| Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering
Chair
Kenneth A. Connor (Acting)
Curriculum Chair A. Bruce Carlson
Director of Master’s Programs Yannick L. LeCoz
Director of Doctoral Programs Alan A. Desrochers
Department Home Page http://www.ecse.rpi.edu/
Electrical,, computer, and systems engineers have long been at the forefront of new discoveries and their integration into advanced design and engineering methodologies. Inventions in areas such as integrated electronics and optical devices stimulate innovations in computers, control, and communications. New systems theory and mathematical techniques are then needed for analysis and design work.
As a broad-based department, Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering (ECSE) offers several advantages for undergraduate and graduate study. One is the ability to attack the many facets of modern problems that cut across disciplinary lines. Another is the flexibility for students to embark on individually tailored programs and for the department to launch new areas of research.
The department offers programs of study leading to bachelors, master’s, and doctoral degrees in electric power engineering, electrical engineering, and computer and systems engineering. Each curriculum is sufficiently flexible to accommodate a wide range of interests. The curriculum the student selects is determined by his or her specific interests and, in some cases, by directions within a field of interest.
Research and Innovation Initiatives
Communications, Information, and Signal Processing
Advanced study and research in this field deals with the encoding, transmission, retrieval, and interpretation of information. Students may pursue programs of study strong in mathematical foundations, or oriented more toward hardware and practical implementation, or a combination of both.
Communications research focuses on the transmission of information over wireless, optical, and wire channels. Link level concerns, such as modulation and coding, as well as local and wide area networks are considered. Two of the fundamental subdisciplines emphasized are statistical communications and telecommunications. The former considers special types of systems in different environments, typified by random signals in random channels, as in space communication. The latter includes the hardware and societal demands of telephone, wireless communications, cable television, communications networks (including ATM and ISDN), and other systems.
The area of information processing is concerned primarily with the theory and engineering design associated with interpreting and manipulating received data, primarily in discrete form. Major research topics include information theory, including rate distortion theory, along with the coding and compression of speech, image, and video signals. A quantitative understanding of the nature and meaning of information provides a theoretical foundation. A special research emphasis at Rensselaer is the application of image transmission and interpretation techniques to pattern recognition, image processing, digital video, and speech recognition.
Signal processing considers the application of digital processing techniques to problems encountered in many areas, including biomedical instrumentation, control systems, and audio processing.
Special laboratories are available for speech processing, video and image processing, networking and communications.
Computer Networks
Research focal areas in computer networking include network management, traffic management, congestion control, traffic engineering, quality-of-service (QoS) architectures, multimedia networking, network modeling, measurement, and performance analysis. The application areas include wired, wireless, ad-hoc, satellite networks, and pervasive computing. The networking group also participates in interdisciplinary research in control theory, economics, scalable simulation technologies, and video compression.
As world networks get increasingly complex, the need for automated network management and sophisticated traffic management capabilities becomes more urgent. The theoretical foundations for these areas are of immense interest. Moreover, the structure of the Internet in terms of thousands of ISPs demands new economic models and mechanisms to ensure continued investment and growth of Internet services. Network heterogeneity—especially in terms of wired, wireless, ad-hoc, and satellite—demands fundamental research for seamless interconnection. Rensselaer’s modeling subgroup serves all areas in terms of self-similar and advanced stochastic models. Finally, newer applications with QoS capabilities need to be deployed on the Internet and co-exist with the current applications. The computer network group works on all these areas with a mix of analysis, simulation, and experimental tools.
Computer Vision, Image Processing, and Digital Media
Research in image processing covers a range of technologies and applications. This activity occurs at the Center for Image Processing Research (CIPR), the Center for Subsurface Sensing and Imaging Systems (CenSSIS), and the Center for Next Generation Video (CNGV), as well as the Document Analysis Laboratory (DocLab), Advanced Imaging Systems Laboratory, and Computer Vision and Robotics Laboratory.
Research areas include pattern recognition, computer vision, multidimensional and multimodality image analysis, image compression, biotech assay automation, eye tracking, optical scanning systems, artificial intelligence, graphics, computational geometry, and Internet image analysis services.
