ECE

E LECTRICAL

AND

C OMPUTER E NGINEERING
R ESEARCH R EPORT

M ICHIGAN

T ECHNOLOGICAL
U NIVERSITY

G REETINGS FROM
THE N ORTH C OUNTRY
The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Michigan
Tech has a rich history of providing outstanding opportunities for
undergraduate education. While our commitment to undergraduate
education remains strong, the Department has gone through an
unprecedented period of growth in research and graduate education.
Since 2000, PhD enrollments have nearly quadrupled in size, and
external funding for research has grown by a factor of roughly 8.

C ONTENTS

Much of our research growth has occurred within the Departments

ABOUT

GRADUATES

C I S S I C: THE CENTER
FOR I NTEGRATED S YSTEMS
IN S ENSING , I MAGING ,
AND C OMMUNICATIONS

THE

DEPARTMENT
AND

RESEARCH

two primary research centers: the Center for Integrated Systems in

Sensing, Imaging and Communications (CISSIC); and the Power and
Energy Research Center (PERC). An overview of several of the active
research programs in these centers is provided in this report.
Involvement of our undergraduates in research and development
has always been a priority for the Department. Two key programs,
Enterprise and Senior Design, provide our undergraduates with

12

P E R C: THE POWER
AND E NERGY R ESOURCE
CENTER

outstanding opportunities. This report contains brief highlights from

16

SENIOR DESIGN

some of our research programs and the fabulous faculty who are

17

ENTERPRISE

both.
As you look through these pages, I hope you enjoy learning about
making them possible. If you would like more information about any
aspect of the Department, please dont hesitate to contact me.
Tim Schulz
Dave House Professor and Department Chair
Electrical and Computer Engineering
[email protected]

ECE

ECE
A BOUT

THE

D EPARTMENT

Established in 1928, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Michigan Tech is among the worlds leaders
in providing quality education and research. We offer programs leading to the Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, the Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering, the Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, and the Doctor of
Philosophy in Electrical Engineering.

O UR F ACULTY
A number of our faculty within the Department are recognized as Fellows by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers, Association for Computing Machinery, International Society for Optical Engineering, and Optical Society of
America. Several are authors of popular textbooksand many have been appointed to editorial positions for national and
international journals such as IEEE Transmission on Image Processing, IEEE Transmission on Wireless Communications,
Journal of the Optical Society of America, Applied Optics, International Journal of Modeling and Simulation, and Electric
Power Components and Systems.

