UMassD College of Engineering News by UMass Dartmouth

Fall 2015

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

DIGITAL

INNOVATION

Illustration James Ferguson

t’s a cold January morning. As your alarm goes off, it tells the thermostat to raise the heat. The coffee maker also starts and, having received an overnight update, will now brew at a higher temperature. Your phone flashes a message from the washing machine: Contact the service department; there’s a 70% chance the belt will fail within a month. A second alert, from your car, says there’s an accident on 95 and rerouting will add fifteen minutes to your commute. Hurrying, you leave without shutting off the lights. However, sensing nobody is home, they automatically shut off. Though this might read like an episode of the Jetsons, it’s not fiction or futuristic. Known as the Internet of Things, it’s the next wave in information technology, one that will transform nearly every industry. And UMass Dartmouth is at the leading edge, introducing a new Data Science program that will develop the type of skilled coe@umassd.edu

professionals businesses will need in order to stay competitive. The Internet of Things, or IoT, describes a network of smart, connected devices that share information with each other, their manufacturers, and users. The technology represents the integration of several advancements: powerful microprocessors and sensors, compact data storage, ubiquitous Wi-Fi, and big data analytics. The combination has allowed manufacturers to create predictive products that use information to be more efficient, more responsive, and easier to maintain. “The first wave of ‘big data’ was about the tools and tech to capture and store bytes,” said Joseph Biron ’05 (CIS), Vice President of IoT at ThingWorx, a PTC Business. PTC acquired ThingWorx, a leading IoT platform provider, in anticipation of its clients’ desire to join the

College of Engineering

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COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING Message from the Dean

Digital Innovation continued from pg 1

Dear Alumni and Friends, In this issue of the Newsletter, we celebrate another remarkable year of progress for the College of Engineering. Engineering alumni, faculty and student accomplishments help us tell the story of how UMass Dartmouth is making a global impact. Examples of innovative research, interdisciplinary student projects, digital integration and STEM outreach programs highlight our vision for the 21st Century. Read about John Galiher ‘84 (mechanical) and his companysponsored data science student internship team that is working on sustainable food supplies, Dr. Honggang Wang (electrical) and his application of Internet of Things (IoT) technology to life-saving healthcare solutions and how Dr. Gaurav Khanna (physics) is inventing ways to make supercomputing more accessible for scientific discovery. Once again the College is listed among the “best in undergraduate engineering” by U.S. News & World Report and ranked in the top 50 nationally among primarily master’s granting institutions. The need for new technologies, products and systems to improve healthcare, communication, safety, and clean energy and to sustain our quality of life makes this an exciting and rewarding time to pursue an engineering career. Correspondingly, total undergraduate enrollment in the College now tops 1300 and degree production is up nearly 50% from 8 years ago, which is contributing talent needed in the knowledge economy. 2015 produced the first graduating class of Bioengineering students, transitioning us from textile weaving to tissue engineering. This fall we will enroll the first students in our new interdisciplinary Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs in Data Science. Read about our efforts to bring digital innovation to the College experience in new and exciting ways. By collaborating with industry partners to sponsor client-based, multidisciplinary design projects we are providing students in all majors with real-world learning opportunities and career readiness. UMass Dartmouth proudly hosted three major robotics competitions on campus this year—the NE FIRST Robotics Competition, MATE Regional ROV Competition and the National SeaPerch Challenge. The latter brought over 140 teams or 1,100 attendees from 25 states and Puerto Rico to campus in May. We are proud to be an important part of the transformation that is happening at UMass Dartmouth with exceptional new faculty and a growing body of outstanding students. We thank you for your continued support and invite you to join with us in shaping a bright future for the next generation of engineers! Sincerely,

