ELECTRICAL
ENGINEERING
•
TEXAS
A&M
UNIVERSITY
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Fall/Winter
1999
One to One: From the Department Head
As I Remember. . .
When I first came to Texas A&M University, as I entered the Zachry Engineering Center where our department is housed, I stopped to look at the dedication plaque. I liked what was inscribed on the plaque, and from time to time I have stopped by that plaque again as it provides guidance for educating young minds, nurturing our children and living our own lives. I am reproducing here what is inscribed on this plaque: I pledge all my efforts with yours that Texas A&M may build the men who will make this states, this nations place in the sun ever brighter. To reach this objective, we must help each student find within himself: 1. That security, as a means, is essential to life, but as an end, its a form of death. 2. Intelligence never urges man to action; only patriotism, courage, ambition, self-sacrifice, hate, fear, love can fuse with life the product of the mind. 3. Life is measured in deeds, not years. He lives longest who does the most, and acts the noblest. H.B. Zachry 22 Building Dedication March 16, 1972
Chanan Singh
Highlights
3 Graduate Studies Day 6 Biomedical Imaging Opens New MRI Lab 8 Graduate and Undergraduate Scholarships and Fellowships 9 Graduate Relives a Lifetime of Memories 111 A&M Hosts CEMDAS Board Meeting
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Engineering Students Help With Panama Canal
Nearly a hundred years ago history was made when an international work force, under the instruction of American visionaries, created a seagoing shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceansthe Panama Canal. Today a group of engineering students at Texas A&M University got the chance to augment history by creating and analyzing preliminary designs for alternate approaches to centering vessels as they transit the canal locks. Vessels up to 75,000 tons DWT and 106 helped feet wide must be controlled to avoid hitting A group of Texas A&M University students vessels design alternate approaches to centering the 110 foot-wide lock walls. Currently this is in the Panama Canal. accomplished through the use of up to eight Its a high maintenance item and labor special purpose locomotives used in tandem that run on rack and pinion tracks located on intensive, said Boris Moreno of the Canal Capacity Project Officean area of the the lock walls. The ship is cabled to these 50-ton locomo- Panama Canal Commission, which is a United States government agency created to operate tives, each of which can supply up to 70,000 pounds of force in order to keep the ship from the Canal. Considering these issues and a possible hitting the walls. A specially trained pilot on plan to construct additional locks for even board the vessel visually determines the required centering control actions, which are larger vessels, the Commission solicited then transmitted to the locomotive operators proposals for studies to determine alternative ways of centering vessels that are more cost and via handheld radio communications. time efficient. The current centering operation can be cumbersome at times, especially in low See Panama-page 2 visibility conditions.
going to be difficult, Moreno said. The design team feels its continued from page 1 up to the task, however. We received three proposals, made Were trying to look at a an evaluating committee and A&M came lower maintenance system up on top and thats why they were thats hopefully cheaper to selected, Moreno said. We took into build, said Zane Rhodes, account the technical capabilities and mechanical engineering cost and decided on A&M. graduate student. The Electrical engineering professor Dr. Jo locomotives cost $3 million W. Howze submitted the proposal apiece. selected, which entailed creating a new I think were doing our interdisciplinary course entitled Crebest to deliver a good ative Solutions to Engineering Systems product and whether they Problems. decide to use it or not is up to Howze said the idea of creating such them, added industrial Students felt an integral part of the class was presenting a course originated about three years engineering graduate student their ideas to three members of the Panama Canal ago from discussions with Texas A&M Juan Peredo. I know that Commission, who traveled to College Station in early graduate Alberto Aleman-Zubieta, from the performance of the March. Administrator of the Commission. class, if it continues, well He came to us and posed some of come up with a good product. purchased the rights and properties for the problems, Howze said, adding that One essential aspect of the project $40 million and began construction. Texas A&M was among several groups was for the class to travel to Panama in Im coming from a field of ocean approached by the Commission. February to study the operation of the engineering so Ive been aware of The course, which was taught by locks, the current centering process Panama a long time, but I didnt know Howze and Dr. Chris Burger of the and the pertinent issues and conwhat is happening there, said graduate mechanical engineering department, had straints. student Abhilash Sebastian. I thought 12 students selected from the electrical, Going there and watching how ships it was very interesting, especially how mechanical, industrial and ocean engiwent through the Canal was awesome, they did it with the technology of 60-70 neering programs. The objective was to Peredo said. You can practically touch years ago. brainstorm new ideas and select six of the ships. [The visit] gave us a good idea Now, more than 80 years after the the most promising and innovative how the Canal worked and it was fun at first official ocean-to-ocean transit of approaches to vessel centering, towing the same time. the waterway, the United States and and stopping. They will submit prelimiThe students also learned more of Panama have embarked on a partnernary designs on the six approaches to the history of the Canal, whose ship for the management, operation and the commission at a later datenot an construction began in 1903 when defense of the Canal. easy task. Panama and the United States signed a Under two new treaties signed on [The current centering system] treaty allowing the United States to September 7, 1977, the Canal will be worked fine for 80 years and finding construct an interoceanic ship canal operated until the turn of the century something [new] to replace something across the Isthmus of Panama. The and the Commission was established to that has worked so good for so long is following year the United States carry out the responsibilities of the United States with respect to the Canal. In fulfilling these obligations the Commission manages, operates and maintains the Canal, its complementary works, installations and equipment, and provides for the orderly transit of vessels through the Canal. It will perform these functions until the Treaty terminates on Dec. 31, 1999, when the Republic of Panama will assume full responsibility for the Canal. Before handing over responsibility, however, the Commission remains committed to serving world trade with the standards of excellence that have been the tradition of the waterway throughout its history. Commission members hope that with careful investment in maintenance, modernization and training programs the Canal will remain a viable, economic transportaThe current centering system uses up to eight special purpose locomotives used in tandem tion route for world trade well into the that run on rack and pinion tracks located on the lock walls. A specially trained pilot on future.
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board the ship visually determines the required centering control actions, which are then transmitted to the locomotive operators via handheld radio communications.
See Panama-page 4
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Narayanan Joins Faculty
Dr. Krishna Narayanan recently joined the faculty in the Department of Electrical Engineering as assistant professor in Telecommunications and Signal Processing. His research interests are in the areas of communicaNarayanan tion theory and signal processing for communications. Specific areas of interest include Modulation and Coding (Turbo Codes, Trellis Coded Modulation and Continuous Phase Modulation), Interference Rejection for TDMA and CDMA Systems, Equalization and Coding for Magnetic Recording and Wireless Communications and VLSI Architectures for Turbo Decoders. Narayanan received his doctoral degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology. His thesis title was Turbo Decoding for Packet Data Systems.
