School of Electrical and Computer Engineering | Spring 2009

New Facilities to Help Foster Innovation, Creativity in ECE

uring the past decade, the School of Electrical and Computer Engineer- Ding has played a key role in Georgia Tech’s ascent on to the national and international stages. As you will read in this issue of ECE Connection, the School is at the center of many of the Institute’s research and educational initiatives and is a leader in Georgia Tech’s commercializa- tion activities. Our teaching, learning, and break- through discoveries cannot happen with- out first-rate facilities and accompanying infrastructure and equipment. For Georgia The Blake Ragsdale Van Leer Building Renewal project will consist of a privately funded new Tech to remain current with the changing building and a renovation of the existing Van Leer Building. nature of technology and society, faculty, staff, and students must have a flexible medical research, believed to be the n New building to be adjacent to existing environment in which to work, study, and first facility of its kind. Van Leer Building, facing south to Tech solve today’s greatest challenges in engi- Green and the G. Wayne Clough Under- n Building to include faculty offices, con- neering and science. graduate Learning Commons, currently ference room, center/director’s suite, Two facilities projects are particularly under construction and due for comple- gallery, research/laboratory office wing, vital to the future of ECE–the Marcus tion in September 2011. a nano characterization and imaging lab, Nanotechnology Building and the Blake n and eight additional laboratories/bays. Newly renovated Van Leer Building Ragsdale Van Leer Building Renewal. projected to house classroom and lab n Focused on new approaches to drug space. FACTS AT A GLANCE delivery, cancer detection and treat- ment, DNA damage repair, and the n New building projected to include Marcus Nanotechnology Building detection and analysis of plaque for- research labs, classroom/lecture hall n Broke ground August 2006. mation for artery and cardiac disease space, study lounge, education gallery, prevention. and faculty and student organization n Opened November 2008. offices. Blake Ragsdale Van Leer Building n Located at the previous site of the Elec- Renewal To learn more about these projects, tronics Research Building, on the corner visit http://www.development.gatech. of Ferst and Atlantic Drives. n Phase One: $45 million new building, edu/ or contact Marci Reed, director of privately funded. n $94 million facility, a public/private part- ECE development, at 404.894.0274. | nership with the State of Georgia. n Phase Two: $35 million renovation of existing Van Leer Building, state-funded. n Home to one of the nation’s largest cleanroom spaces, with 30,000 square n Registered for LEED certification in July feet. 2008. n 20,000 square feet devoted to traditional n Approximately $2 million in support semiconductor research and 10,000 pledged to date. square feet dedicated to biological/bio-  Chair’s Corner

Building on our Success

“ pace: the final frontier.” Uttered by Although our campus presence William Shatner at the outset of continues to be enhanced, there is one ECE Hits Top S each episode of Star Trek, those rather glaring exception to this series of 5 words call to mind the ultimate challenge facilities improvements–the ECE head- or the first time ever, electrical of exploration, discovery, and settlement. quarters building. The School of ECE has Fengineering placed fifth, advanc- With a slightly different twist, the phrase been headquartered within the Blake ing to its highest placement ever in has a no less compelling meaning in aca- Ragsdale Van Leer Building since 1961. the U.S. News & World Report 2009 demia. Indeed, establishing and maintain- The Van Leer Building was dedicated in undergraduate engineering rank- ing sufficient space and state-of-the-art 1962 and honors the legacy of Colonel ings. Computer engineering remains facilities remains one of the greatest on- Van Leer, Tech’s fifth president (1944-56)– strong, maintaining its sixth place going issues in the competitive environ- the first engineer to head the Institute. position from last year. ment of top institutions. The Van Leer Building is an older struc- “We are pleased to be recognized Gary S. May One could argue that this objective ture characterized by its lattice cement among the nation’s top EE and CmpE Steve W. Chaddick poses particular challenges for ECE at façade and 1960s feel (and according to School Chair programs,” said Gary S. May, Steve W. Georgia Tech. With our robust educa- many alumni visitors–its unique odor!). In Chaddick School Chair. “Our success tion and research activities in Atlanta, addition to the nation’s best and bright- in ECE can be attributed to continu- Savannah, Metz, and Shanghai, we have est engineering students, the building is ally recruiting and retaining the finest established four operations on three con- also home to premier faculty. Within the faculty and students that are support- tinents – not to mention our numerous walls of the Van Leer Building, colleagues ed by a great group of staff. We can dual-degree and study abroad operations and peers have spent decades leading all be very proud of our accomplish- worldwide. innovations in ECE-related disciplines. ments and the high esteem in which On our Atlanta campus alone, 103 ECE However, with age comes decay, and our peers hold us.” faculty members occupy portions of ten the building has suffered a multitude of The College of Engineering moved different buildings. The most recent of cosmetic and structural issues related to up a notch to fourth, and Georgia these is the Klaus Advanced Comput- corrosion and general wear and tear. Tech retained its seventh place stand- ing Building. The Klaus Building, which In its current state, the Van Leer Build- ing among public universities. Five opened its doors in December 2006, ing fails to reflect the stature of the ECE additional engineering programs at is a 210,000-square-foot structure that program and the reputation of the Insti- Tech placed in the top 5 among spe- houses more than 30 ECE faculty and tute. To meet the needs of the School, cialty areas. Industrial engineering staff along with colleagues from the Col- remain competitive with peer institutions, ranked first, biomedical engineering lege of Computing. This facility is a stun- and to provide the quality spaces and ranked third, mechanical engineering ning reflection of sustainable design and state-of-the-art facilities that will keep ranked fourth, and civil engineering architectural significance. ECE at the forefront in the field, the Van ranked fifth. The next addition to our geographical Leer Building must be improved and presence on the Atlanta campus will be expanded. the Marcus Nanotechnology Building, Thus, we have embarked upon an state resources. With updated and much- which opened its doors in November ambitious, two-phase plan to renew needed classroom, laboratory, office, and 2008. Recognizing the growing and revo- the ECE presence. The first phase will meeting space, the Van Leer “restore lutionary importance nanotechnology construct a new building adjacent to the and renew” project will reap benefits for holds, Georgia Tech, already a leader existing Van Leer Building, facing south to our School for the next several decades in this area of research, has further en- Georgia Tech Green. This signature facil- as we continue our quest to build the hanced its posture through this impres- ity will consist of approximately 200,000 most outstanding ECE program in the sive new facility. The Marcus Building, square feet of laboratories, lecture halls, world. I hope that you will join us on this a $94 million structure, will encompass and faculty offices at an estimated cost journey. | 20,000 square feet of cleanroom space of $45 million, funded through private dedicated to nanotechnology focused on philanthropy. The second phase will traditional semiconductor nanoelectron- necessarily follow the completion of ics adjacent to a 10,000-square-foot facil- construction of the new facility, and is ity dedicated to biological and biomedical planned as a wholesale renovation of the nanotechnology research–a singularly existing Van Leer facility at an estimated unique combination. cost of $35 million, primarily funded from