Robert E. Peck, Ph.D. Dean, College of Engineering

estimated 30 billion “things” that will be connected by 2020. “The next wave is happening now, which is using sophisticated techniques, algorithms, and processes to dig, determine, and derive actionable insights from those bytes.” While the world of consumer goods is quick to spawn novel technology, smart devices are more than a gimmick. In fact, we’re just scratching the surface of what’s possible. “We are in the midst of a major technology evolution where industry is finding new ways to apply data and IoT systems,” said Gary Juvinall ’84 (MNE), Business Unit Executive at IBM, which has been at the forefront of IoT with its Smarter Planet campaign. “The development of IoT could be considered comparative to 1990 with the availability of the Motorola bag phone—there is a long way to go regarding size, standards, performance and availability.” It’s a view shared by Dr. Ramprasad Balasubramanian, Associate Dean for the College of Engineering and Co-chair of the Data Science program. “We are heading into a future where everything will be data driven.” As part of a Department of Transportation grant, Dr. Balasubramanian, Dr. Paul Fortier and Dr. Heather Miller have been using IoT technology to study the depth of thaw penetration on highways in New Hampshire and Maine to make real-time decisions concerning weight restrictions for trucks. Although connectivity is what makes IoT possible, at the heart of the movement is data—its collection, analysis, and utilization. Information is the lifeblood of IoT and its value hinges on people who can put it to use. With its Data Science program, UMass Dartmouth aims to meet the growing need for professionals skilled at analyzing data and using it to extract knowledge and insight. They’re skills whose demand grows daily. “Every time someone clicks on a link or submits a request on their mobile device, 25 companies know about it,” Dr. Balasubramanian said. “Multiply that by a billion clicks a day. This data has information about what people are looking for, societal sentiments on key issues and information about national security. Converting this data into knowledge will require a group of people with special talent.” The first of its kind in the UMass system, the Data Science program is an interdisciplinary effort, integrating mathematics, statistics and computer science. The end result is a unique skillset that is in high demand in industries ranging from healthcare and energy, to business and government. “It’s my belief that data science will permeate every human endeavor,” Biron said. “This is very progressive move on UMD’s part…a strong conceptual background in the theory of data science is what will help graduates rise above their workplace peers.” “The market size of data and IoT has reached the billions of dollars,” Juvinall said. “The University is uniquely positioned to now leverage strategies across its colleges...to offer students a unique cross-industry collaborative experience.” For more information about UMassD’s Data Science degree visit www.umassd.edu/datascience

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Data with a Global Impact

Mechanical Engineering alumnus and CEO of Preferred Freezer Services LLC, John Galiher ’84, spoke recently at UMass Dartmouth.

“The students are learning important real-world lessons about strategies for data collection, methods for data integration, and interfaces for making sense of information.”

Mass Dartmouth launched the Preferred Freezer Services/Global Aquaculture Alliance Summer Internship Project in May 2015. Chancellor Grossman, expressed her appreciation at the kickoff meeting, “We are grateful to John Galiher, CEO of Preferred Freezer Services and a 1984 Mechanical Engineering graduate, for bringing such an impactful project to us for consideration.” She was quick to point out how business and computer science interns would have the opportunity to engage in hands-on data analytics research and provide Preferred Freezer Services and the Global Aquaculture Alliance with relevant information to inform future strategy for their organizations. That is just how these students spent their summer. Preferred Freezer Services, Inc. and the Global Aquaculture Alliance sponsored a 4-person student team advised by Computer and Data Science Professor,

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Dr. David Koop, to compile and organize a global database of aquaculture farmers, feed producers, processing centers and hatcheries. The Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) is an international, non-profit organization committed to feeding the world through responsible, sustainable aquaculture. Translation: Make sure we have a sustainable seafood plan! The GAA advocates for improving the entire aquaculture production chain, from feed mills and hatcheries to farms and processing plants, as well as wholesalers, retailers, food service operators and consumers. Wally Stevens, Executive Director of the GAA said “This project is both an incredible gesture by John Galiher and the folks of Preferred Freezer Services and a reflection of the program and student excellence of the UMass Dartmouth Data Science program. The data will serve to provide focus for continued on page 4

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Data Science student intern team paid a site visit to the Raynham storage facility for Preferred Freezer Services to witness first-hand the magnitude of the seafood industry.

the educational work which GAA undertakes with aquaculture producers around the world. GAA strongly believes in the role of education to make improvements in our aquaculture industry.” At last count, the student team had amassed over 4,200 data points and this continues to grow at the time of this writing. According to Dr. Koop, “The students are learning important real-world lessons about strategies for data collection, methods for data integration, and interfaces for making sense of information.” Preferred Freezer Services, Inc. offers the most modern, state-of-the-art, full service temperature controlled warehouses in the United States. They