External Advisory and Development Council Meets
Finding a way to enrich the needs of students in research was one of the many items discussed during the electrical engineering departments External Advisory and Development Council spring meeting in April. In addition to discussing ways to do this, Department Head Dr. Chanan Singh said it also is important to attract more United States citizens to graduate school through stipends, fellowships and other support. These and other topics were discussed as group leaders from the Department of Electrical Engineering
Last October marked the beginning of a new and exciting event for the Department of Electrical Engineering Graduate Studies Day. This event gave graduate students a chance to share their creative endeavors and help recruit from the undergraduate class new talent for graduate studies within electrical engineering. It took place in the lobby of the Zachry Engineering Center and was coordinated by Garng Huang, director of graduate studies, and Tammy Carda, staff assistant. The search for gifted underclassmen Graduate Studies Day gave graduate students the is not limited to undergraduates at Texas chance to share their creative endeavors and help A&M. Two undergraduates from New recruit from the undergraduate class. Mexico and Michigan attended as undergraduates and parents alike about guests of the Electric Power and Energy the new and cutting-edge information in Systems Group. the various research fields. Graduate Studies Day allows the eight Throughout the day there were poster research areas to display their current, displays from the various research areas, ongoing research activities to students. The tours of lab facilities and the chance to groups are: Electromagnetics and Microwave, get a first-hand look at the strides made Telecommunications and Signal Processing, Analog and Mixed Signal, Solid State Electron- toward excellence in the research facilities. Lunch was provided at noon. ics and Electrooptics, Electric Power and The next Graduate Studies Day is Power Electronics, Biomedical Imaging, tentatively scheduled for October 8. For Control Systems and Computer Engineering. more information contact Tammy Carda An excellent team of graduate students in 214B Zachry. also was on hand to field questions from
Graduate Studies Day Helps Students
The External Advisory and Development Council met in April to discuss the electrical engineering departments needs and concerns.
presented their individual groups needs to the Council. Different areas of research were discussed, and presentations were given by student officers from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and Eta Kappa Nu Association, updating the Council on their yearly activities.
David Wilkinson, Director of Development for the Dwight Look College of Engineering, discussed various funding techniques with the Council.
Dr. Edgar SánchezSinencio has recently been appointed TI Chair in Analog Engineering and director of Analog and Mixed Signal Center (AMSC). Sánchez-Sinencio, who joined the electrical engineering department in 1984 after serving as a visiting professor, said he was pleased Sánchez-Sinencio about the new duties. I am very excited, he said. This is the kind of challenge youre happy to take. The creation of the AMSC is among other things the result of a continuous and constant cooperation of the Analog Group with Texas Instruments since 1980. Sánchez-Sinencios research interests include Continuous-time Filters and Oscillators, Switched Capacitor Networks, Data Converters, Analog Builtin Testing Neural Networks Hardware Implementations and Low Voltage Power Supply Analog Integrated Circuits and Non-linear Signal Processing Circuits. He received his doctoral degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, his masters degree from Stanford University and a communications and electronics engineer professional degree from the National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico.
Sanchez Named TI Analog Chair
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The Texas A&M Students with members of the Panama Canal Commission
continued from page 2 In anticipation of this future Moreno said the Commission is creating an organization program that will be in place by the year 2002 to increase actual capacity of the Canal by 20 percent. Some focus studies have shown that by the year 2010 the Canal will meet the new capacity so the Commission came up with the idea of replacing the basic positioning system. Our task is to have all the studies in place by late 2001 so the decision will be made somewhere near there, Moreno said, adding that members of the projects office will submit the final proposals to the Commission, which will make a decision whether or not to use one of the proposals. Either way, the students felt this was an exciting class project since they participated in a design exercise that involved one of the worlds major engineering accomplishments. This is the first class that Ive been involved in that really is completely run by the students, said mechanical engineering graduate student Jeremy Jacobs. Theres guidance, but really minimal guidance from the professors perspective. This is a mutual thing. The instructors are part of the team involved in the same type of activities that we are coming up withideas and schedules, what we expect of ourselves, the whole thing. Howze said the project involves creativity, feasibility studies, design and actual deadlines, progress reports and deliverablesall within the context of the language and cultural challenges inherent to such an international project. Its an entirely different approach to learning where theres a premium on creativity, he said. Wed rather do that in any class. We spend very little time on the creative process [in other classes], theres more of a premium on learning facts and their application and design. I think thats one reason why the Commission chose the university and
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not large engineering contractors, Jacobs added. Theyre very interested in creativity. The project itself came to the university setting because the Commission wanted creative ideas and they thought that students, being a little bit younger in their careers, might be able to come up with more creative things than someone thats been around a long time. And creativity is not the only benefit the students gain from the course. One other major aspect of this course is that we analyze some solutions, Sebastian said. We think about a problem and have a gamut of solutions and you trim that to about 10 of them and then you analyze them. In other courses its not like that. You have a model or something and analyze that. Its such an open-minded thing for an engineer. The students also learned to work cooperatively while developing leadership and communication skills, as well as responsibility. Its been interesting working with a group of people that large and trying to get a coherent engineering objective accomplished, Rhodes said. It has enlightened me. Its also taught me a lot about the engineering disciplines. Ive learned a lot from [the other students] and hope theyve learned a lot from me. I think everyone in the class agrees that its the way it should be, said mechanical engineering graduate student Mike Wienen. The uniqueness is that it captures both interdisciplinary efforts and I think international efforts, which is nothing Ive ever heard of in a college project. Moreno agreed that Both the students and professors felt the class was closer to the idea of cooperation reality than most classes, with real-life problems and real-life between the university solutions.
and industry is something that should be encouraged. Its great for the students, and if they deliver a good product it will be good for everyone, he said. It gives them a chance at working real-life problems. And real-life experience is something Howze said the students should take with them since the class is more aligned to reality than the normal class. Its a real problem with real deliverables and timetables as opposed to artificial, and that makes a huge difference in the learning process, Howze said. Theyre under the gun. This is really more of what you would find in a real work environment where you have a group of engineers that is working towards designing something thats going to be actually useful, Peredo added. Instead of professors telling you a made-up story about something that you can work on. Through this class we learned that good ideas are thought out, Rhodes agreed. Were taught presentation skills also. We had to explain our ideas to people from Panama and thats something thats good experience, its a global economic thing that should be in an engineering class. If they cant communicate ideas, theyll never make it to the next level. These presentations were an integral part of the project, said the members of the Commission, who traveled to Texas A&M to participate in some of the sessions with the group and give them immediate feedback on some of their ideas. [The students] were very orderly when conducting their meetingsvery organized and very professional, said Juan Wong from the Canal Capacity Projects office. They respect each others ideas, are organized with their time and keep their meetings to get their objective.
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continued from page 4 They were very enthusiastic, canal pilot Raul Brostella added. All three Commission members said they believe the students are on the right track and expect some good ideas. Were very pleased, Wong said. From what weve seen so far, we think theyll come up with something. Moreno added that when the Canal was built, electricity had just been discovered and canal builders incorporated the new technology into their efforts Were probably at the same stage right now, he said. Something that we might think is years ahead might be the technology to use in the future. We want to keep an open mind. After the Commission receives the proposals, Wong said Commission members will study the report and select one or two processes more applicable and make a decision on what is needed to implement the idea. This is particularly motivating for the students since it is possible that one of the ideas could become reality in the future, which could lead to similar classes. The hope is that this will lead to more contracts with the Panama Canal, which might work as a feeder for other industries to get involved, Wienen said. I think this could be an additional approach to education that could be very useful to students, Howze added. And who wouldnt like to be able to go to the Canal in 10 years and say, you know, that thing thats working there, I designed that, Peredo said. But, if we finish and do a good job wed still have that satisfaction.
