2006 Newsletter - Electrical and Computer Engineering

DrexelECEngineer
A Newsletter for Alumni and Friends of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering • Drexel University • Summer 2006
Department Head’s
Message
I
am delighted to share the seventh annual edition
of the ECEngineer, celebrating the accomplishments of our students, faculty and staff and
updating you on ECE Department news from a successful academic year.
Nihat Bilgutay
Several members of our faculty were recognized with national awards this year for their substantial contributions to the field and their excellence in teaching and mentorship.
Dr. Peter Herczfeld received the Microwave Pioneer Award, Dr.
Karen Miu was chosen as the Eta Kappa Nu Outstanding Young
Electrical and Computer Engineer and Dr. Bruce Eisenstein was
honored as the Delaware Valley Electrical Engineer of the Year.
Recognition also came from within the University, as Dr. P. Mohana
Shankar received the Lindback Foundation Award for Teaching
Excellence and Dr. Adam Fontecchio was named Outstanding Faculty Mentor by the Graduate Student Association.
The Department’s long tradition of leadership in shaping the
future of engineering education continues with a $1.8 million NSF
grant to Dr. Eli Fromm for his innovative graduate fellowship program. The Applied Communications in Networking Project, led by
Dr. Moshe Kam, received an additional $464K of funding from Lockheed Martin for its SAPIENT (Situation-Aware Protocols in Edge
Network Technologies) program.
Our faculty members also distinguish themselves in nonacademic settings, as evidenced by Dr. Prawat Nagvajara’s second trip
to the Winter Olympic Games. At the age of 47, he competed in the
15-km classical men’s cross-country skiing event in Torino and was
the sole representative of Thailand.
Our students and alumni have had a remarkable year. To name
a few student highlights, Anna Fox received a 2006 NSF Graduate
Research Fellowship Award, Eric Gallo received the second
external grant of his academic career and Nicole Segal won the
ACT 101 Award. Among alumni, Brian Burns was appointed chief
technology officer for infrastructure in the U.S. Department of the
Interior and Dr. Xiang Wang was named one of the 30 hottest
lawyers in Asia by Asian Legal Business.
Unfortunately, our beloved colleague Dr. Stan Kesler passed
away in June. We have lost a highly valued and much-loved
member of the Department, and he will be dearly missed.
Finally, I would like to inform you that I have stepped down as
department head after 11 years. Dr. P. Mohana Shankar will serve
as interim department head. I want to thank all my colleagues for
their strong support during my tenure as department head, which
has been a very rewarding professional experience. I wish Dr.
Shankar success and look forward to working with him and all my
colleagues.
I hope that you will enjoy reading about the Department’s activities. Please visit us at www.ece.drexel.edu for news, pictures and
updates throughout the year.
Nihat Bilgutay, Ph.D
Dr. Peter Herczfeld Named Microwave Pioneer
Dr. Peter Herczfeld, Lester A. Kraus Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, received the 2006
Microwave Pioneer Award from the IEEE Microwave
Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S). The award
recognizes a major, lasting contribution, through publication in an archival journal, to the Society’s field of
interest, at least 20 years prior to the year of the award.
Dr. Herczfeld’s citation reads, “For pioneering work in
microwave photonics.” The award, which includes a
plaque and a $2,500 honorarium, was conferred at a
banquet during the International Microwave Symposium in San Francisco in June.
Dr. Eli Fromm Leads NSF GK-12 Grant Team
The National Science Foundation awarded $615,523 to Drexel University
for fiscal year 2006, with a total of $1,847,998 expected by the end of
fiscal year 2008, for an innovative project under the direction of Dr. Eli
Fromm and Dr. Adam Fontecchio of the ECE Department, Dr. Mary Jo
Grdina and Dr. William F. Lynch of the School of Education and Dr. Mun
Young Choi of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics. Titled “Track 1,
GK-12: Engineering as a Contextual Vehicle for Science and Mathematics Education,” the program will provide fellowships for outstanding
graduate students interested in broadening their educational experiences while pursuing their engineering degrees at Drexel.