began providing cold storage services in 1989 from a 1.3-million-cubic-feet warehouse in Perth Amboy, NJ, with 26 full-time employees and gross revenues of $3.6 million. Since that time, they have expanded to become one of the largest Public Refrigerated Warehouse companies in North America. Frozen seafood is among the most critical products stored in their facilities. John Galiher has combined his passion for his company and sustainable aquaculture with a commitment to mentoring UMass Dartmouth talent. “I am hiring several full-time employees from the University I attended because I trust the education they receive.” Galiher sponsored two projects over the summer and into the fall of 2015—one with SMAST focused on the squid population in Buzzards Bay and one with the Data Science Program. Student research will impact the future of the company Galiher built from the ground up. Dean of Engineering, Robert Peck, suggests that “With the advent of the digital age, the data generated is unprecedented. The need to analyze data and to extract and gain new insights for problem solving and decision support is paramount.” UMass Dartmouth put Data Science to work for the Global Aquaculture Alliance and Preferred Freezer Services, Inc. In October 2015, Dr. David Koop, Faculty Advisor on this project along with available students will present research findings at the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s annual GOAL (Global Outlook on Aquaculture Leadership) conference October 26-29 in Vancouver, BC. Dr. Koop looks forward to sharing with others how “UMass Dartmouth’s data science program allowed students to test their skills analyzing data and interacting with organizations and companies around the globe.”

Team Photo includes from left to right in front row: Chaitanya Chandurkar: MS in CIS, 12/2015, Kevin Lydon: MS in CIS, 5/2016, Manidipa Banerjee: MBA in MIS, 12/2015, Phil Igoe, Project Leader: BS in CIS, 5/2017 and Faculty Advisor Dr. David Koop, Data Science & Computer & Information Science back row: Larry Faschan (PFS), Jack Moynihan (interim VC for Advancement), Ryan Martin (PFS), Molly Jaques (GAA), Wally Stevens (Executive Director- GAA), Chancellor Divina Grossman, Project Sponsor John Galiher ‘84 (CEO, PFS), Dr. Robert Peck (Dean of College of Engineering), Lara Stone (UMass Dartmouth Foundation), Dr. Ram Bala (Associate Dean, Engineering) 4

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Full STEM ahead! UMass Dartmouth has drawn nationally recognized events to the SouthCoast and was the perfect host for underwater autonomous vehicle competitions.

Future engineers attending the SEAPerch Competition at UMass Dartmouth.

n a Saturday morning in late May, competitors anxiously toed the edge of the pool in the Tripp Athletic Center. On the command of “Go,” rather than dive into the water, the middle and high school students frantically began manipulating remote controls. In the pool, the small PVC-and-foam underwater vehicles, called SeaPerch, glided to the first of three challenges, five targets of varying size. As they hit each target then moved onto the next challenge — lifting pipes then dropping them into cylinders —members of the College of Engineering watched, impressed by what they hope are future students. The event, the National SeaPerch Challenge, was one of three robotics competitions hosted by UMass Dartmouth this spring. Along with the MATE Regional ROV Competition and the NE FIRST Robotics Competition, the SeaPerch Challenge is part of a national effort to encourage students to participate in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Although the United States has historically been a leader in global innovation, there is a shortfall of students proficient in STEM disciplines and pursuing STEM degrees. This, despite a strong demand for graduates trained in science and engineering, and jobs offering advanced pay and job security. Although most students that enroll at UMass Dartmouth have already chosen an academic path, the University is using its resources to encourage younger students to pursue a STEM track. A primary goal of the program is to engage kids at a young age, showing them that science and math can be enjoyable. “We need to begin early and keep the interest in STEM disciplines through middle-school and high-school,” said Dr. Ramprasad Balasubramanian, Associate Dean of the College of Engineering and a specialist in autonomous underwater vehicles. A fun, handson experience, building the robots is a good entry to STEM disciplines, combining aspects of mechanical and electrical engineering, as well as problem solving. The competitions provide students a clear goal to work toward and offer an exciting venue to exhibit their efforts. For all three events, student teams built robots from standard kits. The use of kits helps to maintain a level playing field, but they have also become an effective tool in early STEM education. The popularity

