Automatic Control

Research in this area includes robust control, on-line and distributed optimization, fault
detection and identification in control systems, learning methods, control with neural
networks, fuzzy systems, neuro-fuzzy systems, hybrid systems, multi-agent coordination,
mobile robotics, humanoid robotics, fault-tolerant robotic manipulators, and applications
of control in other disciplines such as energy systems and biological systems.

Control systems must often function correctly in the presence of uncertainties, noise, and
disruptions. Research on robust control is focused on utilizing knowledge of likely
perturbations to analyze and design robust control strategies. The design of failure-
tolerant robotic manipulators is such an example, whose applications include automatic
excavation and remote operation in hazardous environments. For control systems with
unknown input and model structure/parameters, estimation and optimization algorithms
are being developed that can function in real-time and in a distributed environment.
Neural networks and fuzzy systems are among the tools used for these studies.

Discrete-event systems, and more recently hybrid systems, provide a means for modeling
complex physical systems that include both continuous dynamics and mode transitional
events occurring at discrete times. Examples of such real-world systems include
embedded systems, computer networks, transportation systems, etc. Research is currently
being carried out on the stability, optimality, and reachability of hybrid systems, as well
as their applications in, e.g., hybrid electric vehicles, biological systems, software testing,
control over sensor networks, and energy saving in portable electronics devices.

Robotics is a cross-disciplinary research area that includes faculty and students in

Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Psychology Science, and
Health and Kinesiology. Current research interests include, but are not limited to, skill
learning and locomotion control for humanoid robots, modeling of human and robot
motor control systems, perception and cognition for humanoids, dynamic robotic sensor
networks, vision-based SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) for mobile
robots, and human-robot interaction. Education activities include lecture and
experimental courses for graduate and undergraduate students. Furthermore, mobile and
humanoid robots are being used in our K-12 outreach activities and summer camps.

Faculty Contacts Control Courses

Jianghai Hu (Area Chair) ECE 30800 (System Simul & Cont Lab)
V. "Ragu" Balakrishnan ECE 38200 (Feedback Syst Anal & Des)
Raymond A. Decarlo ECE 48300 (Dig Cont Sys Anal & Des)
C. S. George Lee ECE 56900 (Intro to Robotic Systems
Steven D. Pekarek ECE 58000 (Optim Meth for Sys & Cont)
Scott D. Sudhoff
Stanislaw H. Żak
Indicates faculty members with primary area in Automatic Control
Biomedical Imaging and Sensing
The field of Biomedical Imaging and Sensing integrates multiple disciplines of electrical
and computer engineering to solve problems of critical importance in clinical medicine.
Topics of research activity include acoustic and stereo imaging, magnetic resonance
imaging, finite element analysis of cardiac responses, induced currents and nerve
stimulation from electromagnetic fields, and electronic medical databases. The results of
this research are expected to improve diagnostic accuracy, improve the safety of
diagnostic instrumentation, and enhance patient recovery through improved clinical
instruments.

One of the goals of biomedical research is to develop inexpensive acoustical instruments

to monitor pathological changes in non-critical environments such as the home or the
physician's office. Acoustics are also being used to guide the placement of breathing
tubes in infants. Signal processing and filtering algorithms are being applied to the
development of a new generation of stethoscopes that function in high-noise
environments such as helicopters and ambulances.

World renowned expertise in imaging is being applied to stereo visualization for

mammography diagnostics and acoustic imaging of the lung. An experimental study of
the intensities of MRI fields required to produce nerve stimulation in humans is expected
to result in lower cost imaging, improved accuracy, and enhanced patient safety.

A significant portion of the research efforts in this area is performed in the Hillenbrand
Biomedical Engineering Center.

The facilities of the Biomedical Acoustics Laboratory are used for research in
electroacoustic principles as well as research and development of non-invasive clinical
instruments. The laboratory consists of a soundproof chamber that provides both
acoustical and electromagnetic shielding and extensive measurement and processing
equipment.

