Research Areas

The ECE Department, faculty offices, and teaching and research laboratories are located in Barrows Hall and in the adjoining Engineering & Science Research Building (ESRB). The ESRB also houses the Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology (LASST), a interdisciplinary research unit exploring advanced materials spanning the spectrum from basic science to applied technology. The ESRB opened its doors July 2004 and contains state-of-the-art research facilities, including a microfabrication cleanroom. The ECE Department provides opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to become members of the following Research Groups:

Computer Engineering

• Cluster Supercomputering – Networks – Industrial Automation
  • Faculty: Segee, Abedi, Eason
• Archsys: Computer Architecture and Systems Lab
  • Faculty: Zhu

Microelectronics

• VLSI Circuit Design – Micro & Nano Fabrication Technology – Device Design & Testing
  • Faculty: Kotecki, Smith, Hummels, Pereira da Cunha, Emanetoglu

Microwave Acoustics: Propagation and Devices

• Piezoelectric Materials – Sensors (gas,fluid,biological) – Bulk & Surface Acoustic Wave Design
  • Faculty: Vetelino, Pereira da Cunha, Emanetoglu

Microfabricated Sensors, Instruments, and Systems

• Chemical sensors – Physical sensors – Biosensors – Microfluidics – Microphotonics – Microsystems (MEMS)
  • Faculty: Smith, Collins, Vetelino, Pereira da Cunha, Emanetoglu

Intelligent Systems

• Neural Networks – Fuzzy Logic – Computer Vision
  • Faculty: Segee, Eason

Communications

• Coding and Information Theory – Wireless – High Speed Signal Processing
  • Faculty: Hummels, Abedi, Kotecki
• Wireless Sensor Networks – including the WiSe-Net lab and the NASA Inflatable Lunar Habitat
  • Faculty: Abedi

Reaearch Education and Training Programs

A number of department faculty and students in collaboration with other University of Maine Departments and Units, such as LASST and Spatial Information Science and Engineering, participate in NSF funded programs that focus on innovative education and research opportunities for its students, high school students, and teachers. These are:

• NSF ITEST: Inquiry-based Dynamic Earth Applications of Supercomputing (IDEAS)
• IGERT: Functional Genomics
• IGERT: Sensor Networks

Undergraduate Fellowships and Projects

• NSF REU-Site: Supercomputing Undergraduate Program in Maine (SuperMe)
• NSF REU-Site: Sensors!

Graduate Fellowships and Projects

• NASA-MSGC RID Program: Battery-Free Wireless Communications for Harsh Environments
• NASA EPSCoR Program: Real-time Wireless Shape Monitoring of Space Structures