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Russell Named to National Academy
Dr. B. Don Russell, associate vice chancellor for engineering at Texas A&M University, was one of two engineering professors recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE)one of the highest professional honors for engineers. Requirements for acadRussell emy election include making important and significant contributions to engineering theory and practice, as well as unusual accomplishments in the pioneering of new fields of technology. Russell, a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, was elected for his leadership in electric power engineering and contributions to power system protection. Im very proud and pleased to be selected to such a significant organization, he said. I hope it will bring substantial credit to the department. Russell and Dr. Kyle T. Alfriend, head of the Texas A&M aerospace engineering department, were two of 37 educators throughout the country elected to the academya great accomplishment for Texas A&M. A&M getting two out of that group is pretty significant, Russell said. It puts us at the top of the list [of universities]. Another recent achievement for Russell was being named a member of the Technical Activities Board (TAB) and Management Committee of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. As a TAB member he is responsible for hundreds of technical conferences, technical publications and standards Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. where he developed a realtime MRI system and a wireless physiological gating system for cardiac MRI. During this time he also was on the adjunct staff in Morgan the Laboratory of Cardiac Energetics at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in Bethesda, Md. He received a bachelors degree from Duke University, his masters degree for IEEE. Board members are elected by IEEE societies. Russell also serves as president of the IEEE Power Engineering Society. Other duties Russell performs include associate dean for research of the Dwight Look College of Engineering and deputy director of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station. Areas of research that interest Russell include power system automation, control and protection. He is widely known for his work in the characterization and detection of high impedance faults on power distribution systems. For his research activities Russell was named IEEE Fellow and received the Outstanding Engineering Achievement Award of the National Society of Professional Engineers, as well as the IEEE Field Award in Transmission and Distribution. He also received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of Former Students for his research activities at Texas A&M University. Russell also has the first patent for microcomputer-based protective systems and nine patents for digital techniques applied to high impedance fault detection. He has been with the Department of Electrical Engineering at Texas A&M since 1976. He received his bachelors and masters degrees from Texas A&M and his doctoral degree from the University of Oklahoma. http://ee.tamu.edu/News/awards/ russel2.html from UCLA and his doctoral degree from Stanford University. At Stanford he developed instrumentation for a new type of low-cost MRI scanner called prepolarized MRI. For this work he was named a finalist for the 1996 Rabi Award given by the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Morgan was awarded a National Merit Scholarship, a University of California MICRO Fellowship from 1989-1991 and a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship from 1991-1994. http://ee.tamu.edu/~morgan/
Related Website
Morgan Joins Engineering Faculty in Biomedical Imaging Group
Dr. Patrick Morgan recently joined the electrical engineering department as an assistant professor affiliated with the Magnetic Resonance Systems Laboratory within the Biomedical Imaging Group. His research interests include realtime magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), prepolarized MRI, optimal magnet design and other MRI techniques. Im sure hes going to do wonderful [research], said Dr. Steve Wright, biomedical imaging group leader. Were glad to have him here. Throughout 1996-1998 Morgan was a member of the senior technical staff at the Johns Hopkins University
Related Website
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Biomedical Imaging Group Opens New MRI Lab For Research
A new addition to the electrical engineering department at Texas A&M University should attract new students to the Biomedical Imaging Group. The addition is a recently opened Magnetic Resonance Systems Laboratory (MRSL) designed to support interdisciplinary research in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and sensor systems. MRI, originally called nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, uses radio waves similar to an FM radio station and magnetic fields to make clear, crosssectional images of a human body or other object. Because of the variety and high resolution that can be obtained using MRI, this technology has revolutionized diagnostic imaging. The new 8,000 sq. foot research laboratory was made possible by support from a variety of sources, including donations led by Drs. Robert Riddle and Lorne Davis of Texaco, and Drs. Tim Skloss and Greg Hurst of IGC. It is housed at the University Services Building, formerly the old Texas Instruments plant, and is affiliated with the Biomedical Imaging Group and the Electromagnetics and Microwave Group. The lab supports research in a variety of projects including the use of MRI for industrial process controls, the development of desktop imaging systems and the use of parallel detecting elements, or surface coils, to improve the efficiency of MRI. Within the laboratory is an MRI system with a 4.7 Tesla/33 cm bore superconducting magnet run by an Omega imaging console. The strength of these magnetic moments is measured through units of
the Gauss (G) and the Tesla (T). The Tesla equals 10,000 Gauss. This can be put in perspective when it is realized that Earths magnetic field is equal to 0.5 G while most clinical MRI machines work at 1.5 T. Dr. Steve Wright, area leader in biomedical imaging, said this system represents a substantial upgrade from the previous 2.0 Tesla system, which will now serve as the centerpiece of a teaching laboratory that he and The MRSL includes a 8,000 square-foot off-campus Dr. Patrick Morgan are developresearch laboratory with two MRI scanners. ing. The new system provides significantly increased signal-to-noise has found other biological applications ratio and decreased imaging time. and is seeing increasing uses in nonIts unique, Wright said, adding that human areas. Its uses in such areas as very few universities support their own food processing are numerous as it can dedicated MRI systems in electrical monitor drying, cooling, freezing, engineering. Usually [students] get time fermentation and much more. This makes on a clinical system or a research system MRI attractive to nearly all areas of in a radiology department. agricultural and veterinary research. This is important because current We do have a number of collaboratrends in MRI are casting radio-frequency tors in veterinary medicine and bioengitheory and technology as critical paths in neering, Wright said, adding that the the advancement of magnetic resonance new system isnt designed for human (MR) technology. High-field imaging, utilization, though. Were trying to dynamic imaging, MR guided therapy establish this as an interdisciplinary and other advancements are creating a program and were looking at a number need for more sophisticated electromagnetics design than previously of applications, not only in traditional biomedical areas, but also in nontradirequired in MRI/MRS. tional areas. You get a big improvement in the Were really focusing on the engineeramount of time it takes to do things, ing of magnetic resonance in order to Wright said. It will allow us to investiextend its capabilities into new areas. gate things like high-speed imaging, Were looking for new applications and microscopic imaging and spectroscopy were trying to develop systems that we much more effectively. can use in new applications. Although MRI is predominantly Wright adds that from a students associated with its use in hospitals, it also standpoint working in the MRSL can provide a broad perspective of electrical Faculty and Students Honored at Banquet engineering since it involves so many aspects of the engineering curriculum and allows the students to apply their education in a variety of areas. What this allows [students] to accomplish if they want their research to be in MRI, is they can go in and undertake very ambitious projects that they wouldnt be able to do on clinical systems, he said. We think thats very important. It lets them challenge themselves in ways that wouldnt be possible without these dedicated facilities. The Department of Electrical Engineering, IEEE and Eta Kappa Nu hosted the Faculty and And Wright hopes this system will Student Awards Banquet in April. Department Head Dr. Chanan Singh, gave the opening eventually attract new students. message and introduced Tim Farrell, CEO and Co-Chairman of FutureSoft Corp., as guest Our plan is to further our reputation speaker. During the banquet 1999-2000 officers for IEEE and HKN were introduced and awards as a place to go if you want to learn the were presented to outstanding faculty members: Drs. Don Halverson, Karen Butler, Robert Nevels and Narsimha Reddy. Ashok Gopalakrishnan was presented an award for Outstanding engineering of imaging systems and TA during the 1997-98 school year and Jarret Guill won the award for 1998-99. Philip particularly MRI, he said.
Williamson won the IEEE Student Paper contest.