Faculty Contacts
Charles A. Bouman (Area Chair) Hong Z. Tan
Mary Comer George R. Wodicka
Edward J. Delp Babak Ziaie
Peter C. Doerschuk (Adjunct) Vladimir M. Shalaev
Leslie A. Geddes Thomas M. Talavage
Byunghoo Jung
Avinash C. Kak
Saeed Mohammadi
John A. Nyenhuis
Zheng Ouyang (Courtesy - BioMed)
Ilya Pollak Bioengineering Courses over 
Bioengineering Courses
ECE 51100 (Psychophysics)
ECE 52200 (Physiological Measurements)
ECE 52600 (Fundamentals of BioMEMS & Micro-Integrated Systems)
ECE 52800 (Measurement & Stimulation of the Nervous Sys)
BIOL 11000 (Fundamentals of Biol I) *
BIOL 11100 (Fundamentals of Biol II) *
BIOL 30100 (Anatomy & Physiology I) **
BIOL 30200 (Anatomy & Physiology II) **
CHM 25500 (Organic Chemistry) **

*Science Selective Course

**Complementary Elective Credit Only
Communications, Networking, Signal & Image
Processing
The communications, networking, signal & image processing area includes research
directed toward wireless mobile and PCS communication, smart antennas, GPS, radar,
speech recognition and synthesis, image processing and pattern recognition, print image
quality, remote sensing, local and wide-area computer networks, and multimedia
communication and processing. Results from this area impact how we communicate with
cellular phones, faxes, and the Internet; the way that we travel using GPS and intelligent
highways; and the video, audio, and data that we receive and transmit for personal
entertainment and electronic commerce.

Research in computer communication networks is underway to provide new methods for

design, analysis, and optimization of increasingly complex and demanding
communication. New switch architectures are being developed for high-speed packet-
switched networks that integrate video, voice, and data. Mechanisms for scheduling,
bandwidth allocation, error recovery, data compression, and access control for local and
wide-area computer networks will provide improved performance and quality of service.

The integration of signal processing and communications expertise is providing important

results in smart antennas, accurate GPS, improved modems, and efficient radar
applications. A narrow-band modem under development is expected to provide high-
performance wireless communication that will be deployed in intelligent transportation
systems.

Spread spectrum is a digital communication technique that intentionally expands the

bandwidth of a signal for transmission. Practical applications of spread spectrum
technology are being made to personal communications systems, multimedia networks,
and digital battlefields. These applications are enabled by research breakthroughs in
coding and modulation techniques.

Video, image, and speech processing are areas of intense research activity. Application
areas include MPEG video compression for transmission and storage, print quality
enhancement, and feature extraction. The use of image processing techniques in remote
sensing is a notable area of research expertise. Speech recognition and synthesis are also
active topics of research. Applications of the results are being made to proper name
recognition, phoneme recognition, and pitch and lexical stress detection.

Six major laboratories are involved in communications and signal processing research.

• The Communications Research Laboratory provides for experimental research

and for the implementation of algorithms and architectures for synchronization,
equalization, coding, modulation, antenna array processing, and wireless multiple-
access systems. The laboratory includes programmable signal processors, 
 electronic test equipment, satellite communication hardware, and commercial
communication software.
• The Video and Image Processing Laboratory provides the ability to display and
process high-resolution imagery. The laboratory has multiple systems that
digitize, display, and process digital video. There is a complete suite of video
distribution and editing equipment, a real-time MPEG encoder, and an ATM
testbed network.
• The Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Laboratory supports research in speech
processing, nonlinear DSP, neural networks, design of specialized signals, signal
representation, and DSP architectures.
• The Electronic Imaging Systems Laboratory enables research activities in the
areas of image capture, image rendering, and document processing. The
laboratory is equipped with high-resolution and large format printers, high-
precision scanners, and high-performance workstations.
• The Purdue Multimedia Testbed was developed for the study and evaluation of
networked multimedia systems. Research areas supported by the laboratory
include video and image compression, computer networks, multimedia authoring,
media capture, wireless systems, and a wide variety of applications.