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of “Lego’s We-Do and Mindstorms has helped engage young students,” Dr. Balasubramanian said. The kits, however, still allow for design choices, and in addition to the in-water challenges, the teams made poster presentations detailing those decisions. Hosting the competitions proved to be a tremendous showcase for UMass Dartmouth, with over 1200 middle and high school students visiting campus over three weekends. Being chosen to host the National SeaPerch Challenge, in particular, was an honor for UMass Dartmouth, bringing students from across the country. It was the culmination of a huge cross-campus effort. “A great many people worked very hard in the background,” Dr. Balasubramanian said. When Candie Desjardins, STEM Coordinator at NUWC, raised the possibility of bringing the event to UMass Dartmouth, Dr. Balasubramanian put together a team with representatives from facilities, housing, dining, conferencing and marketing to pitch the University as a viable host. “SeaPerch made several trips to explore the venue and facilities and loved what we had to offer.” UMass Dartmouth’s selection reflects its stature in marine science education, research and innovation. Home to world class institutions like Woods Hole, SMAST and NUWC, the region has long been a center for marine science. Partnering with those institutions, UMass Dartmouth offers expert faculty and cutting edge resources. Recently, the region has also become a magnet for the development of unmanned underwater vehicles, attracting entrepreneurs and researchers from around the world, solidifying UMass Dartmouth as the ideal location for the National SeaPerch Challenge. This year’s SeaPerch Challenge was the largest and most successful to date, introducing the country’s brightest young minds to UMass Dartmouth. The hope is that the event, as well as the NE FIRST and MATE ROV competitions, are one step in the students’ pursuit of STEM careers, and that their campus visit was a preview of a longer stay at UMass Dartmouth. “Hosting STEM competitions on our campus introduces bright young minds to UMass Dartmouth.”

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Engineering for the Future Bioengineering Class of 2015

C 1895

Bioengineering traces its lineage back 100 years to UMassD’s textile roots.

rossing the stage at Commencement this year were 20 undergraduate students making up the inaugural Bioengineering Class of 2015. These passionate pioneers are now the emissaries of UMass Dartmouth’s innovative academic program. Congratulations to the first graduating class! Although it’s a young major, Bioengineering traces its lineage back 100 years to UMass D’s textile roots. From textiles to materials science to bioengineering, the academic program has evolved and innovated from large-scale manufacturing training to research, development and high-tech engineering. The merging of biology and engineering has developed hundreds of innovations, including artificial organs, prosthetics and laser surgery. The U.S. Department of Labor forecasts Biomedical Engineering will continue to grow— citing an aging population and a growing focus on health issues driving new and improved medical devices and pharmaceutical products. UMass Dartmouth recognized that faculty expertise in textiles and materials science also informed research in

2015

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“All of my professors routinely went above and beyond in guiding me to my goal of attending UMass Medical School.” Jacqueline Tran ’15 Bioengineering

(At left, l-r) Associate Professor Tracie Ferreira works with undergraduate bioengineering student Danielle McDowell ’15 and Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology doctoral student Vijay Boominathan in the newly renovated bioengineering lab.

bioengineering, biological materials, biomedical materials, military fibers, and engineered composites. A new program was born and the first undergraduate students enrolled in the fall of 2011. Danielle McDowell ’15, a former emergency medical technician, was one of those students. “The Bioengineering program at UMass Dartmouth was appealing for many reasons, but most importantly it offered small class sizes with fantastic professors and great opportunities for handson learning,” said McDowell. “As a bioengineer, I want to make a difference and improve the quality of life for those suffering injuries, illness, and disease. I hope to improve cardiac arrest survival rates and develop interventions and treatments for cardiovascular diseases.” McDowell accepted a full-time R&D scientist position at NeoGraft Technologies, Inc., an emerging company focused on medical devices for cardiac surgery, and began working five days after graduation. In 2014, $1.5 million was invested to create the new Research and Teaching Bioengineering Suite in the Textile Building. The labs support learning and discovery at the intersection of engineering, the life sciences, and medicine. Sheri McCoy ’80, HD ’13, CEO of Avon, Inc., was an early supporter of the Bioengineering Program. She reviewed curriculum and department strategy, identified technology experts for input, and participated in the opening of the new labs. Sheri and her husband Terry, also an alumnus ’79, endowed the McCoy Family Scholarship to proudly support bioengineering students. “Bioengineering at UMass Dartmouth has both medical and non-medical applications,” said Associate Professor Tracie Ferreira, one of the campus’ original bioengineering faculty. “Students can choose their area of interest. Many students like the electronic, mechanical type of applications like devices and prosthetics; others love working with cells and tissues and modifying living systems. “For instance, Professor Christopher Brigham is creating biocompatible plastics from seafood waste products.” The research, she explained, makes use of shells we don’t eat. “We can use that material to grow a bacteria that produces a biofriendly plastic, which can be used for biodegradable products like cups and plates, AND we can use a different combination of that same material from the bacteria to make sutures or bandage material. This helps the environment and healthcare!” Jacqueline Tran ’15, worked on her honors thesis and capstone project with Ferreira. “I studied the effects of electrotherapy on cut zebrafish caudal fins. Zebrafish have the ability to regenerate their fins and I wanted to explore whether applying an electric current to cut fins would boost the regenerative rate of the fish,” said Tran. “The idea that this could possibly lead to a different