Spring 2009 School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Spotlight 

John Peatman Retires after 44 Years of Dedicated Service

CE Professor John B. Peatman re- tired on November 30 after 44 years 5 Eof dedicated service to ECE and Georgia Tech. He will continue to work part-time, teaching ECE 4175 Embedded Microcontroller Design during spring semester 2009. A professor at Georgia Tech since 1964, Dr. Peatman received the Georgia Tech Outstanding Teacher Award and was chosen three times by the ECE senior class for the Richard M. Bass/Eta Kappa Nu Outstanding Teacher Award. Acknowledged by his students and col- leagues as a tremendous role model for all educators, he received the 2006 IEEE Undergraduate Teaching Award, the John Peatman (r) gets a visit from former student and advisory board chair Jim Carreker. industry’s premier recognition for under- graduate teaching achievement. He is the sionals who spoke about challenges that return to Tech with substantial support author of six definitive textbooks in digital students would face after graduation. of the Institute, the College of Engineer- systems design. Though the seminar ended with se- ing, and ECE,” said Gary S. May, Steve W. Throughout his career, Dr. Peatman mester conversion in 2000, Dr. Peatman Chaddick School Chair of ECE. “We are enhanced his teaching and project continued inviting speakers–often former grateful not only for his many technical advisement by spending summers on students–to his classes. and educational contributions, but more industry assignments and was commit- “John has always been able to talk importantly, for his friendship and im- ted to preparing students for their post- and easily relate to both current and mense good will.” | college lives. His electrical engineering past students. Because of this, genera- senior seminar featured business profes- tions of alumni remain engaged with or

James R. Carreker Distinguished Lecture National Instruments CEO Delivers 8th Annual Carreker Lecture ames Truchard–cofounder, president, and CEO of National Instruments–deliv- Jered the eighth annual James R. Carreker Distinguished Lecture on October 30 at the Van Leer Auditorium. Titled “Founding and Growing into a Billion Dollar Technology-Driven Compa- ny,” Dr. Truchard discussed both the history and the technology behind National Instruments. NI continues to be a technology-driven company, developing over 200 new products per year and serving over 25,000 companies in test, control, and embedded design applications. He co-founded the company in 1976 while working at the University of Texas at Austin. Since that time, the company has grown to more than 4,600 employees with offices in more than 40 countries. Before the lecture, Dr. Truchard and members of the NI executive team also spent time with faculty who work in the embedded systems and robotics areas and viewed a demonstration by Robojackets, a group of Georgia Tech students, faculty, and alumni interested in robotics research and education. He also visited with members of the Georgia Tech community at a post-lecture reception. To watch the video of Dr. Truchard’s talk, visit the ECE web site at www.ece. gatech.edu/media/ and click on the video archive section.

