2011 Edition - Electrical Engineering and Computer Science - The ...

Department ofElectrical Engineering & Computer ScienceEECS News2011University of Kansas

ContentsEECS senior Brad Torrence works on his quadcopterduring Computer Systems Design (EECS 542).Photo by David McKinney/University Relations2 » Department News8 » Faculty12 » Students18 » Graduate Students24 » Research28 » Donors29 » AlumniNewsletter StaffGlenn Prescott; EECS ChairMichelle Ward; EditorCrystal Leal, Pam Shadoin, Maureen Altman, JoAnn Berner,Jill Hummels, and Cody Howard; ContributorsContact Use-mail: info@eecs.ku.eduwebsite: www.eecs.ku.eduAddress: EECSEaton Hall1520 West 15th Street, Rm. 2001Lawrence, KS 66045-7608Phone: 785.864.4620Front Cover ImageEECS junior Emily Dellwig, team leader, MechanicalEngineering student Jeff Dickinson, and EECS seniors TylerDanaver and Travis Bland stand with their hybrid vehicle. Forthe first time, the Jayhawk Motorsports team built and raceda hybrid race car, which finished in the top 10 at the FormulaHybrid International Competition.Photo by Jill Hummelswww.eecs.ku.edu

PerspectiveIn one ofthe mostproductivemeetings ofmy career, theEECS IndustryAdvisory Board(IAB) set forthbold initiativesin recruitment,retention,and curriculum in its spring meeting.IAB member Brian McClendon (BSEE’86) then pledged $50,000 towardthe purchase of computer tablets forincoming EECS students. The surprisegiveaway this fall gained nationaland regional media attention for theDepartment.Obviously, tablets help with recruiting.Additionally, we are pursuing differentstrategies, in conjunction with the Schoolof Engineering, to bolster our enrollment.We are not immune to the nationaltrend of decreasing enrollments in EECSprograms.The tablets prompted a retooling ofour curriculum. IAB members urgedthe Department to incorporate moreof a mobile computing focus. We arerevamping our curriculum to focus onsecurity, design, and other features thatdifferentiate it from traditional computing.Industry Advisory Board membersand faculty discussed how theDepartment can help EECS studentssucceed. The group recommendeda New Student Seminar that wouldhighlight Departmental resources andrequirements, feature possible careerpaths, and connect students with theirclassmates. I am still not sure how EECSProfessor David Petr pulled the seminartogether for the fall, but he did it withtremendous success.In a previous IAB meeting, memberssuggested expanding our degree optionsto draw a broader range of students.The undergraduate InterdisciplinaryComputing program, launched this fall,specializes in computer science and oneof five fields of study: astronomy, biology,chemistry, geography, or physics. Studentswill learn how to build computationaltools and applications that best meetthe needs of their second field of study.EECS Professor Arvin Agah, who ledthe approval process through the Boardof Regents, has said many times thatstudents want to have a direct impact onreal-world challenges. The IC degree givesstudents a great avenue to do this.We had another IAB meeting in Novemberto present a status report on the initiativesset forth in the spring and to beginupdating the five-year strategic plan forthe Department. I am incredibly gratefulto our IAB members for taking time out oftheir busy schedules to help EECS growand build upon its current success.The following pages highlight theincredible year we have had in 2011.EECS students and faculty have achievednational recognition for their efforts. Wehave another W.T. Kemper Fellowship forTeaching Excellence winner and multiplestudents who have earned NationalScience Foundation fellowships. Ourfeatured alumnus is using his skills andknowledge to build an IT infrastructure inhis home nation of Bhutan.Thank you for your continued support ofEECS. I can't wait to see what 2012 bringsus. •Advisory Board Members (l to r) Robert Herrington, Kevin Wagner,Bob Chaney, Ted Batchman, Bert Soto, Scott Francis, Phil Anderson,Brian Ruf, Mitchell Trope, Cyndi Anschutz, Brian McClendon, andCraig Sparks met at the Adams Alumni Center in April.EECS News 2011 1

Department News » »Alumnus Surprises Students with TabletsIt was anything but a typicalMonday morning class for studentsin Programming I. Their Sept. 12class, which was moved to the Spahrclassroom, had a host of reporters anddignitaries in attendance. While this couldpartly be explained by their guest speaker,Vice Presidentof Google Mapsand Earth BrianMcClendon (BSEE'86), students didwonder.The first-year EECSstudents weresoon let in on thesurprise. McClendon and his wife, BethEllyn, personally donated $50,000 to KUEndowment for the purchase of Androidbasedtablets for EECS freshmen. Muchmore than a cool gift, the tablets are a toolto spark creativity and entrepreneurship."At first I thought our professor was beinghonored, but then Brian made the bigannouncement and my jaw hit the floor,"said EECS freshman Reid Zimmerman,who gasped at the news. "I don’t thinkthere were any words at first; just shock. Iremember thinking that it was an Oprahmoment, and that this kind of thing neverhappened to me. It dawned on me thenhow special this program is."Top Photo: (l to r) EECS freshmen Shannon Bisges, Amanda Parks, and Jordan Callison examine their new computer tablets."This opportunity has left me thrilledand excited to be a part of such a greatprogram where the possibilities arelimitless," said EECS freshman AmandaParks.The tablets provide EECS students withunprecedented programming anddevelopment experience with the world’sfastest-growing mobile platform. It’s allpart of a plan to ensure KU students gainpractical experience with leading-edgetechnologies.“I believe future engineers need beprepared to jump into a job when theygraduate and, for many, this meansInset Photo: Vice President of Google Maps and Earth Brian McClendon (BSEE '86) talks to students about mobile computing.Photos by Jill Hummelswww.eecs.ku.edu

Department News » »New Student Seminar Offers Guidance, ResourcesIt is easy to become overwhelmedby the newness of it all—newschool, new program, newpeople—and start to feel lost among thethousands of KU students. To make thetransition easier and more successful forstudents, the Department has createdthe New Student Seminar that highlightsDepartmental resources, requirementsand possible career paths and connectsstudents with their classmates.EECS Chair Glenn Prescott says theseminar came out of the EECS AdvisoryBoard spring meeting. Board memberschallenged EECS to find innovativeways to recruit and retain students.While demand continues to rise for EECSprofessionals, enrollment, at KU andacross the nation, has not kept pace.The seminar helped the 159 new EECSstudents connect with those in theDepartment and begin to feel like theybelong in EECS. Icebreakers and otherget-to-know-you activities were staplesof the seminar, allowing students tostart forming bonds that will help themsucceed in the program.EECS Associate Chair for UndergraduateStudies David Petr was in charge of theseminar. He led students through thecurriculum of each major and broughtin recent alumni to discuss their EECSexperience and career. Along withtraditional careers, Dr. Petr invited alumniwho had taken more unusual careerpaths to show students the breadth ofopportunities. Additionally, advising,course substitutions, and other commonsituations were discussed.EECS freshman David Menagerenjoyed the guest speakers, especiallyBrian McClendon, vice president ofGoogle Maps and Earth, who discussedabstractions, and EECS Assistant ProfessorBrian Potetz, who described his work incomputer vision that renders 3D imagesfrom 2D pictures. The seminar alsoprovided students with information aboutimportant resources, such as tutoring.“The seminar helped to relieve some ofthe pressure by letting us know aboutopportunities for help. It was not the onlyreminder, but it definitely helped," saidMenager.Student coordinators, EECS juniorsMichael Albert, Chris Hudson, andJalashree Mehta, provided ideas forand organized activities, including thepopular Upperclass Facetime segments.The coordinators divided the class intosmall groups and then arranged forupperclassmen to talk to and answerquestions from each group."I think the seminar helps students gainsome direction, pretty early on, aboutthe available areas that they could getinvolved with," said Mehta. "The funactivities help students get to knowone another. The seminar prepares thestudents for their journey within EECS."In addition to regular interactions withcurrent students and alumni, Dr. Petrorganized multiple faculty meetings.Professors discussed their researchinterests during guest lectures. They metwith students during a pizza party inTop Picture: EECS Professor Gary Minden answersstudents' questions during the pizza party/meet andgreet in August.Nima Tshering (BSEE ’02) talked about his EECSexperience during a New Student Seminar class this fall.He stayed after to answer questions, including one fromEECS junior Jalashree Mehta (left).Locke Atrium. If students talked to at leastthree professors and had them sign a card,they received an EECS water bottle. Morethan 40 students took home water bottles.For Dr. Petr, the most telling figure was45 percent. Every student could miss twoclasses without a penalty, but nearly halfthe class missed less than two times. Dr.Petr believes this signals the seminar is onthe right course. •www.eecs.ku.edu

