July 19-25, 2021

Dr. Tian Lan (ECE) and his collaborator at Purdue University have received a one-year, $100,000 grant from CISCO for the project titled “Deeplace: Deep-Learning Online Service Placement in Edge Computing.” The project aims to develop novel reinforcement learning algorithms for intelligently optimizing edge computing services under different types of network constraints.

Dr. Peng Wei (MAE) has won a five-year, $500,000 National Science Foundation CAREER award for the project “Safe and Scalable Learning-based Control for Autonomous Air Mobility.” A key challenge remains unanswered to make autonomous air mobility (AAM) a reality: how can we design and build a scalable AAM ecosystem to enable safety-critical autonomous flight operations in high-density, dynamic, and stochastic urban airspace environments? This project aims to develop methods and validated tools that can enable safe and scalable learning-based AAM. Dr. Wei will address this challenge through research areas in autonomy, control, machine learning and safety. The research could impact the way that other safety-critical, multi-agent systems are designed and implemented to support increasing autonomy and unmanned operations in civil aviation, autonomous cars/trucks, and robotics. The research findings will provide benchmarks to the FAA, NASA, Boeing, and Collins Aerospace to establish regulations and guidebooks for advanced air mobility pilot training, airspace design, fleet operations, and aircraft certification.

Dr. Erica Gralla (EMSE), master’s student Finley Wetmore, doctoral student Megan Peters, and their collaborators have published the following paper: C. Blair, E. Gralla, F. Wetmore, J. Goentzel, and M. Peters, “A Systems Framework for International Development: The Data-Layered Causal Loop Diagram,” Production and Operations Management. (Published June 6, 2021)

Media outlets continue to report on a new dissolvable pacemaker co-developed by Dr. Igor Efimov (BME). Recent coverage includes this piece from WXYZ-ABC7, Detroit, and the Gizmodo article “Researchers Have Created a Dissolvable Pacemaker.” 

Dr. Ken Chong (MAE) was invited as a speaker and panelist at the Future of Science Forum, held virtually, on July 10 at York University in Toronto, Canada. The Forum started with a welcome speech by the York University Science Dean, Dr. Rui Wang, stressing the importance of scientific research and advocating collaboration among universities in the US and Canada. Dr. Chong's presentation was titled “An outlook of transformative and translational research.” Other panelists discussed climate change, environment, high energy physics, and other topics. Approximately 150 people participated in the Zoom Forum.

Dr. David Nagel (research professor, ECE) gave two papers at the 23rd International Conference on Condensed Matter Nuclear Science, a virtual conference organized and conducted June 9-11 by the University of Xiamen in China. Dr. Nagel presented the invited talk “Input Stimuli and Output Signals in LENR Experiments” and the contributed talk “Where and How LENR Occur.”

Dr. Michael Plesniak (MAE) served as conference chair for the American Society of Thermal & Fluids Engineers’ (ASTFE) 5th & 6th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference, held virtually May 26-28. The conference was a resounding success with more than 300 attendees from 35 countries representing all continents in the world except Antarctica. Dr. Plesniak was elected a Fellow of ASTFE in 2020 and was presented with a fellowship certificate at the awards ceremony, which had been postponed due to the pandemic. Dr. Plesniak also serves as a member of the ASTFE Board of Directors.

Dr. Rachael Jonassen (Director, Climate Change EEMI) serves the Asian Development Bank as senior adaptation expert and member of their adaptation advisory panel. In this role, she recently helped to develop Build Back Better guidance for the transport and energy sectors to improve climate change adaptation and disaster risk resilience in response to natural disasters.