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Issue 6 2018
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NEWS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
message from the chair W elcome to the Fall edition of our newsletter. Much has happened since our last newsletter. Last July we said our goodbyes to our now former Chair Dr. Thomas Weller, who chose the mountains of Oregon over the beaches of Florida; Tom is now head of the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Oregon State (see inside for more information). We wish him and his family the best and happy hiking – they will be missed by all. You may have also heard that USF is now part of the big three in Florida, having been designated as a Preeminent State Research Institution by the Florida Board of Governors; those of us on the inside knew all along that this was a long overdue recognition. And speaking of recognition, USF also climbed 10 spots in the rankings of national universities according to US News & World Report and we are now #58 . For Fall 2018 our department is home to approximately 600 students split roughly 50/50 between our graduate and undergraduate programs. Over 100 of these students are in the PhD program and along with their professors continue to make substantial contributions to research programs that range including networks & security, the smart grid, organic electronics, wireless networking systems, MEMS, signal processing and more. And thanks to the efforts of two of the most dedicated instructors – Drs. Castellanos and Jeong – we also added about two dozen high schoolers to our student rolls. They come from Middleton High School’s Engineering Magnet program and are taking EE classes as part of a dual enrollment program. They are an impressive group of young men and women and we look forward to them joining our program in the near future. It has been a year since the launch of our new BSEE curriculum, and student response has been extremely positive. The freedom to choose and the opportunity to personalize their curriculum has students constantly engaging their advisors in search of the
best combination of courses that meet their needs and better prepare them for their future employers. The options keep increasing for our undergraduate students, too; one of the goals in redesigning the curriculum was to provide a dynamic environment that allows faculty to quickly respond to changes in workplace demands by introducing new content. To that end, we recently approved a Systems and Security Track, which we expect to include in the 2019 Undergraduate catalog, and will allow our students to gain in-depth knowledge in security aspects of EE, a highly sought skillset. Effective this fall (2018) our BSEE curriculum has another new requirement: a series of courses called Professional Formation of Engineers (PFE). The three PFE courses will serve as a bridge between the freshman engineering and our senior capstone design courses and focus on the development of professional competencies. The PFE has been under development for over a year, and is being taught by a professor of practice – Joel Howell who has over 12 years of experience in Business Development and Advanced Programs Engineering at Harris Corp; Joel has already piloted the first two courses with great success, with the 3rd one ready to launch next semester. As one of our students Copper Neal said “although it can be difficult for students to develop professional competencies while completing a rigorous electrical engineering curriculum, the PFE has allowed me to embrace these skills daily. The class series has given me great exposure to critical professional traits that will allow me to excel in my career.” I think that’s a perfect ending to our Fall Newsletter. We all look forward to sharing more department news with you in our Spring edition. Christos Ferekides, Ph.D.
Interim Chair and Professor
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Electrical Engineering bids Farewell to Dr. Thomas Weller, Professor and Chair
A
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fter over 27 years of service
the 1996 Microwave Prize from the
Information Systems and served as
with the Department of
IEEE MTT Society, and a recipient
its co-director until 2018.
Electrical Engineering, with
of a CAREER Award from The
mixed emotions we announce the
National Science Foundation in
In August of 2006, he became a full
departure of our Chair, Dr. Thomas
1999. In 2001, he was promoted to
Professor. In 2008, he was appointed
Weller to accept a position as the
Associate Professor and achieved
as Associate Dean of Research in
new head of the School of Electrical
tenure. As Associate Professor, Tom
the College of Engineering at USF.
Engineering and Computer Science
was a recipient of the Outstanding
Here, he implemented a non-tenure
at Oregon State University. Tom
Young Engineer Award from the
earning (research) faculty track, an
entered the University of South
IEEE MTT Society in 2005, he also
annual college research symposium,
Florida as an Assistant Professor in
received IBM Faculty Partnership
an annual faculty research award,
the Fall of 1995. During this time,
Awards (2000, 2001), the University
the young faculty CAREER program,
he also co-founded Modelithics,
of South Florida President’s Award
an interdisciplinary scholarship
Inc, a company specializing in RF/
for Faculty Excellence (2003). He
seed-funding program, the Eminent
Microwave characterization and
was a founding member of the USF
Scholars Lecture Series, and the
modeling, was a co-recipient of
Center for Wireless and Microwave
College of Engineering Research
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Council. Finally, he re-joined the Electrical
publications is the profound impact that
department as Chair in 2011. As Chair,
he had on a large group of people that
Tom accelerated his career by becoming
work together every day. Whether it was
a charter member of the USF Academy
surfing (literally) for donations, coming
of Inventors and a fellow of IEEE and
up with innovative recruitment plans,
the National Academy of Inventors.