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type of medical treatment was fascinating to me.” Tran is the first of UMass Dartmouth’s Bionengineering graduates to apply to and be accepted to UMass Medical where she will attend this fall. Dr. Ferreira’s own research is inspired by the potential to make devices that help cells heal themselves. “Knowing that there are small environmental changes we can make to tissues that can promote healing and regeneration drives my research,” says Ferreira. “We are working to create a device that can be in ambulances and applied to

“As a bioengineer, I want to make a difference and improve the quality of life for those suffering injuries, illness, and disease.” Danielle McDowell ’15 severe burns, deep lacerations, and lost fingers— by treating wounds when they are most ‘receptive.’” Patrick McCarthy ’15 worked on a project focused on developing a therapeutic for melanoma. “This project gave me exposure to a laboratory setting, and thinking in an experimental mindset,” said McCarthy. “I was given a broad knowledge of many different topics. As bioengineers, we are the ‘jack of all trades’—we speak the language of all different disciplines of engineers.” “The degree prepared me well for a job in bioengineering,” said McCarthy. “I was fortunate to have two job offers before school even ended. I opted to take a research position with MassBiologics, at UMass Medical School, working to develop recombinant adeno-associated viral vector therapies.” McCarthy plans to attend medical school after working in an industry setting for a couple of years. Enrollment in the Bioengineering Program has topped 120 students, making it one of the fastest growing majors on campus. The goal of the Bioengineering Department is to prepare undergraduates for careers in the biotechnology/ biomedical industry, medicine, or research. UMassD Bioengineering research intersects with all engineering disciplines, as well as other UMassD colleges and schools. The interdisciplinary nature of the research has generated fascinating opportunities for faculty and students. It is by its very nature, a revolutionary evolution at UMassD.

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Department Spotlights Faculty and students in the College of Engineering are innovation leaders at UMass Dartmouth BIOENGINEERING Kudos to our undergraduate and graduate level bioengineering students who impressed judges in May 2015 at the Three-Minute-Thesis Competition: 1st– Shravani Kakarla, Bio-production of ethanol via co-culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Ralstonia eutropha Bioengineering Advisor: Dr. Christopher Brigham 2nd– Nicholas Phillips, The biosynthesis of valueadded products using seafood waste by Ralstonia eutropha Bioengineering Advisor: Dr. Christopher Brigham People’s Choice– Johanna Uribe, In Vitro model of Heart Disease Bioengineering The UMassD iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) team conducted summer research on the subject of “Novel inhibition of Helicobacter pylori through peptide assisted urease suppression” under faculty research advisor, Dr. Christopher Brigham. The iGEM team is interdisciplinary in approach with students across majors in Bioengineering, Mechanical Engineering and Biology. Team

members include: Evan Campbell ‘16, Lindsey Ly ‘16, Zachary Kroll ‘16, Brandon Phillips ‘16, Dean Robert ‘16, and Maraquia Atwood ‘16. Financial support for summer research 2015 was provided by the Bioengineering Department and The University Green Fee Committee. Well wishes to Dr. Paul Calvert on his retirement after twelve years of service. CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING Dr. Walaa Mogawer received two recent MassDOT funding awards. The first is for a new $119,978 research grant from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation for his proposed research, “Implementation of Strategic Research Program 2 (SRP2) Technologies Preservation Approaches for High Traffic Volume Roadways.” The second award is for $550,131 to evaluate the performance of a New England asphalt mixture designed using asphalt binders modified with Re-Refined Engine Oil Bottoms (REOB). Dr. Mogawer serves as the Director of the UMass Dartmouth Highway Sustainability Research Center (HSRC) and continues as Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering. Congratulations to Dr. Sukalyan Sengupta for his National Science Foundation grant in the