Interdisciplinary Computing Degree is First in Big 12By Cody Howard & Michelle WardThe new Bachelor of Science inInterdisciplinary Computing (BSIC)provides students with expertisein computer science and one of five fieldsof study: astronomy, biology, chemistry,geography, or physics. BSIC graduates willbe able to tailor computational tools andapplications to meet the specific needs ofthat field.“This puts computing within a contextand can attract students interestedin interdisciplinary studies,” said EECSProfessor Arvin Agah, who led theapproval process. “Studies show offeringcomputing within a context appeals tothose who seek real-world relevance intheir studies.”While the skills of computer scientists arein high demand, Dr. Agah says companiesencounter a common hurdle.“We see a lot people hiring computerscientists to write code for them toachieve what they want in their area, butthen they have to teach them chemistry,physics or astronomy, whatever thespecialized area is,” said Dr. Agah.EECS faculty are working closely withfaculty from each partner discipline onthe curriculum. Programs can be addedas more interdisciplinary partnerships areformed on campus.“We are proud of the partnerships formedto make this [BSIC degree] possible andlook forward to expanding this degreeprogram in the future to ensure ourstudents are ready tomeet the challenges oftomorrow," said Dean ofEngineering Stuart Bell.KU is one of just a handfulof universities in thenation and the first inthe Big 12 Conferenceto offer a IC degree. Thenew program is expectedto expand the appeal ofcomputer science anddraw a broader range ofstudents into the field.“The bottom line is,people don’t want to justwrite code to be writingcode,” said Dr. Agah.“People want to writecode that can have adirect impact in addressing challenges weface in the real world."This fall EECS junior Grant Hays becamethe first student to major in BSIC. Whilehis physics courses fascinated Hays, hewas not sure how he could blend physicswith his then computer science major.The BSIC program gives Hays the abilityto develop simulations, models, andother computational tools for complexproblems inphysics."When I readabout theintroduction ofinterdisciplinarycomputing,I was reallyEECS junior Grant Hays submits a change of major form to CharlotteTalley in the School of Engineering (SoE) Dean’s Office, becoming thefirst student in the new Interdisciplinary Computing program. (l to r) SoEAssociate Dean for Undergraduate Studies Robert Sorem, EECS ChairGlenn Prescott, and EECS Professor Arivn Agah, who led the BSIC approvalprocess, stand behind Talley.excited. It was the perfect balance ofcomputer science and physics," said Hays.In following a directive from Kansas Boardof Regents, no new faculty positions orresources will be needed for the BSICdegree program. •“People want to write code that can have adirect impact in addressing challenges we facein the real world."— EECS Professor Arvin AgahEECS News 2011 5

Department News » »Distinguished Professor Directs Graduate ProgramsDan F. Servey DistinguishedProfessor of EECS Victor Frostbecame the new Associate Chairfor EECS Graduate Studies this summer,replacing EECS Associate Professor ManKong who served in an interim role.Dr. Frost has chaired 12 Ph.D. dissertationsand more than 69 graduate MS theses. Hehelps students strengthen their criticalthinking and writing skills to betterprepare them for their careers, says DanielFokum (Ph.D. CS '10), who now teachescomputing at the University of the WestIndies. He adds that Dr. Frost's prominencein the simulation/networking community,which is why Fokum came to KU, willbring even greater visibility to the EECSgraduate programs."Over thenext fewyears, ourgoal is togrow thenumber ofgraduatestudentswhile increasing the quality of EECSgraduate education," says Dr. Frost."We are preparing our graduates to bethe future leaders and drivers of newtechnologies and innovation."Recently, Dr. Frost completed a two-yearprogram directorship in the Computerand Information Science and EngineeringDirectorate at the National ScienceFoundation, where he helped set thenational research agenda for networks.A Fellow of IEEE, Dr. Frost and his graduatestudents have contributed to the designand analysis of communications networks;that is, the technology that supports theInternet. He has served as principal orco-investigator on more than 80 projects.Dr. Frost served as the director of KU'sInformation and TelecommunicationTechnology Center for 11 years, beforestepping down in 2008."Victor is one of the best teachers andscholars in our Department. He has thetrust of the faculty and he is an excellentrole model for our graduate students,"says EECS Chair Glenn Prescott. "Hisexperience as a researcher, NSF programmanager, and research center directormakes him an ideal Associate Chair." •Change in Guard: Longtime Office Manager RetiresEwww.eecs.ku.eduECS Office Manager Cindy Wallishad been thinking about herretirementparty for quitesome timebefore theJune event.With ampleplanning time,she decided she would like the OscarMayer Weinermobile to transport herdown Jayhawk Boulevard with a bandfollowing her and playing "When theSaints Go Marching In.”EECS staff pulled off a scaled-downversion of Wallis' envisioned retirementparty with a Weinermobile cake and a jazzquartet. Numerous friends and colleaguesfrom her 30 years at KU filled the LockeAtrium of Eaton Hall on June 10.Wallis plans on traveling, directing homerenovations, and spending time with Moe,the wonder dog, and the rest of her familyin retirement.Elizabeth Dracobly replaced Wallis asOffice Manager in May. She oversees theDepartment's finances, human resources,ordering, policies, and numerous otherduties.Dracoblycame toEECS via KU’sInstructionalDevelopmentand SupportDepartment,where she maintained purchasing,invoicing, and other budgetary andpersonnel records. •

Seniors Find EECS Shop Becomes 'Best Friend'The Navy veteran Tom Colwellruns the EECS Shop with precisionand order. More than 300 drawersfilled with resistors, capacitors, andother components are all neatly marked.The nearly floor-to-ceiling shelving inthe front room also houses larger toolsthat each have their assigned spots.Orderliness, says Colwell, is necessary withsix students rotating at the front desk. IfShop attendants had to go rummaging forparts every time, there would be a lot ofunhappy students, says Colwell. He wantsthe Shop to run efficiently as possible toassist often stressed-out students in themiddle of projects.Located on the third floor of Eaton Hall,the EECS Shop is near the Senior DesignLabs. As seniors design, build, and analyzereal-world systems, they often go to theShop for guidance.“The EECS Shop becomes your best friendduring senior year,” says Tom Willger(BSEE ’11), now a Test System Engineerat Texas Instruments. “When buildingyour first independent circuits, there is acruel debugging phase to achieve a fullyfunctional circuit. Tom Colwell is the manto talk to when you need assistance. Aftera long night of unsuccessful debugging,Tom's words are as precious as gold.”Each year Colwell and his staff fabricatehundreds of printed circuit boards, savingthousands of dollars in outsourcingcosts. In-house milling ensures a quickturn-around of precise fabricated boardsneeded to operate electronic devices.In addition to etching, milling, and otherfabrication work, attendants order partsfor senior design projects and prepareEECS junior Robert Perez runs the milling machine in the EECS Shop.kits for lower-level EE and CoE labs asrequested by graduate teaching assistants(GTAs).As a GTA for the Senior Design Lab lastspring, EECS doctoral student Matt Cookworked closely with Shop personnelto ensure students had the necessaryequipment. A few years earlier during hisown Senior Design course, EECS Shoptechnicians helped Cook’s team builda canned satellite containing sensors,a microcomputer, and a radio to sendcollected data.“During my Senior Design class, theEECS Shop went above and beyond toaccommodate my team in getting thecomponents and tools that we needed tomeet deadlines and complete the project,”said Cook. “Then as a TA for Senior Design,I worked one-on-one with the top-notchEECS shop staff to plan and organize forthe Senior Design class. I look back fondlyat my experiences with Tom Colwell andEECS Shop staff.”“If students need something, they justhave to walk down the hall and ask. TheShop usually has it,” says EECS graduatestudent Matt Kitchen, a current GTA forthe Senior Design Lab. “The shop not onlyprovides components and test equipmentbut also offers solutions for prototypingcircuits, such as printing and milling circuitboards. People in the shop are alwaysknowledgeable about circuit fabricationand can offer plenty of helpful advice." •EECS News 2011 7