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Spring 2009  Development

Sibert, Hans Join May Travels across Country ECE Advisory Board Promoting ECE

2009 ECE Advisory Board omposed of mostly alumni representatives from industry, C. Dean Alford the ECE Advisory Board provides ongoing external per- Allied Utility Network Conyers, Ga. Cspectives on the School’s programs and formally meets Antonio R. Alvarez twice per year. The ECE Advisory Board added two new mem- Leadis Technology, Inc. bers for 2008-09. Sunnyvale, Calif. Leslie Sibert (BEE ’85) is the Mike Bartlett Texas Instruments, Inc. vice president for transmission for (Retired) Georgia Power, a subsidiary of the Richardson, Tex. Southern Company. In this position, Mike Buckler TekMark Global Solutions she is responsible for the company’s Cary, N.C. transmission system, including its Steve W. Chaddick Ridgewood Advisors, LLC planning, maintenance, operations, Atlanta, Ga. and new construction. Mel Coker Ms. Sibert started with Georgia AT&T Atlanta, Ga. Power as a co-op student in 1982. Michael A. Coleman She has since held various positions Gary May, Steve W. Chaddick School Chair of ECE, and his wife, Orlando, Fla. at both Georgia Power and Southern Company in retail/whole- LeShelle R. May (MS OR ’89), a member of the Georgia Tech H. Allen Ecker sale marketing, distribution, customer service, and labor rela- Alumni Association’s executive committee, right, received a VIP Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. Lawrenceville, Ga. tions. During her tenure at Georgia Power, she has been person- tour of a Los Angeles academy for kindergartners through sixth- Mat Hans ally involved with numerous civic organizations and with many graders developed by Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith. The Motorola Inc. activities at Georgia Tech. Smiths contacted the Mays for ideas for their state-of-the-art Hoffman Estates, Ill. Holmes J. Hawkins, III A graduate of the Harvard Professional Management Devel- elementary school through Guy Primus (BIE ‘92, MSIE ’95), the King & Spalding opment Program in 2001, Ms. Sibert was inducted into the Geor- head of interactive media for Will Smith’s production company, Atlanta, Ga. gia Tech Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni in 2005. Overbrook Entertainment. Will Smith was so impressed with Kelvin C. Hawkins, Sr. IBM Corporation In 2007, she received the Alumna Woman of Distinction Award what he heard about Georgia Tech that he made a contribution Research Triangle Park, N.C. at the Georgia Tech Women’s Leadership Conference and was to the Institute. Sherra Kerns named one of the “Top 25 Power Women to Watch” by Atlanta Olin College Needham, Mass. Woman Magazine. Fred Kitson Mat Hans (PhD ’98) leads a new Motorola Inc. commercialization team in Motor- Schaumburg, Ill. ola’s Corporate Research Center. Scott Madigan SureBill The role of this team includes Duluth, Ga. identifying customer R&D projects Theresa Maldonado linked to the Center’s research Texas A&M University College Station, Tex. initiatives, and managing the ex- Michael R. McQuade ecution of these R&D projects with DuPont Company customers and external partners. Wilmington, Del. Jock Ochiltree Before this business develop- Saint Augustine, Fla. ment and customer-facing role, Dr. Dr. May visited with Boston area alumni in September at a Meet Joe Parks Hans spent ten years as a researcher at Motorola and Hewlett- the Chair event hosted by Choate Hall & Stewart, LLP and coor- Intel Corporation Beaverton, Ore. Packard Laboratories. During this time, his research focus dinated by John Lanza (BEE ’87, MSEE ’88), an attorney with the Randall E. Poliner spanned entertainment, mobile gaming, social media, multime- firm. Dr. May updated the firm’s employees and area alumni on Antares Capital Corporation dia communications, pervasive platforms for personalization, the latest activities taking place in ECE. He also joined a group of Melbourne, Fla. Thomas J. Quigley and context aware computing. While at Hewlett-Packard, he alumni for the Georgia Tech-Boston College football game, the Franklin, N.C. was the HP resident researcher and program manager at Geor- first Atlantic Coast Conference match-up for the Yellow Jackets, Leslie Sibert gia Tech in Atlanta from 2000-04. from which the Jackets emerged victorious, 19-16. | Georgia Power Atlanta, Ga. Dr. Hans has published a number of papers and holds several Ron Slaymaker U.S. patents. A 1993 M.S. graduate from Supélec (Paris, France), Texas Instruments Inc. he is currently a Fellow of the Technical Staff at Motorola, and Dallas, Tex. an AES and Senior IEEE member. | Alek Szlam Szlam Enterprises Inc. Alpharetta, Ga.

Spring 2009 School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Development 

2008 College of Engineering Alumni Award Winners

he 2008 College of Engineering (CoE) Alumni Awards Ceremony was held on TNovember 7 at the W Hotel in Midtown Atlanta. At this event, CoE Dean Don Gid- dens inducted new members into the Engi- neering Hall of Fame, the Academy of Distin- guished Engineering Alumni, and the Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni. CoE Advisory Board member and ECE alum- nus Steve Chaddick (BSEE ’74, MSEE ’82) participated in the awards presentation. Seven ECE alumni were inducted into the

Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alum- The 2008 ECE inductees into the Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni included ni, which recognizes alumni for contributions (l-r) Gene Sapp, Todd Cutler, Mike Rosen, and Sheldon Fox. Not pictured are John Lanza, to their profession and to the Institute, and Antonio Alvarez, and Arlen J. (Jay) Kirchoff, Jr. for their active involvement in engineering, management, and the community. ECE Fundraising Update – Randy Poliner Anthony Alvarez oday’s economic climate has many people paraphrasing Dickens–trying to BSEE ’78, MSEE ‘79 find a “best of times” among “worst of times” scenarios. President and CEO, Leadis T In the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech, the Sunnyvale, Calif. best of times is represented in our first ever ranking at #5 byU.S. News & World Todd Cutler Report for our undergraduate EE program. We also closed another record year with BSEE ‘79 research dollars close to $63 million. And Dr. May reports from the Georgia Tech Senior Director, EEsof EDA Division, Presidential Search Committee that final candidates may be named early in 2009. Agilent Technologies But...the State of Georgia budget cuts have cost the School several staff posi- Alpharetta, Ga. tions, and have caused ECE to limit summer course offerings to students. And Sheldon Fox with the economic downturn, despite being at 78 percent of our campaign goal, BSEE ’81, MSEE ‘82 fundraising efforts have become more challenging than ever. Closing the final gap President, National Programs, Govern- and raising additional funds to build a new ECE headquarters will prove difficult. ment Communications Systems, Harris Which is why the ECE Campaign Steering Committee remains hard at work, Corporation hosting campaign events this year in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and Boston. A Melbourne, Fla. November event was held in New York with the College of Management at 30 Rockefeller Center on the set of Saturday Night Live. A full house of ECE and CoM Arlen J. (Jay) Kirchoff, Jr. alumni was treated to an engaging update on how Georgia Tech is bridging the BSEE ’79, MSEE ‘80 gap between engineering and management. Senior Director, Product Marketing, During tough times like these, we all take stock of our charitable priorities. For Broadcom Corporation those of you who are able to keep your alma mater at the top of the list, thank Duluth, Ga. you. Whatever your situation, please stay in touch and feel free to contact me, Dr. John Lanza May, or Marci Reed with your thoughts and suggestions on how to keep the good BSEE ’87, MSEE ‘88 times rolling. | Partner, Chair of Intellectual Property Group, ECE Campaign Steering Committee Choate Hall & Stewart LLP Boston, Mass. Randy Poliner, Chair (BEE ‘77) John Lanza (BEE ’87, MSEE ‘88) Partner, Antares Capital Corporation Chair, Intellectual Property Group Michael D. Rosen [email protected] Choate Hall & Stewart, LLP BSEE ‘80 321.777.4884 Chief Engineer, Corporate Research and Jésus Léon (EE ‘74) Development, Bose Corporation Robert Dixon (MSEE ‘77) Chief Development Officer(retired) Framingham. Mass. Chief Technology Officer CIENA Corporation PepsiCo Eugene Sapp Slim Souissi (MSEE ’92, PhDEE ‘94) BSEE ‘59 Raouf Halim (MSEE ‘85) Chief Technology Officer President, CEO, and Co-Chairman (Retired), CEO Novatel Wireless SCI Systems, Inc. Mindspeed Technologies Huntsville, Ala.