T ENURE -T RACK F ACULTY

A SHOK K. A MBARDAR
P H D, U NIVERSITY OF W YOMING

B RUCA A. M ORK
P H D, N ORTH D AKOTA S TATE U NIVERSITY

P AUL L. B ERGSTROM
P H D, U NIVERSITY OF M ICHIGAN

W ARREN F. P ERGER
P H D, C OLORADO S TATE U NIVERSITY

L EONARD J. B OHMANN
P H D, U NIVERSITY OF W ISCONSIN

M ICHAEL C. R OGGEMANN
P H D, A IR F ORCE I NSTITUTE

J EFFREY B. B URL
P H D, U NIVERSITY

T IMOTHY J. S CHULZ
P H D, W ASHINGTON U NIVERSITY

OF

C ALIFORNIA , I RVINE

OF

T ECHNOLOGY

C HUNXIAO (T RICIA ) C HIGAN

P H D, SUNYS TONY B ROOK

M ARTHA E. S LOAN
P H D, S TANFORD U NIVERSITY

A SHOK K. G OEL
P H D, J OHNS H OPKINS U NIVERSITY

J INDONG T AN
P H D, M ICHIGAN S TATE U NIVERSITY

R OGER M. K IECKHAFER
P H D, C ORNELL U NIVERSITY

Z HI (G ERRY ) T IAN
P H D, G EORGE M ASON U NIVERSITY

A NAND K. K ULKARNI
P H D, U NIVERSITY OF N EBRASKA

D ENNIS O. W IITANEN
P H D, U NIVERSITY OF M ISSOURI R OLLA

M ELISSA G. M EYER
P H D, U NIVERSITY OF W ASHINGTON

S EYED (R EZA ) Z EKAVAT

P H D, C OLORADO S TATE U NIVERSITY

P IYUSH M ISHRA
P H D, P OLYTECHNIC U NIVERSITY

Z HIJUN (Z ACK ) Z HAO

P H D, U NIVERSITY OF I LLINOIS

MICHIGAN

TECH

R ECENT P H D G RADUATES
J ASON A RBUCKLE , P H D
I NDICATED MEAN EFFECTIVE

PRESSURE

ESTIMATION WITH APPLICATIONS TO

ADAPTIVE CALIBRATION

M ATHIEU A UBAILLY , P H D
R ECONSTRUCTION OF ANISPLANATIC
ADAPTIVE OPTICS IMAGES

R ONALD K IZITO , P H D
I MAGE SHARPNESS METRIC - BASED
DEFORMABLE MIRROR CONTROL FOR
BEAM PROJECTION SYSTEMS

R ESEARCH

B AOYONG L IU , P H D
O PTIMAL BEAM FORMING

The Department has important research programs in the

FOR LASER BEAM

PROPAGATION THROUGH RANDOM MEDIA

broad areas of sensing and imaging, wireless communica-

S HOUMIN L IU , P H D
S OFT - DECISION EQUALIZATION

tions, communication networks, electric power and energy,

and solid-state electronics. Our programs have been

TECHNIQUES FOR FREQUENCY SELECTIVE

MIMO

supported by several government and private agencies

CHANNELS

P IOTR P IATROU , P H D
C ONTROL ALGORITHMS

and corporations, including the National Science FoundaFOR

tion, Air Force Ofce of Scientic Research, Ofce of Naval

LARGE SCALE ADAPTIVE OPTICS

P AUL W EBER , P H D
D YNAMIC REDUCTION

Research, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency,

Army Research Laboratory, and Joint Technology Ofce,

ALGORITHMS FOR

FAULT TOLERANT CONVERGENT VOTING

Eaton Corporation, Xcel Energy, Consumer Energy, and ITC-

WITH HYBRID FAULTS

J IN Z HENG -W ALNER , P H D
P OROUS SILICON TECHNOLOGY

Transmission. External funding for our programs has grown

by a factor of nearly 8 over the past ve years.

FOR

INTEGRATED MICROSYSTEMS

L IN W U . P H D
T IMING SYNCHRONIZATION AND RECEIVER
DESIGN FOR UWB COMMUNICATIONS

Research Funding

$5M
$5,000,000
$4.5M
$4,500,000
$4M
$4,000,000
$3.5M
$3,500,000

R ESEARCH
F UNDING

$3M
$3,000,000
$2.5M
$2,500,000
$2M
$2,000,000
$1.5M
$1,500,000
$1M
$1,000,000
$.5M
$500,000
$0
$0
2001
2001

2002
2002

2003
2003

2004
2004

2005
2005

2006
2006

ECE

RESEARCH PROGRAMS

CISSIC

C I S S I C: THE C ENTER FOR

I NTEGRATED S YSTEMS IN S ENSING ,
I MAGING , AND C OMMUNICATIONS
The Center for Integrated Systems in Sensing, Imaging, and Communications (CISSIC) was established in 2004. The goal:
to create research and educational programs advancing the importance of a design methodology that integrates physical models, device technologies, and signal processing theory. For a variety of applications, this integrated-system design
approach has resulted in the development of more compact, functional, and marketable sensing, imaging, and
communication systems. The Center also promotes collaboration within the Department of Electrical and Computer
Engineeringand with external individuals and groups.
Research projects within the Center have been supported by the National Science Foundation, Air Force Ofce of
Scientic Research, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Army Research Laboratory, and Joint Technology Ofce,
among others. A few of these projects are summarized over the following pages.

D EVELOPING

THE

W ORLD S S MALLEST T RANSISTOR

Just when you thought cell phones couldnt (or shouldnt) get any smaller, Paul Bergstrom predicts that pretty soon youll
be slipping one into your wallet alongside your drivers license. I can see the day when cell phones are as thin as a credit
card, says Bergstrom, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering.
Bergstrom is working on developing nanoscale electronic devices. Its not just a matter of making things littler. They
will also be able to do far more, or, as Bergstrom says, They can be integrated in smaller packages with a great deal more
functionality.
To accomplish this, Bergstrom is working on developing the smallest transistor ever: a single electron transistor. It
could open up whole new aspects of electronics, he says. A single electron transistor is a quantum deviceit has very
peculiar behavior.
The transistor is about 40 nanometers across. Line up 6,000 of them
and theyd be about as long as a human hair is wide. And on each transistor is a series of quantum dots. Each dot is a 3D hemisphere less than
10 nanometers across, Bergstrom explains. Electrons can be controllably trapped on that dot.
Transistors work by controlling the ow of electric current using a
control electrode called a gate, functioning much like a water faucet,