Faculty Contacts Sanjay Rao

Kaushik Roy
Thomas M. Talavage (Area Chair) Sujay Sanghavi
Jan P. Allebach Vladimir M. Shalaev
Saurabh Bagchi Ness Shroff (Adjunct)
V. "Ragu" Balakrishnan M.J.T. Smith
Mark R. Bell Eugene H. Spafford (courtesy - CS)
Charles A. Bouman Hong Z. Tan
Mireille "Mimi" Boutin T. N. Vijaykumar
Mary Comer Chih-Chun Wang
Edward J. Delp Andrew M. Weiner
Peter C. Doerschuk (Adjunct) Michael D. Zoltowski
Okan K. Ersoy
Saul B. Gelfand Communications Courses
Arif Ghafoor
Jianghai Hu ECE 30600 (Elec Circ & Sys Lab)
Leah H. Jamieson ECE 43800 (Dig Sig Proc w/ Appl)
James V. Krogmeier ECE 44000 (Transmission of Info)
James S. Lehnert ECE 44500 (Modern Filter Design)
Xiaojun Lin ECE 53800 (Digital Signal Proc I)
David J. Love ECE 54400 (Digital Communications)
David G. Meyer ECE 57700 (Eng Aspects of Remote Sens)
Saeed Mohammadi
Johnny Park
Dimitrios Peroulis
Ilya Pollak
Vijay Raghunathan
Computer Engineering
Computer engineering is the only one of the eight research areas in which a student can
receive a specialized undergraduate degree (BSCmpE). Undergraduate and graduate
students study in three main sub-areas -- computer architecture, software systems, and
intelligent systems. Graduate students may pursue studies that cross between the sub-
areas and combine a variety of topics. Below are a few of the Computer Engineering
Labs. To see a complete list of the Computer Engineering labs and project groups, please
visit: https://engineering.purdue.edu/ECE/Research/Areas/CompEngr

Computer Architecture

Computer architecture is one of the core research

areas in the computer area of ECE. The focus is on
designing the next-generation processor
architecture exploring speculative execution
schemes and power saving technology.
Computer Architecture URL: http://dynamo.ecn.purdue.edu/~arch/
Associated faculty: Prof. T.N. Vijaykumar

Distributed Multimedia Systems Lab

The Distributed Multimedia Systems Laboratory is a state-of-the-art facility for
conducting theoretical and experimental research in the areas of distributed
multimedia database systems and broadband multimedia networking. The facility,
funded by several industrial and government organizations, houses a myriad of high-
performance multimedia servers and a cluster of heterogeneous networks.
Multimedia Lab URL: http://shay.ecn.purdue.edu/~dmultlab/
Associated faculty: Prof. Arif Ghafoor

Robot Vision Lab (RVL)

The focus of this lab is to study sensory intelligence for the machines of
the future. The laboratory has a world-wide reputation in research in 3D
object recognition, mobile robot navigation, robotic assembly, etc. The
laboratory also carries out leading-edge research in medical image
processing and information retrieval from medical images.

RVL URL: http://RVL.www.ecn.purdue.edu/RVL

Associated faculty: Prof. Avi Kak


Internet Systems Lab (ISL)

The focus of this lab is to study and address challenges in the design of the
Internet. The lab is well-known for its work on peer-to-peer systems and
network management. URL: http://www.ece.purdue.edu/~isl
Associated faculty: Sanjay Rao