recognizing his faculty/staff for their hard
There were improvements made daily
work or showing up at each and every
within Electrical Engineering under
graduation and ring ceremony-even
Tom’s leadership: a transformation of the
initiating this very newsletter-Tom was
undergraduate curriculum twice, graduate
the driving force behind thousands of
program enhancements to enrich the
constituents during his tenure at USF. He
masters program graduation requirements,
will be greatly missed, but we look forward
departmental strategic plans were
to future collaborations.
created, accreditation accomplished and promotions approved. It’s easy to review CVs, google scholar, university news and other outlets to see the academic and professional impression that Tom has made at the University of South Florida. We can find the faculty that worked with him and see their accomplishments, the students that graduated under his direction and how they’ve flourished, and all of the professional staff that speak highly of him. What is impossible to see from looking at awards, promotions and
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Dr. Sylvia Thomas receives the 2018 Women in Leadership and Philanthropy (WLP) Faculty Research Award Dr. Sylvia Wilson Thomas, Associate Professor and
the micro to the nano scale. Her research explores
former Assistant Dean in the College of Engineering
the synthesis and device integration of inorganic
at USF, holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical
and organic thin films and nanofibers. In addition to
Engineering from Vanderbilt University, where she
these efforts, Dr. Thomas is a motivational speaker/
was a Patricia Roberts Harris Fellow. Dr. Thomas
consultant for science, technology, engineering, and
received her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from
mathematics (STEM) education, continued/graduate
Howard University, was a NSF Materials Research
education, K-12 efforts, career transitioning,
Center of Excellence Fellow and was a National
mentoring and professional development, and
Science Foundation (NSF) research engineer in
she provides inspirational lectures to community
Korea at Chonbuk National University during her
organizations and professional societies. She is also
doctoral program. Dr. Thomas leads the Advanced
an advocate for women in engineering and serves
Materials Bio and Integration Research (AMBIR)
on the inaugural Board of Directors for Black Girls
laboratory at USF. Her research and teaching
Code and frequently speaks for Girls Scouts, the
endeavors are focused on advanced materials
Great American Teach-In, and teacher and parent
for alternative energy sources, sustainable
organizations.
environments, aerospace, and bio-applications from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrMVCsvXrYc 4
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Discovery of Neurological Networks T
he human nervous system provides energy efficient,
and prosthetic limbs, but also of less invasive, clinically
highly complex realization and control of how we
accurate neurodevices. Devices that passively read
sense, think and act. For machines designed by humans,
and actively alter the electric field structures of regions
the ideas of energy efficiency and complexity are at
of the CNS and provide therapeutic treatment for the
odds, thus the question of how the central nervous
millions that suffer from neurological dysfunction, such
system (CNS) really works has received intense scrutiny
as Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s, and Autism Spectrum
for decades. Researchers at the University of South
Disorder.
Florida (USF) under the direction of Dr. Sal Morgera have discovered a sophisticated electric near-field generated
The long-term plan is to passively read the signatures of
in an energy efficient, natural manner by our billions
the internal electric near-fields (the endogenous fields)
of myelinated nerve fibers. This electric near-field is
using a custom designed antenna array to diagnose
roughly the counterpart of the magnetic near-field used
neurological dysfunction and then to rationally design
in smartphone contactless payment services such as
time-varying, frequency-rich and spatially directed
Apple Pay® and Google Wallet®, known as Near Field
external electric fields (the exogenous fields) to actively
Communications, or NFC.
interact with the internal fields and treat the dysfunction by “tuning” the appropriate region of the CNS. The
This work is an entirely new perspective on CNS
idea of a rational design is one based on engineering
structure and function that is supported by sophisticated
and scientific facts. This type of design is lacking in
computer modeling and in vitro experimentation at
currently available neurological medical devices and is a
several relevant frequency ranges. The researchers
deficiency that has led to significant numbers of recalls,
have discovered, for example, that the optic nerve has
lack of efficacy, and unexpected side effects for medical
over one million electric near-field circuits forming a
devices.
neurological network of extraordinary sophistication in which individual nerve fibers not only propagate action
Dr. Sal Morgera has been invited to give two Keynote
potentials as we learned in our high school biology
Speeches on this work. The first was in June at the
texts, but also interact through electric near-fields.
