EECE Research

Faculty and students at K-State participate in research spanning the full breadth of the EECE field. Projects range from computer hardware and software development, to robotics, biomedical instrumentation, telecommunications, networking, electromagnetics, circuit/IC design, signal-processing, power generation/distribution, and artificial intelligence. These projects are sponsored by an equally wide range of government and corporate agencies, including NASA, Honeywell, Sandia National Laboratories, and the National Science Foundation. While most projects concentrate on developing next-generation engineering technologies, our research extends to the educational mission as well, through NSF research experience for undergraduates (REU) and course/curriculum laboratory improvement (CCLI) grants. This dual-focus assures that the undergraduate and graduate programs grow together, providing all students with the education they need to succeed, and excel, in their future careers.

Descriptions of some recent and on-going projects is provided below, together with information on the research groups involved. Additional information can be found by browsing our list of faculty interest areas and our extensive laboratory facilities.

Research Groups

Biologically Inspired Computing

Sunflower Networking Group

    The Solid State Laboratory is being utilized by the engineering students enrolled in the Integrated Circuits and Devices option area in the ECE Department and by the electrical engineering and chemical engineering graduate students performing research on semiconductor device design, fabrication and characterization.

    Contact: Professor Andrew Rys, Ph.D.

  • VLSI/Optical Electronics Group Website

Wireless Communication Systems Group

    The Communications Circuits Laboratory conducts coordinated teaching and research in analog/RF design. Through a sequence of lab-oriented courses, students design, build, and test complete radios at VHF through microwave frequencies each semester. This gives our graduates the practical, hands-on experience necessary for this field of engineering. Our research efforts have been primarily focused on design of transceivers in integrated circuit form, with special emphasis on the modeling and application of high-Q spiral inductors. Students and faculty have experience with standard bulk-CMOS, newer Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) and Silicon-on-Sapphire (SOS), and GaAs processes.

    Designs are created with tools from both Agilent and Cadence and tested at the board and chip levels with industry-calibre measurement equipment and probing stations.

    Contact: Professor Bill Kuhn, Ph.D.

    Group Members:

    Bala Natarajan, Ph.D.
    Don Gruenbacher, Ph.D.
    Andrew Rys, Ph.D.

  • Wireless Hardware Design Group Website

    Power systems research at KSU deals with designing and upgrading power transmission systems to keep electrical power flowing to all users, all the time, and also with generating the electricity our society needs without endangering the environment we live in.

    Contact: Professor Ruth Douglas Miller, Ph.D.

  • Power Systems Group Website

K-State EPICENTER: The Center for Epidemiological Modeling and Simulation

Featured Projects

Overlay Network Design and Management

Proximity Link Radio for Mars

Sandia collaborates with KSU in successful flight computer demonstration

Integrated Systems Laboratory

Faculty Areas of Research

KENNETH H. CARPENTER, Professor

Ph.D. 1966, Texas Christian University. Electromagnetics; device modeling; computing applications.

D.V.SATISH CHANDRA, Associate Professor

Ph.D. 1984, Auburn University. Signal and image processing; computer vision; neural networks.

SANJOY DAS, Assistant Professor

Ph.D. 1994, Louisiana State University. Evolutionary algorithms, neural networks, artificial intelligence, discrete optimization.

DWIGHT D. DAY, Associate Professor

Ph.D. 1987, Oklahoma State University. Computer vision; pattern recognition; speech processing.

JAMES E. DEVAULT, Professor

MSE. 1977, University of Michigan. Mobile autonomous robotics; industrial control systems; electroacoustics; instrumentation.

JOHN J. DEVORE, Professor

Ph.D. 1984, Kansas State University. Digital image processing; digital hardware design; computer algorithms, instrumentation, noncontact sensing.

RUTH A. DYER, Professor and Associate Provost

Ph.D. 1980, University of Kentucky. Bioengineering; signal processing; control systems.

STEPHEN A. DYER, Professor

Ph.D. 1977, Kansas State University. Signal processing; instrumentation and measurement; numerical methods; electroacoustics.

RICHARD R. GALLAGHER, Professor and Associate Dean for Accademics and Administration

Ph.D. 1968, Iowa State University. Bioengineering; circuits and control systems theory as applied to bioinstrumentation and physiological control systems.

DONALD M. GRUENBACHER, Associate Professor

Ph.D. 1994, Kansas State University. Communication systems; Digital ASIC design; VHDL synthesis and modelling; GPS; digital signal processing.

WILLIAM B. KUHN, Associate Professor

Ph.D. 1996, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Analog/Digital/RF circuits and systems; VLSI; wireless telecommunications; computer-aided-engineering.

DONALD H. LENHERT, Professor

Ph.D. 1966, University of New Mexico. Real-Time Embedded Systems; microprocessor applications; testing of digital systems; built-in self-test; IDDQ testing.

CHIRIS L. LEWIS, Associate Professor

Ph.D 1994, Purdue University. Robotics; embedded systems; numerical methods; control systems.

RUTH DOUGLAS MILLER, Associate Professor

Ph.D. 1990, University of Rochester. Bioelectromagnetics, electromagnetics, electrostatics.

MEDHAT M. MORCOS, Professor

Ph.D. 1984, University of Waterloo. Power electronics; artificial intelligence in power systems; electrical insulation; high voltage engineering.

BALA NATARAJAN, Assistant Professor

Ph.D. 2002, Colorado State University. Communications theory; wireless systems (physical layer) & spread spectrum; Multi-carrier modulation & diversity combining; channel modeling; fiber optic communications.

ANIL PAHWA, Professor and Head

Ph.D. 1983, Texas A&M University. Distribution automation; distribution system planning and analysis; computer methods for power systems.

ANDREW RYS, Professor

Ph.D. 1983, Texas Tech University. Solid-state electronics; design and processing of integrated circuits; characterization of III-V and wide band-gap semiconductors; design of III-N light detectors, LEDs, and HFETs.

CATERINA SCOGLIO, Associate Professor

Dr. Eng. 1987, University of Rome "La Sapienza" , Italy. Overlay Networks, Peer-to-Peer System, Interdomain Traffic Engineering, Network Design and Management.

DAVID L. SOLDAN, Professor

Ph.D. 1980, Kansas State University. Engineering accreditation and curriculum development; digital design. networks.

STU STANTON, Associate Professor Temporary

SHELLI K. STARRETT, Associate Professor

Ph.D. 1994, Iowa State University. Analysis and control of power systems; stability of power systems; control systems; nonlinear dynamical systems; intelligent systems applications.

STEVE WARREN, Associate Professor

Ph.D. 1994, The University of Texas at Austin. Biomedicine; light-based bioinstrumentation; telemedicine; Monte Carlo simulation; computational methods.