Paul Bergstrom

MICHIGAN

TECH

Magnied
SEM view
showing the
active device
area of the
SET at the
center connecting leads

creating the zeros and ones upon which all digital life depends.
Quantum dots could change all that. By manipulating the

potential energy of the electrons on each dot, you could have

SEM view
of the active
SET device
showing quantum island
denition and
localization

multiple levels of logic, Bergstrom said, not just on or off.

Instead of having zero and one only, you could have zero,
one, and two, or zero through three, and so forth, he said.
The capability of digital electronic devices would increase
signicantly.

That said, these nano-transistors have one minor drawback. They only work at nano-temperatures. We have to cool
them to less than 4 degrees Kelvin, Bergstrom says. Thats accomplished by immersing them in liquid helium. The colder
they are, the more tractable electrons become. Moving them around precisely at warmer temps is a big hassle.
With funding from the Microsystems
Technology Ofce of the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency and the Army
Research Lab, Bergstrom and his team are
working to make single electron transistors that
work at room temperature. Results to date have
been encouraging.
The formation of these ultra-small quantum dots is very difcult, Bergstrom said.
Were trying to engineer them with a focused
ion-beam etching tool, to put each particle
exactly where it should be. This is an area with
great potential, he added. It could open up
whole new aspects of the electronics industry.

Bergstrom and his team in the

Microfabrication Facilitys Clean Room

ECE

RESEARCH PROGRAMS

CISSIC
RFID R ESEARCH M OVES U P

THE

R ANKS

Much like that tiny metal wafer that James Bond inserted into the heel of his shoe in the movie Goldnger, RFID tags are
making it much easier to track anything, anytime, anywhere.
Supported by a grant from the US Army, CISSIC is performing advanced RFID research and development. Led by electrical engineering Professor Michael Roggemann, the team will explore potential combinations
of RFID tag data, geolocation data, sensor data, and communications networks to improve
the communications capabilities of Americas soldiers.
The Army, and indeed all the services, are moving toward a net centric, multimedia
information environment. More information than ever before is available to commanders
and logistics controllers from a wide variety of sensors and reporting systems. But there is
still room for making improvements in the logistics system, and in the wireless communications areas, Roggemann explains.
There are often limitations on the bandwidth available to the military in theater, he
adds. Pre-existing spectrum allocations can severely limit communications. We hope to
develop techniques to overcome these shortfalls.
CISSIC will also investigate in-transit visibility for the Army, which is trying to better
track shipping containers: where they are, whats in them and whether their environment
is controlled.
Other researchers involved in the project include Assistant Professors Gerry Tian, Tricia
Chigan, Reza Zekavat and Jindong Tan; and Professor and Chair Tim Schulz. All are faculty

Mike Roggemann

of the electrical and computer engineering department.

Gerry Tian
Currently, communication signals between RFID tags and readers are
weak and do not propagate far, explains Associate Professor Gerry Tian.
When a large number of tags are densely packed together, wireless RF
signals may interfere with one another.
To ensure reliable communications, Tian will investigate coding,
scrambling, modulation and signaling schemes to protect ID information from being stolen and misused. She will also conduct research on
multiple access, spectrum sharing and anti-collision techniques, so that
a large number of tags can be read simultaneously without interfering
with one another. To extend the communication range under the stringent low power constraints, she aims at designing
novel RFID transceivers with smart wireless communication capabilities, such as multi-hop dynamic spectrum access.

