UNIVERSITY OF NORTH D
RESEARCH INSTITUTE FO AUTONOMOU SYSTEMS
President Mark Kennedy
Welcome to the Research Institute for Autonomous System (RIAS ). SM
RIAS is built upon the core University of North Dakota values of community, lifelong learning, and discovery. With a well articulated plan, expertise across a broad set of disciplines, and an organized, committed team, we are RIASing to the challenge of providing autonomous technologies and policies that serve society. SM
MISSION Create new autonomous systems through multidisciplinary research and lead development of world-changing autonomous policies, with the goal of driving a vibrant, diverse and sustainable economy consistent with ethical and legal standards.
VISION
Be a global leader in unmanned and autonomous systems research, application and policy development.
RIAS has the mandate to integrate the resources of the North Dakota University System to advance efforts in unmanned and autonomous systems. SM
HIGH-LEVEL
ORGANIZATION UND President/UND Provost
Public Sector Advisory Board
Vice President for Research Corporate Advisory Board
Executive Director
AUTONOMOUS PLATFORMS
APPLICATIONS
DATA SUPPLY CHAIN
Detect and Avoid
Power/Utilities
Intelligent Sensing/AI
Human Factors
Precision Ag
Communications
Safety/ASSURE
Energy
Energy
Counter - Autonomy
Homeland Security
HPC/Storage
Sensor/Payloads
Environmental Monitoring
Analytics
Propulsion
Transportation
CYBERSECURITY
Cybersecurity of Autonomous Systems
POLICY
Law, Policy, and Ethics Committee on Research Ethics and Privacy
RIAS
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LEADERS President Mark Kennedy
Mark Kennedy began his tenure as the 12th President of the University of North Dakota in July of 2016. Before coming to UND, he served as the Director of the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University. A native of Benson, Minnesota, Kennedy began his career achieving experience as an executive with several firms, including Pillsbury and today’s Macys. He then served his home state in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001 to 2007, followed by appointments as an advisor on international trade to both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. His years in Congress were followed by leadership roles in business and higher education. Kennedy’s recently published book, Shapeholders – Business Success in the Age of Activism, modernizes the rules for business engagement with society reflecting the rise of activism and expanded political involvement in commercial affairs.
Provost Thomas DiLorenzo
Dr. DiLorenzo became UND’s provost and vice president for academic affairs in May 2013. As provost, he provides academic leadership and vision for the campus, champions academic excellence, integrity, and fairness, engages in strategic planning and prioritization, and supports faculty, staff, and student initiatives to enrich the quality of education and further the University’s mission in teaching, research and creative activity, and service to the public. DiLorenzo previously served as associate vice president for Innovation, Commercialization, and Entrepreneurship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), after serving two years as founding dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at UAB. Prior to his position at UAB, DiLorenzo was at the University of Delaware, where he was chair of the Department of Psychology since 2002. He served as dean of the University of Delaware’s College of Arts and Sciences (which included the arts, humanities, and sciences) from 1999 to 2001. Prior to that (1990-1999), he was chair of the University of Missouri-Columbia Department of Psychology.
Vice President for Research Grant McGimpsey
Dr. McGimpsey was named Vice President for Research and Economic Development (VPRED) at the University of North Dakota in September 2015 and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies in July 2016. Dr. McGimpsey is responsible for creating and implementing strategies to enhance research and scholarship and increasing the impact of UND’s research on the economy of North Dakota. Before joining UND, McGimpsey served as Vice President for Research and Sponsored Programs at Kent State University (KSU) from 2011-2015. While at KSU, he worked to establish the University’s reputation as a center of impactful research. Prior to joining KSU, Dr. McGimpsey served at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), holding such positions as Professor and Associate Provost for Research (ad interim). He also directed the WPI Bioengineering Institute, where he established the Institute’s mission and strategy, and led the business and economic development, research and outreach efforts of the institute. Dr. McGimpsey’s research interests include surface chemistry, particularly as it applies to biology and biomedical engineering, photovoltaics, implantable prosthetics, and nanoscience. He holds nine issued patents, and has authored or co-authored over 80 journal articles.
Director Mark Askelson
Dr. Askelson is a Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of North Dakota. He has over 20 years of research and applications experience with weather radar, including advanced applications involving radar polarimetry and phased array technologies. His areas of expertise include radar meteorology, numerical weather prediction, data assimilation, and unmanned aircraft systems (UASs). His current foci include the use of phased array radars in aircraft deconfliction systems for UASs and the use of cooperative information to enable deconfliction of unmanned aircraft with other aircraft. Dr. Askelson has led multiple UAS research efforts, including multimillion-dollar research efforts focused on integration of UAS into the National Airspace System using both ground-based phased-array radars (development of the Ganged Phased Array Radar-Risk Mitigation System; GPAR-RMS) and cooperative data (the Limited Deployment-Cooperative Airspace Project; LD-CAP). He is currently a lead in the ASSURE “Small UAS Detect and Avoid Requirements Necessary for Limited Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) Operations” effort.