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On a dreary, drizzly day last fall a bright future was forecast for utility-related industries when they combined forces with a progressive organization called the Electric Power and Power Electronics Institute (EPPEI) at Texas A&M University. Representatives Dr. Ali Abur fields questions during a lab tour for EPPEI Advisory Board members. from several utilityrelated organizations met with EPPEI board members to discuss what membership entails and how it could benefit them. What you do here around this table is very important to the future of not only EPPEI, the [electrical engineering] department and the university, but also the industry, said Dr. B. Don Russell, associate vice chancellor for engineering and electrical engineering professor. The future for EPPEI, which is strategically positioned to be of service through recruiting, internship and cooperative education programs, includes helping the utilityrelated industries portray a positive image to electrical engineering graduates. Dr. Chanan Singh, head of the electrical engineering department, joined in expressing appreciation to the participants for their support of higher education through membership in EPPEI. In addition to discussing the benefits of membership at the EPPEI conference, Dr. Mladen Kezunovic, director of EPPEI and professor of electrical engineering, reviewed the 1997-98 activities. Attending the affair were representatives from Entergy Services, Central and South West Services, Houston Lighting and Power, Lucent Technologies, Texas Instruments, TU Electric and TU Services. The addition of these electronic-oriented companies broadens EPPEIs reach into the commercial world.
Wang joins faculty in Computer EPPEI Board Meets to Discuss Future Of Utility-related Industries Engineering Group recently joined the Dr. Li-C. Wang
electrical engineering department as an assistant professor in the Computer Engineering Group. His interests include Test and Test Generation, Design Validation and Verification, Design for Testability, CAD Methodology for VLSI Design, VLSI Design and CAD Algorithms. Wang Wang came from the Somerset Design Center in Austin, a design consortium between IBM, Motorola and Apple that designs all power PC chips. We in the computer engineering area feel especially fortunate to be joined by an individual of the caliber of Dr. Li-C. Wang, said Dr. M. Ray Mercer, area leader in computer engineering. His industrial experience at Somerset and Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, N.J., gives him an excellent balance between the theoretical and practical aspects of computer engineering. Earlier in his career Wang developed a Combinational ATPG and Parallel Faults Simulator, wrote an OBDD Package, GUI DFT for Microprocessor Embedded Arrays and has experience in Formal Verification of Microprocessor Embedded Arrays, RTL Level Test Generation, Verification Coverage Analysis and Verilog and Boolean Equivalence Checking. He received his bachelors degree from Chao-Tung University in Taiwan, and his masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.
Watson Named IEEE Fellow
Dr. Karan Watson, associate dean of engineering at Texas A&M University, has been made a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), one of the organizations highest rankings. Watson was selected a Fellow by the global 320,000-member association, whose directory describes the honor as one of unusual professional distinction conferred only by the IEEE board of directors upon a Watson person of extraordinary qualifications and experience. IEEE Fellow candidates must have a background that meets the stringent criteria set by the IEEE. They are nominated in several categories. This honor is one of several Watson recently received. Earlier she received a mentor award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the worlds largest federation of scientists and engineers. The AAAS award honors those who have mentored significant numbers of underrepresented students in science and engineering. Also in recognition of her mentoring, Watson was one of nine people honored at the White House with the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. She has received $16 million in funding to support programs for mentoring of women and minorities in science and engineering. Watson, the only female dean in the colleges 100-plus year history and a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, joined the department in 1983 as an assistant professor. She received her bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees from Texas Tech University.
Representatives from several utility-related organizations met with EPPEI board members to discuss what membership entails and how it could benefit them.
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Scholarship and Fellowship Winners
Graduate Fellowships and Grants
Texas Telecommunications Engineering Consortium
Grants
Udayan M. Das Gupta$3,000 Jong-Hyune Kim$3,000 Qinghua Li$3,000
Congratulations to the following graduate and undergraduate students chosen to receive Department of Electrical Engineering fellowships and scholarships. These awards by the Graduate Studies Committee are based on publications and conference papers submitted by the applicants
Electric Power and Power Electronics Institute Fellowships
Adedayo Kuforiji$1,000 Yunqiang Lu$15,000 Xiaozhong Sun$15,000 Qilong Wang$15,000
Fellowships
Electrical Engineering Fellowships
Mohammad Akteruzzaman$1,000 Sachit Garg$1,000 Towfique Haider$1,000 Sung-Ling Huang$1,000 Hong-Ryong Kim$1,000 Jin-Seok Koh$1,000 Kyung-Woo Lee$1,000 Hamidur Rahman$1,000 Pushui Xu$1,000 Zigang Yang$15,000 Jennifer Dworak$12,000
Zhongmin Liu$15,000 Panayiotis Papadimitriou$15,000 Daryl Reynolds$15,000 Zan Yang$15,000
Analog Mixed Signal Group TI Fellowships
Federico Sierra Arriaga$13,244 Siew Kuok Hoon$12,000 Lung-Hwa Hsieh$1,000 Pavan Kumar Singh$1,000 Bo Xia$15,000
Ebensberger Graduate Fellowship
Undergraduate Scholarships
Raymond Van Hook Memorial Scholarship
Stacey Comer Kais Elodat Laura Anne Grady John Sedlak Adam T. Snider James Wingfield
Bolton-Kennedy Scholars
Matthew D. Braunstein Anthony Fernandes Mandy Jubang Hoang Van Ngo Casey Sam Anderson Quochang K. Bui Hai Ding Hoang Marianna Riabova Tarek Saad
Bolton-Whitaker Scholars
Marvin Wadsworth Smith Scholarship
Jeff Bergeron Clark Jarvis Kevin Phillip Smith Wesley Weibel Michael Fisher Christine Worstell Brent Strawn
Willard P. Worley Scholarship Robert D. Chenoweth 47 Scholarship Fred D. Lege III Endowed Scholarship
Ronald Sing-Ming Liu Scott M. Olschewsky Tuan Anh Pham David Deptula
Misc. Funds
Lewis M. Haupt 27 Scholarship Kevin D. Faske Scholarship
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Armando Garza-CPL Kevin J. Gabrielli-CPL Shawndra Green-SWEEMA William Hefflefinger-Chevron Christopher R. Jones-Trident Data Systems Jason Jung Shahedolla Molla Kevin L. Palmer-CPL Bryan A. Ramirez-CPL Teck Chang Sai Chiang H. Tan Jeffrey L. Watts Jason Wicker-Chevron Safwan Zaheer
On Jan. 2, 1922 in the Dixie Classic (Cotton Bowl), E. King Gill, a former football player for Texas A&M University, was asked to don a football uniform and be prepared to play against Centre College. This initiated what is now known at Texas A&M as the 12th Man Tradition the act of standing in readiness to support the team. Witnessing the 22-14 Texas A&M victory was a teenager named Robert Marion Kennedy, who has since had a long history with A&M, depicting him as a true Aggie. This was like one of the present-day big bowl games, Kennedy recalled. I was a senior in high school and there was 15,000 capacity. I was there when they started the 12th Man Tradition. Kennedy earned his bachelors degree in the electrical engineering department in 1926 at Texas A&M, and has since been instrumental in many other university activities spanning seven decades. Prior to his days at Texas A&M, however, Kennedy had several cousins who had begun to make a name at Texas A&M and in College Station. Francis Kamp McGinnis 00, was president of the Alumni Association (later the Association of Former Students) from 1910 -1911. Another cousin, Nestor M. McGinnis 08, was former mayor of College Station. He was responsible for most of the landscape of College Station, Kennedy said. There wasnt anything there but a bunch of gravel and dirt. Anything you see now that we call landscaping can be contributed to Nestor. Perry T. McGinnis 14 and Charles T. McGinnis also were among Kennedys cousins who made Texas A&M their alma mater, making Texas A&M a large part of his familys history, which Kennedy felt was important. Kennedy, a Life Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, was born in Dallas in 1905. He was married 49 years to Hazel Davis Kennedy, a 1926 graduate of Texas
