<strong>ECE</strong> at a GlanceDepartment TimelinePhD ProgramEstablished: 2002Established: 2009Department of <strong>Electrical</strong> <strong>and</strong><strong>Computer</strong> Engineering (CurrentName): 20051984MS EE Established: 1998Department Funding DetailsMS Comp Eng. ProgramEstablished: 2005Interdisciplinary MS inMaterials EngineeringEstablished: <strong>2012</strong>Foundation/Other, 1.1 %Academic Degree ProgramsVPR (incl. CPS), 3.6 %Dept. Education, 3.6 %TX/SAAF, 3.6 %NASA, 3.0 %NSF 32.3 %Dept. Defense, 5.9 %NIH, 13.3 %Dept. Energy, 31.9%BS in <strong>Electrical</strong> EngineeringConcentrationsIndustry, 1.6 %Degrees AwardedFY 2011$3.65$2.93Student EnrollmentFY 2011<strong>Computer</strong> EngineeringCommunicationsElectric Power EngineeringFaculty DetailsFaculty Research Productivity (09-11)200 refereed journalpublications322 conference publicationswww.ece.utsa.edu
NSF CAREER Award Supercharges Wang’s EV ResearchThe National ScienceFoundation has awardedDr. Shuo Wang, AssistantProfessor of <strong>Electrical</strong>Engineering, the prestigiousFaculty Early CareerDevelopment (CAREER)Award (5-yr, $400k) to study “MegawattElectric Vehicle Superfast Charging Stationswith Enhanced Grid Support Functionalityas Energy Hubs.” With his research, Dr.Wang seeks to allow electric vehicles (EV)to compete with, <strong>and</strong> eventually replace,gasoline fueled cars by reducing chargingtime of EV to a few minutes rather thanthat of several hours, as with currenttechnology. He states that “current techniques<strong>and</strong> thus, he proposes to use high–powercharging techniques through the creation ofmultifunction charging stations in order toquickly charge electric vehicles <strong>and</strong> providegrid support simultaneously.To make this possible, his vision forelectric vehicle charging stations is tohave energy hubs integrated with energystorage, making them more functional thanconventional gas stations, in that they willserve as charging stations for EV, but inaddition, these hubs will have bidirectionalto store renewable energy such as solar<strong>and</strong> wind power <strong>and</strong> provide back-uppower to surrounding facilities. Dr. Wang’sdevelopment of this technology is crucialbecause, as he states, “the air pollution<strong>and</strong> greenhouse effects caused by gasolineis a very urgent issue; furthermore, thegasoline will be gone within 50 years, <strong>and</strong>more transportation will rely on electricity."Therefore, it is important that he notonly develop this technology, but createeducational components to teach studentsabout the importance <strong>and</strong> applicability ofthis project.Dr. Wang's education roadmapincludes a plan to develop high-powercourses for the students at UTSA <strong>and</strong> aneducation <strong>and</strong> training plan for high schoolstudents <strong>and</strong> high school teachers. Twopaid summer internships are being providedto high school students via the Texas Pre-Freshman Engineering Program (PREP) fortheir research skill training. At the end of theinternships, the students will report to NSFwhat they learned. Dr. Wang also works withSharon Sanchez <strong>and</strong> Alice Fiedler from theNorthside ISD on a training class for highof transportation in San Antonio. Dr. Wangworks closely with one Ph.D. student, YongbinChu, <strong>and</strong> one Master student, Russell Crosier,on the research. He plans to recruit two morePh.D. students this year.Additionally, Dr. Wang is collaboratingwith Julia Jones at CPS Energy <strong>and</strong> Joetransportation. Along with the NSF CAREERaward, Dr. Wang has two industry-sponsoredresearch projects ongoing. Dr. Wang alsohas a three-year research project with TheBoeing Company to develop advancedtechniques for aircrafts that will use electricbe used in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, themost advanced state-of-the-art MEA.BidirectionalHigh Power EVCharging StationCentral Energy Storage Unit(CESU)Energy Flow in the Proposed Megawatt ElectricVehicle Super Fast Charging StationsDr. Liu AwardedNSF Grantao Liu, Assistant Professor of<strong>Electrical</strong> Engineering, hasreceived a three-year (2011-2014), $250,000 grant from theNational Science Foundation for hisresearch entitled, “SHF: Small: VLSIDesign Predictability Improvementby New Statistical Techniques in Timing Analysis,Delay ATPG <strong>and</strong> Optimization.” In the broadestscope, Dr. Liu’s research seeks to improve <strong>Electrical</strong>Design Automation (EDA) software to assisthardware designers with the creation of hardwarecomponents <strong>and</strong> design analysis.<strong>and</strong> viability concerns through increasing softwareproducts are in line with the original design,thereby increasing cost-effectiveness for <strong>Computer</strong>Aided Drafting (CAD) companies <strong>and</strong> designhouses. Using a statistical approach, Dr. Liu aimsto enhance prediction measurements of circuitperformance <strong>and</strong> solve prediction problems bygenerating more reliable test factors.<strong>ECE</strong> Hosts New InterdisciplinaryMaster’s Degree ProgramThe College of Engineering, Universityof Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), hasrecently established a new interdisciplinarygraduate degree program, Master ofScience in Advanced Materials Engineering.The new graduate degree program willbe administered across departmentalboundaires within the College ofEngineering, hosted by the Department of<strong>ECE</strong>.focuses on developing new materialswith novel properties that are needed toaddress the growing needs in our highlyadvanced <strong>and</strong> technological society. Thismultidisciplinary degree program will offerstudents courses in a variety of subjectareas designed to provide them withtechnical training in materials engineeringas well as training that will enhance theirproblem solving <strong>and</strong> entrepreneurship skills.Graduate students in the new programwill study the structure-property relationsof materials <strong>and</strong> how those materialsaffect our life <strong>and</strong> economy. Studentswho complete this program will have theknowledge <strong>and</strong> skills needed to design<strong>and</strong> apply new materials as sensors <strong>and</strong>actuators in energy, communications,transportation, health care, defense <strong>and</strong>environmental applications.W. Flannery (Management of Tech) areamong the MS in MatE committee members.Guo, as the Director of the program,is excited about its contribution to theuniversity, stating, “The MS in MatE is onecollege. Materials research is the enablingtechnology holding the key for our futuregrowth.”The online application for the new degreeprogram (M.S. in MatE) is open at http://ece.utsa.edu/programsgraduate/msadvancedmaterials.html| 3
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