Nanotech France 2018 International Conference and
This paradigm shift in understanding can be a game
Exhibition (http://www.setcor.org/conferences/Nanotech-
changer in the development, not only of artificial eyes
France-2018) held at the Pôle Universitaire Léonard
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de Vinci (www.devinci.fr/en) in the Paris Metropolitan
and DARPA because understanding these extraordinary
Area, and the second in July at the World Conference
near-field networks and the possibly bio-metamaterial
& Expo on Biomedical Engineering held in Miami. At
human brain structure in which they operate will also
the first conference, details were presented on the
enable the design of non – von Neumann computing
characteristics of the brain’s electric near-fields and in
machine architectures and lifelike protheses that benefit
the second conference, the material of the brain was
from the manner in which nerve fibers interact and form
discussed and a hypothesis presented that the brain
a remarkably sophisticated neurological network.
possesses a type of metamaterial structure, not before believed to occur in nature. The area of advanced
For readers that desire further information on this work,
brain biomaterial synthesis is extremely exciting and will
please see the recent IEEE Brain article at https://brain.
provide additional insight into the structure and function
ieee.org/newsletter/2018-issue-3/discovery-of-new-
of the human brain.
neurological-networks/.
Dr. Sal Morgera has been approached by Sony, Samsung
Electrical Engineering Faculty in the Community
Dr. Zhixin Miao, Associate Professor in the Electrical Engineering Department, served as a volunteer Mathcounts coach for a local middle school – Williams IB Middle Magnet School in 2017 -2018 school year. The team won the Tampa chapter in Feb 2018, and was selected to participate in the state Mathcounts competition at Daytona Beach on March 23rd. Williams’ team placed eighth out of 45 teams. Congratulations to the team!
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KC Chen delivered a keynote at the ITU Workshop for 5G and Beyond The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Workshop on Machine Learning for 5G and Beyond took place in San Jose, California, on August 7, 2018. Professor Kwang-Cheng (KC) Chen, jointly with Professors A. Molisch (USC), G. Li (Georgia Tech) and S. Katti (Stanford) delivered the keynote for this leading technological event. Professor Chen talked about “Machine Learning Enabled Wireless Networks – Anticipatory Mobility Management for Ultra-Low Latency Mobile Networking”. Ultra-reliable and low-latency communication (uRLLC) is a pillar technology for 5G and beyond. Prof. Chen led the research to develop anticipatory mobility management based on machine learning, such that uRLLC can be successfully facilitated in mobile communications beyond 5G. The primary application scenarios of such technology include autonomous driving vehicles, smart manufacturing, and robotic communications. Professor Chen also co-authored a paper titled “Machine Learning Paradigms for Next-Generation Wireless Networks” published in the IEEE Wireless Communications in April 2017, which has been recognized as a Highly Cited Paper in September 2018, the fourth for Prof. Chen since 2011. This paper has been also among IEEE Xplore Popular since publication, and has been downloaded more than 13,000 times. Serving as the series editor of “Data Science and Artificial Intelligence for Communications” in the IEEE Communications from this August, Professor Chen wishes to develop technological innovations across AI, communications, and IoT.
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Dr. Ismail Uysal Awarded Three Research Grants Dr. Uysal was awarded two USDA grants (PI): Sensor-assisted Sustainable and High-Quality Strawberry Production with Wireless Real-Time Field Monitoring, and Smart Strawberry Logistics as part of the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP). The purpose of the SCBGP is to solely enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops through the use of technology (hardware and software) and scientific methods to improve efficiency of crop production and sustainability. In addition, Dr. Uysal was also selected to receive support from the Florida High Tech Corridor Council’s Matching Grants Research Program for his project entitled “Algorithmic Prediction and Recognition of Human Activity and Falls from Wireless Accelerometer Data”. In this project, he and his team will develop deep neural network models to achieve state-of-the-art performance in motion and fall recognition using advanced AI technology and establish USF as one of the leading institutions in this domain.