MICHIGAN

TECH

High-volume data streams arrive at RFID readers at high velocity. It becomes a challenging issue to perform fast data
processing and make real-time decisions on the received data, says Tian. She will also study distributed data fusion and
in-network local processing to efciently extract useful information.
Jindong Tan
Tamper detection sensors on RFID tags are important to safety-critical products such
as drugs, notes Assistant Professor Jindong Tan. Detectors of chemical, biological, or
radioactive agents could minimize the danger of long-term exposureto such harmful
agents, many of which are invisible and odorless, he adds.
Tan will identify and develop RFID sensor technologies to enhance container safety
and transition safety. He is also investigating system architecture to improve both
intra-container and inter-container communication.
Another one of his research objectives is to investigate the hybrid architecture for
automated tracking. While the RFID tags for container exteriors must be active tags,
the packages and pallets within could employ either active or passive tags. Advantages
include longer communication range, large data storage space, and additional safety provided by movement and location
sensors.
Tan is also working to improve communications between RFID tags and the Armys logistics tracking system, making it
possible to query and obtain information from containers worldwide.
Tricia Chigan
My goal is to balance efciency, convenience, and security, explains Assistant Professor Tricia
Chigan. Her research targets low power and information assured RFID-based wireless mesh
networking technology for In Transit Visibility (ITV) supply chain systems.
Chigan will model wireless ad hoc mesh network architectures and protocols of low-power
consumption, when resource-constrained active and passive RFID tags are used as the end
devices. She will also investigate the security aws of the US Armys existing RFID-based wireless
communications, and develop adversarial models tailored for the ITV system.
Further, she will develop the information assurance (i.e. privacy concern and data protection,
access control, and mutual authentication) schemes across multiple communication protocol
layersall to prevent unauthorized access by adversaries who would insert false information into
the system.

ECE

RESEARCH PROGRAMS

CISSIC
R ECYCLED R ADIO W AVES :
P ASSIVE R ADAR O BSERVATIONS

OF

E ARTH S I ONOSPHERE

For many decades humans have been illuminating their environment with powerful radio waves, enabling various communication and entertainment services. Several of these sources are serendipitously quite useful for remote sensing
applications.
Remote sensing systems which take advantage of such ambient illumination
are called passive. Assistant professor Melissa Meyer has developed passive radar
technology that uses recycled FM radio and TV broadcasts to monitor natural
events in the Earths upper atmosphere, such as the Aurora Borealis.
The Aurora, or northern lights, are caused by a complex interaction between
solar weather (the state of the sun), the Earths magnetic eld, and charged
particles high in the Earths atmosphere, Meyer explains.
We can use passive radar to learn about solar activity and the physical coupling between the Earth and the sun by interpreting the radar signatures during
certain events such as solar ares, coronal mass ejections, and intense auroras,
adds Meyer. Passive radar is also useful for many other applications, including
upper atmospheric wind speed measurements, meteor detection, and observa-

Melissa Meyer

tions of aircraft.
Meyer, who recently earned her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle, is a National
Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. Her other research interests include electromagnetic wave propagation and
scattering, remote sensing with passive and distributed/networked instruments, and space and ionospheric plasma physics.
Michigan Techs far northern location in Michigans Upper Peninsula is a prime viewing spot for the Northern Lights.
Clear winter skies make for spectacular
displays. The UP sure isnt everyones idea
of a great place to live (my mother very
emphatically included), but for me the Lake
Superior, snowy, outdoorsy environment
was a strong magnet, adds Meyer. Im very
excited about the possibility of seeing the
Northern Lights with my own eyes (instead
of on just a radar screen) up here.

Northern Lights above Quincy

Mine hoisthouses in nearby Hancock,

Michigan

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MICHIGAN

TECH

WLPS T ECHNOLOGY C OULD P REVENT F RIENDLY F IRE

Assistant Professor Seyed Reza Zekavat has received a National Science Foundation grant to conduct fundamental
research on wireless local positioning systems.
Wireless systems capable of positioning mobiles remotely in complex mobile environments have emerging applications
in homeland security, law enforcement, defense command and control, multi-robot coordination, and trafc alert such as
vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian collision avoidance.
These systems promise to dramatically reduce societys vulnerabilities to catastrophic events and improve the quality of life.
Global positioning systems provide you with your location on
the planet, while wireless local positioning systems (WLPS) tell you
where others are positioned with respect to you, Zekavat explains.
Unlike GPS, however, WLPS can operate indoors and in urban areas.
Say you have 10 robot reghters in a burning building, says
Zekavat. They should know where the others are.
WLPS could also be used to improve road safety. If transceivers
were in all vehicles, it could help drivers avoid accidents by knowing
the positions of the other cars, he says. The Department of Transportation has been encouraging automakers to develop such safety

Zekavat and his team at work in the WLPS

Laboratory

devices to install in all vehicles.