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Spring 2009  News

Lanza Founds Commercialization Endowment Fund

CE has long been the Georgia Tech campus leader in research activ- Eity. Last fiscal year the department set a seventh consecutive record with $62,679,201 in research grants, contracts, and gifts. That number reflects another record, as 35.7 percent of the funding came from industrial sources. It’s no surprise, then, that ECE excels in translational research – where projects lead to innovation and commercializa- tion. Last fiscal year ECE faculty filed 17 patents and 94 records of invention. Our faculty outnumbers other departments in this area, with a growing number of projects currently being ushered through Georgia Tech’s VentureLab and Georgia’s Advanced Technology Development Cen- (above) Qualtré, an ATDC ter (ATDC). company co-founded by ECE Associate Professor Farrokh Our recently adopted strategic plan Ayazi, is an example of ECE states that: “ECE will aggressively transfer innovation at work. Qualtré is commercializing the next knowledge into products and processes generation of motion sensors, that will benefit the State of Georgia, the further broadening their nation, and the world.” One key com- applicability in consumer electronics devices such as ponent to reaching this goal is the Insti- cellular handsets, personal tute’s Fast Track Patent Program (FTP2). navigation devices, and gam- ing controllers. The company ECE has been asked to participate in the is led by Dr. Ayazi (l) as its pilot phase of FTP2, a process for Schools CTO and President and CEO Michael Slawson. to designate certain intellectual property as critical to their units. The School will (right) Innovolt, an ATDC be allowed a certain number of non-pro- company co-founded by ECE Professor Deepak Divan, visional filings based upon its previous launched an advanced surge fiscal year’s invention disclosure rate. suppression technology in April 2008. He and his Of course, there will be costs associ- colleagues demonstrate the ated with patent expenditures for FTP2 , product, yet another example of ECE innovation at work. so we are extremely grateful to alumnus John Lanza, BEE ’87, MSEE ’88, for estab- out companies with a solid lishing the ECE Commercialization En- foundation as they seek dowment Fund. The fund will be admin- additional funding from istered at the School Chair’s discretion in outside investors.” order to help offset costs associated with Mr. Lanza said. FTP2, or other costs associated with fac- “During our strategic ulty commercialization efforts. Mr. Lanza, planning exercise it be- an IP attorney, is chair of the Intellectual came apparent that a fund and as our eyes and ears in the Boston Property Group for Choate Hall & Stewart like the one John has established could area.” LLP in Boston. help accomplish great things for the If you would like information on how “The technology coming out of Geor- School,” said Gary May, Steve W. Chad- to contribute to the ECE Commercializa- gia Tech and ECE is groundbreaking. dick School Chair. “We are grateful not tion Endowment Fund, or any of the The Fund helps with the first step in the only to John for his gift, but for the time School’s fundraising priorities, contact school’s efforts to commercialize that he generously volunteers as a member Marci Reed at [email protected]. innovative technology and provides spin- of our Campaign Steering Committee, edu or 404.894.0274. |

Spring 2009 School of Electrical and Computer Engineering News 

Eight Companies Team Up with Georgia Tech to Form 100G Consortium

Eight companies have joined forces with gies that will be used ECE Professor Georgia Tech to establish the Georgia in such high-speed Stephen E. Ralph and his research Tech 100G Optical Networking Consor- optical networks. The group; Cheng Lin, tium, which is believed to be the first consortium is led by Andrew Stark, academic-industrial consortium of its ECE Professor Ste- Patrick Decker, Ben Clarke, and kind in the world. To date, more than phen E. Ralph. Yu-Ting Hsueh. $2.2 million in support has been desig- Co-director of the nated for this facility by the Consortium’s effort is Gee-Kung founding research members–ADVA Opti- Chang, Byers Eminent cal Networking, Ciena, OFS, StrataLight, Scholar Chair in Opti- and Verizon–and by supporting members cal Networking. Byers Avanex, IBM, and Picometrix. Professor John D. Cressler will work on will allow testing of new modulation The consortium and facility allow aca- high-speed electronics challenges, and concepts within a point-to-point link demic and industry personnel to perform ECE Professor John Barry will focus on engineered for 10Gb/s systems, became multidisciplinary research in all aspects critical signal processing issues. fully functional in November 2008. Two of 100-gigabit-per-second transmission, Construction on the Consortium’s additional milestones, which will include supported by the diverse and comple- 100G testbed started in July 2008 and the creation of a long-haul DWDM mesh mentary strengths of the industrial was made possible with additional sup- network environment exceeding 1,000 ki- partners and faculty members. Research port from the Georgia Tech Office of the lometers, will be met by July 2009, when topics range from fundamental studies Senior Vice Provost for Research and the facility will be fully functional. of 100G optical transmission to assess- Innovation and the Georgia Research For more details, visit www.ece.gat- ment of optical and electronic technolo- Alliance. The first testbed link, which ech.edu/media/news/. |