Application areas include computer-assisted surgery, radiation treatment planning, medical image reconstruction, document image analysis, geographic data analysis, and image analysis aids to neurobiology. Additional application areas are bioinformatics, human fatigue monitoring, human computer interaction, video imagery activity interpretation, decision making under uncertainty, robot localization, robotic devices for automated scoring of assays for the biotechnology industry, and biological multidimensional microscopy.
The work of digital media includes such topics as image processing algorithms and architectures for digital cinema, advanced image compression and decompression algorithms, and methods for indexing video by content. Multimedia work also includes graphics courseware development for the World Wide Web using HTML, Java, PHP, my SQL, and VRML.
Computer Hardware, Architecture, and Design
The design, implementation, layout, and testing of hardware systems constitute a vital component of computer engineering research. Research areas include multichip packaging concepts, high-frequency package characterization, thermal management, optical interconnections, and packaging reliability. Other topics include advanced concepts in fault tolerant computing, wafer-scale integration, high-speed GaAs RISC engines architectures for VLSI signal processing, and computer-aided design of VLSI for CMOS, bipolar, BiCMOS, and GaAs MESFET circuits. Fabrication and testing facilities are available in the Center for Integrated Electronics.
Control, Robotics, and Automation
Current research projects address both the theory and application of control. Faculty interest in control theory includes adaptive control, large-scale systems, optimization, multivariable control, robust control, nonlinear control, model reduction, and discrete event systems. Design results are applied to robotics, advanced automation systems, flexible manufacturing, human physiology, large space structures, power systems, semiconductor systems, and material processing systems.
In robotics research, the focus is on intelligent robotic systems. Such systems represent a class of autonomous machines that can perform human-like functions with or without human interaction. They are fundamental for activities too hazardous for humans or too distant or complex for remote telemanipulation. This research is instrumental in advancing the theory of intelligent control with applications to systems of robotic arms. A robotic transporter with two-arm manipulative capabilities, stereo vision, and tactile sensing, connected to a Sun workstation network has been developed.
The design of controllers of large-scale systems is highly complex. Research is being performed on the design of low-order, structurally constrained robust controllers using iterative methods and convex programming techniques. Emphasis is also being given to linear and nonlinear model reduction methods. Applications to power systems, aircraft engines, and flexible structures are being considered, together with the development of control-aided design software.
Today, low-cost, highly reliable microcomputers and workstations that can be used for both control systems design and control system synthesis are widely available. As a result, increased emphasis has been placed on the design of implementable digital adaptive control logic that can be used for maintaining uniform qualities in an aircraft or other systems, despite large variations in the parameters that define the system dynamic equations. Such adaptive control algorithms have been developed and applied to a wide range of applications, including robotics, blood pressure control, large flexible systems, and flight control systems.
Discrete event systems theory is an emerging discipline relevant to communication protocols and parallel computing as well as manufacturing control. Petri net and formal language theory are being developed to model, design, analyze, evaluate performance, and control such interconnected systems. Important issues are deadlock avoidance, synchronization, concurrency, resource allocation, and random events. Applications under study are manufacturing automation and integration, and task coordination for cooperating robotic systems.
All dynamic systems are fundamentally nonlinear. The nonlinearity can be either treated as a perturbation of a nominally linear system or directly taken into account in a nonlinear control design. In the first approach, linear control designs have been developed under various performance and robustness specifications. In the second approach, various nonlinear control strategies have been developed based on the Lyapunov theory, optimal control, and predictive control. There are currently various research projects applying these tools to a wide range of applications including vehicles, smart structures with piezoelectric actuators and sensors and shape memory alloy wires, robot position and force control, extrusion, and welding.
Research areas in robotics include sensor fusion, assembly sequence planning, dexterous manipulation, teleoperated and variably autonomous systems, distributed control architectures, and their applications to inspection, maintenance, and servicing operations in hazardous environments. Extensive experimental and computational facilities are available in the New York State Center for Automation Technologies.
