Electrical and Computer Engineering Newsblog

New Faculty Spotlight: Anna Stuhlmacher

Published September 26, 2023

Assistant Professor Anna Stuhlmacher comes to Michigan Tech from the University of Michigan. She earned a BS at Boston University and an MS and PhD at the University of Michigan, all in electrical engineering. She interned at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and grew up in the Chicago area. Welcome, Dr. Stuhlmacher!

What drew you to Michigan Tech?

There’s a lot to like about Michigan Tech! It has a great engineering and electric power systems program. Besides that, I was really drawn to the nature and outdoor recreation opportunities close to Michigan Tech’s campus. I am hoping to get more into cross country skiing this winter.

What is your primary area of research and what led you to it?

In my research, I focus on the electric power grid. I was led to the power systems area by doing undergraduate research. Between my junior and senior year, I did a summer research opportunity program at the University of Michigan. Over the span of two months, I focused on the impact of load control on power distribution networks and found this research area to be really neat. When I returned to Boston University for my senior year, I took as many of the power and energy courses as I could and applied to PhD programs with a focus on power systems.

“Consider getting involved in research as an undergraduate student.”
Dr. Anna Stuhlmacher’s advice for incoming students.

Can you share a little more about your research and what you like about it?

Broadly, my research explores optimizing and controlling distributed energy resources (like solar panels, batteries, and electric vehicles) in the power grid to provide flexibility. Flexibility is important in the transition to more sustainable and reliable energy systems. I am particularly interested in modeling and optimizing the inherent flexibility and uncertainty propagation between power systems and other infrastructure systems, such as drinking water and agricultural systems, as well as ensuring that the power grid is resilient to natural hazards.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I like to hike, mountain bike, rock climb, and read.

Even the robots love MTU’s Tech Trails! Dr. Stuhlmacher, be sure to check out what the trails are like in the winter.

Any favorite spots on campus, in Houghton, or in the UP?

I moved here earlier in the summer and I have really been enjoying the Tech Trails and the Maasto Hiihto Trails in nearby Hancock. If anyone has any hiking or mountain biking recommendations, please let me know.

Any advice for incoming students?

Consider getting involved in research as an undergraduate student. It can be such a valuable experience to have, especially at a time when you are figuring out what interests you and exploring different career paths.

Matt Kouba Wins Excellence in Presentation Award at URSS 2023

Published March 30, 2023

Winners Announced: Undergraduate Research & Scholarship Symposium

Second story view of the poster session, with attendees and presenters.

The Pavlis Honors College hosted the Undergraduate Research & Scholarship Symposium (URSS) last Friday (March 24) in conjunction with the Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC). The event featured a panel discussion in which participants discussed how undergraduate research impacted their present work, two poster sessions and a networking social event that culminated with the announcement of the award winners. In addition to Michigan Tech students, students from the Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College shared their work during this year’s URSS.

Thanks to the Portage Health Foundation and the DeVlieg Foundation for supporting the Undergraduate Research Internship Program as well as to the faculty, staff and graduate students who served as judges for the event.

The winners of the 2023 Undergraduate Research & Scholarship Symposium include computer engineering student Matt Kouba for his poster “Low Cost CAN FD and Automotive Ethernet Development Boards.” Kouba was selected for Excellence in Presentation. Kouba’s faculty advisor was Aurenice Oliveira, Electrical and Computer Engineering.

By the Pavlis Honors College.

Extract from the URSS Booklet 2023:

Low Cost CAN FD and Automotive Ethernet Development Boards

Student Presenter: Matt Kouba, Computer Engineering
Faculty Advisor: Aurenice Oliveira, Electrical and Computer Engineering

CAN FD is currently used in nearly every new vehicle, but at Michigan Tech we do not yet have any resources that can be used in a teaching environment.

To design these teaching systems I have used Altium Designer to design the circuit and Printed Circuit Board layout.