Research in the News

Visit www.ece.gatech.edu/media/news to learn more about abilities to operate a computer, control a powered wheelchair, these research projects. Stories are courtesy of the Georgia and interact with their environments simply by moving their Tech Research News and Publications Office and the Georgia tongues. The tongue-operated assistive technology, called the Tech Communications and Marketing Office. Tongue Drive system, and Dr. Ghovanloo were recognized by past U.S. President George W. Bush at the annual Iftaar dinner SnoMotes Go Where Scientists Fear to Tread last September, an annual event held at the White House hon- Data about volatile ice sheets–the huge oring distinguished Muslim Americans during Ramadan. masses of glacier ice in Antarctica and Greenland–have until now been drawn The Engineering of a Musical Instrument largely from satellites and ground-based weather stations. Now researchers at ECE, led by Associate Professor Ayanna Howard, are working to create Sno- Motes, autonomous robots that work as a team, to collect detailed data in the icy environments without risking scientists’ ECE Professor William D. Hunt has teamed up with Mechani- safety. This data could give scientists a better understanding of cal Engineering Professors Ken Cunefare and Paul Neitzel and the dynamics that affect the stability of ice sheets. ECE undergraduate Stephen Welch to investigate the acoustic Tongue-Controlled System Assists Disabled Individuals modes of vibration of certain instruments, including guitar, (l) Ayanna Howard; A new assistive technology developed by piano, and upright bass. Maysam Ghovanloo and engineers at Georgia Tech could help indi- They are investigating the physical acoustics of these wood- Xueliang Huo; viduals with severe disabilities lead more en, string instruments with the ultimate goal of developing en- Paul Neitzel, Ken independent lives. gineering constructs that will allow manufacturers to improve Cunefare, William Hunt, Developed by ECE Assistant Professor both the sound quality produced by the instrument as well as and Stephen Welch. Maysam Ghovanloo and his group, this the playability. Dr. Hunt and his research team are part of the novel system allows individuals with dis- new Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology. |

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Spring 2009  Faculty

Butera Named 2008-09 Jefferson Science Fellow

Since arriving in Wash- CE Associate Professor Robert J. Butera, Jr. was chosen last ington, D.C. last August, summer by the U.S. State Department as one of seven Jef- Robert Butera has met ferson Science Fellows for 2008-09. Dr. Butera is the first with a number of top E government officials, in- Georgia Tech professor selected for this program, and he will be cluding former Secretary based in Washington, D.C. through August 2009. of State Condoleeza Rice. Built on the premise that science, technology, and engineer- ing programs are integral to the foundations of modern society, the fellowship fosters partnerships between tenured scientists and engineers from U.S. academic institutions and offices within the State Department and USAID. Dr. Butera’s expertise is in the fields of neuroengineering, physiological modeling, and real- Jefferson Fellows attended American Association for the Ad- time instrumentation. vancement of Science workshops that introduced them to the While on this fellowship, Dr. Butera will work within the Office interaction of various government offices from a science and of Chemical and Biological Weapons Threat Reduction in the policy perspective. Another topic was bridging the gap between Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation. His work the thinking and decision-making priorities of scientists and is on biosecurity policy, with a specific focus on dual-use issues engineers and policy-makers and how to bridge that gap. in biological research. Dual-use refers to technologies that have With his past experience as graduate program director for both peaceful and military applications. the Georgia Tech Interdisciplinary Bioengineering Graduate Pro- “One [project] involves collaborating with foreign counter- gram, Dr. Butera had to deal with export control rules impacting parts to develop educational tools and professional awareness student visas. He has also interacted with the Institute’s Office strategies related to defining, recognizing, and solving dual-use of Research Compliance as a bioengineering researcher. “My issues that may arise in the course of biological research,” said experience this year is directly relevant to all of these areas,” Dr. Butera, who is a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical he said. “While I am officially representing the State Department and Biological Engineering and associate editor of the Journal in my position for the next year, I hope that my time can both of Theoretical Biology. “A second project involves working with provide input to these processes from an academic perspec- other federal agencies to formulate oversight mechanisms re- tive and improve our campus-wide research ethics program. I lated to DNA synthesis that promote security while not imped- also hope to serve as a resource to the relevant offices when ing academic research or commercial development.” I return to Tech and contribute to the ongoing activities of the Sam Nunn Security Program and the Center for International Strategy, Technology, and Policy.” | Faculty News