Faculty Contacts Computer Courses

• Saurabh Bagchi (Area Chair) ECE 26400 (Advanced C Prog)
• Elisa Bertino (Courtesy - CS) ECE 36200 (Microprocessors)
• Cordelia Brown ECE 36400 (Software Tools Lab)
• Jason Vaughn Clark ECE 36800 (Data Structures)
• Edward J. Delp ECE 36900 (Discrete Math)
• David S. Ebert ECE 46300 (Computer Networks)
• Rudolf Eigenmann ECE 47300 (Intro to AI)
• Niklas Elmqvist ECE 47700 (Dig Sys Sen Proj)
• Okan K. Ersoy ECE 57000 (Artificial Intelligence)
• Arif Ghafoor
• Robert L. Givan
• Y. Charlie Hu
• Brent Jesiek
• Avinash C. Kak
• Guy Lebanon
• C. S. George Lee
• Xiaojun Lin
• Yung-Hsiang Lu
• David G. Meyer
• Samuel P. Midkiff
• Vijay Pai
• Johnny Park
• Irith Pomeranz
• Anand Raghunathan
• Vijay Raghunathan
• Sanjay Rao
• Kaushik Roy
• Jeffrey M. Siskind
• Eugene H. Spafford (courtesy - CS)
• Hong Z. Tan
• Mithuna S. Thottethodi
• T. N. Vijaykumar
Education
Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Education is a specialization in which
practitioners focus on maximizing the learning achievement of students by developing
and assessing a wide variety of instructional techniques and technologies in the ECE
curriculum. Such research also often leads to fundamental insights about engineering
teaching and learning.
While research in the field of Engineering Education spans the engineering disciplines,
the subject matter of ECE has unique characteristics that make it useful to develop
pedagogies specifically tailored for ECE. In addition, there is a need to determine how
best to apply techniques already shown to be effective in other disciplines in the context
of ECE.
Research in engineering education has been conducted in engineering for many decades,
including at Purdue. Yet Engineering Education as a distinct discipline is very young. In
fact, Purdue’s School of Engineering Education was founded in 2004 as one of the first
departments of its kind in the world. Through active partnerships with Engineering
Education and the Discovery Learning Center, ECE students and faculty have
opportunities to be at the forefront of this new field and work with premier scholars.
Some examples of recent research topics in ECE Education include the use of a directed
problem solving approach in lecture, applications of student response systems, evaluation
of the relative benefits of different kinds of active learning activities, and assessing the
success of leading-edge technical topics (such as multi-core design) in ECE courses.
Other research areas include conceptual understanding of core ECE topics and historical
studies of computer engineering education.
There are many opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to participate in
this area, including by getting involved with educational research projects and applying
research results. Numerous students are also teaching or assisting with courses where
research studies are carried out or findings are applied.
Faculty in this area include those whose primary research interest is engineering
education, as well as several other faculty who engage in engineering education
innovation in addition to their primary technical area.
If you would like to discuss student research opportunities in ECE education, please
contact ECE Instructional Innovation Group Chair, Mark Johnson at
mcjohnso@purdue.edu.

Faculty Contacts
David G. Meyer Barrett Robinson
Cordelia Brown Yung-Hsiang Lu
Brent Jesiek
Mark Johnson
Joanne Lax
Energy Sources and Systems
This area focuses on electrical power engineering and the electrical to non-electrical
energy conversion process. Topics of interest include electromechanical component
design, power electronics design, passive component design, power magnetics, electric
drives, electric propulsion systems, vehicle (ship, spacecraft, automotive) electric
systems, and power system control and stability.

In the push for sustainability and reduced carbon emissions, energy conversion
technologies are critical. Energy sources and systems faculty are at the forefront of
modern electromechanical component and system design, analysis, and control. They
also have significant efforts in power electronics – particularly in the areas of control and
passive component design.

As the demand for higher reliability and efficiency on aircraft and marine platforms
increases, hydraulic control systems are being replaced by electric drive systems.
Research is underway to accurately model the performance of alternative power-by-wire
electric drive systems. Computer simulation packages are being designed that accurately
evaluate complete power-by-wire systems, including actuators, converters, electric
drives, and electrical distribution systems. Evaluation and design of electric propulsion
systems is also in progress.

The deregulation of the electric utilities coupled with the integration of alternative energy
sources provides new challenges in power distribution and control. Current research
includes evaluating the impact of deregulation on power quality, optimal control of the
distribution system, and instability detection.

The Energy Sources and Systems area includes several research and undergraduate
laboratories including the Energy Conversion Research Laboratory, the Distributed
Heterogeneous Computing Laboratory, the Power Magnetics Laboratory, and the Genetic
Optimization Processing Array.

Faculty Contacts
Steven D. Pekarek (Area Chair)
Chee-Mun Ong
Scott D. Sudhoff
Oleg Wasynczuk

Energy Sources and Systems Courses

ECE 32100 (Electromechanical Motion Devices)
ECE 32300 (Electromechanical Motion Devices Lab)
ECE 42300 (Electromechanical Motion Control)
ECE 43200 (Elements of Power System Engineering)
ECE 43300 (Power Electronics)
Fields and Optics
Current research in electromagnetic fields and optics includes studies on high-speed
optical communication, optical fibers, nonlinear optics, magnetism, modeling of
interconnects, and microwave devices.