When both the CAN FD and Automotive Ethernet learning systems are completed Michigan Tech will have the first low cost Automotive Ethernet development system for use in a classroom.

MTU RedTeam Places Third in CyberSEED CTF

Published March 22, 2023

CyberSEED with light bulb and plant growht.

The MTU RedTeam competed in the 2023 CyberSEED Capture the Flag (CTF) competition, held virtually March 4. The highly competitive seven-hour collegiate CTF engaged 333 students and 118 teams from universities across the country.

Placing third, RedTeam Team 1 earned 2,390 points with 93.41% accuracy. Team members were undergraduates Ryan Klemm (computer science), Audrey LaCost (chem informatics), Joshua Stiebel (computer engineering) and Noah Holland (cybersecurity). The team was awarded a $2,000 prize.

ReadTeam Team 2 placed 73rd in the contest. Team members were undergraduates Noah Hansen, Riley Meeves and Mason Staedt (all cybersecurity) and master’s student Gary Tropp (cybersecurity).

RedTeam Team 3 finished 99th in the event. Team members were undergraduates Ava Gullitti (electrical engineering) and Joshua Stevens (cybersecurity) and master’s student Dev Sanghani (cybersecurity).

The annual CyberSEED CTF event is hosted by the University of Connecticut. The competition’s cybersecurity challenges included a set of flags focusing on reverse engineering, web application security, network traffic analysis, cryptography and other challenges.

Aurenice Oliveira Leads IEEE Section to Membership Retention Award

Published February 1, 2023

IEEE Region 4 Northeastern Wisconsin Section Received the 2022 Membership Retention Award

Aurenice Oliveira, the IEEE Section Chair, accepted the award on behalf of the section during IEEE Region 4 RCom Meeting 2023. The meeting took place January 27–January 29 in Chicago. The geographic area of the section also includes Michigan Tech.

Oliveira is an associate professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, the IEEE Region 4 Section 27 chair, an IEEE MTU Student Chapter advisor, an MTU Vice President for Research Faculty Fellow, an ELATES-Drexel Fellow, and an Eta Kappa Nu (HKN) Honor Society Advisor.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE) is the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. IEEE is the trusted voice for engineering, computing, and technology information around the globe.

Aurenice Olveira stands between two people while accepting an engraved plaque. — Aurenice Oliveira, the IEEE Section Chair, receiving the award on behalf of the Section.

Aurenice Oliveira is seated at a table next to Eduardo Palacio. — Aurenice Oliveira at dinner with the IEEE-USA President Eduardo Palacio.

IEEE Region 4 awards ad with statue and section listings.

Bos Group on Testing of Lidar for Autonomous Vehicles

Published January 10, 2023

Colorful lidar image of an outdoor area in one image, with a near vertical green line in the second image. — (a) The reference point cloud scan (gray) overlayed with point clouds collected by each of the DUT lidars (colors). (b) Side view of an initial alignment between the reference point cloud (green) and point clouds from the DUT lidars for the 10 m target. Notice that the target is tilted toward the test origin. See the open source article link below.

Jeremy Bos (ECE) was quoted and PhD student Zach Jeffries (electrical engineering) and Akhil Kurup ’22 (PhD, computer engineering) were mentioned by SPIE, Green Car Congress, Tech Xplore, Bioengineering.org and SCIENMAG in a story about a three-year effort to develop tests and performance standards for lidars used in autonomous vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems.

Bos led the testing through its first year, with Jeffries’ assistance. The team’s findings are detailed in an open-access paper published this month in Optical Engineering.

Zach D. Jeffries, Jeremy P. Bos, Paul F. McManamon, Charles Kershner, Akhil M. Kurup
Optical Engineering, Vol. 62, Issue 3, 031211 (January 2023). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.62.3.031211

Extract

This paper describes the initial results from the first of 3 years of planned testing aimed at developing methods, metrics, and targets necessary to develop standardized tests for these instruments. Here, we evaluate range error accuracy and precision for eight automotive grade lidars; a survey grade lidar is used as a reference. These lidars are tasked with detecting a static, child-sized, target at ranges between 5 and 200 m.

