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Letter from the Department Chair
Dear Alumni, Students, Faculty, Staff, Donors and Friends,
The 2024 spring version of the ECE Newsletter is our 6th issue to keep all our stakeholders better informed on the many exciting things happening within our ECE department. We have some interesting news we would like to share with you, and I will highlight a few below.
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Letter from the Associate Chair
Dear Alumni, Students, Faculty, Staff, Donors, and Friends,
We are excited to have completed the Spring 2024 semester. Our Summer 2024 semester has already begun and is off to a great start. To echo Dr Naber’s message, we have focused on recruiting and engaging enrolled students in all our academic programs. This past year, three of our faculty participated in the university-wide initiative to mentor first-year students.
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Honoring Dr. Karla Welch's 14 Years of Service
In 2010, Dr. Welch commenced her tenure as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Louisville. Since 2016, she has held the position of Associate Professor within the same department and currently leads the Machine Learning and Interaction lab. Her research endeavors have garnered support from esteemed organizations such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Louisville Downtown Development Corporation.
Dr. Welch's research primarily centers on human-machine interaction. Her team has executed projects involving real-time sensing of electric frequencies in daily activities, analysis of astronauts' movements, and the identification and response to emotions exhibited by children with autism during interactions with a robotic entity. Her research portfolio encompasses robotics, physiological signal processing, affective computing, machine learning algorithms, and human-machine interaction.
Dr. Welch has made the decision to embark on a new career trajectory and expresses gratitude for the opportunities afforded to her during her tenure at the University of Louisville. An appreciation ceremony is scheduled to take place in honor of Dr. Welch during the upcoming May gathering of the Electrical and Computer Engineering faculty and staff.
Dr Welch in the news:
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Ph.D. Alumnus Hossein Mirinejad receives the National Science Foundation CAREER Award.
Dr. Hossein Mirinejad is an Assistant Professor of the College of Aeronautics and Engineering at Kent State University and a notable alumnus of The University of Louisville's Electrical and Computer Engineering Program, 2016. He has been awarded the prestigious NSF CAREER award for his project, "CAREER: Towards Safe and Interpretable Autonomy in Healthcare." This honor comes with a funding award of $553,536.00 that will be granted over the next five years. Dr. Hossein Mirinejad worked as a Research Fellow at the Food and Drug Administration from 2017 to 2019 and as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan—Ann Arbor from 2016 to 2017. His recent accomplishments showcase his commitment to excellence, professionalism, and dedication to the field. We recognize Dr. Mirinejad's remarkable achievement and wish him continued success.
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Dr. Shamus McNamara and Jacob Schopp | Dr. Shamus McNamara and Jacob Jones | Dr. Shamus McNamara and Adam Triebsch | Dr. Shamus McNamara and Aryan Ghazipour | |
J.B. Speed School of Engineering Spring Honors and Awards
On April 23rd, the Spring honors and awards ceremony was held to recognize students who have excelled in various ways. During the ceremony, ECE professor Dr. Shamus McNamara presented awards to the ECE students who were honored. Among these students was Jacob Schopp, a graduate student who received the Bennett M. Brigman Award and the Samuel T. Fife Scholarship Award. The Bennett M. Brigman Award is given annually to the Master of Engineering student who best exemplifies the objectives of the School, while the Samuel T. Fife Scholarship Award is given to the Electrical and Computer Engineering student who has achieved the highest cumulative scholastic standing by the end of their first year of study in the Professional School of Engineering.
Jacob Jones, another graduate student, was awarded the M. Gordon Northrop Student Activities Award, which is given each year to the Electrical and Computer Engineering student who has contributed the most to student branch activities, including paper presentations. Additionally, Adam Triebsch and Henry Reynolds received the IEEE Outstanding Student Award, while Aryan Ghazipour and Zhe Wang were awarded the Electrical Engineering Outstanding Graduate Student Award. The latter is given to a student who has demonstrated exceptional research and scholarship in the Graduate Program in Electrical Engineering.
The ceremony also recognized Adam Walsh, who was named the ECE Co-op of the Year, and Andrew Schindler, who received the ECE Departmental Alumni Award. The complete list of honorees can be found below.
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Pictured top: Dr. Jacek Zurada left and Dr. Sung Jin Kim
Pictured middle: Dr. Paul Werbos
Pictured bottom: Dr. Tamer Inanc
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ECE 695 Graduate Seminar offers valuable knowledge to Electrical Engineering students.
ECE 695 Graduate Seminar in Electrical and Computer Engineering, led by Dr. Jacek Zurada, offers students a unique opportunity to engage with speakers from diverse backgrounds and expand their exposure to cutting-edge research within and beyond the University throughout the spring semester. In February, Dr. Sung Jin Kim, the University of Louisville's Director of the Micro-Nano Technology Center and a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, delivered an enlightening seminar, "Introduction to Nanophotonics, delving into Light-Matter Interactions at the Nanoscale." In March, Dr. Paul Werbos, renowned for discovering back-propagation and its validity theorem, presented a seminar, "Neural Network Revolutions, Past and Future: from Back-Propagation to Quantum Artificial General Intelligence." In early April, Dr. Tamer Inanc, an Electrical and Computer Engineering professor, presented a seminar, "Adaptive System Identification and Control Theory for Precise Personalized Drug Delivery." Dr. Amir Amini, Endowed Chair in Bioimaging and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, concluded the semester with a seminar titled "Medical Imaging and AI – A Remarkable Combination for Advancing Human Health." Those interested in participating in future seminars as a guest or speaker should contact Dr. Zurada at jacek.zurada@louisville.edu.