Beginning this year, fellows will be partnered with local middle
school teachers. These teams will come to Drexel for an intensive four-week summer program to
develop curriculum modules featuring unique classroom lessons and experiments, which the fellows
will help the teachers implement during the academic year. The program links the cutting-edge knowledge of graduate students to the educational expertise of schoolteachers to invigorate and update
the science and mathematics tracks in partner schools while affording the fellows valuable experience
in communication, leadership and curriculum development.
Beloved Professor Passes: Dr. Stanislav Kesler
Dr. Stanislav Kesler died on June 15 at age 63 of a heart attack. He had battled cancer for 18 months.
Born in Vlajevo, Yugoslavia, and reared in Belgrade, Dr. Kesler emigrated to Canada, where he
received his Ph.D. in 1977 from McMaster University and worked with world-renowned communications expert Dr. Simon Haykin. He came to the United States and joined the faculty of Drexel’s ECE
Department in 1982.
Dr. Kesler was respected across the University for his teaching and scholarship. He taught more
than three dozen courses, supervised eight doctoral and 12 master’s students and pursued research
in communications and signal processing that was frequently cited around the world.
ECE
Buzz
Dr. Nihat Bilgutay (second from left) with 2006 ECE award winners (left to right) Gustave
Anderson (The Allen Rothwarf Outstanding ECE Graduate Student Award), Dr. Adam
Fontecchio (The ECE Research Achievement Award), Nicole Segal, Elaine Garbarine (The
Robert Quinn Outstanding ECE Undergraduate Student Awards), Brian Kravitz (The ECE
Distinguished Service Award), Dr. Michael Zoltowski (The ECE Distinguished Alumni Award)
and Dr. Timothy Kurzweg (The Thomas W. Moore Distinguished Teaching Award).
Outreach Programs Going Strong The College of Engineering is
engaged in a number of outreach programs to connect with local students and
teachers and stimulate interest in science and engineering. Outreach efforts
extend year-round but a number of structured programs take place during the
summer, and as the academic year ended ECE Department faculty members
began welcoming teachers and students into their labs.
The Office of the Dean of the College sponsors
and runs the Summer Mentorship Program and the
Summer Engineering Experience at Drexel (SEED).
The Mentorship Program pairs motivated students
from across the country with faculty members
throughout the college for a two-week, in-depth
research experience. SEED is a one-week program
that exposes interested students to overviews of
each discipline in engineering, hands-on laboratory
work and industry visits.
Two NSF-funded programs focusing on teacher
development—RET-Nano (run by the materials science engineering departments at Drexel and the University of Pennsylvania) and RETAIN (run by Drexel’s
Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics
Department)—bring middle school and high school
(Top photo) RETAIN program participant
teachers to Drexel and Penn for five weeks during
Todd Kellman (center) from Villa Joseph
the summer. The teachers are paired with faculty
Marie High School in Holland, Pa., with
Dr. Adam Fonteccio (second from right)
members and graduate students to take part in cutand ECE graduate students Joshua
ting-edge research projects, workshops in lesson
Freedman (left), Michael Warde (secplanning, practice in grant writing and seminars in
ond from left) and Mike Ermold (right).
bioethics.
(Bottom photo) RET-Nano participant
Doris Muthee (left) from Franklin
Learning Center in Philadelphia with Dr.
Jaudelice de Oliveira.
Left to right: Dr. Oleh Tretiak and Kiev
Polytechnic University students
Victoria Yaremko, Olga Farina, Andrew
Gusynin and Ruslan Akulenko.
ECE Awards Ceremony The annual ECE Awards Ceremony was held in the
Anthony J. Drexel Picture Gallery in the Main Building on June 30, recognizing outstanding students, faculty, alumni and staff for service to the department and for excellence in their area of expertise. Dr. Ali Houshmand, former dean of the Goodwin College
of Professional Studies, was also recognized for his strong support of the ECE Department during his tenure as interim provost. Dr. Peter Herczfeld was recognized for
receiving the 2006 IEEE Microwave Pioneer Award.
was honored along with the 2006 Alumni Circle of Distinction inductees and faculty
and staff award winners at a banquet at the Union League.
Award recipients from the ECE Department included Dr. Moshe Kam
(Outstanding Research Award), Dr. Oleh Tretiak (Outstanding Service Award), Dr.