Tom Habetler received an Outstanding Achievement Award Ayanna Howard will receive the Dr. Janice A. Lumpkin Educator from the European Power Electronics and Motion Control Coun- of the Year Award at the National Society of Black Engineers cil (EPE-PEMC) with the citation, “for contributions to electric Golden Torch Awards Program, to be held in Las Vegas on machine condition monitoring and control, as well as promotion March 28. Dr. Howard was also named the 2008 recipient of the and advocacy of power electronics and motion control tech- Georgia Tech Faculty Woman of Distinction Award. She received nology to the technical community.” The biennial award was this honor at the Georgia Tech Women’s Leadership Conference, presented at the PEMC Conference, held in Poznan, Poland last held last November. September. Nikil Jayant received an Indian Institute of Science Distin- Ron Harley is the 2009 recipient of the IEEE Richard Harold guished Alumnus Award last December at the 100th anniver- Kaufmann Award for his contributions to monitoring, control, sary celebration of the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore. and optimization of electrical processes including electrical Dr. Jayant was cited for his four decades of research and machines and power networks. This award honors outstand- leadership and gave a guest talk entitled “Signal Compression: ing contributions in industrial systems engineering and may be 1958-2008++.” presented to the person(s) who has made exceptional contri- Gary S. May was elected a 2008 Fellow of the American Associ- butions to electrical engineering in the industrial environment ation for the Advancement of Science “for distinguished contri- through the design or application of systems technology. butions to electrical and computer engineering, particularly for innovative approaches to education and workforce diversity.” continued on page 9

Spring 2009 School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty 

New Faculty

Bo Hong, Assistant Professor works with the Nanotechnology Research Center. BSEE ‘97, Tsinghua University (China) Dr. Naeemi explores nanotechnology solutions to the chal- MSEE ‘00, Tsinghua University lenges facing giga- and terascale systems. A member of the In- PhDCmpE ‘05, University of Southern ternational Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors technical California working group on Interconnects, he has published more than Area: Computer engineering 45 papers in refereed journals and international conferences. He received the IEEE Electron Devices Society Paul Rappaport Dr. Hong joined the ECE faculty at the Award for the best paper that appeared in the IEEE Transactions Georgia Tech Savannah campus in Sep- on Electron Devices during 2007. tember. Before coming to Tech, he was an assistant professor with the ECE Department at Drexel Uni- Christopher Rozell, Assistant Professor versity for three years. BSE in Computer Engineering ‘00, Dr. Hong’s current research focus is on processor synchro- University of Michigan nization in multicore and multi-processor systems, including BFA in Performing Arts Technology both hardware architectural design/modeling and the develop- (Music Technology) ‘00, University of ment of efficient multi-threaded algorithms. He has extensive Michigan research experience on parallel computer architecture and MS in ECE ‘02, Rice University algorithms, modeling and simulation of adaptive applications PhD in ECE ‘07, Rice University in non-dedicated computing systems, algorithm design and Area: Bioengineering and digital signal scheduling techniques for heterogeneous systems, energy processing aware data gathering/processing in networked sensor systems, Dr. Rozell joined ECE after spending a year as a postdoctoral and memory hierarchy performance analysis and optimization. research fellow at the Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuro- science at the University of California at Berkeley. He is affiliated Azad Naeemi, Assistant Professor with the Laboratory for Neuroengineering and the Center for BSEE ‘94, Sharif University (Iran) Signal and Image Processing at Georgia Tech. MSECE ‘01, Georgia Tech His research interests focus on the intersection of computa- PhDECE ‘03, Georgia Tech tional neuroscience and DSP. One branch of this work aims to Area: Microelectronics/Microsystems understand how neural systems organize and process sensory and Packaging information, drawing on modern signal processing ideas to de- Before pursuing graduate studies at velop improved data analysis tools and theoretical models. The Georgia Tech, Dr. Naeemi was a design other branch of this work uses recent insight into neural infor- engineer with Partban and Afratab Companies in Tehran, Iran. mation processing to develop new and efficient approaches to After completing his Ph.D., he worked as a research engineer in difficult signal processing tasks. | Tech’s Microelectronics Research Center (MiRC) until joining the ECE faculty in September. He is still affiliated with MiRC and also

NEWS | continued from page 8

Gabriel Rincón-Mora has been named a 2009-10 Distinguished how randomness can help in data acquisition, potentially reduc- Lecturer for the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society. He is one ing cost and computational complexity of high-resolution sens- of 11 distinguished lecturers appointed by IEEE-CASS for this ing systems. This work will influence the design of next-genera- upcoming year and will deliver lectures on power management tion analog-to-digital converters, radar imaging platforms, and integrated circuits. MRI systems.

Ajeet Rohatgi was honored at the Georgia Sierra Club Com- Allen Tannenbaum was elected to the 2009 class of IEEE Fel- munity Awards at the group’s 25th Anniversary Gala, held at lows “for his contributions to robust control and computer Atlanta’s Park Tavern last summer. He was praised for his work vision.” in moving both Georgia and the U.S. into a clean energy econo- Wayne Wolf received an honorary doctorate from the Depart- my through his solar energy research at Georgia Tech. ment of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University Justin Romberg received an Office of Naval Research Young of Patras in Greece. This honor recognized his distinguished Investigator Award for his project, “Compressive Sampling for educational, research, and professional service contributions. | Next-Generation Data Acquisition.” Dr. Romberg is interested in