New FacultyExperts in Data Privacy, Wireless Comms Join EECSEECS Assistant Professor FengjunLi is developing cryptographytechniques that enableorganizationsto sharedata whilemaintaininguser privacy.As electronicmedicalrecords,smart grids,and othermassivesystemscollect andstore unprecedented personal data in thename of greater efficiency, reliability, andcost savings, how will individual privacybe protected?For example, a smart grid collects dataevery few minutes. The information allowsenergy producers and users to make moreinformed decisions, but it also showswhen a customer gets up, does laundry,goes online, leaves the house, and so on.Patterns emerge, such as when the houseis vacant, that pose additional securityconcerns.Dr. Li has developed an innovative innetworkaggregation approach to datacollection. Instead of sending data directlyto collector devices, smart meters formmulti-hop routes via other smart meters.Nodes along the way aggregate thereceived data with its own and forwardthe results to collector devices. Dataaggregation spreads the operationsand the computational efforts originallyat collector devices into sets of nodes,www.eecs.ku.edugreatly reducing network traffic. Theapproach cuts the network load by morethan 60 percent. For additional security,Dr. Li employs homomorphic encryption.Household data are protected not onlyat intermediate nodes but also at thecollector devices.This fall she taught Advanced Topics inInformation Security (EECS 700). Thegraduate-level course covered securityconcepts, cryptography primitives,authentication, and other emergingtopics. She will teach Network Security(EECS 712) this spring.Dr. Li received her Ph.D. in InformationSciences and Technology from thePennsylvania State University in 2010.EECS Assistant Professor Lingjia Liu isdeveloping technologies that will enablefuture wireless networks to support heavytraffic, while providing reliable and secureservice fortime-sensitiveand dataintensiveapplications,such asstreamingvideo andwebconferencing.His researchfocuses oninter-cell interference mitigation anddelay-sensitive and energy-efficientwireless communication. Dr. Liu's workaims to increase the overall spectralefficiency to support more users andapplications. From smartphones andcomputer tablets to Blu-ray playersand e-book readers, millions of devicesare gobbling up the radio frequencyspectrum. Greater efficiency is needed.This fall Dr. Liu taught WirelessCommunication Systems (EECS 865)with EECS Distinguished Professor SamShanmugan. In the spring, he will teachEstimation and Detection Theory (EECS965). The course will introduce students tofundamental concepts in statistical signalprocessing along with their applicationsto electrical and computer engineering.Dr. Liu has made numerous technicalcontributions to major wireless standards,including 3GPP LTE/LTE-Advanced andIEEE 802.16m. He has conducted federallyfunded basic research and industryresearch, giving him experience insolving problems that have theoreticalsignificance and practical importance.Prior to joining KU, Dr. Liu spent morethan three years in the StandardsResearch Laboratory of SamsungTelecommunications America. Hereceived the Global Samsung Best PaperAward in 2008 and 2010, respectively.In 2011, the National Engineers WeekFoundation selected Dr. Liu as one of itsNew Faces of Engineering and SAMSUNGTelecommunications America honoredhim with an Individual Gold Medal.He received his Ph.D. in Electrical &Computer Engineering from Texas A&MUniversity in 2006. •

Faculty Awardsstudent in 2008, Calnon and other studentswanted to participate in the SpaceRobotics Challenge. Dr. Agah created aspecial topics course for the studentsand helped them write grant proposalsto fund the project and present it at theInternational Conference on Robotics andAutomation.Agah Earns Teaching Award“Professor Agah has a true desire tosee his students succeed. Whetherassisting students with their research orencouraging students to participate ineducational outreach, Professor Agahis always willing to spend as much timeand effort as necessary to provide hisstudents with opportunities to grow, bothacademically and personally,” says Calnon.EECS Professor Arvin Agahreceived a surprise visit from KUProvost Jeffrey Vitter and otherdignitaries during his Mobile Roboticsclass on August 23. They presented himwith a Kemper Fellowship for TeachingExcellence Award and a $7,500 check.Each fall the Kemper fellowships recognize10 outstanding teachers and advisers atKU. Now in their 16th year, the awardsare supported by an annual gift fromthe William T. Kemper Foundation andmatching funds from KU Endowment.Dr. Agah is the eighth EECS professor toreceive a Kemper award.Andrea Valdivia had Dr. Agah forSoftware Engineering in 2008. Studentsworked in small teams to develop aNintendo DS game, which she saidwas a great conversation starter duringinternship interviews. Valdivia said thecareer-oriented course showcased Dr.Agah’s strongindustrybackgroundand hispassion forsoftwaredevelopment.“ProfessorAgah'sSoftware Engineering class was one ofmy favorites at KU! It was an extremelyhands-on course that gave students aflavor of what it is like to develop solutionsfor real-world scenarios,” said Valdivia,who graduated in May and is working atthe Goldman Sachs world headquartersin New York. “His enthusiastic teachinghas made a lasting impression on me andcertainly countless others.”Mark Calnon returned to KU this fallto begin his doctorate work under thedirection of Dr. Agah. As an EECS graduateEECS doctoral studentChris Redford has Dr.Agah as his adviser.In addition to takingseveral courses from Dr.Agah, Redford conductsartificial intelligenceunder his direction."He has been a fantasticadviser. He findsinteresting elements in your ideas andhelps you develop a concrete plan for howto achieve them. I always leave his officewith a clearer idea of what I need to do andthe motivation to do it," says Redford. •Top Photo: EECS Professor Arvin Agah (left) examinesresearch findings with EECS doctoral student ChrisRedford.Inset picture: Mark Heider, president of CommerceBank, presents EECS Professor Arvin Agah with a $7,500check as part of his W.T. Kemper Fellowship for TeachingExcellence.EECS News 2011 9

Faculty Awards » »Innovative Teachers-Scholars Receive TenureEECS Associate Professors Jun“Luke” Huan, Carl Leuschen, andJames P.G. Sterbenz receivedtenure this summer. Drs. Huan andLeuschen were promoted to AssociateProfessor.In 2009, Dr. Huan received the CAREERAward, one of the most prestigioushonors fromthe NationalScienceFoundationgiven tojunior facultymembers.The FacultyEarly CareerDevelopment(CAREER) Awardrecognizes professors who are integratingeducation and research in innovativeways. Dr. Huan has taught undergraduatecourses in data structures and databasesystems and graduate courses inpattern discovery and bioinformatics.Dr. Huan is developing computationaltools to analyze interactions betweenchemical structures and biologicalsystems, accelerating drug discovery andimproving toxicity monitoring.Dr. Leuschen serves as the DeputyDirector of CReSIS. His numerous dutiesinclude overseeing the developmentof the Snow radar, which measures thethickness of snow on top of sea ice andglaciers and enables more accurateassessments of glacier thickness. He hasled multiple expeditions to Greenlandand Antarctica and works extensively withNASA’s Operation IceBridge, the largestairborne polar ice survey.In 2010, he received a PolarTREC ServiceAward and a Miller Award for Researchfrom the School of Engineering.EECS senior Brady Maasen has takenCircuits I and II (EECS 312 and 512) fromDr. Leuschen. He says Dr. Leuschen’sextensiveknowledgeand interestingpresentationsmake forengagingclasses. As anundergraduateresearchassistant atCReSIS for the past two years, Maasen hasworked with Dr. Leuschen.Dr. Sterbenz teaches graduate networkingand undergraduate digital design courses.He has servedas the chair or amember of morethan 25 graduateand Ph.D.committees.His communicationsandnetworkingresearch emphasizes resilient and survivablenetworking in future Internet designand engineering. Dr. Sterbenz' group isdeveloping flexible and programmablenetwork infrastructure to support a moremobile, secure Internet. He has receivedmultiple prestigious NSF grants includinga Future Internet Design (FIND) and GlobalEnvironment for Networking Innovations(GENI).Dr. Sterbenz' research group earned BestGraduate Student Paper Award at the atthe International Telemetering Conference(ITC) in October. They designed reliablenetworks able to transmit large amountsof data over limited bandwidth withintermittent connectivity for multiple testaircraft traveling at Mach speeds.“When I wrote my first paper, he spent thewhole night working with me and taughtme how to express my ideas more clearly,"said Ph.D. student Hongliang Fei. "I amlearning not only research skills but alsohis dedication towards research."In 2010, Dr. Huan led the effort to secure$4 million in federal funding to renovateITTC's Bioinformatics Computing Facility.“Although he is not my direct supervisor,Dr. Leuschen always stops to help me. Hetook time to help me write a proposal foran Undergraduate Research Award,” saidMaasen.In addition to the Circuits courses, Dr.Leuschen teaches graduate-level classeson radar systems and mentors CReSISstudents."Professor Sterbenz demonstrates anexceptional passion for advancing thestate of the art in resilient and survivablenetworks, as is clearly evident in theoutput of his ResiliNets research program,"said Justin Rohrer (Ph.D.EE '11). "Thissame passion comes across in theclassroom, in his preparation for lectures,and interaction with students." •www.eecs.ku.edu