Kevin Scoles (StudentsFirst Award), Scott Currie (Outstanding Technical Staff
Award) and Wayne Hill (Outstanding Service Award).
Drexel Hosts Bower Symposium In April, Drexel played host to a
Bower Award winner
Dr. Narain G. Hingorani (right)
with Drexel Provost
Stephen W. Director.
Ukranian Exchange Program Last
summer, students Victoria Yaremko, Olga Farina and
Ruslan Akulenko and instructor Andrew Gusynin from
Kiev Polytechnic University were the first visitors to
Drexel under a new exchange program initiated by
Dr. Oleh Tretiak, Robert C. Disque Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Dr. Tretiak
conceived of the program while teaching in Ukraine
during a 2004-05 Fulbright Fellowship, and solicited
support from the College of Engineering and Kiev
Polytechnic’s Inter-University Medical Engineering
Faculty that paved the way for a letter of
understanding between the universities. Dr. Tretiak
was joined by Dean Selçuk Guçeri and Associate
Dean for Special Programs Bahram Nabet in developing the program on the Drexel side.
symposium, “Advancing the Application of Power Electronics to the Electric Power Infrastructure,” in honor
of Dr. Narain G. Hingorani of Los Altos, Calif., the
recipient of the 2006 Bower Award and Prize for
Achievement in Science from the Franklin Institute.
The event was sponsored by the University, the
College of Engineeering and the ECE Department along
with the Franklin Institute and the IEEE Philadelphia
Section, and organized by Dr. Dagmar Niebur of the
ECE Department, Dr. Harshad Mehta of Silicon Power
Corporation and Barnett Adler of PECO Energy.
Additions to Advisory Council In the past two years several
outstanding individuals have joined the ECE Advisory Council, including Ray Celona
of Comcast National IP Services, William Coyle of Exelon Nuclear and Dr. Thomas
Green of BBN Technologies. The ECE Department welcomes and thanks them for
the valuable feedback they provide.
FACULTY HEADLINERS
Eisenstein: Delaware Valley Electrical Engineer of
the Year At the 2006 IEEE Philadelphia Section Awards and Recognition Dinner,
Dr. Bruce Eisenstein was named Delaware Valley Electrical Engineer of the Year for
his “dedicated leadership and significant contributions in advancing the state of
the art in the electrical/electronic fields in the Delaware Valley.” This is the most
prestigious individual award sponsored by the Section, recognizing an outstanding
career of contributions at the highest level by an individual of stature and visibility
who represents the profession well and projects a strong positive image.
Celebrating National Engineers Week The College of Engineering observed National Engineers Week in February with a range of exciting
events. Highlights included the 12th annual Egg Drop Competition, High School
Day for more than 500 Philadelphia-area students, an “Engineering Jeopardy”
trivia night sponsored by the Society for Women Engineers, a display of
“Engineering Marvels,” the College’s Honors Day Ceremony and a career fair.
Capping the week were the Engineer of the Year festivities honoring Dr.
Robert M. Koerner ’56, ’63, emeritus professor of civil, architectural, and environmental Engineering and director of Drexel’s Geosynthetic Research Institute. Dr.
Koerner gave a lecture titled “Geosynthetics and their Major Applications” and
Fontecchio: Outstanding Faculty Mentor Dr. Adam Fontecchio
was the inaugural recipient of the Graduate Student Association Outstanding
Mentor Award. Forty-four nominations were received from graduate students for 21
faculty members across the University’s colleges and schools. Dr. Tim Kurzweg and
Dr. Bahram Nabet of the ECE Department also were nominated, and Dr. Nabet
received honorable mention.
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Faculty
NEWS
NEW FACULTY MEMBERS
FACULTY HEADLINERS continued
n Dr. Bo Hong received his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California and
his B.S. and M.S. degrees with honors from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.