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Spring 2009 10 Alumni

Alumni News

Robert S. Duggan, Jr. (BEE ’51, MSEE ’56) received the 2008 Distinguished Ser- Pedro Ray Named 2009 IEEE President-Elect vice Award at the triennial IEEE Sections Congress 2008 in Quebec City, Quebec, edro Ray (BEE ’82, MSEE ‘83) has been selected as Canada on September 22. His citation P2009 IEEE president-elect and will begin serving as read “for a lifetime of outstanding lead- IEEE president on January 1, 2010. He will succeed 2009 ership, support, positive thinking, and a IEEE President John Vig, who is a consultant with System powerful influence that encouraged oth- Planning Corporation. ers to follow him in the spirit of his ser- Mr. Ray is president of Ray Engineers, a professional vice promoting the IEEE geographic ac- services corporation with over 90 employees. The com- tivities and the engineering profession.” pany is located in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. He is also Randy Cabell (BEE ’54) and his wife owner and president of various corporations dedicated Mary Kay, the first female faculty member to the development of commercial and residential real estate projects. hired at Georgia Tech, live in a log home He was Chief Examiner in charge of revision to the Puerto Rico Electricity Pric- on the Shenandoah River in Boyce, Va. ing Structure (2000) and was named Puerto Rico’s Electrical Engineer of the Year Randy said that he has been enjoying 2000. Prior to becoming IEEE president-elect, Mr. Ray had served the organization life since retiring from IBM in 1988 after in many capacities, most recently at the board level since 1999 and as a board a 28-year career. In retirement, he has member for six years. He also served as treasurer for IEEE in 2003 and 2004. | continued pursuing two of his favorite avocations–computers and music. He is converting 50 years of music to MP-3 tion, Randy oversees all undergraduate self-noise monitoring for submarines at that was recorded by The Fowler Street academic programs in engineering and GDAIS. Emily is a project assistant at the Five, a band that he and his five Beta sciences, plus undergraduate recruiting, RAND Corporation. They live in Fairfax, Theta Pi fraternity brothers formed while retention, minority programs, transfer Va. students at Tech. and articulation agreements, accredita- Chau Nguyen (BSCmpE ’04) is an eco- Colonel (Retired) Herchell A. (Al- tion, international programs, and study nomic services coordinator II with MEAG len) Boyd (BAE ‘76, MSEE ‘88) has been abroad coordination. He joined the Clem- Power in Atlanta. named vice president for tactical com- son faculty after graduating from Georgia Michael Kang (BSCmpE ’05) is now at- munications at ITT Communications Sys- Tech in 1989. tending the School of Dental Medicine at tems, in Fort Wayne, Ind. He previously Joseph Kendrick (BEE ’90) works with the University of Pennsylvania. served as senior director for transfor- Fogg & Powers, LLC in Minneapolis, Minn. mational communications programs at Ronald Setia (PhD ’06) is a business de- Larry Embleton (MSEE ’92) works Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. veloper with Mega Medika Multianugerah with L-3 ES in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, in Jakarta, Indonesia. Ioannis Makarezos (BEE ’79) is a pur- Canada. chasing manager with Avin International Deborah Johnson (BSEE ’07) was rec- Michelle Rogers (BEE ’93) became an SA in Marousi, Greece. ognized in the summer 2008 issue of ES assistant professor this past September Northrop Grumman National Magazine Donald “Jerry” Bellott (MSEE ’80) in the School of Information, Science, for resurrecting the Harpoon Program on currently works as an EE consultant for and Technology at Drexel University in three different platforms. The Harpoon CSS Engineering in Bridgewater, N.J. CSS Philadelphia, Pa., where she teaches and Program was certified by the Navy, with Engineering provides design services and conducts research in human-computer Boeing’s approval. She credits the pro- publishes technology application notes interaction and healthcare informatics. totype labs and classes that she took in for engineers involved in designing and Ethan Curbow (BSEE ’03) is a manage- ECE for helping her “get up to speed” testing cellular and other wireless prod- ment officer with the U.S. Department on the newest technologies like embed- ucts, digital switches, networking equip- of State. He has served at the American ded components and ball grid array ment, and multi-core DSP products. Consulate in Frankfurt, Germany, and in technologies. Edward R. (Randy) Collins (PhD ’89) the last four years, he has visited over 40 Dustin Dyer (MSEE ’07) was featured has been named associate dean for un- countries. on the cover of the October 2008 issue dergraduate and international studies in Adam Bever (BSEE ‘04) and Emily Taylor of RecruitU Magazine. He is a mission the College of Engineering and Science (INTA ‘05) were married March 29, 2008 assurance engineer with NASA Kennedy at Clemson University. Prior to that, he in Savannah, Ga. Adam was recently pro- Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., was a professor in the Holcombe Depart- moted to principal systems engineer and where he works to ensure that space ment of ECE at Clemson. In his new posi- is technical lead of a project focused on shuttle launches proceed safely. |