amount of $101,582 to support the study, “Collaborative Research: GOALI– Sustainable Phosphates Recovery from Agricultural Waste,” in partnership with Professor Dr. Lee Blaney from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Ph.D. student Tabish Nawaz earned first prize in the May 2015 Sigma Xi competition for his poster Title: Silver Recovery from Waste Water. His Advisor/Co-author is Dr. Sukalyan Sengupta. Well wishes to Dr. John Finnie on his retirement after eleven years of service. COMPUTER & INFORMATION SCIENCE An impressive Way-finding Capstone Senior Design Project led by Zachary Silvia CIS ’15 won first place during Capstone Senior Design Presentation Day. This interactive, indoor navigation tool can be viewed at – tinyurl.com/umapsd. Check out the newsletter story about Dr. David Koop and the sponsored data science summer project from Preferred Freezer Services and the Global Aquaculture Alliance. He’ll present findings at the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s annual GOAL (Global Outlook on Aquaculture Leadership) conference October 26-29 in Vancouver, BC.

ELECTRICAL & COMPUTER ENGINEERING Amir Ehsani Zonouz ’16 won first place in Siemens’ Mobility IDEA (Improving Design and Engineering for All) industry-sponsored contest. Amir’s innovative idea used quadcopters flying over parking lots to keep track of available spots. When someone drives into the area, the drones could signal to the driver — through a mobile app or the vehicle’s onboard communications system, or by flying ahead of the car — where to go to park through the shortest route. The technology would also have the ability to utilize infrared and thermal cameras to fly at night and help monitor for heatstroke conditions. The winning certificate was presented to Amir by Ben Collar, director of U.S. Research & Development for Siemens Road and City Mobility on January 16, 2015. Congratulations to Chaonan Wang who received her Ph.D. degree in May 2014 and was awarded “Eastern Scholar” of Shanghai, China and will join Shanghai University of Electric Power as a special appointment as full professor in September 2015. Kudos to Ray Bausita who won a Student Best Paper award from the Signal Processing in Acoustics Technical Committee at the Acoustical Society of America Conference held in Pittsburgh, PA 18-22 May.

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Ray’s talk on “Testing spatial co-prime sampling theory” presented his research from an undergraduate internship in the Signal Processing Group in Summer 2014 and continued through the 20142015 academic year. Ray will begin a full time position at NUWC Newport this summer, but plans to continue in our MS program as a part time student. A majority of the students in this competition were graduate students. Dr. John Buck is his advisor.

A H E A LT H Y F U T U R E Professor Honggang Wang (Electrical & Computer Engineering) has received four National Science Foundation (NSF) grants in the last year totaling more than $900,000 to support eHealth initiatives and improvements to wireless technology. “Through these research projects, students are gaining experience in various aspects of wireless health and multimedia communication and networking,” Professor Wang says. This type of research is an example of how the Internet of Things (IoT) technology is being applied to healthcare. “Both undergraduate and graduate students are integrated into the respective research programs.” One initiative focuses on developing a wearable biosensor system with wireless network for the early and remote detection of a range of life-threatening conditions, such as apnea (pause in breathing), bradycardia (slowness of heart), and hypoxia (oxygen desaturation). These types of situations occur disproportionately in prematurely born infants, which represents one in eight births in the U.S. Dr. Wang is also developing a cyber-security system for mobile health. This is a joint project among UMass Dartmouth, Worcester Polytechnic

Matthew Crossman ’15 has an interest in cybersecurity. The Taunton resident has received two research grants from UMass Dartmouth’s Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR). His work has been sponsored by the UMass President’s Office for Cybersecurity Curriculum Initiation Funding for 20142015. He plans to continue his studies in the College of Engineering’s 4+1 master’s program in computer engineering and to work in the cybersecurity field. Matthew’s OUR research focused on how users are authenticated when logging into a system using a smart card or fingerprint readers. A graduate of Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School, he’s developing a curriculum for vocational school students working with smartcard readers. With his faculty advisor Professor Hong Liu, Matthew recently won the Conference Best Paper at the 2015 IEEE International continued on pg 10

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Institute, and University of Arkansas Little Rock. Communication of non-intrusive, ambulatory health monitoring of patient vital signs over wireless networks is becoming more popular, and the goal of the project is to develop a lightweight, wireless authentication system to ensure real-time delivery of accurate and secure medical information. Dr. Wang’s research also is advancing the understanding of emerging wireless networking which will significantly impact complex network application in a number of areas including transportation, disaster recovery, and healthcare. The research is working to develop a Cognitive RadiO Multimedia NEtwork Testbed (COMET) instrument to address critical issues related to energy, bandwidth, computing, and reliability for wireless multimedia applications. In support of the other three projects, Wang and company were funded to acquire a multimedia network instrument to enable realistic testing of innovative protocols and algorithms for the efficient use of limited wireless spectrum in a variety of multidisciplinary multimedia applications.