His expertise is in parallel and distributed computing systems and performance
optimization in high performance computing.
n Dr. Ratnajeevan Hoole was a member of the ECE faculty from 1984 through
1987. He received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and has extensive teaching experience. He is an accomplished educator,
researcher and administrator and a fellow of IEEE.
n Dr. Youngmoo Kim received his Ph.D. in media arts and sciences from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, M.S. in electrical engineering and M.A. in
music from Stanford University and his B.S. in engineering and B.A. in music from
Swarthmore College. He was employed by Nellymoser, Inc. from 2003 to 2005,
where he led the research and development of audio compression algorithms. His
expertise is in audio, music and entertainment technology, with a technical focus
in signal processing and machine learning.
n Dr. Gail Rosen received her B.S. in electrical engineering with highest honors
and her M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. She has expertise in biological signal processing,
bioinformatics, sensor array processing, sensor fusion, and adaptive filtering.
n Dr. Jonathan Spanier of Drexel’s Materials Science Department was
appointed an affiliated faculty member in the ECE Department.
n Dr. Baris Taskin received his Ph.D. and his M.S. degrees from the University of
Pittsburgh and his B.S. degree in electrical and electronics engineering from the
Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. His area of expertise is VLSI
design.
n Dr. John Walsh received his B.S. in electrical and computer engineering magna
cum laude, his M.S. in electrical and computer engineering and his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Cornell University, where he studied under C. R. Johnson,
one of the best-known researchers in signal processing and communications. He is
an expert in the areas of distributed adaptive systems and signal processing for
communication systems.
Miu: Outstanding Young Electrical and Computer Engineer
Dr. Karen Miu received the 2005 Eta Kappa Nu Outstanding Young Electrical and
Computer Engineer Award at a ceremony at Drexel held in conjunction with the IEEE
Region 2 Student Activities Committee Conference
Awards Banquet in April. She was cited for “her
outstanding contributions in electric power distribution
systems and for her involvement in student and professional activities.” Dr. Miu joined the ECE Department in
1998 and is now an associate professor. She has
received Drexel’s Lindback Foundation Minority Junior
Dr. Karen Miu with Dr. Hsiao- Faculty Award, an Office of Naval Research Young
Dong Chiang of Cornell University Investigator Award and a 2000 NSF Career Award. She
(her Ph.D. advisor, left) and is an active member of IEEE, ASEE, the Power
Dr. Chika Nwankpa (right).
Engineering Society and the Circuits and System
Society. At Drexel, she has developed new courses in
power, energy and control systems, advised the Society
of Women Engineers Student Chapter, helped develop
the Reconfigurable Distribution and Automation Control
Laboratory and participated in many College of
Engineering outreach programs.
Nagvajara: A Team of One Dr. Prawat
Dr. Prawat Nagvajara
Nagvajara competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics in
February in Torino, Italy, in the 15-km classical men’s
cross-country skiing event. At age 47, he was the oldest
Olympian competing in an endurance sport, and the sole
representative of his native Thailand. He carried the
Thai flag in the opening ceremonies and shared the
Olympic experience with his wife, Gina, and their two
sons, Nathan and Ty. Dr. Nagjavara received extensive
local and international news media coverage. In 2002
he competed in the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Shankar: Lindback Award for
Teaching Excellence
WHO’S DOING WHAT
Dr. P. Mohana Shankar (left) with
Dr. Nihat Bilgutay.
New Staff Member
Daniel Luig joined the ECE Department as the undergraduate laboratory
assistant. He received his associate’s degree in electronics from Thaddeus
Stevens College and has experience working with students in a laboratory environment. He is responsible for the smooth operation of the undergraduate labs. Additionally, his expertise in operating a milling machine makes him a technical
resource. He is skilled in cutting circuit boards and will be providing that service
for the department
Dr. P. Mohana Shankar, Allen Rothwarf Professor of
Electrical and Computer Engineering, received the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Award for
Teaching Excellence, the most prestigious teaching
award presented to University faculty.
Emeritus Professor Dr. Richard Coren is the author of
a new book, God and Science Among the Infinities:
Their Common History and Their Infinite Natures, that
uses system theory to explore the relationship among
God, science and technology. The book can be
purchased through Amazon.com or BookSurge.com.
Dr. Bruce Eisenstein was chosen as an IEEE
representative on the Accreditation Board for
Engineering and Technology (ABET) Board of Directors.
IEEE is a founding member of ABET, which is a federation of 28 professional societies engaged in the accreditation of college and university programs in applied
science, computing, engineering and technology.
Dr. Eli Fromm was invited to serve on the advisory
board of the National Academy of Engineering’s Center
of the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education.
