Research Postcard: Montana

ECE graduate student Charlie Keith is pictured with some of his field test equipment at the Montana State University Red Bluff Research Ranch located about 30 miles west of Bozeman, near Norris, Montana. With the beautiful backdrop of snowcapped Ward Peak (10,220 ft.) and the Tobacco Root Mountains, Charlie is using a hyperspectral imaging system to map noxious weed infestations

NASA Awards Research Grant for High Spectral Resolution Lidar

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has awarded a new grant to a team consisting of MSU ECE Professors Kevin Repasky (PI) and Joe Shaw (Co-PI), MSU Physics Prof. John Carlsten (Co-PI), and Visiting Professor John Reagan (Co-PI) of the University of Arizona. The project is entitled Development of a Novel High Spectral Resolution Lidar for Studies of the Effects of Aerosols on the Earth's Climate System, and is funded under the NASA Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program administered by NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC.

The research project involves the design, construction, and evaluation of a High Spectral Resolution Lidar system for measuring aerosols in the Earth's atmosphere. Lidar, an acronym for light detection and ranging, is a technique that shines a specially formulated laser beam into the atmosphere overhead and detects the properties of the light that bounces back at different altitudes from suspended particles in the air. This remote-sensing technique allows the researchers to learn more about the properties and characteristics of the atmosphere, and ultimately how the atmospheric composition affects global climate.

The EPSCoR award provides $750,000 for a three-year period beginning 9/1/08. The MSU team will work closely with researchers from the NASA Langley Reseach Center in Virginia, including Dr. Christopher Hostetler, Dr. Jonathan Hair, and MSU alumnus Dr. Michael Obland. Four MSU graduate students and two undergraduate students will also be supported by the project.

[see MSU News Service article]

Research Postcard: Hawaii

Aloha, Montana! ECE doctoral student Andrew Dahlberg, Prof. Joe Shaw (PI), and post-doc Nathan Pust are pictured with their tripod-mounted all-sky polarization imaging system located 11,135' (3,394m) above sea level at the Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO) on the island of Hawaii. Prof. Shaw's project is sponsored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

The detection system acquires images of the sky polarization, which depends strongly on aerosol content. The term aerosol refers to the presence of tiny solid and liquid particles suspended in the air, such as dust, smoke, and chemical compounds. The MLO is a desirable location to conduct optical calibration experiments because of the very low aerosol content in the atmosphere over Hawaii.

The polarization imaging experiments run from mid-May through June 5, 2008.

Montana Congressman Denny Rehberg Tours Optical Instrumentation Lab

MSU ECE graduate students Amin Nehrir, Seth Humphries, and Charlie Keith explained their experimental research work on optical instrumentation for CO₂ sequestration monitoring to Congressman Denny Rehberg and his staff during the Congressman's visit to campus on August 31, 2007. Congressman Rehberg was accompanied by Vice-President for Research Tom McCoy and Associate Vice-President Lee Spangler.

MSU President Gamble Visits Bee Lidar Experiment

Associate Vice-President Lee Spangler, Vice-President for Research Tom McCoy, and MSU President Geoff Gamble paid a visit to the bee detection and tracking lidar experiment site on August 22, 2007. Several ECE faculty, staff, and students participated in the tour, including Tia Sharpe, David Hoffman, Charlie Keith, Kevin Repasky, and Amin Nehrir.

FY2007 ECE Research Expenditures top $2.8M

The ECE external research grants and contracts enterprise generated a record $2,784,970 in actual expenditures during the 2006-2007 fiscal year (ending June 2007). The official total did not include special projects expenditures in ECE from external support directed through the Office of the Vice President for Research, which added approximately an additional $1.5 million in ECE-related expenditures.

The FY07 total research expenditure for the entire College of Engineering was reported to be $15,435,614. Montana State University's campus-wide FY07 research total was $102,116,323.

ECE Faculty Receive MBRCT Funding for FY2008-2009

ECE professors Hongwei Gao, Bruce McLeod and Kevin Repasky have each received funding from the Montana Board of Research & Commercialization Technology for fiscal years 2008 and 2009. Prof. Gao is working with local company ILX Lightwave on a project entitled "Zero Voltage Switching Research" ($159,673). Prof. McLeod's project is entitled "A Proposal to Develop a Non-Invasive Clinical Device that is Effective in Clearing Persistent Infections in Prosthetic Knee Implants" ($146,484), and Prof. Repasky's project is "Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Deployment of Hyperspectral Imaging Spectrometers for Noxious Weed Mapping and Carbon Sequestration Site Monitoring" ($136,890).

ECE Authors Win 2007 IEEE Energy Development and Power Generation Prize Paper Award!

The 2007 prize paper award for the IEEE Power Engineering Society Energy Development and Power Generation (EDPG) Technical Committee is "Dynamic Models and Model Validation for PEM Fuel Cells Using Electrical Circuits," by former MSU PhD student Caisheng Wang, Associate Professor Steven R. Shaw, and Professor M. Hashem Nehrir. The award was made at the 2007 IEEE Power Engineering Society General Meeting, 25-29 June, 2007, in Tampa, Florida.