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Dr. Nasir Ghani Receives Two NSF Cybersecurity Awards CyberTraining CIP:
Capacity Building:
Cyberinfrastructure Expertise on High-Throughput
Building a Cybersecurity Pipeline through
Networks for Big Science Data Transfers project
Experiential Virtual Labs and Workforce Alliances
establishes the Cyberinfrastructure Network of
is a cybersecurity concentration embedded in
Expertise (CNE) for teaching, training, and research
the Bachelor degree in Information Engineering
on networking technologies including Science
Technology at Northern New Mexico College
Demilitarized Zone (Science DMZ). The Science
(NNMC). The concentration will consist of two
DMZ is a network specifically designed to facilitate
regular core courses, two Capstone courses,
the transfer and sharing of very large scientific
and one internship experience. The program
data (big data) across geographically separated
of studies will also include three cybersecurity-
sites. The project serves the national interest,
infused prerequisite courses involving computers,
as it addresses the shortage of skilled research
networking, and programming essentials. This
personnel with specialized skills to support
effort will be conducted in partnership with the
networks carrying big science data among research
University of South Florida (USF).
institutions, universities, and national laboratories.
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Sea Level Rise (SLR) in Tampa Bay Dr. Yasin Yilmaz (the PI of the NSF Project “Sea Level Rise (SLR) in Tampa Bay”) together with co-PIs Alan Bush (Honors College) and Mark Hafen (School of Public Affairs), presented their SLR game, Atlantis, at the US Ignite Application Summit, co-located with the NSF PI meeting in Kansas City, MO, March 2018. Climate change and sea level rise impacts will affect coastal
decision support and planning.
communities with multiple threats, including increased frequency of compound events - such as storm surge
Overall, better information is needed for governments,
combined with heavy precipitation.
planners, coastal managers, and personnel in a variety of agencies for effective communication, decision making and
This exacerbates social vulnerability, particularly in
adaptation planning. This requires the participation of key
underserved communities; stresses coastal ecosystems; and
actors to communicate the science, the variability, and the
impacts local economies by affecting property values, the tax
risk of various scenarios to stakeholders. Accurately modeling
base, and the cost of insurance, among other factors.
how these agents may respond to sea level rise scenarios can assist in the creation of policies tailored to local impacts
Because of sea level rise, Tampa Bay and Gulf of Mexico
and resilience strategies, and requires a variety of community
coastal communities are vulnerable to many of these
engagement and planning tools, including scenario planning,
impacts, and must build the adaptive capacity and resilience
gaming, and augmented reality.
frameworks to respond to these stressors through effective
Dr. Alexandro Castellanos Awarded the USF Status of Latinos (SoL) Faculty Award Dr. Castellanos was
on different development
because of his innovative contributions to
selected as a 2018e
programs applied in the
the Senior Design II project course and
recipient of the USF
state of Veracruz. As
guidance within his mechatronics course.
Status of Latinos (SoL)
a TA during his Ph.D.
Dr. Castellanos an accomplished
Faculty award for
program as now as an
musician and brings culture and joy with
his dedication and
Instructor, Dr. Castellanos
the harp and piano to Latin Communities
accomplishments. The
has encouraged and
either thru the Mexico’ s consulate in
Award was presented
supported the Latin
Orlando, or to his church Community (St.
at the USF Hispanic
community students not
Mark the evangelist Catholic Church) in
Heritage Celebration
only mentoring them, but
different events, sometimes for charity.
Luncheon 2018.
helping in any academic
Dr. Castellanos regularly provides live
Throughout his career, Dr. Castellanos
need related to the Latino student’s
entertainment during department
has been deeply committed to helping
programs.
events as well, when there are provisions
minorities get involved in Engineering.
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available.