Dr. Moshe Kam was re-elected IEEE Vice President for
Educational Activities and Chair of the Educational
Activities Board. The Board develops educational programs to help ensure the technological literacy of preuniversity students, provides accreditation services to
colleges and universities, develops continuing-education products and services for technology professionals
worldwide and helps to educate the public about the
engineering profession. Dr. Kam was also an official
guest of the City of Guangzhou in China in April, and
was recognized by the South China University of Technology with the title of Honorary Professor.
Da Vinci Engineering Press published Digital Design:
From Gates to Intelligent Machines by Dr. Bruce Katz.
The book is a comprehensive introduction to the
science and art of designing digital circuits.
Dr. Timothy Kurzweg was named associate editor of
JM3: Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and
3
MOEMS, published by SPIE (The International Society
for Optical Engineering).
Dr. Chika Nwankpa and former Ph.D. student Dr.
Stephen Carullo ’02 received the IEEE Power
Engineering Society Power Engineering Education Committee Technical Committee Prize Paper Award for
2005. Their paper, “Interconnected Power Systems Laboratory: A Computer Automated Instructional Facility
for Power System Experiments,” was published in IEEE
Transactions on Power Systems in May 2002.
Dr. Athina Petropulu and Dr. Xueshi Yang ’02 (with
co-authors) won the 2005 Signal Processing Magazine
Best Paper Award from the IEEE Signal Processing
Society for “Long-Range Dependence and Heavy-Tail
Modeling for Teletraffic Data.” The paper was largely
based on Dr. Yang’s Ph.D. thesis work advised by Dr.
Petropulu, and appeared in the May 2002 special issue
of Signal Processing Magazine on Signal Processing for
Student
NEWS
Research
AWARDS & FUNDING
n Dr. Kapil Dandekar and Dr. Timothy Kurzweg received $240,000 from the
ECE Department students Swapna Bhat, Madhusudan Hosaagrahara, Sri Lakshmi
Reddy, Palak Singhee, Ryan Spring, Karthik Srinivasan and Ezgi Taslidere
received College of Engineering Sponsored Teaching Awards at Drexel’s first annual Graduate Student Day in June.
National Science Foundation for their project “Multiple-Input Multiple-Output
Diffuse Optical Local Area Networks.”
n Dr. Gary Friedman (PI) and Dr. Alexander Gutsol and Dr. Alexander Fridman of
the Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics Department and Dr. Manjula
Balasubramanian of the Department of Pathology in the Drexel University College
of Medicine received $292,000 from the Army through its Medical Research
Acquisition program for the project “Non-Thermal Open Air Plasma Discharge for
Fast Blood Coagulation and Wound Treatment.”
n Dr. Adam Fontecchio, Dr. Eli Fromm, Dr. Caroline L. Schauer of the Materials
Science Engineering Department, Dr. Elisabeth S. Papazoglou of the School of
Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems and Dr. N. John DiNardo of
the Department of Physics received $200,000 from the National Science Foundation to support “NUE: Nano-Enlightenment.” The goal of the project is to
integrate short modules about nanotechnology into existing freshman and sophomore courses.
n Dr. Peter Herczfeld received $416,000 of supplemental funding from the
Office of Naval Research for his research project titled “Hybrid Fiber-Optic/Wireless System for High Capacity Military Communication.”
nDr. Moshe Kam and affiliated faculty member Dr. Spiros Mancoridis of the
Computer Science Department were awarded $464,000 from Lockheed Martin as a
subcontract to a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency project under the
SAPIENT (Situation-Aware Protocols in Edge Network Technologies) program. This
is a spin-off activity from Drexel’s Applied Communications in Networking project.
n Dr. Moshe Kam, Dr. Mun Choi of the Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics
Department and Stephen Cox of the Office of the Provost have been awarded an
Information Assurance Fellowship grant by the National Security Agency. The
one-year, renewable grant of $209,000 will support undergraduate and graduate
student work.
n Dr. Chika Nwankpa, Dr. Karen Miu, Dr. Prawat Nagvajara and Dr. Jeremy
Johnson of the Computer Science Department were awarded an NSF grant for
“Computation of Power System Dynamics Through Mixed-Signal VLSI Emulation.”