Electrical Engineering Graduate Relives a Lifetime of Memories
Christian University. Following graduation from Texas A&M in 1926, where Kennedy won the Distinguished Student award for his grade point average, he began working with Southwestern Bell in Dallas. He later transferred to St. Louis and then finally retired in 1970 with the title Transmission Engineer, and was named a member of the Telephone Pioneers of America. His job duties included dealing with the Federal Communications Commission in Washington, supervising the construction permits and licenses for 440 radio stations and putting up long-distance relay circuits for toll lines. During his time with Southwestern Bell, Kennedy saw many changes, from the initiation of an employees union to a change in the role of telephone operators to switching from manual to dial phones. Somewhere along the line customer dialing long distance came along, he said. The first years I worked, the customer came on the phone and when the local operator answered, [the customer] said, I want long distance, and she put you in with a long-distance operator who made out a toll ticket and tried the call. Now they have it where you can dial anywhere in the world. Kennedy, a life member of TAU BETA PI and a licensed professional engineer since 1938 (the first year it was established by Texas Legislature), said in addition to these changes there have been many others, including different background skills of management and type of service rendered. The greatest change in Kennedys life, however, was World War II, in which he served five years active duty as a colonel after graduating from the war departments School of Military Government at the University of Virginia.. He spent more than two years overseas working long hours with few days off. Kennedy said, however, it was a great experience for him. He was awarded military honors for his service under generals Dwight Eisenhower and Omar Bradley. The Knight of Luxembourgs Grand Ducal Order of the Crown of Oak and Croix de Guerre, were awarded to Kennedy for his leadership and bravery. Kennedy described the setting in which he earned the medals. In December of 1944 the Germans massed an enormous military force. They were trying to come through Luxembourg and capture the port of Antwerp, which is where the allies brought in supplies and unloaded them. I was on temporary duty with General Bradleys 12th Army Group. Headquarters was in Luxembourg City and
Kennedy
The painting, called Bay of Naples, Italy, was donated by Kennedy to the Department of Electrical Engineering. It was painted by G.L. Cameron, a student of Pablo Picasso.
General Bradley was in the Alfa Hotel there. The Germans came in [to Luxembourg], but were not headed for Luxembourg City. They got within 10 miles of the city. Kennedy said that during staff meetings he represented the people of Luxembourg, getting them allowances of food, fuel and medicine. His leadership role during this period and the risk involved when the Germans fought near the city earned him his medals. There were very few of these medals given out from Luxembourg, he said. It was very restricted. But, even throughout the excitement of World War II and the changes occurring in his engineering field, Kennedy couldnt forget his alma mater. Kennedy was a charter member of the Century Club and later became a permanent member, with the gift of a Double Diamond endowment. He also made a Founders gift to the George Bush Presidential Library Center, is a Reveille member of the 12th Man Foundation and has made a gift to the Corps of Cadets brick fund. Other memberships for Kennedy at Texas A&M include the Forsyth Heritage Society and the Texas A&M Foundation University Associates. Kennedy also has made several endowments to the electrical engineering department, including the inaugural gift to the Bolton Scholars Program in 1996. His donations to this scholarship program now equal $275,000, including matching grants from his former employer and the University. Other donations to the department include a painting called Bay of Naples, Italy, which was painted by G.L. Cameron, a student of Pablo Picasso, and Kennedys Aggie ring. The proof of Kennedys dedication to Texas A&M will always be remembered, however, through one of his latest donations to the Jon L. Hagler Centerthe new Texas A&M Foundation Building. Kennedy funded a room there that will be called the Robert Marion Kennedy 26 Seminar Room. This gift and all his other contributions to the university define Kennedy as a true Aggie, something he is very proud of.
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Butler Receives Young Investigator Program Award
Dr. Karen Butler has been named recipient of the 1999 Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program Award. She is one of 21 presented the award out of 216 applicants. As part of the Butler award, which is designed to recognize young scientists, Butler will receive up to $100,000 per year for three years. With this money she will investigate the concept of predictive reconfiguration for a ship. This concept analyzes the status of the ship, tracks threats and optimizes reconfiguration of the electrical system to deal with threats and minimize damage to the electrical system. In addition to this honor, Butler was named a 1998-99 Montague Center for Teaching Excellence Scholar. Under the Montague award she received a $5,000 grant to research and develop innovative teaching techniques. Butler joined the electrical engineering department at Texas A&M University in 1994 as an assistant visiting professor and received an assistant professor appointment in September 1995. Her research interests are in the areas of distribution automation and intelligent systems for power quality, state estimation, equipment deterioration and fault diagnosis. The Power Engineering Society, IEEE, American Society for Engineering Education and the Louisiana Engineering Society are some of the organizations in which Butler is a member. She also is a registered professional engineer in the states of Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi. Currently she is assistant director of the Power Systems Automation Laboratory, and in 1995 she founded the Eva and Percy Butler Scholarships, which are named for her parents. She also serves as a mentor on several programs targeting minority and female engineering students. Butler received her doctoral degree from Howard University, her masters degree from the University of Texas at Austin and her bachelors degree from Southern University in Baton Rouge, La.
Whitaker Named Outstanding Alumni
Del Whitaker, senior vice president in charge of Texas Instruments (TI) Mixed Signal and Standard Logic Products, recently was awarded the Dwight Look College of Engineering Outstanding Alumni Award. The award recognizes engineering graduates for their accomplishments and distinction after graduation. Whitaker 65, was nominated for his professional excellence, contributions to society and Whitaker received the Dwight Look College Of Engineering dedication to Texas A&M Alumni Award during a ceremony in April. University and the electrical engineering department. In addition to serving on the board of trustees of the Dallas Theater Center, Whitaker has been active in his support of women and minorities in engineering through his work at Texas Womans University and has been honored for his efforts. He also has served on the Dwight Look College of Engineering External Advisory and Development Council and has worked to enhance the success of the College and improve relations with the Texas industry. He was instrumental in arranging a $5.1 million gift from TI for enhancing the analog area in the Department of Electrical Engineering. This gift doubled the number of endowments in the department in one year and has helped create a center for mixed signal processing. In addition to this, Whitaker has personally established two scholarships in the electrical engineering department under the Bolton Scholars Program. http://ee.tamu.edu/News/ TIgift/WhitStory.htm
Related Website
Members of the electrical engineering department hosted a reception for Whitaker in April to honor the occasion.
