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Electrical and Computer Engineering

Category: Spring 2015

Phase IV – Tour

Progress on the Phase IV addition to the engineering complex continues, and the ECE department is making plans to move its entire Rathbone second floor offices and labs to the new building early in the fall semester.  It will be exciting to move into the new space with an abundance of natural lighting and space for the department to grow. The department will still maintain its offices and labs in the basement of Rathbone Hall.

A few faculty/staff recently enjoyed a tour.  Currently, completion is scheduled for September 30.  Visit the Phase IV website to watch developments in real time via webcam, and contact the engineering development office to learn how you can make a difference in this transformative facility.

Research News

College of Engineering researchers awarded NSF RAPID grant for Ebola project

By Mary Rankin

With the current outbreak of the Ebola virus continuing to spread around the globe, a proposal from two College of Engineering researchers to provide quantitative measures for effectiveness of contact tracing using mathematics and computer simulations has been awarded a National Science Foundation RAPID grant.

The research is expected to produce computational tools applicable to other emergent infectious diseases as well. Term of the grant is one year with more than $100,000 in funding.

The contact tracing approach, a mitigation strategy used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, finds all individuals who have had close contact with an Ebola case and monitors their health status for 21 days.

scoglio_caterinaCaterina Scoglio, professor of electrical and computer engineering, is the principal investigator for “Effectiveness of contact tracing for detection of Ebola risk during early introduction of the virus within the USA.” The co-principal investigator is Faryad Sahneh, research assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering. Both are core faculty members of the department’s network science and engineering group.

 

FaryadSahnehThe goal of the project is to evaluate risk detection capabilities of contact tracing efforts for Ebola before the epidemic phase and estimate the associated cost in potential scenarios. The K-State team will adapt their network-based modeling framework to the Ebola transmission for the local contact network of infected individuals — household, workplace, hospital, airplane, etc. This simulation will allow the investigators to synthesize scenarios and activities compatible with daily news about Ebola. Continue reading “Research News”

ECE News and Updates:

ECE Welcomes Visiting Scholar Oben Dag

oben_dag

 Oben Dag was born in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1978. He received his Ph.D. degree in 2010 from Istanbul Technical University. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering at Istanbul AREL University. He has been granted a Postdoctoral Scholar Award from The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK). He is a postdoc associate at the department of Electrical & computer engineering in KSU. His research areas are Computer Methods in Power Systems, Power System Modeling and Analysis, Microgrid Applications in smart grids, Distribution Systems, Distribution Automation and Control, Artificial Neural Networks, Wavelet Analysis.

Upcoming Events:

E-Week Team Competition Series – Febraury 23 – 27

Advisory Council meeting March 26 & 27

All University Open House – April 11, 9:00am – 300pm

http://www.k-state.edu/openhouse/


20150206_151024

Winners of the ECE Selfie Contest

Rachael Kolb & Jacob Sobering

 

 

Other entries:

 

amy

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Amy                              Taylor

 

Student News:

Scholarships:

Kan Chen

Kan Chen received the Robert I-Jen and Sophia Shui-Kan Jung Graduate Scholarship in Engineering for Ph.D. students, awarded by the College of Engineering Office of Research and Graduate Programs.

 

 Awards:

Valerie Binns, ECE, and Dillon Fairchild, BAE, both mentored by ECE asst. professor Punit Prakash, received Undergraduate Cancer Research Awards from the Johnson Cancer Research Center.

Neelou Hadavandifard received the Outstanding Academic Achievement award for fall graduates.

Alumni News:

Alumni support helps K-State engineering stay relevant with industry trends

By Hayli Morrison

Workplaces over the next decade will become more collaborative, flexible and team-driven, according to a recent report in Fortune magazine.

The findings match what Kansas State University leaders have heard from engineering students and faculty while planning the Phase IV expansion currently underway. That feedback is reflected in the building’s technology upgrades and spacious design to facilitate team-driven, project-based learning.

“Our students have always had very comprehensive laboratory experiences in their undergraduate program, presenting incredible value for industry stakeholders who hire our graduates. The new laboratories and learning spaces will further strengthen those experiences,” said Don Gruenbacher, head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Continue reading “Alumni News:”