In computer-aided design, research is focused on the front end of the manufacturing process, namely product development. The goal is to understand and develop computer-based systems to support initial conceptual design, feature-based design, geometric modeling, and rapid prototyping.
Electric Power and Power Electronics
Current research is concentrated in five principal areas: electric and magnetic field computation, electrical transients and switching technology, dielectrics and insulation systems, power system analysis and optimization, and semiconductor power electronics.
The design of equipment to minimize losses, achieve compaction, or better utilize material frequently requires a sound knowledge of the electric and magnetic field configurations involved. Several projects in the recent past have adapted finite element methods to the solution of current problems in large machines. A new approach to digital field computations is being devised, based on techniques used to solve large network problems. The objective is to develop a more efficient, computationally conservative method. In today’s energy-scarce world, there is a great emphasis on building more efficient electrical equipment. Projects are under way in the magnetic fields area to better understand the mechanism of electrical losses in rotating machinery and power transformers, with the ultimate goal of reducing these losses.
Of current interest are electric transients initiated by the switching of power plant auxiliaries and capacitor banks, especially by vacuum switching devices. The modeling of transients in transformer structures could also provide insight into the problems of both design and operation. The techniques being developed are finding application in new areas such as superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) and fault current limiting devices. This area of endeavor also includes the fundamental processes of switching large currents and the attendant system interactions.
An electrical insulation system, be it solid, liquid, gaseous, or a combination of these, is an essential part of all power equipment. Current research seeks to better understand the fundamental behavior of insulation under a variety of operating conditions and to develop diagnostic instrumentation. This involves experimentation and computer modeling in the areas of discharge physics, electrostatic phenomena, and high-voltage technology.
Optimization theory is used in the design of electric power systems to obtain high efficiency at minimum cost, particularly for systems that involve distributed generation. This has been extended to include the development of intelligent protective relaying using the department’s system simulator and Electromagnetic Transient Program (EMTP) studies.
With the development of innovative energy sources such as advanced electric machines, fuel cells, and solar photovoltaics, power electronic systems are playing an ever-increasing role at both the source and the load. Issues of power quality and electromagnetic interference (EMI) need to be addressed through careful circuit design, circuit board layout, and EMI resistant communications. Rensselaer has identified this growing area of interest and is currently investigating future solutions to these challenging problems.
With the continual improvement of power semiconductor devices over the last thirty years, it is now possible to convert electrical energy from one form to another efficiently and accurately. Work in this multidisciplinary field requires an understanding of semiconductor devices, circuit theory, signal analysis, analog and digital control, magnetics, and heat transfer. At Rensselaer, these fields are applied to electronic energy conversion and motion control for the electric power and industrial automation industries. Current interests include propulsion systems for electric vehicles, generation systems for wind turbines, the use of artificial intelligence (fuzzy logic, genetic algorithms, and neural networks) in the design and control of electric power conversion and electric machines, and the adaptive control of electric machines.
Microelectronics Technology
Advanced study and research includes semiconductor devices for power and high-frequency applications, fabrication of novel semiconductor materials and device structures, and the use and development of computer tools for microelectronics design. Research in association with the Center for Advanced Interconnect Sciences and Technology (CAIST) focuses on overcoming the strong limits interconnects pose for future developments in VLSI technology.
An extensive clean room in the Center for Integrated Electronics (CIE) is equipped for fabricating silicon-based devices, integrated circuits, and a full complement of equipment for compound semiconductor device processing. Activities in this area have been focused on novel device technology and process development, advanced interconnect processing, and the fabrication of micromechanical structures.
The microelectronics group has several specialized laboratories equipped to meet industrial standards for advanced research techniques. The electronic materials laboratory includes several state-of-the-art bulk crystal growth systems, wafer slicing and chemical mechanical polishing facilities, liquid phase epitaxy system for multilayer hetero-epitaxy growth, and cold wall epitaxial reactors for the growth of single crystal III-V and II-VI semiconductors. Diagnostic equipment available includes a scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive X-ray analysis, a double crystal X-ray diffractometer, a Fourier transform IR spectrometer, a photoluminescence system with visible and UV excitation, a spectroscopic ellipsometer, and a Hall-effect measurement system.