This project involves the development of computing techniques for large-scale
power-system dynamics based on current mixed-signal VLSI emulation
technology. With a budget of $240,000, this 3-year project will enhance ongoing
work for the Department of Education started by this investigation team.
n Dr. Warren Rosen received $149,000 from BuLogics, Inc. for his project titled
“Multi-level Security in Real-Time Shared Memory Computer Networks.”
Networking (co-organized by Dr. Petropulu). New faculty member Dr. Gail Rosen was a finalist in the Best
Student Paper competition.
Dr. Arye Rosen along with colleagues Andre Vander
Vorst and Youji Kotsuka published RF/Microwave Interaction with Biological Tissues through IEEE Press and
Wiley-Interscience. The book examines the biological
effects of RF/microwaves and their medical
applications, discusses therapeutic applications in cardiology, urology, surgery, ophthamology and oncology
and presents developing applications in cancer detection and organ imaging.
The United Kingdom’s Institute of Physics recently published 60 Seconds with... Authors Edition featuring 100
selected authors including Dr. P. Mohana Shankar.
The complete interview is available at
www.iop.org/EJ/authors_edition/.
Regina Cagle, an undergraduate electrical engineering student, has been selected to
receive a HENAAC scholarship sponsored by DiamlerChrysler. Cagle, who was honored
at the HENAAC Student Leadership Dinner in October, received a $2,500 scholarship and
conference package.
Valentina Cecchi ’05, a former undergraduate advised by Dr. Karen Miu and Dr. Chika
Nwankpa, won the Best Undergraduate Student Paper Award at the 2006 IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference in Sorrento, Italy for “Instrumentation and Measurement of a Power Distribution System Laboratory for Network
Reconfiguration Studies.”
Two exceptional ECE graduate students were among
the seven recipients of Koerner Family Fellowships,
which are awarded to graduate students in the College of Engineering for academic merit. Michael
Ermold is advised by Dr. Adam Fontecchio, and Eric
Gallo is advised by Dr. Bahram Nabet.
Anna Fox, a graduate student advised by Dr. Adam
Fontecchio, received a 2006 NSF Graduate Research
Fellowship Award, while Joshua Freedman (advised
by Dr. Fontecchio), Frank Prihoda (advised by Dr. Athina Petropulu) and Leonardo Urbano
(advised by Dr. Moshe Kam) received honorable mentions.
Eric Gallo and Michael Ermold
Joshua Freedman was part of a research team that received the Dean’s Award for College of Engineering graduate students at the University’s Research Day in April for
“Nanoprobe Fabrication by Magnetic Field Manipulation of Nanotubules”
Eric Gallo received funding equivalent to $20,000 from the Photonics Technology Access
Program (PTAP). His project is titled “Terahertz Source for Testing Nano Plasmonic Sensors.” This is Gallo’s second external grant, remarkable for a graduate student. He was
also an NSF Fellow.
Bora Garipcan, a Ph.D. student at Haceteppe University in Ankara, Turkey, is spending
a year-long residency in the ECE Department as recipient of a NATO International Scholarship. He is working with Dr. Bahram Nabet and Dr. Jonathan Spanier (Material Science
Engineering Department) on nanowire sensors.
Dara Kusic, a Ph.D. student, won the best student paper award at the IEEE International
Conference on Autonomic Computing Systems held in Dublin, Ireland in June for her
paper, “Risk-Aware Limited Look-ahead Control for Dynamic Resource Provisioning in
Enterprise Computing Systems,” co-authored by her advisor, Dr. Naga Kandasamy.
At Commencement 2005, Lit-Hsin Loo, a Ph.D. student advised by Dr. Moshe Kam and
Dr. Leonid Hrebien, was the inaugural recipient of the University’s cash prize for the doctoral student deemed to have shown the most promise in enhancing Drexel’s reputation
in engineering and science. Dr. Loo is now a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard.
Nicole Segal, a B.S./M.S. student advised by Dr. Karen Miu, won the ACT 101 Student
Achievement Award for 2005-06 based on her outstanding academic performance and
participation in the ACT 101 program funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
Dr. Athina Petropulu
Christian Schegan, an undergraduate electrical engineering student, was among 62
undergraduates to win scholarships from the German Academic Exchange Service for
study in Germany during the 2006-07 academic year. Schegan will be attending the Technical University of Dresden, where he will spend six months studying and six months
doing research.