Allen Wins Talley Teaching AwardSeniors honored EECS ProfessorChristopher Allen with theHarry Talley Award for TeachingExcellence in the May. This marks thesecond time Dr. Allen has won the award,which is voted upon by graduatingEECS seniors for the professor whohas contributed significantly to theireducation and has developed a strongrapport with them.Dr. Allen teaches the Senior DesignLaboratory (EECS 501 and 502). The yearlongcapstone course is the culminationof the EE program and serves as bridgebetween the classroom and industry.Seniors apply what they have learnedthroughout their EECS coursework tosolve real-world engineering problems.They design, build, and assess systemsthat adhere to industry standards andgain communication and presentationexperience.Levi Lyons (BSEE ’11) had Dr. Allenfor his Senior Design Laboratory. Thetremendous amount of thought involvedin the physical design of the circuit andthe work needed to complete the projecton schedule are crucial skills for engineers,says Lyons, who is now an Engineer-in-Training at Southwest Power Pool in LittleRock, Ark. Dr. Allen helped guide studentsthrough the process.“Dr. Allen is very deserving of the HarryTalley Award,” said Lyons. “He had highexpectations and pushed us to attendweekly meetings with him to ensureour progress. During these meetings,we could be sure that he would ask us aquestion that would stump us and forceus reevaluate some aspect that we hadEta Kappa Nu President Joel Schmelzle presents EECSProfessor Christopher Allen with the Harry Talley Awardfor Teaching Excellence at the Graduation Banquet.not even considered! But he was alwaysthere to lend a helping hand and to makesure we were on the right track.”Dr. Allen advised the first hybrid teamof Jayhawk Motorsports of which TravisBland (BSEE ’11) was a member. Inaddition to seeking Dr. Allen’s help onthe hybrid vehicle, Bland also had him forhis Senior Design Laboratory. Bland saidboth projects helped prepare him for hisjob as On-Board Diagnostics CalibrationEngineer at Chrysler in Chelsea, Mich.“Most all of the great professors I had atKU and in EECS had one thing in commonwith Professor Allen—they genuinelycared about their students,” said Bland.“I really believe that Dr. Allen wanted usto learn. His feedback was sincere andhelpful; it never seemed like he was simplygoing through the motions.”Dr. Allen received the John E. Sharp andWinifred E. Sharp Teaching Professorshipfrom the School of Engineering in 2002and a W.T. Kemper Fellowship for TeachingExcellence and Ned N. Fleming TrustAward for Excellence in Teaching, bothfrom KU in 2001. •Perrins Selected forArea Editor PositionEECS Associate Professor ErikPerrins has accepted an invitationto serve as an Area Editor for theIEEE Transactions on Communications. Hisduties include assigning papers to the13 editors withinthe modulationand signal designarea, monitoringtheir performance,and assisting theeditor-in-chief."Erik is aninternationallyrenownedresearcher in the field of modulation andsignal design for telecommunicationsystems. He has served as an editor forseveral years and has done an excellentjob in this capacity," said Robert Schober,a professor in the Department ofElectrical and Computer Engineering atthe University of British Columbia, whonominated Dr. Perrins for the position."This made him a natural choice when theposition of Area Editor became vacant."Dr. Perrins’ research expertise is inwireless communications. He recentlyreceived a Department of Defenseresearch grant to help develop newcommunications architectures for flighttest telemetry—measuring at a distance.By simultaneously allowing multiple teststo take place over hundreds of squaremiles, the integrated Network EnhancedTelemetry (iNET) program is a significantupgrade in aircraft testing.Prior to Area Editor, Dr. Perrins served forfour years as an editor for the journal. •EECS News 2011 11

Undergraduate SpotlightMeet EECS senior Hilary BarbourHilary is the president of the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) student organization and a member of the JayhawkMotorsports team, the KU Indoor Intramural Soccer Team, and KU Swim Club.What are your top tips for new students?My advice for new students is to get involved in a club. I joined KU Swim Club my junioryear, and I regret not doing it sooner. I met great people who love to swim. We traveledto competitions, which were always a blast. It’s always worthwhile to branch out ofengineering to diversify yourself.Another opportunity I highly recommend is study abroad. I studied language in Germany,and it changed my life. I met some great people, tried wonderful German cuisine, and sawmany regions of Germany and a couple surrounding countries.What is a typical day like?A typical day for me this year is to wake up and eat breakfast (very important!) beforeheading off to class. If I have a short break between classes, I hang out in the EECS ComputerCommons or the Senior Design Lab to work on homework or projects. If I have a long break,I usually go to work for a few hours. If there is not a Jayhawk Motorsports meeting, a hugeproject due, or a KU Basketball game, I try to go to the gym. If I have a pile of homework todo, I skip the gym and work on it at home. While this year is quite busy, a typical day in myprevious years as an EECS student was a bit more relaxed.What have been some highlights and challenges?One great thing about KU is that it is a large university. There is always something to do, Anticipated Graduation: May 2012and you have the opportunity to meet many different kinds of people. EECS students haveFuture Plans: Graduate Schoola building that was built with them in mind. Eaton Hall has 24-hour access to its computingfacilities and some of the design labs. This becomes a blessing in your senior year. Timemanagement is a challenge. I like to take the opportunities offered to me, but balancing school, work, clubs, and other extracurricularactivities is tough at times.What has been overall experience as an EECS student?Electrical engineering isn’t the easiest of programs, but it is one of the most rewarding. I get more from my EECS classes than any othersbecause they are challenging, yet engaging.What have been some of your favorite times at KU?I love going to KU basketball games. The atmosphere is so energized. You can’t help going crazy when a player lands an awesome dunk. Ihave also enjoyed Lawrence’s social scene. Going to Mass Street is always a good time, whether you’re eating out, shopping, or going outwith friends.What are your plans after graduation?I hope to pursue a master’s degree in electrical engineering. I am open to attending a university in the U.S. or Europe. With my bachelor’s and,hopefully, master’s degrees, I plan to work overseas or for a company where I can travel. •www.eecs.ku.eduMajor: Electrical EngineeringHometown: Winfield, KS

Student SuccessEECS Student Leads Art Project on Climate ChangeNolan Lem, an EECS sophomore,formed an interdisciplinary groupto transform raw data on climatechange into a multimedia art installation.The KU group used sound andinformation graphics to illustrateglaciological data from the past 400,000years. Mutatis Mutandis, a Latin phrasemeaning “by changing those things thatneed to be changed,” was on displayduring the spring semester at theCommons in Spooner Hall.“Much of what Mutatis Mutandis exploresis the audio-visual representation of timedurations,” said Lem. “By representingthese extremely long time spans inshorter intervals, trends are made moreurgent and accessible.”An accomplished saxophone player, Leminterned with Kip Haaheim, associateprofessor of music, in the fall of 2010.Their work with programming and audiovisualenvironments inspired MutatisMutandis. Dr. Haaheim said the idea ofusing hard data on ice sheets and soundsrecorded from actual Arctic environmentswas compelling. He helped repurposethe recordings while Lem developed aEECS student Nolan Lem (back), graphic designer Tristan Telander, and Associate Professor of Music Kip Haaheimused sound clips and visual images to demonstrate changes in the polar regions over thousands of years.computer program to interpret data andgenerate the sounds. Twelve speakersacross the Commons played variouspieces, including ice cracking thatrepresented climate change over 40,000years.“I have worked on several such projectsin the professional world and the resultof people with widely varying interestsand skills can produce profoundly creativeresults,” said Dr. Haaheim.Photo by David McKinney/University RelationsTristan Telander, graphic designer at theSpencer Museum of Art, created fourlarge-scale visualizations that rangefrom 4 to 25 feet in length. She turneddata into binary pixels to give imagesa processed and quantified look. Withgreater perspective, the pixels began toform more meaningful images.The Center for Remote Sensing of IceSheets was among the organizations thatprovided data for the project. •The following EECS students received $233,946 in scholarships for the 2011-2012 academic year.Michael Albert, Bradley Bell, Shannon Bisges, James Butts, William Carey, Daniel Collins, Joshua Collins, Isaac Cook, Koosha Daneshi,Emily Dellwig, Dipankar Dey, Logan Downes, Kyle Engelken, Jason Eslick, Zachary Flies, Gordon Fry, Danielle Fuller, ZacharyGarber, Tamara Gaynes, Patrick Gegen, Rachel Gilman, Howard Grimberg, Ben Guensche, Christopher Hale, Christopher Hudson,Christopher Hurd, Mason Johnson, Robert Kelly, Robert Knight, Alec Kohl, Alexander Larson, Peter Lesslie, George Li, Brady Maasen,Andrew Manderfeld, Jared Mar, Stacy Mar, David Mattione, Gregory Matthies, Paul McArdle, Elise McEllhiney, David Motsonashvili,Devin Mullins, Jonathan Owen, Amanda Parks, Paul Plotkin, Parker Roth, Keeler Russell, Jeffrey Sanoubane, Derek Scalzi, GarrettScarlett, Tarryn Schantell, Joel Schmelzle, Chandler Schmidt, Ryan Scott, Cody Soden, Jonathan Stacy, Scott Stryker, Sean Sweeney,Andrew Taylor, Brice Thrower, Ian Weller, Levi Werner, Matthew Werner, Lee Wu, and Mikhail Zakharov •EECS News 2011 13

