The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) predicts global mobile video traffic will account for more than 75 percent of total mobile traffic by 2030 due to the rise in virtual reality, augmented reality, and high-fidelity mobile holograms.

Conventional low-efficient on-chip antenna arrays are unlikely to be able to efficiently transmit these next-generation data-intensive applications.

Lee’s project aims to design and create a 60 GHz electronically scanned array for high-speed wireless systems to help handle the potential huge increases in throughput.

He has conducted the research thus far in the mmWave Antennas and Arrays Laboratory under the supervision of ECE Assistant Professor Nima Ghalichechian.

The grant, which awards $5,000 to 10 Ph.D. candidates globally each year, aims to encourage careers in advanced electromagnetics, with selection based on the creativity and quality of proposed projects, along with discussions on the student's technical interests and skills.

Lee received his B.S. in computer and communication engineering from Korea University, and his M.S. in electrical engineering from the Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH).

Prior to his time at Georgia Tech, he worked at Samsung Research and SK Hynix.

He’s published 4 peer-reviewed journal articles, 11 international conference papers, and is the inventor of 19 patents.

His research interests include mmWave on-chip antennas, phase-change material reconfigurable RF devices, and robotic antenna measurement techniques, which has won him a number of awards such as the 2023 CREATION Award from Georgia Tech and the 2018 Best Paper Student Award from the IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation.

A recent executive order issued by President Joe Biden seeks to establish "new standards for AI safety and security" while addressing consumer privacy concerns and promoting innovation. Georgia Tech experts have examined the key elements of the order and offer their thoughts on its scope and what comes next.  

A Precautionary Tale 

The order calls for the development of standards, tools, and tests to ensure the safe use of AI. From voice scams and phishing campaigns to larger-scale threats, the technology’s potential dangers have been widely documented. But Margaret Kosal, associate professor in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, says that additional context is often needed to dispel hysteria. 

"No one is going to be hooking up AI to launch nuclear weapons, but AI capabilities may enable targeting, or enable the command and control and the decision-making time to be compressed,” she said.  
 
The order will create an AI Safety and Security Board tasked with addressing critical threats. Companies developing foundation models that "pose a serious risk to national security, national economic security, or national public health and safety” will be required to notify the federal government when training the model and required to share the results of all red-team safety tests — a simulated cyberattack to test a system's defenses.  

Since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, a CNBC report details a 1,267% rise in phishing emails. Srijan Kumar, assistant professor in the College of Computing, attributes the increase to the technology's availability and an inability to rein in "bad actors."  

He says these scams will only continue to get more sophisticated and personalized. They “can be created by knowing what you might be willing to fall prey to versus what I might fall prey to,” said Kumar, whose systems have influenced misinformation detection on sites like X (formerly Twitter) and Wikipedia. “AI is not going to autonomously do all of those bad things, but this order can ensure there are consequences for people who misuse it.”  

A Delicate Balance 

Building an AI platform requires large amounts of data regardless of its intended application. Two primary goals of the executive order are protecting privacy and advancing equity.  

To protect personal data, the order tasks Congress with evaluating how agencies collect and use commercially available information and address algorithmic discrimination.  

Acknowledging that everyone should be allowed to have their voice represented in the outputs of AI data sets, Deven Desai, associate professor in the Scheller College of Business, noted, "There are people who don't want to be part of data sets, which is their right, but this means their voices won't be reflected in the outputs.”   

The order also includes sections to address intellectual property concerns among inventors and creators, though legal challenges will likely set new precedents in the years ahead.  

When that time comes, Kosal says that defining “theft” in the context of AI becomes the true challenge and that, ultimately, money will play a significant role. "If you spit out a Harry Potter book and read it yourself, nobody will care. It's when you start selling it to make money, and you don't share proceeds with the original people, then it becomes an issue," she said.   

What Does AI-Generated Mean? 

The order instructs the Department of Commerce to develop guidelines for content authentication and watermarking to label AI-generated content. Desai questions what it means for something to be truly created by AI.  