Hemang Shah, a Ph.D. student advised by Dr. Adam Fontecchio, was selected as a 2006
Hill Fellow. The Hill Fellowships are designated for Ph.D. students in the College of Engineering who have demonstrated excellence in their undergraduate and graduate careers
and exhibit the potential to achieve academic distinction at the Ph.D. level.
Dr. Moshe Kam
4
Alumni
IN THE NEWS
ALUMNI EVENTS
CoE Spring Golf Outing
Alumni, faculty and friends gathered at the Riverton Country Club in Cinnaminson,
N.J., in May for the College of Engineering’s second annual Spring Golf Outing, hosted
by the College’s Advisory Council. Nineteen foursomes played to raise money for student programs and activities that recognize the importance of a technical education
and careers in engineering. The day’s activities concluded with dinner and a raffle.
CoE Alumni Host Beer Fest
Salvatore Anastasi, Esq. ’90 was
named one of the “Pennsylvania
Super Lawyer Rising Stars” by Law &
Politics, the publisher of Super
Lawyers magazines in 16 states. Mr.
Anastasi is a patent attorney who
focuses his practice on domestic and
international patent preparation and
prosecution and intellectual property
litigation at the law firm Barley
Snyder. He is also chair of the firm’s
Intellectual Property and Technology
Law Group.
Manik Kumar Arora ’92 was
included in the group of business
leaders named “40 Under 40” by the
Philadelphia Business Journal. He is
president and CEO of Arora
Engineers, an engineering and construction management firm.
Brian P. Burns ’85 was appointed
chief technology officer for
infrastructure in the U.S. Department
of the Interior. He is responsible for
the strategic direction of the Department’s IT infrastructure, including
identifying short- and long-term
goals of infrastructure initiatives.
Moiz M. Carim, M.D. ’73 has been
named chief of ophthalmology at
Reading Hospital in Reading, Pa.,
providing clinical leadership to 19
ophthalmologists. He has been in private practice at Carim Eye and Retina
Center in Reading since 1991.
Stephen P. Cloak, Jr. ’83 was designated a Naval Air Systems
Command (NAVAIR) AIRSpeed Lean
Six Sigma Black Belt after
completing the George Group
training program, which spanned five
months and involved both classroom
study and hands-on project work. He
will now take on an 18- to 24-month
assignment as a full-time black belt.
He previously was chief engineer on
a major program within NAVAIR’s Air
Combat Electronics Program Office at
Patuxent River, Md. Mr. Cloak completed the College of Command and
Staff program at the United States
Naval War College in 1992 and
earned his MBA from Salve Regina
University in 2003. He is a member of
IEEE and a commander, aerospace
engineering duty, in the Navy
Reserve.
Kevin Fallon ’79 was appointed
president and CEO of Pelion Systems,
a leader in supply chain optimization
solutions. Mr. Fallon was previously
president of Denver-based internet
security firm MX Logic, where he led
an increase in sales of more than 900
percent in one year.
The Edmund Optics team enjoys a day
on the links at the College of
Engineering’s Spring Golf Outing.
Charles (Chuck) Gershman ’86
was named one of five finalists for
the 2006 EE Times Annual Creativity
in Electronics Executive of the Year
Award. Mr. Gershman is president
and CEO of Bay Microsystems, a
communications technology company
delivering programmable packet and
transport processors and network
elements for the world’s most
demanding broadband networks.
Students Talk Back!
George N. Alexy ’71 was named
president and CEO of FyreStorm, a
fabless semiconductor company that
develops power management chips
for use in wireless electronics gear.
Prior to joining FyreStorm, Mr. Alexy
served as president and CEO of
BRECIS Communications, which he
led from its founding in mid-1999
until its acquisition by a combination
of Cavium Networks and PMC-Sierra
in mid-2004.
The College of Engineering Alumni Association hosted its second annual Beer Fest in
April. More than 200 guests took advantage of the opportunity to network, learn about
the engineering behind beer making and sample an assortment of beers from Victory
Brewing in Downingtown, Pa. The CoEAA is the largest alumni club at Drexel, offering
a number of programs and activities connecting students, engineering alumni and
engineering companies around the country. For more information contact Maria Papa
at (215) 895-6654.