GIfts and Endowment Information
Gifts and endowments help in attracting and educating top quality students, rewarding and retaining top quality faculty and promoting the growth of the department. We would be delighted to discuss further with you how to make a gift or establish an endowment in your own name or the name of a loved one. Endowments may also take the form of naming a laboratory or the department. Gifts of any size may also be made to the Electrical Engineering Development Fund to help the growth of the department. For more information, contact: David Wilkinson, Director of Development Dwight Look College of Engineering Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-3126 Phone (409) 845-5113 Email d-wilkinson@tamu.edu Dr. Chanan Singh, Deparment Head Department of Electrical Engineering Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-3128 Phone (409) 845-7589 Email singh@ee.tamu.edu
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Cantrell Named Associate Provost For Information Technology
Dr. Pierce Cantrell, associate professor and former assistant department head in electrical engineering, recently has been appointed associate provost for information technology at Texas A&M University. He had been serving as interim associate provost since April 1998 after replacing former associate provost John Dinkel, and was chosen for the position after a national search. He has done such an outstanding job in this position that Dr. [Ray] Bowen and I agreed not to reopen the national search that first brought Dr. Cantrell to our attention as a candidate for this position, said Provost Ronald Douglas. Cantrell joined the Department of Electrical Engineering in 1982 in computer engineering with a research specialty in computer networking. His service on a university computerrelated committee has made him familiar with campus computing issues. Hes both a capable administrator Cantrell and faculty member, said Dr. Ray Mercer, computer engineering area leader. Well miss his day-today contributions in the group. As a professor, Cantrell introduced graduate courses in Computer Communications and Networks and Local Area Networks and undergraduate courses in Computer Architecture and Design and Computer Interfacing: Hardware and Software. In addition to his teaching duties, Cantrell has had administrative experience as assistant department head and has conducted research in multimedia networking and video conferencing over LANs and WANs and multiresolution coding. He recently combined his research and teaching duties by instructing a graduate class using streaming video technology. We know hell provide valuable service to the University as a whole, Mercer said. Cantrell received his bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
The electrical engineering department in May hosted the semi-annual Industrial Advisory Board meeting for the Center for Electronic Materials, Devices and Systems (CEMDAS). CEMDAS is a National Science Foundation Industry/ University Cooperative Research Center established in 1995 to promote industrial sponsorship of university research and cooperative research between universities. Current university members are Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Arlington. The meeting on May 20 at the George Bush conference center gave the National Science Foundation, which supplies the sustaining funds to CEMDAS to defer administrative expenses, the opportunity to review CEMDAS. Throughout the day member representatives discussed various projects they were working on. Researchers from UTA reviewed their work in bio-chips, which are used to provide a diagnostic tool for DNA analysis and lasers and modulators used for incorporating diffractive optical elements. Texas A&M researchers gave a discourse on such things as integrated optic research, research in microwave circuits and antennas and luminescence and material characterization of codeposited tungsten doped zinc oxide phosphor. Dr. Henry Taylor, electrical engineering professor and director of CEMDAS, opened the meeting with a brief overview of what the center does and mentioned that the department also has applied for a six-year extension that will include the University of North Texas. Some industries and universities that support CEMDAS include Advanced Micro Devices, Honeywell, Inc., Input/ Output, Inc., The University of Texas at Arlington, TriQuint Texas and Prairie View A&M University. Representatives of these companies, as well as visiting companies considering membership, such as Compaq Computer Corporation, A&M researchers discussed integrated optic Lockheed Martin, LCM/ research and research in microwave circuits Globe Turbos, Texas and antennas.
Electrical Engineering Department Hosts CEMDAS Advisory Board
Instruments and The Boeing Company, were present for the meeting. Taylor said these participants, which have an interest in the unique properties of electronic, microwave and electro-optical devices, are benefitted by CEMDAS in many ways. Such benefits to industrial participants include cost-effective research, the opportunity to obtain property rights and the chance for better recruiting, including interactions with students and a data base that includes Dr. Henry Taylor opened the meeting with a brief overview the academic background, previous employment, research interests, career of what CEMDAS does. plans and the expected date of graduation of the students. This is a way for companies to not only get research done in a cost-effective way, but also it helps with their recruiting because they get to know the students on the project, Taylor said. Thats one thing, particularly these days. Its a sellers market for the students, and the companies are very competitive in trying to recruit. The two broad areas of CEMDAS research at Texas A&M are devices and systems. Device research is concentrated in solid-state electronics, microwaves and electro-optics. Systems research encompasses application of these technologies in such areas as optical and microwave communications, monitoring and control of industrial equipment and process and biomedical imaging. New microwave, electro-optic and solid-state devices developed in the laboratories are frequently used in the demonstration of new system capabilities or improved system performance. These are applied to such areas as wireless communications, optical communications, fiber-optic network diagnostics, magnetic resonance imaging, high-resolution optical imaging, industrial equipment monitoring, control systems for industrial machinery and processes. Taylor said that so far these devices have proven useful to industries. One device is a current sensor invented by Dr. Jim Blake that is the subject of two patents issued and seven patents pending. It also has received national attention during a recent NSF conference for I/UCRC directors. Honeywell, Inc., which is based in Phoenix, is commercializing the technology.
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Hingorani Discusses The Revolution of Power Electronics
that it is value added since it can run 24 hours a day without interruptions. Because it is cost effective, he said, power electronics could be used not only by companies, and organizations but also by utility companies who can supply various power outputs depending on the needs. Industrial parks that use Custom Power are a good example, he said. Some businesses might want the minimum power output while others, such as hospitals, need more power and the assurance that they wont lose that power. This is a full area of quality solutions that is beginning to be served, Hingorani said. Power electronics has a huge market potential. Within 10 years, he estimates that power electronics will go into full usage and because of this market potential there should be a good future for students in power electronics. I encourage [students]to take up power electronics, Hingorani said. The future is very bright. Hingorani received his bachelors degree from Baroda University in India. He received his masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in England. In addition to being credited with originating the concepts of FACTS and Custom Power, Hingorani has authored more than 150 papers on HVDC and ac transmission and has coauthored a book on HVDC power transmission. He was presented the Uno Lamm Medal by the IEEE Power Engineering Society for outstanding contributions in high voltage direct current technology and received the prestigious 1995 Lamme Medal for leadership and pioneering contributions to the transmission and distribution of electric power. The Department of Electrical Engineering presents this yearlong program of lectures to broaden the horizons of faculty, students and friends interested in the progress of electrical engineering.