Self Fellows » »Students Design High School Programming ContestWhen EECS juniors Luke Ezell,Chris Hudson, and MattWerner were building andtesting the courses for the first-everLego Mindstorm Competition inNovember, they wondered if high schoolstudents would be interested in the newprogramming event. The answer was aresounding yes, as people packed theEECS Conference room for more than fourhours to watch robots try and navigatethe three courses.The Lego Mindstorm Competition waspart of the School of Engineering’s HighSchool Design Competition, whichtests high school students' creativity,teamwork skills, as well as their technicalknowledge and ability. The SelfEngineering Leadership Fellows Program,which Ezell, Hudson, and Werner are partof, plans the annual event. EECS AssistantProfessor Andy Gill, who provided facultysupport for the contest, suggested usingLego Mindstorm robots for their blend ofreal-world challenges and programming.Nineteen teams registered for the LegoMindstorm Competition. The School ofEngineering bought each team a kit,which contained software and hardwareto create small, programmable robots.The teams were sent a video, schematics,and pictures of the first course. The EECSgroup sent basic layouts of the followingtwo courses, which were progressivelyharder. The high school students builtthe robots and programmed them withtouch, color, ultrasonic, and other sensors.These were all designed to identifyobstacles and maneuver around them.Tyler Haas, amath teacherat McLouthHigh School,brought sevenstudentsto thecompetition.McLouth is asmall schooland doesnot have theability to offerprogrammingclasses, said Haas. When he foundout about the competition, he askedhis Calculus class if they wanted toparticipate. Students stayed after schooland spent weekends working on therobot. Their hard work paid off as McLouthfinished second in the competition.(l to r) EECS juniors Chris Hudson, Matt Werner, and Luke Ezell built three courses for the firstprogramming contest during the High School Design Competition in November. Nineteenhigh school teams built robots that tried to maneuver the courses."We learned about the competitionlate, so the students only had about amonth to work on it. They really roseto the occasion. When the programsfinally worked, they had such a feeling ofsuccess. It was good to see," said Haas.The first course included formidabletoilet paper rolls that robots had toavoid and a sand ramp that foiled manyattempts. Weight, wheel clearance, andsensor placement were a few factors thatstudents had to consider when buildingtheir robot, said Ezell. Additionally, thecolor sensor needed to recognize the redA Lego Mindstorm robot tries to maneuver a ramp on thesecond course. High school teams built and programmedrobots to navigate courses built by EECS students.line at the end of the course and stop.Teams had five minutes to complete thecourse. If they did not, they would be putat the end of the list and would then setabout making changes for the next run."When any team passed a course, thewhole room filled with excitement andapplause, primarily from the other teamsand coaches," said Werner.The second course included a gate thatrobots had to open and pass throughalong with additional obstacles. Onlyone team managed to complete the lastcourse, which included a large ramp andhairpin turns. •www.eecs.ku.edu

Self Fellows Explore Engineering, Culture in BrazilBy Cody HowardEECS seniors Emily Dellwig andGarrett Scarlett were among the15 Self Engineering LeadershipFellows who went to Brazil in August. Thegroup visited the cities of Rio de Janeiroand Sao Paulo during their 10-day tripto learn about engineering challengesin the burgeoning world power, whileattempting to manage the impact on theenvironment.Each senior class in the SELF Program ischarged with planning and implementingan experience that encompasses allengineering disciplines, as well as thepillars of the program, which includebusiness, engineering, entrepreneurship,leadership, management, andcommunication. The students selected toorganize an information-gathering tripto Brazil because of its rapid economicgrowth and unique position of hostingtwo major worldwide sporting events inthe next five years – the 2014 World Cupand the 2016 Summer Olympics.“We were really interested to learn moreabout how they’re going to handlehosting two of the world’s largest events,”said Scarlett. “They have toundergo a lot of changes tomodernize Rio, to get theinfrastructure – things likestreets and sanitation – readyto handle all those people."The trip focused onengineering expansion, theenvironment, energy usage,and economics. The Fellowsmet with representativesfrom Petrobras, the thirdlargest energy companyin the world; the Brazilianaircraft manufacturingcompany Embraer; FordMotor Company; andEmbrapa, which focuseson the sustainabledevelopment of Brazilianagribusiness.In October, Dellwig andScarlett were amongthe presenters at "Economic Growth andEngineering Expansion," the first lecturein a four-part series given by the Selfstudents on Brazil. •Top Picture: EECS seniors Emily Dellwig (left) andGarrett Scarlett talked about their trip to Brazil at the"Economic Growth and Engineering Expansion" lecture.The Self Fellows visited Maracana Stadium, the soccerstadium being constructed for the 2014 World Cup inBrazil.Photo Courtesy of Self ProgramDid You Know?Each year 20 to 25 incoming freshmen with a track record of motivation, leadership, and action will beselected for the Self Engineering Leadership Fellows (SELF) Program. SELF Fellows receive an outstandingenrichment and leadership program paired with $5,000 in fellowship funds in both their freshman andsophomore years and $7,000 in each of their junior and senior years. Since its creation in 2007, nine EECSstudents have been selected for Self Fellowships.EECS News 2011 15

Jayhawk Motorsports » »Students Build First Green Jayhawk Motorsports CarsIf Emily Dellwig would havehad a free moment in the weekleading up to KU’s first hybridvehicle competition in May, she may havewondered if she had taken on too much.Fortunately for Jayhawk Motorsports, theEECS junior did not have a millisecondunaccounted for. Dellwig and her teamlogged 60 hours each, including over a24-hour period of no sleep, in preparationfor the Formula Hybrid InternationalCompetition in New Hampshire. Theirhard work paid off with a top 10 finish.The final sprint marked the end of a10-month marathon senior design projectfor EECS seniors Travis Bland, HouWenshuai, and Tyler Danaver, who withtheir team leader Dellwig, were membersof inaugural Hybrid Power Train teamfor Jayhawk Motorsports. Traditionally,approximately 20 seniors in MechanicalEngineering spend the school yeardesigning, manufacturing, and testing aFormula-style race car for their capstoneproject, with the help of KU studentvolunteers from various majors. Growinginterest in hybrid vehicles led JayhawkMotorsports to include the hybrid caralong with its standard race car for the2011 competition.Each year, seasoned students teach thenewbies in Jayhawk Motorsports. But asthe first group, the hybrid team couldnot turn to older students for guidance.Dellwig says they learned along the wayand turned to professors when theywere at a loss, noting EECS ProfessorsChristopher Allen, Ken Demarest,and David Petr wereespecially helpful. The EECSDepartment also provided$10,000 toward the project.“Because this was the firstyear for the project, therewere a lot of new challengesand problems to solve. Weturned to professors, theDepartment, and evenpeople from industry foradvice and guidance,” saidDellwig.The Formula Hybridcompetition allows teamsto retrofit old Formula-onecars instead of building anentirely new chassis. Students built a newdrive train and redesigned rear suspensioncomponents for the electric motor onthe 2009 car. In addition to devising newelectrical components, they had to factorin mechanical aspects, such as packagingcomponents and making room for movingparts and weight. Each decision impactsthe overall performance of the car, saysDellwig. If a bolt fails, the vehicle couldfail, which makes it necessary to takean individual and systematic approach.She enjoys the challenge of integratingvarious technologies and taking a large,complex project from start to finish.Of the more than 30 teams at thecompetition, KU was one of only 11to pass the electrical and mechanicaltechnical inspections. After passinginspection, cars participated in a drag raceTeam leader Emily Dellwig makes adjustments to the Jayhawk Motorsportscar during the Formula Hybrid International Competition in May.Photo by Kathryn LoConte Lapierreto test acceleration, an autocross and anendurance event to push the car to itslimits and to see how much energy couldbe consumed. Students also presentedjudges with an overview of their work,highlighting design innovations andmarketing strategies to potentialinvestors. The KU team finished in ninthplace.“Working on the hybrid was probably thebest thing I did at KU. It was an entirelydifferent kind of project. It really emulatedreal-world engineering," said Bland (BSEE'11). "Being a part of the first hybrid team,most of our answers were discoveredthrough trial and error.""I think after this year's team finishes itsincredible plans that Formula Hybrid orFormula Electric will be a part of JayhawkMotorsports for a long time. I hope itwww.eecs.ku.edu

leads to more interdisciplinary courses,but mostly, I hope it leads to KU beinga powerhouse in Formula Hybrid and/or Formula Electric competitions," addedBland, now an On-Board DiagnosticsCalibration Engineer at Chrysler.2012 CompetitionNow in her senior year with a competitionunder her belt, Dellwig is team leader forthe electric car being built by JayhawkMotorsports. The team is competing in thefirst electric-only challenge at the FormulaHybrid International Competition in May.The Department once again provided a$10,000 donation.The number of EECS students has almostdoubled. Seven are participating thisyear. Dellwig attributes this to greaterstudent awareness of the event andcourse credit for participation in JayhawkMotorsports. Students conduct researchduring the week and attend a weeklymeeting on Tuesday nights to discuss theirprogress. They spend most every Saturdayfrom 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the JayhawkMotorsport Shop where they continueresearch and collaboration with teammembers. In January, students will beginmanufacturing components and customparts for the car. The majority of work isdone on campus, which makes KU uniqueamong college teams.EECS seniors Faiz Ahmed and HilaryBarbour are working on regenerationbreaking, which allows the motorcontrollers to recover the energy lostin braking. The energy is stored in thebatteries, allowing the car to run forlonger periods. They plan to achieve thisby modifying the motor controller andoptimizing regenerative brakingto make it as efficient as possible.“Everyone has been extremelydedicated to this project,” saidAhmed. “The biggest challengethis spring will be implementingall the designs that we createdin the fall. Getting everything towork together and the way wewant to will be challenging.”While he has worked onmotorcycles and cars sincechildhood, EECS senior AricBeaver was not sure if hecould devote the volunteertime needed for JayhawkMotorsports. But when helearned he could earn coursecredit for it, he was in. Beaver’smain focus is designing theelectric differential that will supplytorque to the wheels separately basedon information from sensors on the car.Beaver has been researching how toincrease overall stability while enhancingresponse time – often conflictingattributes.EECS senior Alex Drees is working withthe battery monitoring system and thelow voltage start-up sequence. Safetyis extremely important when dealingwith high voltage, not only to the peopleinvolved but also the equipment. Bymonitoring the different parts of the car,such as batteries and motors, the team isincreasing the safety and lifetime of thecar.EECS seniors Garrett Scarlett and BrettHermann are finishing up their designEECS seniors Faiz Ahmed (left) and Hilary Barbour work onregeneration breaking, allowing the motor controllers to recover theenergy lost in braking. The team spends their Saturdays throughoutthe school year in the lab building the electric car.of the high voltage system and all thecomponents that entails. They have beenworking with interconnects between themotors, motor controllers, and batteriesas well as making sure this system isprotected from too much current.The Formula Hybrid InternationalCompetition will run April 30 throughMay 3 at the New Hampshire MotorSpeedway. •EECS News 2011 17