During his tenure as Dean at the
Dr. Castellanos presence in the Electrical
Universidad Veracruzana, UV College of
Engineering department provides
Engineering reached its highest value
encouragement, not only for Hispanic
related to women in Engineering based
students, but for the entire student body
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EE Student Awards and Accomplishments Arya Menon, a doctoral student in the Department of Electrical Engineering and the Center for Wireless and Microwave Information Systems (WAMI), has been awarded the prestigious Provost’s Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the STEM category for the 2017-2018 academic year. The Provost’s Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Graduate Teaching Assistant was established in 1998 to recognize the exemplary contributions made by graduate teaching assistants (TAs) to excellence in undergraduate education and is administered by the Academy for Teaching and Learning Excellence (ATLE) at the University of South Florida. Awards are granted in four categories: Arts and Humanities, Education/Business/Social Science, Health/Medicine/Behavioral Science, and STEM. Arya’s research is focused on the development of a security scanner that combines radar and radiometric techniques for imaging. She is currently working towards demonstrating the technique by building prototype systems in the K band (18-26 GHz). Arya is advised by Dr. Thomas Weller, Professor and Chair in the Department of Electrical Engineering and WAMI center’s Director. Arya has served as TA for several courses offered by the WAMI center. Vishwa Alaparthy, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Electrical Engineering and student researcher with the C4ISI Military & Intelligence Defense Laboratory, has been awarded an International travel grant from the Office of Graduate Studies, 2018. These grants are available for graduate students to present their work at an International Conference. Vishwa is advised by Dr. Salvatore D. Morgera, Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering. His research interests are Network Security, IOT’s, Machine learning and Wireless Sensor Networks. Vishwa’s current research is focused on Adapting Human Immune theories to Network Security. He will use the travel grant funding to support a conference presentation during the 2018 Annual International Conference on Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures in Prague.
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EE PhD student Keval Doshi’s Hack-A-Bull Team received first place awards in two categories at the Hack-A-Bull hackathon. The hackathon is where creators use their coding experience to make a project about anything and everything. Keval’s team created a device for blind people that would describe the surroundings to them by the use of image processing and also provide all the features that Amazon Alexa provides. They also had a fall detection system that would notify the location of the user to the caretaker if a fall is detected.
Doctoral Candidate Kavyeshree Puttananjegowda was awarded a Signature Research Fellowship from the Office of Graduate Studies at USF for 2018/19 and 2019/20. This award represents recognition of your academic abilities and is intended to assist you during your graduate studies. This award will provide: $18,000 stipend for a maximum of two academic years along with fees and health insurance, up to 12 hours of graduate–level tuition and up to $600/year in conference travel support. Kavyeshree is a doctoral student under the direction of Dr. Sylvia Thomas, who leads the Advanced Materials Bio and Integration Research (AMBIR) laboratory at USF. Dr. Thomas’ research and teaching endeavors are focused on advanced materials for alternative energy sources, sustainable environments, aerospace, and bio-applications from the micro to the nano scale.
Electrical Engineering’s very own undergraduate student assistant, Spencer Perez, was crowned USF’s 2018 Mr. Latinx! Mr. Latinx is chosen by the USF Student body as those who value diversity and would like to represent the Hispanic/Latinx community at USF. As Mr. Latinx, they will help influence young minds to understand the diversity within the Hispanic/Latinx community and lead the entire community into a positive and aspiring path at USF. Mr. & Ms. Latinx 2018 were announced during the Noche Latina event, on Thursday, October 4th, 2018. Javier Mr. Latinx, Spencer Perez (L) is pictured with Javier Barcena, runner up and Ms. Latinx Ana Garcia
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Barcena, also an Electrical Engineering undergraduate student, won runner up for Mr. Latinx. Congratulations to both Spencer and Javier!
USF Reaches Preeminence T
he University of South Florida can officially stand
and faculty recruitment, and will enhance the economic
side by side with the University of Florida and
development of the Tampa Bay region.
Florida State University as the best universities in the state. The Florida Board of Governors voted
“This validates our efforts over more than a decade
unanimously to formally designate USF as a “Preeminent
to transform USF into a premiere institution of
State Research University,” recognizing the institution’s
higher education, rivaling peers twice our age,” said
high performance and strong trajectory toward national
USF System President Judy Genshaft. “This critical
excellence.
designation will have an exponential impact on our continued efforts to grow our research enterprise,
Preeminence represents the culmination of USF’s many
provide the highest-quality education to our students,
years of careful strategic planning, focused allocation of
strengthen our partnerships and help us make an even
resources and determination of thousands of students,
bigger difference in our community.”
faculty and staff. The designation comes with millions of dollars in additional funding, carries prestige that will benefit USF in many key areas, including new student
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Where are they Now? Dr. Prshanth Adithya (Ph.D., ‘18) has joined the research and development team at Stryker Corporation, a Fortune 500 medical technologies firm, as an EE Design Engineer. Jim Alberti (Masters, ‘17) was hired as Senior Electrical Engineer at CONMED Corportation. Dr. Shamara Collins (PhD, ’18) was selected as a Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the Solar Energy Technology Office at U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Dr. Mohamed Jasim (Ph.D., ‘18) was hired as a visiting Assistant Professor at Valparaiso University Diogo Oliveira (Ph.D., ‘18) was accepted as a tenure-track Assistant Professor at Florida State University within the School of Information. Ravi Vangapattu (Masters, August ‘17) was hired as a Process Engineer at GLOBALFOUNDIRES flagship IC fab located in Malta, New York.