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Congratulations to Dr. Robert C. Randall, III, who successfully defended his Electrical Engineering Ph.D. Dissertation in May on feedback stability of motion controlled sensor for sonar. His faculty advisor was Dr. John Buck. He is pictured here with his father, Robert C. Randall, II (right) who graduated from SMU in 1987 and his grandfather, Robert C. Randall, (left) who graduated in 1954 from New Bedford Institute. We proudly recognize three alumni generations of engineers in the Randall Family.

Symposium on Technologies for Homeland Security: the conference’s highest award, in a competitive field with security technology professionals. Their “Study of Authentication with IoT Testbed” is about the Internet of Things (IoT), which promises to connect potentially everything to the Internet, from home appliances to key components of the nation’s critical infrastructure. Matthew and Prof. Liu describe a laboratory test environment for analyzing the security of smart devices, offering a way to experiment with real attacks in a controlled environment Congratulations to Dr. Honggang Wang who was awarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor this year.

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Congratulations to Abdul Rahman Kehail, a BMEBT student, advised by Dr. Chris Brigham (BNG), who impressed his peers at the Three-Minute-Thesis Competition and won the graduate People’s Choice Award for his focus on Bio-polymer Production: From Bacteria to Medical Devices.

Ray Bausita ’15 and his advisor, Dr. John Buck work with mic array that allows further test research on spatial co-prime sampling theory.

Congratulation to Patrick Pasteris ’15 who tied for the First Prize in the Undergraduate Sigma Xi competition for his poster titled “Summer Monsoons using In-Situ Data from Ocean Robots: 2010 – 2014.” He was advised by Dr. Amit Tandon, mechanical engineering.

Winning Mechanical Engineering Capstone Senior Design Projects this year included the following: 1st prize– Heat Transfer Products Team for their study of a variable appliance test load. 2nd prize– Precix, Inc. Team for their development and implementation of a media reclamation method. 3rd prize– AFC Cable Team- for their development of a faulty insulation detection method. Well wishes to Professor Emeritus, Dr. John Rice on his retirement after thirty-one years of service. PHYSICS Associate Professor Dr. Gaurav Khanna continues to use his low-cost supercomputer built from 176 Sony PlayStation 3 gaming consoles stored in a refrigerated shipping container to garner national attention on his research. Check out the article in this newsletter about two recent donations that will triple the computational power of the Center for Scientific Computing and Visualization Research and offer faculty and students expanded research capacity. Congratulations to Graduate level Three-Minute Thesis Competition Winner, Kathryn St. Laurent, MS Physics ’15, who won second prize for her research on Short Duration Microlensing Events in OGLE IV. She was advised by Dr. Robert Fisher.

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Super-sized gifts to Super-computing

Dr. Gaurav Khanna’s work has garnered national attention and has led to additional gifts to the Center for Scientific Computing and Visualization Research.

wo supercomputers that were built and previously used for mining bitcoins have been donated to UMass Dartmouth’s Center for Scientific Computing and Visualization Research (CSCVR) has received. The donations will triple the computational power of the Center supporting its research related to ocean wave-energy converters, wind turbine blades, ocean model simulations, complex mathematical equations, and stellar evolution. “The new computational cluster will be a tremendous addition to the resources of the CSCVR. The new system will triple the computational power available to us, significantly increasing our research abilities,” said mathematics Professor Sigal Gottlieb, who serves as Director of the CSCVR. Bitcoin is a digital currency that has garnered much attention since its creation in 2008. In addition to buying Bitcoins, individuals can also “mine” for them by solving mathematical based puzzles. Bitcoin is designed in a way that the more mining that occurs and puzzles being solved, the harder it becomes to mine as the puzzles exponentially increase in difficulty. Many “miners” have opted to using powerful software and computers to solve these puzzles. “The key feature of both systems is that each is GPUaccelerated meaning they use high-end video gaming graphics cards to speed up numerical calculations significantly,” said Associate Professor Dr. Gaurav Khanna, whose extremely low-cost supercomputer built to study black holes and cybersecurity using 176 Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) gaming consoles, has enabled UMass Dartmouth’s rank to soar to the top in the well-known RC5 cryptography challenge list. “These make systems excellent for a large variety of scientific applications.” CSCVR’s current computational resources are being utilized to solve complex problems in areas ranging from designing better ocean wave-energy converters to uncovering the mysteries of black hole physics. In the Mechanical Engineering Department, Dr. Mehdi Raessi’s research group uses these resources to perform detailed simulations of fluid flow around solid objects which improves design of various devices like wave-energy