AUTONOMOUS PLATFORMS Dr. Mark Askelson
Dr. Mark Askelson leads the Autonomous Platforms focus area. Dr. Askelson has 10+ years of experience working with unmanned systems, with a focus on Detect And Avoid (DAA) technologies. He has led numerous efforts in this area, including a large Department of Defense (DoD) effort focused on the use of phased array radars for DAA and development of requirements for DAA systems for small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) that support the development of standards, guidelines, and rules by the FAA.
The RIAS Autonomous Platforms group has expertise in DAA, human factors, safety, counter-autonomy, sensor/payloads, and propulsion. SM
THIS TEAM: • Develops technologies for integrating autonomous systems into airspace and other domains.
• Promotes societal safety through development, testing, and utilization of autonomous systems.
• Ensures the long-term well-being of operators through advanced human factors research.
• Develops technologies for countering adverse autonomous systems.
APPLICATIONS Dr. Jeremiah Neubert
Dr. Jeremiah Neubert leads the UAS Applications focus area. He has more than 10 years of experience working with UAS. Dr. Neubert’s research has focused on extracting important information for data collected by UAS, presenting data collected by UAS in a user friendly manner, and autonomous flight. Most recently his research has focused on infrastructure inspection using deep learning algorithms and UAS localization through the application of convolutional neural networks.
The RIAS Applications group has expertise and experience for addressing the use of autonomous systems in a broad set of applications. SM
THIS TEAM: • Develops autonomous systems and tailors data analytical approaches to enable applications including but not limited to: ◦ Monitoring and maintenance of critical infrastructure
◦ Humanitarian (search and rescue, disaster response)
◦ Agriculture
◦ Law enforcement
◦ Homeland security
◦ Geophysical sampling
◦ Retail (product delivery)
◦ Natural resource management
DATA SUPPLY CHAIN Dr. Prakash Raganathan
Dr. Prakash Ranganathan leads the UAS Data Supply Chain and Cyber Security focus area. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, and also the Director for Cyber Physical Systems and Data Sciences Laboratory at the UND. He has over 12 years of higher education experience as an engineering educator, and 6 years as a Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) and Optimization researcher. He has been PI or Co-PI on over $1 million of externally funded awards. His research involves identifying solutions to challenges on topics such as smart grid, uncertainty quantification, co-ordination of UAS in swarm environments, and verification and validation techniques. Dr. Ranganathan also plays leadership roles on cyber educational and research initiatives for North Dakota University System (NDUS). Dr. Ranganathan received the North Dakota Spirit Faculty Achievement Award in 2013 from the UND Alumni Foundation recognizing his significant contribution in teaching, research, and service. He is also a recipient of a Public Scholar Award in 2014 from Center for Community Engagement.
The RIAS Data Supply Chain group has expertise in intelligent sensing, communications, High Performance Computing (HPC)/storage, and techniques for extracting actionable information from a wide variety of data (imagery, large data sets, etc.). SM
THIS TEAM: • Develops intelligent information extraction systems through: ◦ Creation of intelligent systems that allow highly selective data acquisition.
◦ Creation of systems that efficiently communicate and secure acquired data.
◦ Development of systems that optimize data storage and retrieval.
◦ Development of advanced techniques and algorithms for conversion of data into actionable information.
CYBER SECURITY The goal for the RIAS Data supply chain and Cyber team is the secure development of systems which can swiftly generate trustworthy and actionable information from unmanned aerial systems. SM
The RIAS Cyber Security group has expertise in autonomous systems operations, communications, storage, analysis, and security. SM
THIS TEAM: • Develops techniques that secure all aspects of autonomous systems, including data related to operations, communications, storage, and analysis. • Develops detection and mitigation techniques to counter unauthorized autonomous systems.
• Develops security protocols that are consistent with legal and ethical standards.
POLICY Dr. Jason Jensen
Dr. Jason Jensen leads the Policy focus area. His research and teaching are in public policy and administration, and he has published in the top journals in these areas. He has expertise in the areas of policy development, implementation, diffusion, and evaluation/analysis.
The RIAS Policy group has expertise in policy. The policy team is crucial within RIAS , as it is a primary mechanism through which we ensure that autonomous systems development is consistent with ethical and legal standards. SM
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THIS TEAM: • Proposes and evaluates public policies for autonomous systems.
◦ Commercialization of autonomous technologies.
◦ Development and dissemination of public policy.
◦ Collaboration with emerging and existing businesses with an aim towards being a regulatory and ethics resource.
• Targets policy research on applications of autonomous systems most linked to the North Dakota economy to inform economic development. • Uses economic and financial analyses on autonomous systems applications to inform investment and business decisions and creation of public policy.
The RIAS team has worked on many autonomous systems projects and has a proven track record of success with a wide range of efforts, including small, focused efforts and broad, multidisciplinary efforts. SM
RIAS’s ability to bring many disciplines together to work significant challenges and to form effective partnerships is a key to its success. In doing so, with effective mechanisms to ensure consistency with societal needs, we are RIASing to the challenge of enriching lives through autonomy. SM
DIVISION OF RESEARCH & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
701.777.6736 Twamley Hall Room 103 264 Centennial Drive Stop 8367 Grand Forks, ND 58203-8367 rias@UND.edu UND.edu/RIAS