Dr. Chanan Singh, Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering, presents Hingorani with an award of appreciation. The Revolution of Power Electronics was the topic of discussion in April by distinguished speaker Dr. Narain Hingorani, president of Hingorani Power Electronics in Los Altos Hills, Calif. In his discussion, which was part of the Distinguished Lecture Series, a yearlong program of lectures for those interested in the progress of electrical engineering, Hingorani said that HVDC is used for long-distance transmission and the interconnection of systems with incompatible frequencies. He said this is a well-established technology and represents the power electronics application in a range of hundreds to thousands of megawatts. A new technology introduced by Hingorani is Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS). It increases useable ac transmission capacity through high-speed control of voltage, current, phase angle and power flow. FACTS represents power electronics in the range of a few megawatts to a few hundred megawatts and is considered a new way of managing the power systems of the next century. According to Hingorani, a concept based on the use of power electronics controllers distribution system, called Custom Power, is the most important area of ac transmission. Custom Power enables utilities to deliver value-added, reliable, high quality power to customers, who then will no longer be responsible for fixing their own problems, he said. It represents power electronics in the range of a few tens of kilowatts to a few megawatts. The reliability of power is very important, Hingorani said. You cant have any glitch in a power supply. If something happens to the power, such as lightning, insulator and structural failures, accidents or equipment failures, he said everything would stop on the production line. Every time something happens to the power transmission, something happens to the product line, he said, adding that the effects of undervoltage on customer equipment can also cause damage to the motors or drives on the production line. Some products such as milk and other dairy products cant afford to be stopped. The Custom Power concept means the customer receives specified power quality, diminishing the chance of these problems. This includes a compilation of the following: no or rare occasions of power interruptions, the magnitude and duration of voltage reduction is within specified limits, no over voltages, no harmonic voltage and low phase voltage. One needs to decide the value in terms of business and decide whats needed, he said. Its an illusion to think youll have a more reliable source than power electronics. Hingorani added that power electronics is not only more reliable but also cost effective with lower storage costs and
Nguyen Named Editor of International Journal
Dr. Cam Nguyen, associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, was named editor-in-chief of the new International Journal of Subsurface Sensing Technologies and Applications, to be published by Kluwer Academic/ Plenum Publishers. The journal, which is scheduled to appear in Jan. 2000, aims to serve as an international forum for reporting advances and progress in the research and development of subsurface sensing technologies and their existing and new emerging applications in many scientific and engineering disciplines. The scope of the journal is broad and multi-disciplinary. It will cover all areas of subsurface sensing such as nondestructive testing, medicine, biological sciences, forestry, communications, law enforcement, civil, agriculture, wood, environment, geology, construction, railroads, maritime structures, archeology, petroleum, chemistry, food, surface metrology, unexploded ordinance and mines, mining, utilities, drying, industrial processing, materials and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). This journal is the first of its kind bringing together all the activities relating to subsurface sensing technologies and applications under a single publication. The journal also will publish peer-reviewed articles. It will be devoted to the state-of-the-art of subsurface sensing technologies and applications.
12
Basar Discusses Stochastic Designs
sensitivity parameter, leading to closedloop system trajectories that are bounded in probability. A discussion of some extensions of Risk-Sensitive Stochastic Designs and these connections between risk-sensitive Their Relationship with Nonlinear stochastic and robust deterministic H¥Control was the topic of the discusdesigns to parameter identification and sion by distinguished lecturer Dr. Tamer filtering problems concluded the lecture. Basar, Nearing Professor of Electrical and Basar received his bachelors degree Computer Engineering at the University of from Robert College in Istanbul, and his Illinois. Basar masters and doctoral degrees in Basars discussion was part of the the continuous time and using an engineering and applied science from Distinguished Lecture Series, a yearlong Yale University. program of lectures for those interested in exponentiated integral cost, Basar After time spent at Harvard University, the progress of electrical engineering. He presented a dynamic programming Marmara Research Institute in Turkey and said that it is a well-known fact in statisti- approach for derivation of the optimal controller. He then showed that this Bogazici University in Istanbul, he joined cal decision theory that if the utility optimal controller is a saddle-point the University of Illinois where he also is function of a decision maker is taken as the expected value of the exponential of a strategy for the minimizing player in a two- the Director of the Decision and Control Laboratory. given loss function, then one can capture person stochastic differential game with only integral cost. Currently he is president-elect of the risk-averse or risk-seeking behavior, Furthermore, a particular large deviaIEEE Control Systems Society, the deputy depending on whether the loss function is tion limit of this controller provides a editor-in-chief of the IFAC journal positively or negatively exponentiated. Automatica, the managing editor of the In a multi stage decision problem, if the solution to a deterministic nonlinear H¥control problem. Annals of the International Society of loss function is taken as the standard A demonstration of how a variant of Dynamic Games and the associate editor stage-additive one, then exponentiation the integrator backstepping methodolof various journals. leads to a multiplicative loss function, ogy in a specific class of nonlinear Besides authoring or co-authoring which yields a much richer class of stochastic control systems in strictmore than 150 journal articles, book [optimal] decision rules than the riskfeedback form was then given. Basar chapters and conference publications, neutral rules associated with the stansaid this methodology could be used to Basar has played an active role in many dard loss function. Basar said that recently this formalism devise a constructive tool for obtaining scientific organizations such as IEEE and optimal or near-optimal controllers under IFAC. has found important applications in the risk-sensitivity criterion. The Department of Electrical Engineerstochastic control, which leads to rich These obtained controllers exhibit ing presents this yearlong program of classes of control laws with appealing some nice features, he said, such as lectures to broaden the horizons of robustness properties. guaranteeing any desired level of longfaculty, students and friends interested in After introducing a general class of the progress of electrical engineering. stochastic control problems, formulated in term average cost for a given riskA new invention in the Electric Machines and Power Electronics (EMPE) Laboratory has improved land and marine propulsion systems, therefore improving combat vehicles and ships. Researchers at the EMPE Laboratory, headed by Dr. Hamid Toliyat, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, and using financial support received from Office of Naval Research, have invented a Smart Motor Drive (SMD) for marine and land propulsion applications. At the SMD center there is a rugged five-phase specially wound cage induction machine. Toliyat said the supplied currents to this machine through a power amplifier are controlled using a digital signal processor (DSP), such that a combined fundamental plus third harmonic component are injected. The fundamental component of current is used to regulate the developed torque, whereas the third harmonic component of current is used to flatten the air gap flux. As a result Toliyat said there is more specific torque with less iron mass developed. This makes SMD capable of developing 15 percent more torque for the same amount of iron and copper as a conventional motor drive. SMD also is fault tolerant as it can operate with the loss of one, two or even three phases. According to Toliyat, this added feature makes SMD very reliable, especially for combat vehicles and ships.
The progress of the partnership between Texas A&M Universitys Digital Signal Processing (DSP) and Mixed Signal Processing (MSP) programs with Texas Instruments was the focus of the second Texas Instruments Day earlier this year. Presentations on the The afternoon session ended with poster direction of TI in the areas paper presentations by students in the Zachry of DSP and MSP were Engineering Center lobby. given by Leon Adams, worldwide DSP strategic marketing manager, and David Van Winkle, worldwide data converter products manager. In addition to the opening addresses by Dr. Chanan Singh, electrical engineering department head, and Dr. Bud Peterson, executive associate dean, Drs. Mehrdad Ehsani, Hamid Toliyat and Costas Georghiades gave updates of three research projects in DSP. Drs. Edgar Sánchez-Sinencio, Jose Pineda de Gyvez and Sherif Embabi then presented the research activities in MSP. The afternoon session included poster paper presentations by students on Telecommunication/Signal Processing, Analog VLSI and Power Electronics in the Zachry Engineering Center lobby. The meeting, which was organized by Dr. Nasser Kehtarnavaz, concluded with lab tours and individual group meetings.