An important distinction lies between using AI to assist a writer in organizing their thoughts and using the technology to generate content. He likens the trend to the music industry in the 1980s.  

"Synthesizers really changed people's ability to generate music and, for a while, people thought that was horrible. They can just program the music. They're not. I am still the human responsible for that music, or that article in this case, so what is the point of the label?" he asks. 

As AI assistance becomes commonplace in content creation, trusting the source of information is increasingly important. Recently, articles published on Sports Illustrated's website featured AI-generated content provided by a third-party company that had used a machine to write the content and create fake bylines. Sports Illustrated, which may not have known of the problem, ran the material without disclosure to readers. CEO Ross Levinsohn was ousted shortly after the story broke.  

“Perhaps if the third party had disclosed its use of AI software, SI would have been able to assess how much AI was used and then chosen not to run the material, or to run it with a disclaimer that AI helped write the material,” Desai said. "Of course, even if they label the content as AI-generated, a reader still won't know exactly how much of the content came from AI or a human.” 

AI and the Workforce 

As AI systems and models become more sophisticated, workers may become more concerned about being replaced. To counteract these concerns, the order calls for a study to examine AI’s potential impact on labor markets and investments in workforce training efforts.  

Kumar compares the rise of AI to similar technological innovations throughout history and sees it as an opportunity for workers and industries to adapt. "It's less a matter of AI replacing workers and more of reskilling people to use the new technology. It's no different from when assembly lines in the auto industry were created."  

Promoting Innovation and Competition 

The power to harness the full potential of AI has initiated a race to the top. Desai believes that part of the executive order providing resources to smaller developers can help level the playing field.   

"There is a possibility here for markets to open up. Current players using models that weren't built with transparency in mind might struggle, but maybe that's OK." 

The issue of reliability and transparency comes into focus for Desai, especially as it relates to government usage of AI. The order calls on agencies to "acquire specified AI products and services faster, more cheaply, and more effectively through more rapid and efficient contracting."  

When taxpayer dollars are at stake, government can’t afford to trust a technology it doesn’t fully understand — a topic Desai has explored elsewhere. "You can’t just say, ‘We don’t know how it works, but we trust it.’ That’s not going to work. So that’s where there may be a slowdown in the government’s ability to use private sector software if they can’t explain how the thing works and to show that it doesn’t have discriminatory issues.” 

What's Next 

Promoting and policing the safe use of AI cannot be done independently. Georgia Tech experts agree that participation on a global scale is necessary. To that end, the European Union will unveil its comprehensive EU AI Act, which includes a similar framework to the president's executive order.  

Due to the evolving nature of AI, the executive order or the EU's actions will not be all-encompassing. Law often lags behind technology, but Kosal points out that it's crucial to think beyond what currently exists when crafting policy.  

Experts also agree that AI cannot be regulated or governed through a single document and that this order is likely the first in a series of policymaking moves. Kosal sees tremendous opportunity with the innovation surrounding AI but hopes the growing fear of its rise does not usher in another AI winter, in which interest and research funding fade. 

"Our decision to locate in Columbus was driven by several crucial factors, and we are thrilled about the opportunities that this vibrant city presents for our growth and development,” said Prashant Patil, Micromize founder and CEO. “The work of CHIPS4CHIPS in supporting the semiconductor industry is commendable, and we are excited to be part of this innovative ecosystem.”

This exciting development was announced Tuesday, Jan. 23, at the Marcus Nanotechnology Center on Georgia Tech’s campus to a large group of state legislators and other state officials, a delegation of business and civic leaders from Columbus, and leadership from Georgia Tech and ATDC. The announcement is a true look at how statewide partnerships can lead to success for the Columbus region.

Micromize, a spinoff of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, selected Georgia as its new home, in part, to take advantage of the semiconductor packaging expertise at Georgia Tech. The company plans to establish its headquarters and manufacturing facility in Columbus, further solidifying its presence in the state’s vibrant technology ecosystem. Additionally, Micromize will center its cutting-edge research and development on Georgia Tech's campus.