EE Department Prepares for ABET Renewal this Fall Under the direction of ABET coordinator and Professor Drew Hoff, the EE department is preparing for another accreditation review this year. “We have been preparing for this for 6 years, and with the official review coming in Fall 19, our faculty is prepared for a thorough review.” ABET accreditation is proof that a collegiate program has met standards essential to produce graduates ready to enter the critical fields of STEM education. Graduates from an ABETaccredited program have a solid educational foundation and are capable of leading the way in innovation, emerging technologies, and in anticipating the welfare and safety needs of the public. Take some time to familiarize yourself with the department missions and objectives designed to meet the accreditation requirements of ABET. We are certain that good news will soon follow! 14
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USF Electrical Engineering offers Dual Enrollment course for Middleton High School Students!
T
his fall, the Electrical Engineering
high school diploma. For the last
program is that these students
department started working with
two years, their Valedictorians have
seriously consider USF as a possible
Middleton High School to offer dual
graduated with a GPA of 9.2 - the
destination for their college careers.
enrollment in our Fundamentals of
highest in the Hillsborough county
In the Fundamentals course, students
Digital Design course, taught at USF
school district, and amongst the
are expected to achieve the same
by Dr. Alexandros Castellanos. This
highest in the nation. Grieshop notes
in class experience using the latest
partnership allows high schoolers at
that his students have generally been
educational technologies for on line
Middleton to complete a college-
excited about the material and it is
courses: Fundamentals of Digital
level engineering course that is
boosting their confidence to see how
Design is the first course in the
offered online, complimented with
their knowledge is helping them in
digital systems path. Dr. Castellanos
periodic campus visits both at USF
this course.
enjoys the opportunity to interact
and Middleton, and personalized
with highly committed high school
instruction from Dr. Castellanos
The PLTW curriculum is designed
students who really enjoy being part
and Russell Grieshop, a teacher in
and intended to improve the
of the class and finds this a very
the Engineering Magnet Program
success rates for university students,
pleasant experience as an instructor.
at Middleton. Grieshop is a BSEE
especially for engineering and
He believes that the dual enrollment
alumnus from USF with an extensive
medical majors. Grieshop is hoping
partnership with Middleton is a great
background in applications and
that the students improve their
opportunity to recruit high achieving
systems development. He is currently
confidence, are better equipped
students to USF, and he would like
in his fourth year teaching magnet
to visualize what it might be like to
to see the department offer more
students at Middleton, having taken
be an EE student at USF, and to help
courses from our curricula in the
over the PLTW Digital Electronics
them learn how to interact with the
future.
course. Greishop said that many
other students and the professors.
of Middleton’s students receive an
He’s especially hopeful that a
Associates degree along with their
positive impact of this The SOURCE
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Ilia Bautista Adames Received 2018 HENAAC Scholar Award
I
lia Bautista Adames, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Electrical Engineering and graduate research assistant in the Nano Computing Research
Group, has been named a 2018 HENAAC Scholar by Great Minds in STEM™ (GMiS). Ilia is a recipient of the Intel Foundation Scholarship, a highly competitive award to minority graduate students with outstanding achievements and service to the community. Students must be US citizens or permanent residents pursuing a degree in computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering or a computing-related program. Applicants must also demonstrate an interest in working for Intel. Ilia is advised by Dr. Sanjukta Bhanja, Associate Dean for Academics and Student Affairs and Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering. His research interests are neuromorphic and brain-inspired computing, machine learning, CMOS VLSI, and novel devices. Ilia’s current research is focused on emerging in-memory computation for Brain-Inspired Computing applications. In addition to the scholarship, GMiS provided travel support for Ilia to meet with Intel representatives during the 30th Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference (HENAAC) from October 17-21, 2018 in Pasadena, California.