Our purpose in this work is to motivate the development of test standards in this area and highlight variations in performance between lidars when stated specifications are similar.

Proposed additions to the testing include more complex targets, dynamic targets, placing corner cubes, or identical lidars on the test range, and weather effects.

Maurer, Brock, and Hilliker Present at Defense Manufacturing Conference

Published December 13, 2022

The Defense Manufacturing Conference (DMC 2022), was held in Tampa, Florida, on December 5–8. DMC is the nation’s annual forum for enhancing and leveraging the efforts of engineers, managers, technology leaders, scientists, and policy makers across the defense manufacturing industrial base.

Developing Disruptive and Transformational Solutions

Three electrical and computing engineering students presenting their research were:

Michael Maurer (PhD Candidate)
Presentation Title: Periodically Poled Polymers as an Entangled Photon Source

Giard Brock (Undergraduate)
Presentation Title: Ultra-violet Liquid Crystal Display Resin Printer Exposure Method for Rapid Prototyping of Printed Circuit Boards

Austin Hilliker (Undergraduate)
Presentation Title: Utilization of a Commercial Off the Shelf Laser Engraver for Rapid Production of Printed Circuit Boards

Three students check in for the conference. — Giard Brock, Michael Maurer, and Austin Hilliker

Two students standing near a project slide with their presentation titles.

Two students at a table in the audience.

Christopher Middlebrook is a Co-recipient of the 2022 CTL Instructional Award for Curriculum Development and Assessment

Published November 2, 2022

The Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) will recognize Chris Middlebrook (ECE) and Josue Reynoso (COB) as co-recipients of the 2022 CTL Instructional Award for Curriculum Development and Assessment on Tuesday (Nov. 8) at 3:45 p.m. Middlebrook and Reynoso were selected for the award after being nominated via the Deans’ Teaching Showcase during the spring 2022 semester.

Please plan to join us in recognizing their accomplishments by registering for the event.

Middlebrook’s award presentation: “Curriculum Development: Creation of a Printed Circuit Board Manufacturing Laboratory Course.”

From the abstract:
Why Michigan Tech? Why go to school there? Why hire Michigan Tech engineering grads? What skills do they possess that are lacking in other engineering grads? A consistent answer to these questions is the hands-on laboratory experience students have throughout the engineering curriculum. The response is echoed with the hundreds of companies that continuously recruit Michigan Tech Engineering students. Laboratory experience increases student knowledge retention and fosters a deeper understanding through direct concept application. However, the creation of a new course with a laboratory component can often be a daunting task to faculty and staff given the amount of time and the number of resources that are often required. In this talk I will share my experience with the creation of a formal course and laboratory on Printed Circuit Manufacturing utilizing prior research equipment coupled with existing infrastructure and corporate participation and in-kind donations. The outcomes and ancillary activities associated with the course and lab, such as the building of the new Plexus Electronics Maker Space, will also be discussed.

By the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning.

Nathir Rawashdeh Comments on Bad Weather Driving Project

Published September 13, 2022

Nathir Rawashdeh was quoted by Digital Engineering 24/7 in a story about artificial intelligence and simulation software helping engineers test autonomous vehicles’ driving in bad weather.

Rawashdeh is assistant professor in the Department of Applied Computing, an affiliated assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and a member of the Institute of Computing and Cybersystems (ICC).

Rainmakers for Autonomous Driving

Nature presents a major obstacle when engineers test autonomous driving in bad weather. You cannot invoke a snowy, rainy or sunny day on demand; nor can you summon up a thunderstorm at your engineering team’s convenience—at least you can’t in the real world. But you can in the virtual world where you control the pixels. This has now become a growing business segment for simulation software makers.