Graduate SpotlightMeet EECS doctoral student Michael JantzMichael (BSCS '08 and MSCS '10) received a Special Recognition Scholarship from Upsilon Pi Epsilon, the leading computer honorsociety. Jantz, the president of the KU UPE chapter, was one of only four recipients of the award for the 2011-2012 academic year.What are your top tips for new graduate students?Choose your adviser carefully. The relationship you have with your adviser will be the mostimportant professional relationship you have during graduate school. Make sure that youradviser is someone you trust and can work with.Learn to manage your time well. It is easy to spend all of your time on coursework, but youneed to learn to balance your time between coursework, teaching, and research. Having apersonal life (away from graduate school) will help you maintain some level of sanity. It iscrucial that you learn to recognize and appreciate thoughtful criticism.As a student, it is easy to be intimidated by your peers and professors. I have found that if youwork hard and have confidence in your own abilities that you will surprise yourself with howmuch you are able to achieve.What is a typical day like?Typical days vary from semester to semester, depending on my schedule. Last semester, Iworked as a graduate research assistant and did not take any classes, so each day was prettymuch solely devoted to research. Next semester, I will work as a graduate teaching assistantand take one course. [In 2010, Jantz received the Paul F. Huebner Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching. He has been the graduateteaching assistant for Introduction to Operating Systems (EECS 678) for five semesters.] I plan on dividing my week into days spent onteaching and coursework and days spent on research.What have been some highlights and challenges?I came to graduate school because I really like the idea of researching fundamental problems in computer science. Research is definitelythe most challenging part of graduate school, but for me, also the most rewarding. Having my work accepted at top tier computer scienceconferences, including Languages, Compilers, and Tools for Embedded Systems and Compilers, Architectures, and Synthesis for EmbeddedSystems, has been the most rewarding experience.Share with us your overall experience as an EECS student.Being at KU for both my graduate and undergraduate education, and in EECS specifically, has been a wonderful experience. I have met someexcellent professors who have pushed me and helped me develop my professional skills. I've also become really good friends with several ofmy classmates and labmates. I've been here over seven years now and will be very sad when the time comes to go.Please explain your research.My research focuses on computer systems design, specifically system-level and compiler optimizations. This sort of research has thepotential to benefit everything from large-scale server applications to tiny embedded devices that need lots of processing power. Currently, Iam investigating different compilation strategies for virtual machines running in multi- and many-core environments. •www.eecs.ku.edu

Graduate Student SuccessNSF Fellows Teach Math, Science in Middle SchoolsEECS doctoral students MarkCalnon and Andrew Farmerhave received National ScienceFoundation Graduate STEM in K-12Education (GK-12) Fellowships. Theywill be leading hands-on activities inscience, technology, engineering, andmathematics (STEM) in area middleschools to improve their communicationand teaching skills while enriching STEMinstruction in partner schools.The one-year award provides eachstudent with $30,000 plus tuition andcritical classroom experience for theaspiring teachers.“Middle school is when many studentsseem to give up on science and math,saying ‘I'm not a math person’ or ‘I'm nevergoing to use this’. By showing studentshow math and science skills apply outsidethe classroom, in research and decisionmaking, we hope to ignite their curiosityand develop the ability to ask goodscientific questions and conduct researchthemselves,” said Farmer, who works atLandon Middle school in Topeka.In one popular lesson, Farmer dividedTeresa Trauthwein’s eighth grade mathclass into small groups and had themcreate instructions for building a smallLego structure. After 15 minutes, eachgroup dismantled their creation andpassed the pieces and instructions toanother group, which then rebuilt it.Afterwards, they compared pictures ofthe original and rebuilt structures, whichusually had little in common. Farmerwanted students to see how ambiguousinstructions can be. Next they worked onEECS doctoral student Andrew Farmer, middle, helps his eighth grade students work through a math problemat Landon Middle School. Farmer teaches at Landon one day a week as part of his National Science FoundationGraduate STEM in K-12 Education (GK-12) Fellowship.creating a formal language for specifyinghow to build a Lego structure.“Andrew brings innovative, thoughtprovoking problems into the classroomthat challenge the students,” saidTrauthwein. “Somehow, they stretchthemselves and learn more than they everthought they could. I am always amazedat the deep level of thinking he canachieve with them.While volunteering with the Center forRemote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS)education team, Calnon had theopportunity to advise a local middleschool's Science Olympiad team on arobotics project. Through this experience,he saw firsthand the effectiveness of usingrobotics and other innovations in STEMeducation.He has brought that creativity to HarryPurrington’s science classes at ArrowheadMiddle School in Kansas City. Calnon leda lesson in tectonic plate movement thisfall. Calnon learned GPlates modelingsoftware and installed it on the 30 studentlaptops. He asked the eighth graders tofind out how far apart South America andAfrica were 60 million years ago. Using thesoftware, students could reposition theglobe and watch different continents shiftover time, measure the distance betweencontinents, and watch as new crust wascreated.“Mark came in, pretty early in the year, andtaught all of the eighth graders how touse Powerpoint. This was after he quicklylearned how to negotiate our laptops,"said Purrington. “Another outstandinglesson was when he downloaded aprogram to show continental movementover millions of years. He did not just dothis on one computer, but a classroom set!He sat in the back with 10 or more laptopsaround him at a time, getting themprepared for his next visit. This allowedstudents to manipulate the programthemselves and not just watch a teacherdo it. “ •EECS News 2011 19

Graduate Student Success » »DoD Awards Austin Prestigious SMART ScholarshipIncreasing the security andmaintainability of computersystems has earned EECS doctoralstudent Evan Austin a prestigiousDepartment of Defense (DoD)scholarship.The Shawnee native will receive a $38,000annual stipend, full tuition and fees, bookallowance, and health insurance throughthe Science, Mathematics, And Researchfor Transformation (SMART) Scholarshipfor Service Program."Evan has worked very hard and we’reall very proud of him," said School ofEngineering Dean Stuart Bell. "Thehome-grown talent at the KU Schoolof Engineering continues to excel atthe highest levels of scholarship andresearch. This award is a great honor andthe work he’s completing at KU will playan important role in the security of theinformation technology we all rely on."SMART recipients receive paidsummer internships and postgraduateemployment within the DoD. Theprogram, which aims to bring highlytrained civilian scientists and engineersto Defense facilities, requires a year ofemployment in return for each year ofscholarship."Beyond the generous financial benefitsattached to the award, the SMARTprogram provides years of invaluableexperience at a DoD research facility,"said Austin. "When I look at the incrediblenew professors EECS has gained over thelast few years, I notice many are findingimmediate success based on the contactsPh.D. student Evan Austin is building formal reasoning tools that allow researchers to build models that evaluatetheir hardware and software designs. This spring he received a Department of Defense SMART Scholarship.and confidence that they developedworking at government research labs. I'mhoping that this opportunity will provideme with a similar foundation that I canbuild upon for success."Current verification software does notprovide sufficient automatic processing,creating a slow and cumbersomeinspection process. Austin is developingformal reasoning tools that will allowresearchers to build models that evaluatethe security, reliability, maintainability,and other important facets of theirhardware/software design. His tools areaimed at expediting the generation oftrustworthy large-scale systems, such assmart grids.Austin conducts research at ITTC underthe direction of EECS Professor PerryAlexander."Evan is an exceptionally talentedresearcher and a wonderful memberof my laboratory," said Dr. Alexander."The SMART fellowship suits him quitewell, and I believe the experience he willgain working with the DoD will benefithim greatly when he starts his career inacademia. This fellowship is great for Evanand great for ITTC and KU."Austin is the third EECS student to receivea SMART fellowship since it began in2005. Alumni Jamie Jenshak and MikeWasikowski were former recipients. •www.eecs.ku.edu