The high-voltage power device laboratory has equipment that can measure semiconductor power devices in wafer and package form up to 5000 V and 25 A. The equipment includes a Sony/Tektronix 370A curve tracer, an HP 4155 parameter analyzer with a high power module, a Velonex High Power Pulse Generator Model 350, a custom high-voltage rectifier and IGBT switching circuits, a 500 MHz digitizing oscilloscope, a Delta 9023 furnace, and a manual probe station with a high-temperature controller and chuck for device testing.
The semiconductor device characterization laboratories are equipped for carrying out comprehensive electrical characterization of semiconductor devices. Automated measurement systems are available for CV and IV measurements and deep level transient spectroscopy. Facilities are available for cryogenic measurements of semiconductor and superconducting devices at liquid nitrogen and helium temperatures. Additional specialized instrumentation has been developed for analyzing the quantum efficiency and spectral response of solar cells and photoconductive materials, and automated reflectance, electroreflectance, and photoreflectance for the characterization of semiconductor surfaces and quantum layers. Also available is a wide-band 35 GHz microwave setup for contactless measurement of electric resistivity, mobility, and excess carrier lifetime in epitaxial layers or bulk wafers. A full complement of microwave equipment is available for high frequency testing, including HP 8510 and 8410 network analyzers, frequency counters, probe stations, and an automated multiprobe system for on-wafer time-domain measurements.
Within the ECSE Department and the Center for Integrated Electronics are numerous Sun workstations with a variety of commercial design and simulation software, presently including Cadence, Mentor, TMA, and Hewlett-Packard software suites. Research programs developing supplemental design tools for modeling integrated circuits, devices, processes, and interconnects have provided unique supplemental capabilities.
Plasma Engineering and Electromagnetics
Plasma engineering and electromagnetics have played fundamental roles in electrical engineering throughout the history of this discipline. Research at Rensselaer in recent years has centered on two general areas—analysis of electromagnetic fields and characterization of plasma media. Project areas include diagnostics for fusion plasmas based on the interaction between energetic particle beams and plasmas, the application of finite element methods to microwave heating of a variety of materials, antenna design, low temperature plasma modification of materials, magnetic levitation, and electric vehicles. Additional microwave projects are described in the section above.
High-temperature plasma research is crucial to the development of a controlled thermonuclear fusion energy source. Rensselaer’s Plasma Dynamics Laboratory has a very active research program on the development of particle beam diagnostic systens for magnetically confined plasma experiments. Specific diagnostic techniques are developed and tested on relatively small-scale experiments in the on-campus laboratory. Techniques are then scaled up and applied on major confinement experiments located at other U.S. universities (e.g., the Universities of Texas and Wisconsin), at U.S. national laboratories (e.g., Oak Ridge National Lab and Lawrence Livermore National Lab), and foreign institutions (e.g., the Japanese National Institute for Fusion Science).
Electromagnetics remains one of the richest sources of problems and opportunities for electrical engineers. In recent years, the availability of powerful analysis tools, such as those based on finite element methods, has greatly enhanced the ability to exploit electromagnetic phenomena for the greater good of society. Issues associated with high power microwave antenna design, material properties assessment for microwave heating applications, noise in electric vehicle design, and processing of waste materials have been addressed.
Faculty
Departmental faculty listings are accurate as of the date generated for inclusion in this catalog. For the most up-to-date listing of faculty positions, including end-of-year promotions, please refer to the Faculty Roster section of this catalog, which is current as of the May 2002 Board of Trustees meeting.
Professors
Bhat, I.—Ph.D. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); sold state, electronic materials.
Carlson, A.B.—Ph.D. (Stanford University); communication systems, circuits and electronics, educational methods, social context of engineering.
Chow, J.H.—P.E., Ph.D. (University of Illinois); large-scale system modeling, multivariable control systems.
Chow, T.P.—Ph.D. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); semiconductor device physics and processing technology, integrated circuits.
Connor, K.A.—Ph.D. (Polytechnic Institute of New York); electromagnetic theory, wave propagation, plasmas for fusion research and industrial applications, finite element methods.