Wireless positioning systems have two main components: the dynamic base station and the transceiver. The base
station sends a signal out asking, in effect, Is anybody there? The transceiver
responds with a Here I am signal. From the direction of the signal and the time
it takes to get an answer, the base station can tell where the transceiver is.
Such information would be a godsend for the military. Every soldier could
have a simple transceiver that costs less than $1 strapped to his or her wrist,
Zekavat says. It could help keep us from bombing our own troops.
The project has supported a new lab and three graduate students, and
involves many undergraduates, as well. Zekavat is collaborating with researchers
at George Mason University on the project.
Reza Zekavat

ECE

11

RESEARCH PROGRAMS

PERC

P E R C: THE P OWER & E NERGY

R ESEARCH C ENTER
Increased focus on alternate and renewable energy, development of new energy technologies, restructuring and deregulation of the utility industryall are redening the role of the Power Engineer and creating a wealth of technical and
educational challenges.
Environmental issues and other recent events have expanded the scope of interest to include public policy, system
security and reliability, and economic and social concerns. In 1996, Michigan Techs Power & Energy Research Center
(PERC) was created to address all those challengesand more.
For a small annual retainer, industries partner with PERC. Partners may

Hydropower is the largest source of renewable electricity

also join the Centers steering committee, where they can help to chart
research and educational priorities
and direction by providing input on
urgent issues. In turn, PERC professors
are able to incorporate industry partners needs into research and grant
proposals. All results are shared.
Most recently, PERC hosted an
NSF research project kickoff meeting and workshop in Houghton. The
project, which runs through 2008, is
titled Reduced Blackout Likelihood
via Advanced Operating and Control
Strategies.

Consumers Energy and Michigan Tech have a long-standing, mutually-benecial relationship. The synergy is considerable.
For many years we have supported the Universitys educational and research programs, including Masters fellowships and
senior design, and most recently, PERC. As a result, weve been able to hire many of the top-quality MTU graduates who
have gone through those programs and can hit the ground running as power engineers.
Rich Cottrell, Director of System Planning and Protection, Consumers Energy

12

MICHIGAN

TECH

Michigan Tech is a valuable partner in American Electric Powers Utility Technology Forums, bringing theory, practice, case
studies, and laboratory demonstration directly to our workforce. Through our association with PERC, AEP hopes to leverage
MTUs greatest capabilitythe ability to transfer technical knowledge.
Ray Hayes, Corporate Technology Development, American Electric Power

This is a very timely effort considering the

current energy situation and recent largearea blackouts in the US, notes Bruce Mork,
Director of PERC. Grid operation tends to be
thought of in simple steady-state terms. Lines,
transformers, reactors, capacitor banks, and
generation are either switched in or switched
out. Our approach takes a holistic view of the
real-time operation of protective relays. Wed
like to better understand the transient behavior
of circuit breaker tripping and reclosing, and
the effect it has on the dynamic behavior of
the system.
Industry collaborators from Minnesota
Power, Consumers Energy, Xcel Energy,
American Transmission Company, Schweitzer
Engineering Laboratories, and Cooper Power
Systems came to the Michigan Tech campus

The photovoltaic industry enjoys yearly increases of more than

20 percent worldwide

last winter to share their expert knowledge and

determine the most promising issues. The project is expected to be completed in December 2008.

Our mission is to be a best-in-class transmission provider. We believe in the need to invest in student learning and
research projects. Michigan Techs EE Power Program and PERC have a history of providing an immense foundation for
aspiring engineers. We believe that this collaboration will reap rich benets for ITCTransmission, MTU, and the power
industry in general.
Neil Doshi, Project Engineering, ITCTransmission

ECE

13

RESEARCH PROGRAMS

PERC

I NTERNATIONAL T EAMWORK : T RANSFORMING T RANSFORMERS

Electrical Engineering Professor Bruce Mork and his research team at Michigan Tech represent ve countriesRussia,
Mexico, Norway, Italy, and the United States. Together they are developing advanced computer simulation models as part
of a Transformer Performance Project funded by a large European research consortium, consisting of the Research Council
of Norway, ABB (Sweden), EDF (Elecricity de France, the French national power company) as well as several European corporations, including Statnett, Statkraft, and Nyns Naphtenics. The research is being carried out by the Norwegian Electric
Power Research Institute and Michigan Tech.
Our research really benets from such a disparate set of perspectives and backgrounds, says Mork. This can really
shake up a persons thought process and lead to some breakthrough ideas. And its fun to work together. We never run out
of things to talk about, and jokes and experiences to share.
Ideas Mork developed during his sabbatical to Trondheim, Norway in 2001 led to a three-year project funded by
the US Department of Energy. Initial stages of the research
were greatly aided by researcher Francisco Gonzalez Molina,
a Ph.D. student from the Polytechnic University of Catalunya
in Barcelona, Spain. Molina initially joined Mork in Trondheim and then received a two year postdoctoral fellowship
from the Spanish government to continue the research at
Michigan Tech. Dmtry Ishchenko, a post-doctoral researcher
from Russia joined in, and the project was completed in late
2004.
This set the stage for the present collaboration with
Norway. Francisco has since moved on with his career, but
Bruce Mork, Nicola Chiesa, Dmtry
Ishchenko,Alejandro Avendao Cecea