"The collaboration with Micromize is a significant milestone for CHIPS4CHIPS and the entire region,” said Ben Moser, president and CEO of United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley and chair of CHIPS4CHIPS. “This announcement marks the first of what we believe will be many to come, and we are thankful that Micromize recognizes the potential of our region for this industry. Columbus is poised for remarkable development, and we look forward to the positive impact that Micromize will bring to our community.”

The strategic relocation is expected to create significant economic opportunities in the region. Micromize will bring 20-25 jobs to Columbus through its headquarters and manufacturing facility, contributing to the local workforce, and fostering growth.

Micromize will center its Research & Development Lab at Georgia Tech’s 3D Systems Packaging Research Center, which is regarded as the world’s best for semiconductor packaging research. This partnership represents a synergistic collaboration of industry leaders, research institutions, and the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Micromize's move to Columbus not only underscores the city's growing prominence as a technology hub, but also highlights the collaborative efforts driving innovation and economic development in the state of Georgia.

In addition to C4C’s nationally recognized workforce development efforts, the Fort Moore Army base, and its skilled workforce, the region’s proximity to a port and airport will facilitate efficient shipping, and Columbus played a pivotal role in supporting the company by providing essential infrastructure, he said.

“Our collaboration with Georgia Tech enriches our talent pool, adds exponentially to our research and development capabilities, and access to mentorship at ATDC enhances our commercialization potential,” Patil said. “We are also proud to be part of the effort to revitalize semiconductor manufacturing in the United States, with Columbus serving as our starting point as we embark on this exciting journey of growth and innovation.”

Georgia Tech, a leader in microchips and nanotechnology research, innovation, and fabrication, provides fertile ground for Micromize's relocation. The Institute’s commitment to advancing semiconductor technology aligns with the national push at the federal level (via the CHIPS and Science Act) to bring more semiconductor production to the U.S., making it more competitive in research, development, and manufacturing.

“As the state’s technology startup incubator, we’re excited to welcome Micromize into our portfolio and to support them into the next phase of growth and expansion,” said ATDC Director John Avery.

“Microchips, semiconductor packaging, and microelectronics are critical to our national economy and national security. Micromize’s choosing Georgia as its home to grow reflects what is proving to be a successful model when business, government, and research institutions such as Georgia Tech collaborate.”

In this brief Q&A, Correa-Baena discusses his research focus, how it relates to materials research, and the impact of this initiative.

What is your field of expertise and at what point in your life did you first become interested in this area?

I am an expert in materials for energy harvesting and conversion. I first became interested in this topic when I was an undergraduate student and started thinking about the future of energy production. 

What questions or challenges sparked your current materials research?

I was born and raised in a country where fossil fuels dominate the energy production landscape, yet where renewables are readily available. Colombia is a large producer of oil but also boasts a huge potential for solar energy production. This juxtaposition always puzzled me growing up. As a researcher in this field, I want to ensure that all countries around the world have access to solar energy, by helping lower deployment cost. 

Why is your initiative important to the development of Georgia Tech’s Materials research strategy?

There is a growing need to expand our research footprint at Georgia Tech with regard to photovoltaics. This is especially important with the impact of the photovoltaic industry presence in Georgia. My initiative is focusing on galvanizing activities around photovoltaic research at Georgia Tech that can benefit our footprint globally as well as locally with industry partners.

What are the broader global and social benefits of the research you and your team conduct?

The main benefit of the research we do is to the photovoltaic industry, which we hope to engage through cutting-edge research at Georgia Tech.

What are your plans for engaging a wider Georgia Tech faculty pool with IMat research?

I am planning to organize an internal workshop, as well as a session on photovoltaics in the Next Generation of Energy Materials Symposium to be held in March 2024 at Georgia Tech. In addition, as part of my efforts to engage the Georgia Tech community at large, I am working to create a website that will connect the Georgia Tech community working towards advancing photovoltaic capabilities for future manufacturing advancements. 