Graduation BanquetThe following students were honored at the Spring Graduation Reception on May 21.Outstanding Senior AwardBased on overall achievement, the award is presented to a graduating senior in EE, CoE, and CS.Joel Schmelzle (EE), Brian Miller (CoE), and Nate Snyder (CS)Ellermeier Memorial AwardA nontraditional student with outstanding scholastic achievement is therecipient of the Ellermeier award. It is given in honor of former EE Professor andAssociate Dean of the Graduate School Robert Ellermeier.Angela WrightEveritt AwardThe International Engineering Consortium sponsors the Everitt Awards, whichare reserved for EECS seniors in the top 10 percent of their class. Winners mustbe interested in communications and computers and involved in outsideactivities.Manas Bhatnagar and Wenshuai Hou(l to r) Nate Snyder, Brian Miller, and Joel Schmelzle received theOutstanding Senior Award.Paul F. Huebner Memorial AwardsPaul Huebner was a KU graduate with a BS in accounting, concentratingin CS, and a graduate degree in CS. The award is intended to reward goodteaching and encourage students to consider teaching as a career.John Gibbons and Martin KuehnhausenRichard K. & Wilma S. Moore Thesis AwardThis award is given in honor of Distinguished Professor Emeritus RichardAngela Oguna, EECS Professor Gary Minden, and EECS doctoralMoore. The best graduate thesis and doctoral dissertation are honored. student Martin Kuehnhausen worked together at KU’s InformationKevin Matlage (thesis) and Justin Ehrlich (dissertation)and Telecommunication Technology Center. Oguna graduated withDepartmental honors, and Kuehnhausen won a Huebner Memorial Award.Rummer AwardsProfessor Emeritus Dale Rummer’s dedication to engineering design was the impetus for the award. The awards are given foroutstanding work done by seniors in CoE and EE capstonedesign courses.Monte Jones, Andrew Holcomb, Brian Miller, andMichael Soderberg (CoE)Jay Fuller, Audrey Seybert, Bryan Townley, andBenjamin Trombold (EE)Department HonorsManas Bhatnagar, Jonathan Lutes, Angela Oguna,and Masayuki Pak •Jay Fuller, Audrey Seybert, Benjamin Trombold, and Bryan Townley stand with EECS ProfessorChristopher Allen. Dr. Allen presented the winning group from his Senior Design class with theRummer Award.www.eecs.ku.edu

Tools Test Software CorrectnessTechnology being developed atthe University of Kansas will makeit easier and cheaper to buildhighly dependable and secure software,potentially saving billions of dollarsannually.EECS Assistant Professor Andy Gillrecently received a $500,000 NationalScience Foundation grant to streamlinetools for the development of highassurance computer systems. Theinnovative support tools will providegreater transparency and scrutiny whenbuilding critical components for largecomplex systems, dramatically reducingthe all-too-common bugs and glitchesthat occur in current software.When programmers build software, theyfirst must determine how it will be usedand then how it will function. They shouldthen evaluate the software to ensure thedescription and function match, but thisstep is cumbersome and expensive. Alltoo often, crude testing methods are usedinstead, inadvertently neglecting to testcritical corner cases that later result inbugs in real-world deployment. A NationalInstitute of Standards and Technologystudy found that software defects cost theeconomy $60 billion annually and accountfor 80 percent of software developmentcosts.Dr. Gill is building the Haskell EquationalReasoning Model-to-ImplementationTunnel, nicknamed HERMIT, toimprove software correctness. HERMITmathematically, or formally, analyzeseach step of development, providingrigorous connections between systemrequirements and the programmingEECS Assistant Professor Andy Gill (left) stands withinvited speaker Bryan O'Sullivan at the InternationalSymposium on Implementation and Application ofFunctional Languages (IFL) in October. Gill’s researchhelped bring IFL to KU for the first time, and to theUnited States for only the second time.details of a real application. Whilesystem requirements and programsare typically written in two differentcomputer languages and often evaluatedin a third, HERMIT provides a commonfoundation that generates evidence thatthe description and action match. Thesecontinuous checks and balances make itmuch harder for errors to be introduced,and HERMIT's precise documentationstyle allows any bugs to be caught early inthe process."When we are talking about buildinglarge systems with millions of lines ofcode, finding errors can be very difficult.Unreliable software hurts companies'reputations and costs them customers,"said Dr. Gill, who conducts his researchat ITTC. "HERMIT uses new ideas fromsoftware engineering and mathematicsto make the evaluation of highassurancesoftware development moremanageable." •Noise Hides SignalsEECS researchers have developeda new form of high-speed covertcommunication that leveragesexisting radar emissions.EECS Associate Professor ShannonBlunt collaborated with EECS AssociateProfessor Erik Perrins and graduatestudents Justin Metcalf and CaseyBiggs on the development of an intrapulseradar-embedded communicationapproach. The specially designed covertsignals achieve the right trade-offbetween communication performanceand interception avoidance. For example,the system may allow soldiers behindenemy lines to send secure messagesby hiding signals among the echoesgenerated by a nearby high-poweredradar. Intended receivers would havesufficient prior knowledge to recover thehidden signal, while eavesdroppers wouldbe unaware of the signal’s existence.Such technology traditionally employshundreds to thousands of radar pulsesto insert covert signals. However, byinserting information into the echoesfrom each individual radar pulse, the EECSapproach has the potential to increase thedata rate by orders of magnitude.The work, funded by a U.S. Air ForceYoung Investigator Award that Dr. Bluntreceived in 2007, culminated in theDecember publication of “PerformanceCharacteristics and Metrics for Intra-PulseRadar-Embedded Communication" in theprestigious IEEE Journal of Selected Areas inCommunications (JSAC). The paper can befound at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=6081358. •EECS News 2011 25

CReSIS Research » »Data Collected on World's Fastest Flowing GlaciersResearchers from the Center forthe Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets(CReSIS) spent two months thisspring in Greenland, measuring the icethickness and surface topography ofsome of the fastest flowing glaciers in theworld. The collected data allow climateresearchers to better assess the changesin the Greenland ice sheet and make moreaccurate predictions of rising sea levels.EECS Research Professor FernandoRodriguez-Morales led the team thatincluded EECS graduate students DanielGomez-Garcia and Logan Smith. Theteam completed 12 science flights overfour different glaciers. Dr. Rodriguez-Morales oversaw the field operationsand ran the Multi-Channel Radar DepthSounder (MCoRDS), which measured icethickness, during most flights. Gomez-Garcia operated the Accumulation radarand the Ku-band altimeter. The formermaps variations in the snow accumulationrate while the latter retrieves ice surfacetopography data with high resolution.Gomez-Garcia also developed processingsoftware for the radars. Smith, whoremained on the ground most days,processed the data collected by theCReSIS radars.“These are some of the most significantoutlet glaciers, which are the maintributaries for getting ice from the interiorof Greenland to the calving front, or outto the edges, where it breaks off intoicebergs that melt and can potentiallylead to a rise in sea level,” said Smith.Researchers made acouple major changesto MCoRDS before thedeployment. To improveresolution and increasethe number of antennaelements, the MCoRDSoperated at 195 MHz,as opposed to thetraditional frequencyof 150 MHz. CReSISresearchers decreasedthe size of antenna whileincreasing the numberof them on each wing.This new configurationoffered greater flexibilityto rotate antennaorientation, helpingduring a flight.reduce surface clutterin crevassed areas andminimize electronicinterference from aircraft sub-systems.The associated electronics were upgradedto capture the received signals from all12 antenna elements, which enabledpowerful beam forming capabilities inpost-processing.While Gomez-Garcia had taken part in theNASA Operation IceBridge program lastyear, this was his first trip to the Arctic.He said the smaller plane allowed him tomore easily interact with Dr. Rodriguez-Morales and the pilots. The CReSIS groupwas the only one on board the TwinOtter aircraft, giving researchers greaterflexibility with their flights. If the weatherwas good and they needed to takeEECS graduate student Daniel Gomez-Garcia takes calibration measurementsPhoto by Logan Smithanother pass over a target of interest, theycould.The sporadic spring weather complicatedthe mission. It became a wait-and-seegame. The researchers would get up andprepare for a flight that could then bedelayed or postponed for the day. Dr.Rodriguez-Morales noted that people whohad been going there for 20 years said itwas the worst year they had seen.“What we’re trying to achieve is alwaysto get better results than previous years,and there’s a lot of things that we haveimproved,” said Gomez-Garcia. •Nick Mott contributed to this article.www.eecs.ku.edu