Dmitry continues on, with new PhD students Nicola Chiesa

(Italy), and Alejandro Avendao Cecea (Mexico) now play-

ing key roles as the research advances. This international team is developing improved computer modeling tools for high
voltage power transformers, an aging and vulnerable part of the power infrastructure.
Transformers are the bottlenecks in the high-voltage grid. If one fails, the entire grid can go down, notes Mork. Large
transformers cost between $500K and $2M to replace, and can take 6-12 months to manufacture and install. They are
incredibly large and heavy, transportation is difcult. Most factories are overseas, as US factories no longer produce the
big ones.
Obviously, there is a huge need for simulation tools which correctly predict transformer behaviors. Our goal is to
extend their operational life, as well as delay or avoid unexpected failure.

14

MICHIGAN

TECH

M APPING THE W IND : A G REAT L AKES A TLAS

FOR W IND P OWER D EVELOPMENT
Wind turbines are the fastest growing segment of the
generator mix being added to power systems today. But successful development depends in large part upon site choice.
In other words: location, location, location.
Renewable energy in general is very geographically
dependent, explains Leonard Bohmann, associate professor
and Power Systems specialist. For instance, it doesnt pay to
transport biomass. And wind strengths vary by location, as
do natural migratory yways for birds.
Bohmann, along with several undergraduate students, is
currently working on a Wind Power Atlas for developers who
must make decisions on where to build. Other wind power
atlases exist, but until now, none have mapped the cost
associated with transmission systems.
With wind power, you need to work with what you
havenamely, existing transmission lines and existing generators with limited capacity. Some
locations are more affordable
than others. Transmission system
locations, and other system
constraints also vary greatly from
place to place, he adds.

Windpower grows on this farm in Buffalo Ridge,

Minnesota

Using Bohmanns new atlas,

developers will be able to make choices with all the critical geographical information at their
ngertips. The atlas, targeted for completion in 2008, will be available as a GIS-bsed web site,
or on a CD.

Leonard Bohmann

ECE

15

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS

DISCOVER

DISCOVERDESIGNDELIVER is our philosophy and formula for success, says Professor and Associate Chair, Dennis
Wiitanen. We integrate it throughout all our undergraduate curriculum and programs.
Laboratories, designed to provide a discovery-based learning experience, enable students to make a smooth transition
to the design and development of electrical and computer-based systems. Ultimately, capstone Senior Design and Enterprise programs provide students with opportunities to deliver real engineering solutions to real engineering problems.

DESIGN
S ENIOR D ESIGN

Our goal with Senior Design is to provide real-world design team experience to
launch our graduates into their engineering careers, adds Wiitanen. Students
dedicate an entire academic year to Senior Designand thats on top of a full
and rigorous academic schedule.
Student teams typically have 4-6 members. A given team may have mechanical engineering majors, electrical engineering majors and computer engineering
majors, depending on the skill set needed for the project. Each team devotes

Dennis Wiitanen

about 1000 person-hours to a company-specied problem, and receives instruction in project management, design principles, teamwork, documentation, intellectual property, budgeting, ethics, and other relevant topics.
By the end of the year, teams have
delivered design reviews, a nal report,
a formal end-of-project presentation,
and deliverables to their industry
partners. We tie student grades to
successful deliverables, schedule, and
budget, notes Wiitanen.
Industry partners are increasingly
supportive. The senior design program
continues to be 100 percent industry
sponsored, as it has been for at least
the last four years.
Electrical engineering labs
are open 24/7

16

MICHIGAN

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DELIVER
E NTERPRISE

The hallmark of a Michigan Tech education is preparation for the workplace. With the universitys fast-growing Enterprise
program, students receive a career foundation that is second to none. Nobody does it like we do, says Mary Raber, director of Enterprise. Teams of students from different disciplines manage real-world
projects for industry partners. They run the enterprises like companies, addressing such everyday challenges as budgets, deadlines, and delivery of a product or
solution.
Enterprise students are leaders and entrepreneurs, and they are highly
sought after by recruiters. Now in its sixth year, the program comprises nearly
six hundred students on 24 different Enterprise teams, representing every major
on campus. The Electrical and Computer Engineering department hosts three of
the largest Enterprise teams.