Spring 2009 School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Alumni 11

Alumni Spotlights

Eric Boe Pilots the After being selected as a Endeavour during pilot by NASA in 2000, Col. Boe reported to the Johnson 16-Day Space Mission Space Center in Houston, Tex., ir Force Col. Eric Boe (MSEE ’97) where he is still based today. was among the seven astronauts– After completing two years of Aand three Georgia Tech alumni–on training and evaluation, he was the space shuttle crew for Endeavour’s assigned technical duties in STS-126 mission. The shuttle lifted off the Astronaut Office Advanced from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Vehicles Branch, Station Op- November 14 and arrived at the Interna- erations Branch, and Space tional Space Station (ISS) two days later, Shuttle Branch. From 2005-06, where the crew started on their “extreme he served as NASA director of home improvement” assignments. operations at the Gagarin Cos- Col. Boe, the pilot for the 16-day monaut Training Center, Star mission, was joined by his fellow Tech City, Russia. In the Exploration alumni, Shane Kimbrough (MSOR ’98) Branch, he worked on the new and Sandra Magnus (PhD CerE ’96). Lt. Crew Launch Vehicle and Crew Col. Kimbrough participated in two space Exploration Vehicle. walks, while Dr. Magnus remained with Col. Boe grew up in Atlanta the ISS after the departure of the STS-126 and attended Henderson High mission crew in late November. She will School in DeKalb County. He return to Earth on Discovery’s STS-119 also holds a bachelor’s degree in mission, targeted for February 2009. astronautical engineering from Space shuttle Endeavour’s STS-126 the U.S. Air Force Academy. | flight featured important repair work and prepared the ISS to house six crew members for long-duration missions. Four spacewalks primarily focused on servicing the station’s two Solar Alpha Maldonado Named to Top Rotary Joints, which allow its solar ar- Research Posts at Texas A&M rays to track the sun. Endeavour carried heresa A. Maldonado (BEE ‘81, MSEE ‘82, PhD (EE) ‘90) about 32,000 pounds of supplies and Twas named executive associate vice president for equipment necessary to double the crew research at Texas A&M University and will also serve as size from three to six members in spring the institution’s new interim vice president for research. 2009. The new station cargo includes Her new duties were effective on October 1. additional sleeping quarters, a second Dr. Maldonado previously served as the associate toilet, and a resistance exercise device. dean for research within Texas A&M’s Dwight Look Col- During the STS-126 mission, Col. Boe lege of Engineering and deputy director of the Texas Engi- was responsible for orbiter systems neering Experiment Station. She is also professor in the Department of ECE. operations and shuttle robotic arm Prior to joining Texas A&M in 2003, Dr. Maldonado served as associate vice presi- operations, and he aided Endeavour dent for research at The University of Texas at Arlington, where she was a faculty Commander Christopher Ferguson in the member and administrator. She previously served as an Engineering Research rendezvous and docking with the ISS. En- Centers program director in the Engineering Directorate at the National Science deavour and its crew landed at Edwards Foundation, where she was recognized with program management excellence and Air Force Base in California on November distinguished service awards. A member of the Georgia Tech ECE Advisory Board, 30, completing a 16-day journey of more Dr. Maldonado was inducted into the Inaugural Council of Outstanding Young Engi- than 6.6 million miles. neering Alumni at the Georgia Tech College of Engineering in 1995. |

To submit your information and news, visit www.ece.gatech.edu/alumni

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Spring 2009 12 Alumni Survey The opinions of our readers are very important to us. We would appreciate you taking a few moments to rate various aspects of ECE Connection.

1. About how much of ECE Connection do you 7. ECE Connection is currently published twice m Renewed an acquaintance with read? a year. Is that frequent enough, or would colleague/faculty m None m 25 percent you prefer it be published more or less m Made a donation or pledge m 50 percent m 100 percent frequently? m Attended an event at ECE or on the m yes m no Georgia Tech campus 2. Has ECE Connection made your opinion m Please elaborate. ______m Shared the publication with a colleague about the School: ______m Requested more information m more positive m more negative 8. ECE Connection is produced as a printed 12. What ideas do you have that would m has not changed your opinion hard copy and is made available as a pdf increase your likelihood of reading the file in the media and calendar section of newsletter? ______3. Please rate the ECE Connection articles on the ECE web site. Do you prefer to continue ______each of the following: receiving the newsletter in these formats? ______Interesting to me m yes m no ______m excellent m good ______m fair m poor 9. If no, would you prefer: Length m The current form of the newsletter sent 13. How can the School of Electrical and m excellent m good in an email format twice a year Computer Engineering enhance its overall m fair m poor m An email directing you where to down- communications with you? ______Clarity of writing load the latest issue of the newsletter ______m excellent m good twice a year ______m fair m poor m Shorter, more frequent newsletters via ______email ______4. Please rate the overall design/layout: m Other (please specify) ______Overall design 14. Name and email address: (optional) ______m excellent m good ______m fair m poor 10. Please rate the kinds of topic areas that are ______Easy to read of most importance to you: 15. Age: m excellent m good Faculty/Staff news m under 20 m 21-30 m 31-40 m fair m poor m very high m high m medium m 41-50 m 51-60 m 61 or older Inviting layout m low m very low m excellent m good Student news 16. Gender: m fair m poor m very high m high m medium m male m female m m Photo quality low very low 17. Relationship with Georgia Tech: (Check all m m excellent good Alumni news that apply) m m m m m fair poor very high high medium m alumni m faculty/staff m student m low m very low 5. Overall length of the newsletter: m corporate partner Research news m typical issue size (12 pages) is m Advisory Board member m very high m high m medium appropriate m Other______m low m very low m issue should be shorter Academic news m issue should be longer m very high m high m medium 6. If you think ECE Connection should be lon- m low m very low ger or shorter, please suggest an alternate Corporate news This survey may be completed online at length: m very high m high m medium www.ece.gatech.edu/survey or clip and mail m 8 pages m 16 pages m low m very low this form to: m other (please specify) ______Jackie Nemeth 11. Have you interacted with ECE or Georgia ECE Communications Manager Tech in any of the following ways as a result School of Electrical and Computer Engineering of reading ECE Connection? Georgia Institute of Technology m Referred a student 777 Atlantic Drive NW m Referred a potential employee Atlanta, GA 30332-0250 www.ece.gatech.edu m Explored a corporate partnership

ECE Connection is published by the Non-Profit Org. School of Electrical and U.S. Postage Paid Computer Engineering. Permit No. 4009 Copyright 2009. Atlanta, GA School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology Editor: Jackie Nemeth 777 Atlantic Drive NW Atlanta, GA 30332-0250 USA Editorial Staff: Marci Reed

Designer: Diana Fouts

Photography: Rob Felt, Gary Meek, NASA, Jill Parks, Texas A&M Uni- Spring 2009 School of Electrical and Computer Engineering versity Media Relations