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converters and wind turbine blades. Researchers in the Mathematics Department share these same resources to develop new algorithms to solve complex mathematical equations. School for Marine Science and Technology Professor Geoffrey Cowles and Mechanical Engineering Professor Amit Tandon make use of the systems to develop ocean simulation models and make important predictions of ocean conditions around the world. Researchers in the Physics Department study fascinating phenomena related to stellar evolution and black hole systems. With the additional resources these new super-computers provide, the CSCVR faculty and students will be able to perform these computations much quicker and potentially with higher accuracy, Moreover, it has the potential to jump start new research programs for the University’s growing research community. The larger supercomputer of the two was built in

“Dr. Khanna’s research has given me an opportunity, in my own small way, to join those space explorers I once grew up with.” Daniel Driscoll 2012 costing nearly a million dollars and consisting of 180 servers installed in 10 racks integrated tightly over a fast network. Its replacement cost today to continue its bitcoin mining abilities would be around $400,000. Daniel Driscoll, of San Francisco, California, who donated the larger system learned about Dr. Khanna’s PlayStation 3 cluster from a December 2014 article in The New York Times. He was fascinated about the research being conducted at UMass Dartmouth using a networked supercomputer modeling the physics of black holes. “Having grown up in the 80s next to the shuttle launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, I remain an ardent fan of all things space. What struck me as even more interesting was how Professor Gaurav Khanna had created this supercomputer from now derelict PlayStation 3 consoles.” Driscoll himself had done a few experiments to understand the potential uses old PlayStations and one private venture to explore and understand the Bitcoin craze of 2013 proved unsuccessful. “This left me in possession of several PlayStations and an effective array of server computers,” said Mr. Driscoll.

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Engineered for Success

n May 15, hundreds of students, faculty, staff and proud family members gathered at the Vietnam Veteran’s Peace Memorial Amphitheater at UMass Dartmouth to celebrate another Commencement. Over the course of two days at three ceremonies, UMass Dartmouth launched 1,923 graduates from 235 Massachusetts communities, 28 states, and 30 countries. For Commonwealth Scholar Tejendra Patel ‘15 of New Bedford, he was more nervous than most. As chosen Commencement speaker, Tejendra encouraged others to never give up on their chosen dreams. His voice cracking, he spoke about working as a janitor while pursuing his degree in Computer Engineering and about his parents’ sacrifices enabling him to complete college. Tejendra, like many of our students, had a single-mindedness in pursuing his course of study and the hands-on internships at Nextdrift Technologies, EMC, and Akamai Technologies that would allow him to apply learned skills immediately. It was his success in these experiences that secured him a full-time position as an Interaction Engineer at Akamai. Our students like Tejendra work hard. They overcome tremendous obstacles and impress their professors and their employers. We hope you will support a scholarship or offer an internship. Let us know how you would like to help engineer their future. Please visit www.umassd.edu/donate or contact Lara Stone, Director of Development for the College of Engineering lstone@umassd.edu or 508-999-8372 to find out more.

Together, we can make a difference

Tejendra Patel ’15 gave a moving address at Commencement while Chancellor Divina Grossman, U.S. Senator and Chancellor’s Medal Recipient Edward Markey, Trustee MarDee Xifaras and Rev. Robert Lawrence looked on.

We’d like to hear from you…

College of Engineering Newsletter

Please update your contact information. Our goal is to

Publisher

Robert Peck, Dean, Ph.D.

get email addresses for all College of Engineering alumni.

Editor/writer

Lara Stone, Director of Development, College of Engineering UMass Dartmouth Foundation

or mail to College of Engineering, UMass Dartmouth,

Writers

Robert McCarthy ’97, MA ‘15,

285 Old Westport Rd., Dartmouth, MA 02747-2300.

Sherri Miles, Joseph Sullivan

Photographs

Deirdre Confar, Robert Randall, Lara Stone

Design

James Ferguson, Graphic Design ‘16, Rachel Cocroft, Creative Director

You may email your information to coe@umassd.edu