undergraduate biomedical engineering scholarship at

A: Biomedical engineering is just getting established

the USC College of Engineering and Computing as a way

at USC, and we thought that assisting the program early

to give back to their alma mater and help future students

on would be most helpful. In general, it is time to give

achieve their academic dreams.

back. I also believe all fields of engineering have a very bright future.

Q: Why did you choose engineering at USC?  A: I was always interested in science, in particular radio

Q: What is your fondest memory of your years at USC?

and electromagnetic fields, so when it came time to

A: The friendships, camaraderie and supportive faculty.

choose a career, I thought electrical engineering was the way to go. I also chose USC because of the financial

Q: What would you tell a high school student who is

aid afforded to me since my family did not have the

considering an engineering or computing career?

resources to assist me.

A: Do the best you can. Even if your career path takes you away from engineering, you will have learned how to think, analyze and solve problems, like I did. Life is problem solving!

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Nonprofit U.S. Postage PAID University of South Carolina

Columbia, SC 29208

As a Gamecock, my innovation has No Limits. Guoan Wang, faculty

There’s a squeezing sensation in your chest; nausea and a cold sweat soon follow. Is it a heart attack or last night’s dinner? Should you call 911? One day, you may not need to. USC electrical engineer Guoan Wang envisions a time when health care professionals will monitor your symptoms and take appropriate action. He is developing new components for bio-implants, nano-devices that wirelessly monitor and transmit vital signs and also recharge themselves. For the chronically ill, the elderly, newborns or other high-risk patients, Guoan’s research could save lives, and it could reduce health care costs for all of us.

sc.edu/nolimits sc.edu/nolimits