“Sensor and computing technologies are rapidly evolving and changing in an engineering sense, which requires continuous updating of noise simulation and sensor degradation models to serve the ADAS community of engineers and researchers,” Rawashdeh says.

Aurenice Oliveira Named ELATES Fellow in National Leadership Program

Published August 19, 2022

By Maryann Wilcox

News

Picture of Aurenice Oliveira in front of lift bridge.

Aurenice Oliveira, Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Michigan Tech, has been selected for the Class of 2022-2023 of Drexel University’s Executive Leadership in Academic Technology, Engineering and Science (ELATES) program. The ELATES program is a national leadership development program designed to promote women in academic STEM fields, and faculty allies of all genders, into institutional leadership roles. Oliveira is also a recipient of the first ASEE ELATES fellow scholarship covering program costs and travel expenses.

The Class of 2022-2023 ELATES Fellows is a prestigious cohort of 30 faculty members from over 25 institutions of higher education across the U.S. and Canada. The ELATES Fellows include experts in engineering, mathematics, and science, all of whom have significant administrative experience on top of their scholarly accomplishments. Oliveira was nominated by the Dean of the College of Engineering Janet Callahan and former ECE Interim Chair Glen Archer, for this intensive, yearlong program, which includes personal and leadership development work as well as series of on-site work in the Philadelphia area.

Oliveira’s research interests focus on hybrid communications and networking including connected and autonomous vehicles communications. She is currently the IEEE chair for Northeastern Wisconsin Region 4 and recently served as the chair of the NSF ADVANCE Advocates and Allies Advisory Board (A3B) and as Equity (DEIS) Advisor for Michigan Tech Faculty and Chairs Search Teams. She is currently the faculty advisor for two student organizations on campus: The IEEE Student Chapter and Eta Kappa Nu (HKN) Honor Society. Oliveira will be also serving as Michigan Tech’s Vice President for Research Faculty Fellow for this coming academic year in the areas of Research Development and Research Integrity.

“I am excited to participate in a program focused on training an amazing group of women to become leaders in academic STEM fields. I would like to be able to bridge people and ideas as well as to tap into our strengths to create/encourage growth in my department and at Michigan Tech”.

Facilitated by leaders in the fields of STEM research and leadership development, the ELATES curriculum is focused on increasing Fellows’ personal and professional leadership effectiveness, from the ability to lead and manage change initiatives within institutions, to the use of strategic finance and resource management to enhance organizational missions. Pairing online instruction and discussion with intensive, in-person seminar sessions, the program encourages Fellows to apply what they’ve learned at their home institutions. Ultimately, it aims to create a network of exceptional faculty who bring broad organizational perspectives and deep personal capacity to the institutions and societies hey serve.

Sharon Walker, PhD, executive director of the ELATES program and dean of Drexel University’s College of Engineering, shares her excitement for welcoming the newest class of Fellows.

“I am thrilled to welcome this talented new cohort of ELATES fellows as they join the community of distinguished alumnae who are committed to lifelong learning and leadership development. I am excited to see what impact they will not only have this year on their home campuses, but more broadly to the higher education STEM community in the future.”

To learn more about ELATES at Drexel, visit ELATES online at Drexel.edu/ELATES.

Lucas and Whitaker Place in Computing[MTU] Showcase Poster Session

Published April 14, 2022

The Institute of Computing and Cybersystems has announced the winners of the first Computing[MTU] Showcase Poster Session. Among the winners were electrical and computer engineering graduate students Evan Lucas and Steven Whitaker for “Active learning with binary feedback on multiclass problems,” who were tied for second place with Suresh Pokharel of Computer Science.

Active learning with binary feedback on multiclass problems

An active learning approach is often used for multiclass classification problems, where predictions are made on new data and a human user is used to determine if the predictions are correct. Typical approaches may ask a human to select the correct class if the prediction is incorrect. This work attempts to use a binary feedback on the predicted classes to save time and allow maximal use of a negative prediction on a partly trained model.