Progress of TI Partnership Discussed
Invention: Smart Motor Drive
13
Announcements
Texas Instruments recently provided a $100,000 grant to the Department of Electrical Engineering to help promote Digital Signal Processing (DSP)education. The grant will be used to provide four scholarships and to enhance DSP curriculum activities, such as the DSP lab activities and research in signal and image processing and communications. We are pleased with the TI support, said Dr. Nasser Kehtarnavaz, associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, who said there is a shortage of DSP graduate students. There is a growing demand for graduates with DSP knowledge and experience. Drs. Jose Pineda de Gyvez, associate professor of electrical engineering and Edgar Sánchez-Sinencio, professor of electrical engineering, taught a short course on campus in June called Introduction to Analog Monolithic-Circuit Design. The course is part of the National Chautauqua Short Course Program, an annual series of forums in which scholars at the frontiers of various sciences meet intensively for several days with undergraduate college teachers of science. It is sponsored by the National Science Foundation and is held in different locations. These forums provide an opportunity for invited scholars to communicate new knowledge, concepts and techniques directly to college teachers in ways that are immediately beneficial to their teaching. For more information go to http://amesp02.tamu.edu. The Telecommunications and Signal Processing Program is in the process of extending its wireless communications lab and is developing a digital communications lab. The extra wireless communications lab space, which is devoted to telecommunications research, will give more work stations for graduate students. The digital communications lab, which is partly sponsored by Texas Telecommunications Engineering Consortium, is designed to help educate undergraduate students and give them practical experience. Electrical engineering faculty members helped to organize the 1999 IEEE Vehicular Conference in Houston. The international conference, which was in May, is one of the largest wireless communications conferences with representatives coming from throughout Europe, Asia, the United States and other countries. Dr. Costas Georghiades, professor in electrical engineering, and Dr. Scott Miller, associate professor in electrical engineering, were co-chairs for the technical program and electrical engineering faculty members were on the program committee. Lucent Technologies has become the newest industrial member of the 34-year-old Electric Power and Power Electronics Institute in the Texas A&M University electrical engineering department. Institute director Dr. Mladen Kezunovic sees benefits for both the power engineering faculty and students. Adding Lucent to the membership will provide the Power Engineering Program with a unique opportunity to interact with not only the leading utilities as we have done in the past, but also with the technologically advanced segment of the equipment vendor industry, said Kezunovic, a professor of electrical engineering. The 10-professor EPPEI develops partnerships with industries so electrical engineering faculty and students can conduct joint projects with the power industry. In addition to Lucent, industrial members include Central and South West System, Energy Services, Houston Power and Light, Southwest Electric Metering Association and TU Electric. Rhonda Franklin Drayton, an assistant professor with the University of Minnesota and electrical engineering alumnus, recently received the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering (PECASE) award from the National Science Foundation to assist in her research.
Faculty News Briefs
Drs. Narasimha Reddy and Steven Wright were selected as the Ruth and William Neely 52/Dow Chemical Faculty Fellows for 1999-2000. The Faculty Fellows program was established three years ago to recognize the recipients overall contribution to the Texas A&M Engineering Program, including classroom instruction, scholarly activities and professional service. Reddy is an associate professor in the Department of ElectricalEngineering. His research interests are in I/O systems, Multimedia Systems, Parallel Processing, and Computer Architecture. Currently, he is directing the design of a high-performance storage system using a network of workstations. Reddy received his bachelors degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India and his masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. Wright is area leader of the Biomedical Imaging Group and associate professor in electrical engineering. His interests are in Electromagnetics, Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Antenna Theory. I think its fantastic that [the Fellows Program] is working to provide opportunities to recognize people for their hard work, Wright said. Im very appreciative. He is a member of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, a Study Group on MR Engineering and the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. He received his doctoral degree from the University of Illinois. Even though Dr. J. R. Biard recently retired as chief scientist from Honeywell Inc., a global leader in control technology, he seems to have found his workload with the company increasing instead of decreasing. Biard, who was chief scientist of the micro switch division, has been hired on as a consultant at Honeywell by two different divisions. He is a distinguished alumnus at Texas A&M and has worked with Texas A&M since 1985 as adjunct faculty member. He is currently chairman of the electrical engineering External Advisory Council and is a member of National Academy of Engineering and an IEEE Fellow. Biard has 51 U.S. and foreign patents, which include the Light Emitting Diode (LED), the Metal Oxide Semiconductor Read Only Memory (MOSROM) and Schottky clamped logic circuits. He received his bachelors masters and doctoral degrees from Texas A&M. Dr. Mladen Kezunovic, professor in electrical engineering, was elected a Fellow of the IEEE. Dr. Karen Butler, assistant professor in electrical engineering, received the distinguished Ph.D. Alumni Award from Howard University. Dr. Hamid Toliyat, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, has been listed in the Marquis Whos Who in Science and Engineering and in the 2000 Outstanding Scientists of the 20th Century. Dr. Nasser Kehtarnavaz has been promoted to the rank of professor. Dr. Xiaodong Wang, assistant professor in the Telecommunication and Signal Processing Group of the Department of Electrical Engineering, has recently received the prestigious NSF Career Award.
14
Departmental News
Lister, Carda Recognized For Achievement
Two staff members received an unexpected bonus last Christmas due to their outstanding contributions as support staff to the Department o f Electrical Engineering. Tammy L. Carda and Lisa Assistant Department Head, Dr. Robert Nevels, presents L. Lister were recipients of Carda (left) and Lister (right) with their awards. the 1998 Electrical Engineering Staff Achievement Award during the annual department Christmas dinner at the Clayton Williams Alumni Center. Each year two support staff from the department are chosen to receive this prestigious award. The objective of this award is to recognize continuous endeavors towards excellence and promotion of the success of the department. Carda and Lister each received an engraved plaque and award check in the amount of $500.
Student News
Congratulations to Ph.D. candidate Mike Grimaila, who recently became engaged to Shannon OKee, the director of nursing at Intern Health Care. The couple plans to marry Oct. 23. The Student Engineers Council is looking to get the word out to engineering students by creating a newsletter. The council says the newsletter, which will be available in several locations, is designed to inform students of the vast resources available to them through the Dwight Look College of Engineering. Depending on the amount of content available, it will be produced on a biweekly to monthly basis. To submit information for the newsletter, send it via email to sec@tamu.edu with the subject NL info or deliver the information to 219 Wisenbaker. For information, contact Jason Renna or Jason Rubli at 8478567. Jennifer Dworak received the Best Presentation Award in the Engineering I category of the Honors Awards Ceremony. Dr. Ray Mercer, professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, is her advisor. Dr. Gabriele Manganaro, former Electrical Engineering Research Associate, was recently named IEEE Outstanding Young Author for his paper entitled, A Four Quadrant S2I Switched-Current Multiplier, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems-II: Analog and Digital Signal Processing, vol. 45, no. 7, July 1998, pp. 791-799 (with Dr. Jose Pineda de Gyvez).
Carolyn Warzon, a staff assistant in the Department of Electrical Engineerings Computer Engineering Program, recently was recognized for her outstanding performance. Warzon and one other staff member from the Dwight Look College of Engineering, were presented the Engineering Outstanding Support Staff award on the basis of professional performance that exceeds expectation and produces highly significant results. The intent is to recognize outstanding staff members and the contributions they make to the college, said Dr. Ray Mercer, area leader for Warzon Computer Engineering. Supporters cite her motivation, personal initiative and ability to handle a wide variety of responsibilities with effectiveness and cordiality. Warzon is valued as a problem-solver with excellent organizational skills who frequently works beyond regular hours to accommodate faculty needs. Carolyn is the finest staff member Ive worked with, Mercer said. She is the central figure in the computer engineering area. She is absolutely invaluable and irreplaceable in our organization. To win the award, members of the department must nominate a support staff member and an anonymous committee chooses them. Carolyns can-do attitude and outstanding performance have had a significant effect in increasing the computer engineering facultys productivity and morale, said one faculty member. Warzon received an award check in the amount of $1,000 for her accomplishments.
Warzon Recipient of Support Staff Award
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