Optics offers tremendous bandwidth for high-rate communications and information

access. Device-level research incorporates femtosecond fiber lasers, fiber dispersion
compensation, optical pulse shaping, pulse coding, code-division multiple-access
(CDMA) fiber communication, etched optical fiber filters, optical interactions, and solid
state dye lasers. Research on optical applications provides new forms of communication,
computation, and imaging. Investigations are currently examining optical imaging
technology, smart pixel devices, and synthesis of computer generated holograms.

Electromagnetics, magnetism, and microwave research includes both device-level

research and new applications of the technology. High-speed communication in digital
VLSI circuits exhibits significant degradation from cross-talk effects, disconti-nuities,
and lossy dielectrics. Software packages for simulating ultra-high-speed VLSI
communication and interconnects are being designed. Biomedical applications of
magnetic imaging, particularly MRI, are being analyzed to improve safety and efficiency.
Innovations in microwave waveguides have been conceived and prototyped.

Fields and optics research takes place in several laboratories.

• The Magnetics Laboratory contains facilities for performing optical and magnetic
measurements. Instrumentation includes polarizing microscopes for magneto-
optic observations, continuous and pulsed light sources, and electronic drive
circuitry for application of magnetic fields over a wide range of frequencies.
• The Microwave Laboratory is used for research programs on microwave
semiconductor devices, optical diffusion imaging, and high-speed interconnects.
The laboratory provides measurement coverage up to 40 GHz.
• Advanced research in nonlinear optics, multi-photon processes, fiber and
integrated optical devices, and laser characterization takes place in the Modern
Optics Research Laboratory. Laser systems that generate coherent tunable
radiation provide the means for the investigation of a variety of optical
phenomena.
• The Ultrafast Optics and Fiber Communications Laboratory is equipped with
several lasers capable of generating ultrashort pulses on a femtosecond time scale.
These facilities support research on ultrafast laser and pulse shaping technology,
ultra-high-speed optical communications and networking, and characterization of
ultrafast electronic and optoelectronic devices.


Faculty Contacts
William J. Chappell (Area Chair)
Alexandra Boltasseva
Chin-Lin Chen
Yong Chen (Courtesy - Physics)
Supriyo Datta
Daniel S. Elliott
Okan K. Ersoy
Eric S. Furgason
David B. Janes
Dan Jiao
Gerhard Klimeck
Michael R. Melloch
Evgenii Narimanov
John A. Nyenhuis
Dimitrios Peroulis
Minghao Qi
Vladimir M. Shalaev
Kevin J. Webb
Andrew M. Weiner
Xianfan Xu (Courtesy - ME)

Fields And Optics Courses

ECE 30700 (Electromagnetic Fields and Waves Lab)

ECE 41200 (Introduction to Engineering Optics)
ECE 41300 (Introduction to Optics Lab)
ECE 41400 (Elements of Electro-and Fiber Optics)
ECE 41500 (Electro-and Fiber Optics Lab)
ECE 44100 (Distributed Parameter Systems)
ECE 51300 (Diffraction, Fourier Optics, and Imaging)
ECE 55200 (Introduction to Lasers)
Microelectronics and Nanotechnology
Microelectronics and Nanotechnology (MN) area consists of approximately twenty
faculty members with active research and instructional programs in Nanoelectronics,
Computational Nanotechnology, Energy Conversion, Nanomaterials, Micro and
Nanoelectromechanical Systems (MEMS/NEMS), Wide Bandgap Semiconductors and
Nanophotonics. Experimental programs are located primarily in the new state-of-the-art
facility at the Birck Nanotechnology Center (BNC). Purdue is also the home of the NSF-
sponsored Network for Computational Nanotechnology (NCN) that created the science
gateway nanoHUB.org with nearly 100,000 users worldwide.