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2017-2018 Electrical Engineering Teaching Awards T
he Electrical Engineering Department at USF recognizes and rewards outstanding
performance in academic instruction, specifically with two awards that are annually given to a faculty member and a graduate teaching assistant. The Outstanding Electrical Engineering
Educator Award is given to a faculty member in the USF Department of Electrical Engineering in recognition of significant contributions to the department’s teaching mission during the preceding academic year. Contributions considered include significant innovations in course development and/or course delivery methods, outstanding student evaluations, education-related grant funding or external support, and education-related publications.
Keysight Technologies, the WAMI center initiated
Significant student interaction in the form of
the Keysight RF & Microwave Industry-Ready
mentoring, project advising and other similar
Certification Program in 2013 as the first university
activities are also considered.
to develop and implement this program. Until now, a total of 65 USF students have earned their
The 2017-2018 recipient of this prestigious
Keysight RF Industry Ready certificates, while 39
award is Dr. Jing Wang. Dr. Wang is the Co-
other universities followed our footstep to join this
Director of the Center for Wireless and Microwave
program. At the ASEE 2018 conference, Dr. Wang
Information Systems (WAMI) with a long-term
contributed to a panel discussion entitled Different
mission to provide integrated research and
Strategies for Preparing Students to Tackle the
educational programs excelling in wireless and
RF Engineering Challenges of Tomorrow along
microwave technology. By collaborating with
with fellow panelists from University of Arizona,
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University of Notre Dame, Pennsylvania State
created to provide TAs a visible incentive to
University, and Georgia Institute of Technology
develop a commitment to student success and
(https://peer.asee.org/different-strategies-for-
excellence in undergraduate instruction. This award
preparing-students-to-tackle-the-rf-engineering-
encourages talented TAs to develop electronic
challenges-of-tomorrow-a-panel-discussion). Dr.
teaching portfolios that document and demonstrate
Wang has also been very active in mentoring
their teaching commitment and effectiveness,
graduate and undergraduate students to conduct
and allows the department to formally
crosscutting research funded by external agencies
acknowledge them for outstanding instructional
or companies. So far, 14 Ph.D. students have
accomplishments, publicize the accomplishments
successfully defended their dissertations and
of our TAs and to enhance the esteem in which
graduated under his supervision, and there are
teaching by graduate students is held as an integral
7 undergraduate students who are conducting
component of the professional preparation of
research in his lab funded by a NSF REU program.
graduate students.
In addition to the Faculty Educator award, the
The 2017-2018 Electrical Engineering Teaching
department issues an award to outstanding
Assistant Award was awarded to Vishwa Alaparthy,
Graduate Teaching Assistants. The Electrical
a doctoral student in the Electrical Engineering
Engineering Teaching Assistant (TA) Award was
program at USF. Vishwa has TA’d for courses in the
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department that include Logic Lab, Design II and
all the pressure surrounding them he tries to make
Introduction to Bioengineering. Vishwa recognizes
them feel comfortable by designing the course
that the knowledge students acquire during their
in such a way that it is both productive and does
time in a course is not just from the faculty or the
not consume a lot of their time. Vishwa’s research
TA but from various sources and he wants to enable
interests are in Network Security, IOT’s, Machine
the students to convert the skills attained from their
Learning, Computer Architecture, Routing, WSN,
curriculum into practical and real-world abilities
ADHOC Networks, Algorithm Development and
necessary for them when they graduate and start a
Bio Networking. Vishwa’s current research is
career.
focused on Adapting Human Immune theories to Network Security. He also was previously awarded
As a TA, Vishwa takes on the responsibility of
an International travel grant from the Office of
being available for the students whenever they
Graduate Studies, which provides grants to students
have a question about their projects or the
to present their work at an International conference.
course and encourages students to work toward an interdisciplinary approach for their projects, equipping them with more ideas, approaches and new inspirations. Knowing how difficult it can be for students in their final semester to cope up with
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Thank you to our generous corporate sponsors and all the individuals who have contributed to the advancement of our department: GGB Industries
Mini-Circuits
Innovatia Medical Systems
Modelithics
Jabil
Raytheon
Keysight Technologies, Inc.
Sciperio
Produced by Electrical Engineering Dr. Christos Ferekides, Interim Chair Cherie Dilley, Editor University of South Florida 4202 East Fowler Ave, ENB 118 Tampa, FL 33620 V: 813-974-2369 F: 813-974-5250 Editorial Contact: cdilley@usf.edu 20
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