The Center for the Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) is working tobetter understand the dynamics of the world's ice sheets, their effect onsea level rise, and the subsequent impact on society.CReSIS Assists in Largest Airborne Polar Ice SurveyCReSIS once again participatedin NASA’s Operation IceBridgemission this fall. IceBridge, thelargest airborne survey of ice at thepolar regions, marked its third year inthe six-year reconnaissance project.An international team of researchersmeasured Antarctica's polar ice sheets andsea ice to help forecast how the ice sheetswill respond to changes in climate."We imaged an ice rift in formation onPine Island Glacier and flew surveys overRecovery and Slessor Glaciers, which haveonly been sparsely surveyed in the past.We also produced the first 3-D image ofthe ice bottom from the DC-8 platform,using the MCoRDS [Multi-Channel RadarDepth Sounder] array antennas thisseason," said CReSIS Assistant ResearchProfessor John Paden, who was fieldleader and operated the MCoRDS radar."At a time when glaciers and ice sheetsare showing rapid changes, we needconsistent data that shows how andwhy that change is happening," saidIceBridge Project Scientist MichaelStudinger in a press release. "With threeyears of IceBridge data in hand, we havesuccessfully continued the ice sheetelevation record in key areas and brokennew ground in understanding the natureof the bedrock under ice sheets and theshape of the seafloor under ice shelves."Three CReSIS radar systems were installedon NASA’s DC-8 aircraft and flown overhigh risk areas. The MCoRDS, with anantenna mountedunderneath thefuselage, measuredthe thickness of the icesheet. It can be used todetect if liquid existsat the base of the icesheet. The presenceof liquid couldgreatly accelerate themovement of the icesheets.The Snow and Ku-bandradars have antennasinstalled in the wingroots. The former candetect thin, annualaccumulation layers down to 60 metersdepth. The Ku-band radar provides fineresolution surface topography to measurechanges in the height of the ice sheetsover time. The Ku-band radar is used tovalidate and better understand Cryosat-2satellite radar measurements.EECS doctoral student Ben Panzer, whoran the Snow and Ku-band radars, saysthe team doubled their sea ice flights—sixthis time. Sea ice thickness provides anindication of the stability of the Antarcticsea ice pack from year to year. The radarsmeasure the snow thickness on the seaice.Depending on weather conditions, themissions were flown at low altitudes(1,000 to 2,000 feet above the surface).The Snow and Ku-band radars collectabout 400 gigabytes of raw data for eachEECS doctoral student Ben Panzer (right) discusses research with NASA's JohnSonntag as they fly over Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica.Photo courtesy of NASAflight and the MCoRDS systems collectsabout 2 terabytes (TB) per flight, whichresulted in over 40 TB of raw data for thewhole season. In comparison, it took theHubble Space Telescope 20 years to amass45 TB of data.EECS graduate student ShashankaJagarlapudi, who took part in his firstCReSIS deployment, processed datagathered from the 10-12 hour daily flights,when weather permitted. The CReSIS teamlogged more than 210 hours in the air. •Jennifer Salva and Shawn Schaller contributedto this article.EECS News 2011 27

DonorsThank you for your generous andcontinued support. Your donationsenable student scholarships, specialawards for faculty, laboratory upgrades,and other important EECS projects.Below are the FY 2011 (July 1, 2010 toJune 30, 2011) contributions.If you would like to make acontribution, please go toKUEndowment.orgDeans Club AmbassadorsRobert A. Kleist & Barbara L. KleistDeans ClubPhilip N. Anderson, DE & Patricia M.Anderson, EdDWilliam E. Benso & Beverly RunkleBensoSteven M. CrowlWilberth F. EscalanteEdy JiantoJenny Wohletz Pelner & James PelnerBenjamin L. SchulteRaymond J. ShuCindy J. WallisFrank J. Wewers & Helen WewersCampanile ClubEdward H. AbbottMasakazu ChikiraThomas L. HeidebrechtLouis J. HeitlingerJack C. Kemp & Suzanne C. KempJohn R. McDanielDavid A. SeamansCrimson and Blue ClubPerry Alexander, PhD & Pamela L.AlexanderDiane M. Brock & Michael R. BrockChi-Shih Chang, PhD & Ling-HungTsengDouglas C. ChieuDarren L. Cole & Allison J. ColeCarol A. CoyleV.S. KrishnanWilbur D. Larkin & Madelyn BriteLarkinJan A. LarsonAlan L. LehmanJohn M. Lubert & Paula H. LubertRyan M. ReedDavid P. ReinfeldsDennis A. Shoemaker & Ellen JenksShoemakerRobert J. WithamLeonid Yurovsky & Ellen Yurovsky1865 ClubMelanie R. Boat & Dane W. BoatIan M. BradtEdward J. Cleary Jr.Michael G. CostlowMichael W. Dent & Judith Riebe DentJames P. Florez, MDDobroslawa Grzymala-Busse & JerzyW. Grzymala-BusseCDR Joseph H. Guerrein IIICarl J. Hahn III & Mary Beth GoringBrandon L. HintonPhilip J. KliewerDinah Lovitch, PhDMark E. Lubben & Pamela LubbenKenneth J. MathiasmeierDr. Robert E. MillerGary J. Minden, PhDNorris S. Nahman, PhDAaron J. Neihouse & Megan NeihouseJason S. ObermeyerMartha Menke Owen & Rodney W.Owen, PhDTimothy W. ProppLorna R. Reiman & Paul W. ReimanMerrill V. Scott & Sue Guest ScottRobert C. SeletskyJon J. ShipmanGary D. Smith & Ann Irving Smith, MDRonald S. Smith & Sandra L. Kruse-SmithFrederick B. Stattman & Angelita P.StattmanJosephine A. Stiles, PhD & Edward J.McFarlaneClark D. StithGene Allen TaylorScott R. TaylorConrad A. ThomasJames C. West, PhD & Jane L. SittlerWestDonorsTheodore E. Batchman, PhD & NancyLeatherman BatchmanQing ChengKaren Llewellyn DixonKathie Phillips DoveRyan C. DuckworthTodd G. EllenbergerAdam S. EllenbogenTroy M. FreerksenJack F. HaganElahe HessamfarShayle I. HirschmanCarrie Mar HowardKathleen A. HutchinsonCletus H. IsbellMatthew L. JonesGurwinder Singh KapurPeter N. KonstantLawrence C. Kravitz, PhDRobert Y. Li, PhDThomas P. McKale & Mary J. McKale*Darren P. McSweeney & Sarah LaffertyMcSweeneyRaghavan P. MenonShawn Y. Ng & Heather Vespestad NgPrasanna D. RupasingheMary C. SchneiderVernon D. SchragJeffrey S. ShaffermanTodd R. SmithMichael D. Snyder & Lynda R. SnyderJeffery A. UngerAjit Kumar VermaLaurie S. Wheeler & David B. WheelerCorporate Deans ClubThe Glasnapp FoundationKao Family FoundationCorporate Donors ClubIEEEInternational Foundation forTelemetering •* Donor is deceasedwww.eecs.ku.edu

Alumni SpotlightTshering Shares Incredible Journey to KU, BeyondStarting his three-and-a-half hourwalk down the mountain beforedawn, Nima Tshering was terrifiedof running into a Himalayan black bearin the dark jungle. But the eight year olddid not let fear stop him from making theseven-hour round trip six days a week forfive years to primary school.Tshering (BSEE ’02) talked about hisjourney to KU and beyond during theEECS New Student Seminar this fall.EECS Professor and Associate Chair forUndergraduate Studies David Petr leadsthe one-hour weekly discussion to linkstudents with resources and more quicklyintegrate them into the Department.Tshering was among the invited alumniasked to share their experiences andshow the wide range of career paths forEECS graduates.“Nima was an obvious choice as guestspeaker for our week on unusual careers;his close association with the royal familyof Bhutan, his strategic governmentpositions, and his graduate studyfocused on management and publicadministration certainly make him one ofEECS’s most unusual graduates,” said Dr.Petr.“My EECS experience has turned my fearinto hope, my self-doubt into confidence.It gave me the hard KU engineeringskills with soft humility of Kansas” saidTshering, who came to KU on a FulbrightScholarship. “When it comes to a career,I would like current EECS students torealize that it is not what you do, buthow you think about what you do, thatchanges the world.”Nima Tshering (center) stands with two of his former EECS Professors David Petr (left) and Gary Minden. Tshering(BSEE '02) spoke to EECS freshmen about unusual career paths during the New Student Seminar.After graduating from KU in 2002,Tshering joined Bhutan’s Departmentof Information Technology andbegan building the nation’s fledgingIT infrastructure. Internet and cellphone service would be incredibleadvancements for a country that is stilltrying to extend roads and electricity toits rural villages, Tshering said. While KUhad given him the engineering skills tosucceed, he needed management trainingfor the massive undertaking and enrolledin a graduate engineering managementprogram at the University of Canterburyin New Zealand. For his graduate project,Tshering developed the strategic planfor Tarayana Foundation, a non-profitorganization that helps poor Bhutanese inrural villages. He completed his graduatedegree in 2005 and spent the next threeyears walking to more than 300 remotevillages in Bhutan to talk to his fellowcitizens about the King’s policies.His work with the Tarayana Foundationand the King’s Office of People’s Welfareand Wellbeing led him to the John F.Kennedy School of Government atHarvard University. He is learning how todevelop business approaches and publicpolicies that will help the one-quarterof Bhutanese living in poverty, less than$1 a day. Tshering, who is expected tograduate this summer with a Master’s inPublic Administration in InternationalDevelopment, will return to public serviceand nation building under the direction ofthe King of Bhutan. •“My EECS experience has turned my fear into hope, my selfdoubtinto confidence. It gave me the hard KU engineeringskills with soft humility of Kansas."–Nima TsheringEECS News 2011 29

Rock Chalk, Jayhawk, KU!!The University ofKansasDepartment of ElectricalEngineering & ComputerScience (EECS)2001 Eaton Hall1520 West 15th StreetLawrence, KS 66045-7608R oc k Chalk, Jayhawk, KU!!We want to hear from our alumni! Submit updates to www.eecs.ku.edu/alumni.WOULD YOU PREFER TO RECEIVE EECS News VIA E-MAIL? Send an e-mail to info@eecs.ku.edu.