B LUE M ARBLE E NTERPRISE

Blue Marble is focused on securing the future through thoughtful use of technology. Last year the team sucessfully delivered on several contracts for industry partners. At mid-year they designed and built a sensor and control system that will
dramatically increase the yield of several wood products for Columbia Forest Products.
During the spring, the team created an alarm system to monitor and report on the integrity of critical system operations in remote locations for Bechtel. Successful delivery was also met on a contract with Everett Industries to provide
specic enhancements to a line of manufactured machines.
They also created a perimeter security device for Superior
Controls that will ultimately save lives.
The team continues to work closely with Michigan
Department of Transportation to create a semi-autonomous
data collection system to accelerate geodetic tasks. General
Dynamics is also a client, and several research projects are in the worksincluding one involving video camera products,
and another pertaining to military vehicles.
On another note, Blue Marble was recognized this past spring during the 2006 Michigan Tech Undergraduate Expo as
having the best products and services and the best enterprise website.

ECE

17

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS

W IRELESS C OMMUNICATION E NTERPRISE

WCE creates wireless, optical, and biomedical technology solutions for real people. The team recently delivered on two
R&D projects for industry sponsors. Most notably, they designed and built a hand-held instrument for cell phone tower
technicians at Bechtel Global Telecommunications. This device veries whether shielded cables are hot or not without
disconnecting the cables.
A new partnership was recently launched with Samsung and
Korea University. KU has just created an Enterprise program on the
Michigan Tech model and is now teamed with WCE to do joint product development in the expanding eld of Mechatronics. Samsung is
the teams joint sponsor and gateway to the marketplace.
WCE has also started new industry R&D projects sponsored by Guidant, John Deere, Rockwell Collins, and Alwin
Manufacturing. Additionally, the team has a number of internal (proprietary) product development activities underway in
the following areas: chaotic encryption of wireless communication channels, environmental noise monitoring, proximity
sensor systems, biosensors, and voice-activated control systems.

I NTEGRATED M ICROSYSTEMS E NTERPRISE

The IME team creates microcontroller based systems that interact with the surrounding world. This is accomplished
through the utilization of specialized sensory input and wireless communication output to data logging and visualization
software developed for portable and palmtop computers. Imagination combined with the exibility of the teams platform
has expanded their ideas into many other applications for both industrial and commercial use.
Projects include the Data Acquisition Cube (DAC), a wireless sensory system for science and mathematics visualization for K-12 educational enrichment, the Roadbed Assessment Transmitter (RAT), a wireless datalogging system used
in research and lifetime monitoring of civil infrastructure, and other wireless embedded sensory systems for biomedical,
commercial, aerospace, and military applications.
The Data Acquisition Cube features interchangeable sensor modules to
perform a wide range of experiments, enriching discovery based learning in science and mathematics curricula for precollege students. Current sensor modules
include an robot-controlled car used in conjunction with an acceleration module
to demonstrate lateral and angular acceleration, and an optical transmission experiment to demonstrate principles of
optics, ltering, and signal transmission. The compact platform for the DAC features a 20MHz PIC microcontroller, external FLASH memory, and Bluetooth wireless communications to Windows and PalmOS visualization software platforms.

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MICHIGAN

TECH

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D EPARTMENT OF
E LECTRICAL AND C OMPUTER
E NGINEERING
Michigan Technological University
Room 121
Electrical Energy Resources Center
1400 Townsend Drive
Houghton, Michigan 49931
T: 906-487-2550
F: 906-487-2949
E: [email protected]
www.ece.mtu.edu

Michigan Technological University is an equal opportunity

educational institution/equal opportunity employer. Since
1885, we have offered educational excellence in beautiful
Upper Michigan. Our students create the future in computing,
engineering, the sciences, business, environmental studies,
technology, and arts and human sciences.
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