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UofL Announces New Hub for Next-Gen Engineering Education and Research
The University of Louisville has announced a new building that will serve as a hub for next-generation engineering education, research, and student life, all aimed at driving the growth of Kentucky’s technology-enabled economy. The four-story, 114,000-square-foot building, sitting just behind the J.B. Speed School of Engineering complex on Eastern Parkway, will include classrooms, a maker space, high-tech lab facilities, and room for events and student engagement. The $90 million project is supported by $65 million in state funding and $3 million in private donations, with a fundraising campaign ongoing to secure the balance.
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Above is the WS Speed elevator before rennovations and below is the new updated look | |
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WS Speed Improvements
As part of our ongoing efforts to enhance the learning environment for our students, faculty, and staff, the WS Speed elevator has undergone a much-needed upgrade. Additionally, we have installed a historical display of digital technology from the 20th century to the present in the ECE lobby. The display features devices such as the world's first personal computers and early microprocessors, which sparked the computer revolution and embedded digital technology that powers most of the electronic devices we use today. This exhibit serves as a tribute to the pivotal role played by Electrical and Computer Engineering in advancing technological innovation. Our future plans include repainting the second-floor corridor and erecting posters that honor ECE alumni and pioneers in electrical innovation.
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E-Expo 2024
Speed School Student Counsel hosted their annual Annual Engineering Expo (E-Expo) on Saturday, March 2nd. This year's theme was "ENGINEERING: A RIDE FOR EVERYONE" and included a Keynote from Jeff Pike, Partner and President of Skyline Attractions, LLC. The events included hands-on activities with the Departments, various student organizations, and competitions. ECE Graduate students pictured to the left, Henry Reynolds, Jacob Jones, and Adam Treibsch, represented us well at the ECE table, engaging with students ages K-12 and explaining the controls used in their Ferris wheel explicitly designed for the event.
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Dream Center Academy Visits Speed
The Dream Center Academy is a school with which our ECE department has partnered. In the past, our ECE department and Speed Admissions have made trips to the school to donate 3D printers and KiwiCo Crates, which have been helpful in the school's educational programs. Recently, we had the pleasure of hosting Dream Center Academy's students and staff on our campus. During their visit, Dr. John Naber led an informative tour of our Belknap campus, which allowed them to see the various research buildings, dorms, and the Student Activities Center. Additionally, students were given a hands-on learning experience through a 3D pen activity in Vogt, which allowed them to create and design their 3D models.
To conclude the visit, we hosted the group for a meal at our student activities center, where they could interact with our students and learn more about campus life. This visit allowed the Dream Center Academy students and staff to see firsthand the various opportunities available at the Speed School, which will encourage them to pursue careers in engineering or other STEM-related fields.
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First place winners Team 5 with team members from left to right: Jacob Bryan, Adam Miller, Cameron Cusick and Ryan Nguyen | Second place winners Team 6 with team members from left to right: Bill Rupert, Tamaya Lang, Noah Schwab and Collin Potter | Third place winners Team 3 with team members from left to right: Zedric Greenwell, Marc Nadmid, Christian Canary and Daniel Taylor | |
Spring 2024 Engineering Design and Innovation Showcase
One of the hallmarks of the Spring Semester is the larger Engineering Design and Innovation Showcase. A requirement for all senior engineering majors, a capstone design project is the culmination of putting into practice what they have learned at Speed School. During this semester-long project, students form teams and collaborate with a company capstone partner to develop a prototype or a solution for a real-world challenge. Out of the six participating ECE teams, three projects were awarded certificates of excellence for their outstanding work. First place was awarded to Team 5, "Carrier VibraTrac," sponsored by Carrier Vibrating Equipment. This team was tasked with developing a new vibration sensor device they coined "The VibraTrac." It can be affixed to industrial vibrating equipment and will characterize important vibration metrics by sending accelerometer data via Bluetooth to a smartphone app. Second place went to Team 6, "Liquid Level Detection for a Beverage Carbonator/ Pressure Detecting in a Water Booster," sponsored by Multiplex, and third place was awarded to Team 3, "Battery Management System," hosted by Bowman Skunkworks.
If you want to become a Capstone partner, please email Dr. Andre Faul at andre.faul@louisville.edu.
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Tour group visiting the grounds of the farm | Pasture-raised chickens ready to be sent for processing | Pictured from left to right: Dr. Tommy Roussel from Bioengineering, Cara Naber, Dr. John Naber and Dr. Andre Faul | |
A visit to The Faul Family Riverside Farm
ECE Professor Dr. Andre Faul periodically invites all student and faculty participants from the Engineering Design and Innovation Showcase to his family farm for a day out. The Faul Family Riverside Farm is located in Henry County and spans 100 acres of beautiful land. In addition to being an ideal location for weddings and events, the farm also produces various food products such as saltwater shrimp, grass-fed grass-finished beef and lamb, pasture-raised pork and turkey, eggs, and pasture-raised chicken.
One of the standout features of their farm is their seven-week-old pasture-raised broilers, which are genetically selected to grow to 6-7 pounds within seven weeks. These chickens are moved to new pastures daily and grow to about one pound during their first three weeks in the brooder. In the following four weeks, they grow almost exponentially on pasture to reach the 6-7 pound mark for processing. The faculty and students were treated to a delicious chicken dinner and a full farm tour during their visit.
Faul Family Riverside Farms offers a complete online store where you can purchase various meat products and learn more about the philosophy and history of this beautiful local farm.
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Photos provided by Ashly Cecil, UofL, John Naber and Jordan Jones | | | | |