Degeneff, R.C.—P.E., D.Eng. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); transient voltages in electrical machines and transformers, HVDC system design and electric utility system planning.
Desrochers, A.A.—Ph.D. (Purdue University); discrete event dynamic systems, robotics, automated manufacturing systems control.
Gerhardt, L.A.—Ph.D. (State University of New York, Buffalo); communication systems, digital voice and image processing, adaptive systems and pattern recognition, integrated manufacturing.
Gutmann, R.J.—Ph.D. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); solid-state devices, microwave techniques, and interconnection technology.
Jennings, W.C.—Ph.D. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); plasma diagnostics, electronics manufacturing, multimedia educational materials.
McDonald, J.F.—Ph.D. (Yale University); communication theory, coding and switching theory, computer architecture, integrated circuit design, high frequency packaging, digital signal processing.
Nagy, G.—Ph.D. (Cornell University); pattern recognition, document-image analysis, optical character recognition, geometric computation, computer-mediated learning, computer vision.
Nelson, J.K.—C.Eng., Ph.D. (University of London); dielectrics and insulation systems, computer-based diagnostics, electrostatic phenomena.
Pearlman, W.A.—Ph.D. (Stanford University); information theory and source coding; image, video, and audio compression; digital image and signal processing.
Roysam, B.—D.Sc. (Washington University); intelligent imaging at low SNR, parallel computation, biomedical applications.
Salon, S.J.—P.E., Ph.D. (University of Pittsburgh); machine design, system component modeling and simulation.
Sanderson, A.C.—Ph.D. (Carnegie Mellon University); robotics, knowledge-based systems, computer vision.
Savic, M.—Eng.Sc.D. (University of Belgrade); signal processing, biomedical electronics, electronics.
Shur, M.S.—D.Sc. (Ioffe Institute); semiconductor materials and devices, integrated circuit simulation, characterization and design.
Tien, J.M.—Ph.D. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); systems modeling, queuing theory, public policy and decision analysis, computer performance evaluation, information systems, expert systems, computational cybernetics.
Vastola, K.S.—Ph.D. (University of Illinois); computer and communication networks.
Wen, J.T.—Ph.D. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); nonlinear control, robot control, flexible structures control, deformation processes control.
Woods, J.W.—Ph.D. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); digital signal processing, image processing, digital image and video compression.
Wozny, M.J.—Ph.D. (University of Arizona); computer graphics, computer-aided design, digital simulation, rapid prototyping systems.
Zhang, X.-C.—Ph.D. (Brown University); ultrashort optical pulse spectroscopy, terahertz lasers.
Associate Professors
Franklin, W.R.—Ph.D. (Harvard University); computational geometry, graphics and CAD applications, large geometric databases, geographic information systems, terrain visibility and compression.
Kalyanaraman, S.—Ph.D. (Ohio State University); ATM and Internet traffic management, multimedia networking, IP telephony, performance analysis, Internet pricing.
LeCoz, Y.L.—Ph.D. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); numerical methods, random-walk algorithms for thermal and electromagnetic analysis of IC interconnects, quantum theory of semiconductor heterojunctions.
Saulnier, G.J.—Ph.D. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); circuits and electronics, communication systems, digital signal processing.
Schoch, P.M.—Ph.D. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); plasma diagnostics, instrumentation, engineering education.
Stephanou, H.E.—Ph.D. (Purdue University); multifingered robot hands, machine intelligence, neural networks, sensor fusion.
Torrey, D.A.—P.E., Ph.D. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); semiconductor power electronics, electric machinery.
Assistant Professors
Abouzeid, A.A. —Ph.D. (University of Washington); packet networks.
Arcak, M.—Ph.D. (University of California, Santa Barbara); design and analysis of nonlinear control systems, adaptive control, applications to mechanical systems.
Dutta, P.S.—Ph.D. (Indian Institute of Science); compound semiconductor materials and devices, crystal growth and substrate engineering, semiconductor quantum dots and nano-particles, photovoltaics, optoelectronics and microelectronics technologies.