For more information about our graduate and undergraduate courses, please look at:

https://engineering.purdue.edu/ECE/Academics/Graduates/General/AreaSpecificInfo.html

under Microelectronics and Nanotechnology. Note that the information is currently being
updated. For more information about the research program please consult the BNC and
NCN webpages along with those maintained by individual faculty:

1. Nanoelectronics: Joerg Appenzeller, David Janes

Mike Capano, Mike Manfra, Ashraf Alam, Supriyo Datta, Jim Cooper, Bob
Pierret, Mark Lundstrom, Mike Melloch, Peter Ye, Kaushik Roy, Saeed
Mohammadi, Gerhard Klimeck

2. Computational Nanotechnology: Mark Lundstrom, Gerhard Klimeck

Ashraf Alam, Supriyo Datta, Jason Clark, Jeff Gray

3. Energy Conversion: Ashraf Alam, Jerry Woodall

Supriyo Datta, Mark Lundstrom, Jeff Gray, Dick Schwartz, Tim Sands, Saeed
Mohammadi

4. Nanomaterials: Sasha Boltasseva, Tim Sands

Peter Ye, Mike Capano, Jerry Woodall, Mike Manfra

5. MEMS/NEMS: Jason Clark, Babak Ziaie

Dimitrios Peroulis, Saeed Mohammadi

6. Wide Bandgap Semiconductors: Jim Cooper, Peter Ye

Mike Capano, Mike Manfra

Other Related Faculty:

Vlad Shalaev, Evgenii Narimanov, Sasha Boltasseva, Minghao Qi (Nanophotonics)

Andy Weiner, Kevin Webb, Dan Elliott, Chin-Lin Chen (Optics) 

Eric Furgason (Ultrasonics), John Nyenhuis (Magnetics)

Yong Chen (Courtesy - Physics), Cagri Savran (Courtesy - ME)

Microelectronics and Nanotechnology Courses

ECE 30500 (Semiconductor Devices)
ECE 40700 (Semiconductor Measurement Lab)
ECE 45500 (Integrated Circuit Engineering)
ECE 45600 (Digital Integrated Circuit Analysis & Design)
ECE 49500 (Fundamentals of Nanoelectronics)
ECE 55600 (Fundamentals of Microelectronics Processing)
ECE 55700 (Integrated Circuit/MEMS Fabrication Laboratory)
VLSI and Circuit Design
Research is conducted in VLSI circuits and computer-aided design, building blocks for
new circuit technology, integrated circuit testing and fault diagnosis, digital signal
processing, computer-aided synthesis, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and
design of low-power circuits. Software tools are under development to assist engineers in
the simulation and design of VLSI circuits.

Portable communication and computation have driven the need for low-power
electronics. Recent progress has been made in creating tools for estimating power
dissipation in CMOS circuits. The research approach is to use accurate and efficient
power estimation techniques to drive the design of new low-power systems. Software
tools for testing integrated circuits, rapid fault simulation, and failure analysis are also
being developed.

New solid state technology and logic devices have provided the opportunity to change the
way that digital systems are designed. Recent research has been initiated on automatic
architecture synthesis for FPGAs, hardware and software co-design, low-power datapath
synthesis, and smart power SiC integrated circuits.

The VLSI Design and Test Laboratory consists of a suite of high-performance

workstations, integrated circuit testers, and commercial computer-aided design software.
The laboratory is used for designing low-power and highly testable integrated circuits and
for developing design automation software for fault diagnosis, testing, simulation, power
estimation, and synthesis.

Faculty Contacts Circuits Courses

Kaushik Roy (Area Chair) ECE 33700 (ASIC Design Lab)
V. "Ragu" Balakrishnan ECE 45500 (Integrated Circuit Eng)
Raymond A. Decarlo ECE 45600 (Digital IC Anal & Des)
Byunghoo Jung ECE 45700 (Electronic Design Lab)
Cheng-Kok Koh ECE 54600 (Digital Com Tech for Ele Cir)
Yung-Hsiang Lu ECE 55900 (MOS VLSI Design)
Saeed Mohammadi
Irith Pomeranz
Anand Raghunathan
Vijay Raghunathan
T. N. Vijaykumar
Oleg Wasynczuk