Winners of fourth annual Kraus Memorial Student Poster Competition announced
The Fourth Annual John D. and Alice Nelson Kraus Memorial Student Poster Competition was held on October 6, 2012 during the EE/ECE Alumni Reunion. Faculty, alumni and guests voted for their top three favorite entries out of 19 total posters showcasing graduate research from across the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
The winners are:
First place:
Safa Salman, Determining the Relative Permittivity of Masses in the Human Body
Advisor: John Volakis
In order to address some of the shortcomings of common imaging techniques in identifying whether tumors are benign or malignant and allow for continuous time monitoring, a novel, wearable, surgery free, health monitoring system is proposed. The system is composed mainly of a flexible multi-probe sensor to enable internal organ monitoring at least 10 cm deep without using implanted detectors. Wearable health monitoring systems integrated into a telemedicine system are novel technology that will support early detection of abnormal conditions and prevention.
Second place:
Ayedh Alqahtani, Self-Optimization of Photovoltaic System Power Generation Based on Sliding Mode Control
Advisor: Vadim Utkin
Solar photovoltaic (PV) energy sources are rapidly becoming more popular than ever. The PV system output power relies on the applied current or voltage nonlinearity and there exists a unique point called maximum power point (MPP). For effective energy extraction from the PV system, the team presents a controller design strategy to track the MPP of a PV system using sliding mode control method of self-optimization. The proposed controller design offers a fast and accurate convergence to the MPP in steady state and during varying environmental conditions.
Third Place (tie):
Onur Gungor, Secret Key Generation Via Localization and Mobility in Wireless Networks
Advisor: Can Emre Koksal
This work provides a framework that combines information theoretic secrecy and wireless localization, and proves that the localization information provides a significant additional resource for secret key generation in mobile wireless networks.
Georgios Trichopoulos, Real-Time Imaging at Terahertz Frequencies Using a New 80×64 Pixel THz Camera
The non-ionizing nature of terahertz radiation is attractive for medical imaging and security screening applications. Sub-millimeter image resolutions and the ability to see through packaging and clothing, coupled with unique spectral specificity for chemical and pharmaceutical substances has elevated terahertz imaging to the mainstream. The team has created the world’s first terahertz camera, capable of video-rate (30 frames-per-second) image acquisition speeds. In order to shorten the amount of time needed to create an image, they constructed a large-format, sub-millimeter resolution, real-time focal plane array sensor for terahertz imaging. Its terahertz sensor integrates ultrafast diodes with planar antennas for each pixel and covers the entire 0.6-1.2THz band.