Ray Martino, Jr. ’84 was named
vice president and chief technology
officer of Symbol Technologies,
which provides companies with realtime data at the point of activity and
enables the deployment of IT
upgrades over a secure wireless network. Mr. Martino will guide
Symbol’s strategy in the development
of new technologies and next-generation products and services.
Dr. Xiang Wang ’87, ’91 was named
one of the 30 hottest lawyers in Asia
for 2005 by Asian Legal Business. A
2002 ECE Distinguished Alumni
Award Recipient, Dr. Wang is with
Jones Day, one of the largest law
firms in the world with nearly 2,500
lawyers in 33 countries.
5
Regis Kubit ’55 (right) with Dr. Nihat
Bilgutay at the Engineering Alumni
Association Beer Fest.
Nishant Dhawan is an electrical engineering major with a concentration in
electronics who finished B.S. and M.S. coursework this year after just four
years. He is completing his thesis based on research he has done with Dr.
Moshe Kam over the past two years. Nishant is a member of IEEE and Eta
Kappa Nu and was the ECE undergraduate student department head. “ECE’s
curriculum has a broad scope,” he says, “and with the lab-intensive courses
and co-ops I feel that I can make practical applications of the information I’ve
learned in my classes.” This knowledge will serve him well as he makes the
transition from an academic setting to industry this summer.
Elaine Garbarine is a 2006 electrical engineering graduate. She plans to
pursue a Ph.D. in electrical engineering under the advisement of Dr. Athina
Petropulu. Garbarine is a member of Tau Beta Pi, Eta Kappa Nu, the Golden
Key Honor Society and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. Her coop assignments have included AT&T Research and Development Laboratories
and Clifton, Weiss & Associates, Inc. The co-op program was one of the main
reasons Elaine considered Drexel: “I felt that it would give me career options
and help me decide what I wanted to do.” A highlight of her undergraduate
experience was the relationships she built with ECE Department faculty, so
she is looking forward to a few more years here.
Mark LeVan is a computer engineering and electrical engineering doublemajor who graduated this June. Mark was drawn to Drexel because of the
urban location, the co-op program and the variety of activities Philadelphia
had to offer. He has been awarded a prestigious Department of Defense
Information Assurance Scholarship to pursue his Drexel master’s degree. He
feels strongly that the rigor of an engineering curriculum is important to adequately prepare future engineers for their profession. For Mark, the College
of Engineering’s freshmen and sophomore program (tDEC) played an important role in his academic experience: “tDEC made me know I wanted to be an
engineer because I liked the challenge of it.” Mark has been a member of
IEEE and the Golden Key Honor Society and is planning to go into industry.
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ECE ENGINEER
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
College of Engineering
Drexel University
3141 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Fellowship Fund
Alumni, faculty and friends are an important component of the
success of the ECE Department as well as the College of Engineering, and they have helped ECE provide mentorship and financial support to students. This year, the Department was able to
support Dara Kusic with the first ECE Faculty Endowed Fellowship. Employee and alumni participation is important in furthering University rankings as well as securing philanthropic
support from foundations and industry. We ask that you continue
to make your annual contributions, perhaps designating them to
the Department. For more information, please contact Lydia
Kokolskyj at (215) 895-6654 or lydia@drexel.edu. You can also
contribute online at www.drexel.edu/ia/annualfund/give.html.
We Need You!
The ECE department relies on the generous support of alumni and friends to sustain
our excellence in programs and facilities. All it takes is a couple of hours of your time.
You will be able to meet and encourage our new students and motivate them to succeed in academics as well as in life. Such interactions are welcomed by our students
and faculty. If you can volunteer your time and efforts, please let us know by returning
this form to: Department Head, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
n I am willing to talk to freshmen.
n I am willing to mentor students.
n I am willing to participate in open houses
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Drexel ECEngineer published by Dr. P. Mohana Shankar on behalf of the Department Head, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104. Editorial and design services
by the Office of University Relations. Send comments and submissions to Dr.
Shankar, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Drexel University,
3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (e-mail: shankar@ece.drexel.edu).
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