Huang, W.—Ph.D. (Carnegie Mellon University); robotic manipulation, mobile robotics.
Ji, Q.—Ph.D. (University of Washington); computer vision, image processing, pattern recognition, robotics.
Mercado, A.V. —Ph.D. (University of Maryland); wireless communication.
Radke, R.J. —Ph.D. (Princeton University); image and video processing.
Sikdar, B. —Ph.D. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); computer networks.
Research Professor
Kliman, G.B. —Ph.D. (Massachusetts Insitute of Technology); electric motors and drives.
Research Associate Professors
Gaska, R.—Ph.D. (Wayne State University); wide band gap materials and devices; optoelectronics, high-power electronics, solid-state lighting.
Millard, D.L.—Ph.D. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); microelectronics design and manufacturing, nondestructive testing and evaluation, instrumentation systems, multimedia development.
Research Assistant Professors
Azimi-Sadjadi, B. —Ph.D. (University of Maryland); stochastic systems, control, communication.
Demers, D. —Ph.D. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); fusion plasmas, plasma diagnostics.
Adjunct Faculty
Anderson, T.R.—Ph.D. (New York University); electromagnetic theory, antennas, electromagnetic compatibility.
Berry, G.T.—P.E., M.E. (Harvard University); power system operation.
Blake, J.P.—M.S. (Union College); software engineering.
Bonissone, P.P.—Ph.D. (University of California, Berkeley); theory of fuzzy sets.
Bonner, S.J. —Ph.D. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); robotics.
Caola, R.J.—M.E. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); protective relaying.
Citriniti, T.D.—M.S. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); computer graphics and visualization.
Hershey, J.E.—Ph.D. (Oklahoma State University); communication systems, crytography, intellectual property management.
Johansen, R.B.—M.S.E. (Union College); computer languages, array signal processing, precision control of micromechanical systems.
Kraft, R.P.—Ph.D. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); digital control and manufacturing systems.
Merrill, H.M.—P.E., Ph.D. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); economic operation, planning and control of power systems.
Michael, J.D.—Ph.D. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); plasma diagnostics, instrumentation, low pressure discharge modeling, laser diagnostics, novel light sources.
Reichard, M.L.—P.E., M.E. (Pennsylvania State University); industrial power systems.
Sivasubramanian, K. —Ph.D. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); electromagnetics, machines.
Spang, H.A., III—D.Eng. (Yale University); control systems, theory and implementation.
Emeritus Faculty
Borrego, J.M.—P.E., Sc.D. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); semiconductor device physics and characterization, solar cells, application of microwaves.
Close, C.M.—Ph.D. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); network analysis and synthesis, control systems.
Das, P.K.—Ph.D. (University of Calcutta); microwave acoustics, solid-state devices, integrated circuits.
DiCesare, F.—Ph.D. (Carnegie Mellon University); discrete event systems, Petri net theory and applications manufacturing automation and integration, traffic control.
Frederick, D.K.—Ph.D. (Stanford University); automatic control, process modeling and control, computer simulation.
Ghandhi, S.K.—Ph.D. (University of Illinois); solid-state materials and devices, integrated circuits, device technology and electronic circuits.
Greenwood, A.N.—Ph.D. (University of Leeds); electrical transients, interrupting devices.
Hickok, R.L., Jr.—Ph.D. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); gaseous electronics, plasmas, energy conversion.
Kelley, R.B.—Ph.D. (University of California, Los Angeles); methods to give machines smart behaviors, sensor-based automation/robotic systems, teaching methods.
Norvik, F.J.—M.E.E. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); antennas, radio engineering, electronic circuits.
Rose, K.—Ph.D. (University of Illinois); semiconductor and superconductor materials and processing, VLSI design and testing.
Saridis, G.N.—Ph.D. (Purdue University); intelligent control systems, pattern recognition, computer systems, robotics, prostheses.
Saxena, A.N.—Ph.D. (Stanford University); solid-state materials, devices, integrated circuits, and advanced technologies.
Senior Research Engineer
Schatz, J.G.—A.A.S. (Hudson Valley Community College); vacuum and electronic systems.
|