The award-winning poster, titled “Towards Bit Error Robust Energy-Efficient Autonomous Systems”, presents a cross-layer robust learning framework aimed at achieving aggressive energy-saving yet computational-resilient autonomous swarms.

The research tackles the challenges of the distributed resource-constrained nodes, complex cyber-physical autonomous systems and increased chip bit failures, by proposing innovative approaches including robust offline/on-device learning, collaborative swarm optimizations, and dynamic thermal-payload adjustments.

Applied across hardware chips, swarm systems, and various autonomous scenarios, the technique demonstrates consistent performance-efficiency-robustness improvements for multi-drone systems.

This acclaimed research is a product of a collaborative effort between Georgia Tech, IBM Research, Harvard University, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The work is supported in part by the Center for the Co-Design of Cognitive Systems (CoCoSys), the IAPRA MicroE4AI program, and the Center for Research into Novel Compute Hierarchies (CRNCH) PhD Fellowship.

Zishen is advised by ECE professors Arijit Raychowdhury and Tushar Krishna. His research interests center around computer architecture, VLSI, and embedded systems, with a focus on building hardware and systems for cognitive intelligence and autonomous machines, aiming to advance their performance, efficiency, resilience, and trustworthiness.

Juang is the Motorola Foundation Chair Professor in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar. Co-authors of the paper are Professor Geoffrey Ye Li, research associate Zhijin Qin, and Ph.D. candidate Huiqiang Xie, all associated with Li’s Intelligent Transmission and Processing Laboratory at Imperial College London.

Leveraging recent strides in deep learning and natural language processing, the paper, “Deep Learning Enabled Semantic Communication Systems,” seeks to redefine communication systems at the semantic level. The research proposes DeepSC, a deep learning-based semantic communication system designed for text transmission. Built upon the Transformer architecture, DeepSC aims to enhance system capacity and minimize semantic errors by focusing on recovering sentence meaning, as opposed to the bit- or symbol-errors seen in traditional communication methods.

Additionally, transfer learning is introduced, to ensure adaptability across diverse communication environments and expedite model training. A novel metric called sentence similarity is also initiated to accurately assess the performance of semantic communications.

In comparison to traditional communication systems that overlook semantic information exchange, DeepSC proves to be more resilient to channel variations and demonstrates superior performance, particularly in low signal-to-noise (SNR) scenarios, as evidenced by extensive simulation results.

The award-winning paper was originally published in IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, Volume 69, in 2021. Eligibility for the IEEE SPS Best Paper Award is based on a six-year window and honors the authors of a paper of exceptional merit dealing with a subject related to the Society’s technical scope, and appearing in one of the Society’s solely owned transactions.

The team will be honored at the 2024 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing (ICASSP 2024) in Seoul, Korea this April.

A recent executive order issued by President Joe Biden seeks to establish "new standards for AI safety and security" while addressing consumer privacy concerns and promoting innovation. Georgia Tech experts have examined the key elements of the order and offer their thoughts on its scope and what comes next.  

A Precautionary Tale 

The order calls for the development of standards, tools, and tests to ensure the safe use of AI. From voice scams and phishing campaigns to larger-scale threats, the technology’s potential dangers have been widely documented. But Margaret Kosal, associate professor in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, says that additional context is often needed to dispel hysteria. 

"No one is going to be hooking up AI to launch nuclear weapons, but AI capabilities may enable targeting, or enable the command and control and the decision-making time to be compressed,” she said.  
 
The order will create an AI Safety and Security Board tasked with addressing critical threats. Companies developing foundation models that "pose a serious risk to national security, national economic security, or national public health and safety” will be required to notify the federal government when training the model and required to share the results of all red-team safety tests — a simulated cyberattack to test a system's defenses.  

Since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, a CNBC report details a 1,267% rise in phishing emails. Srijan Kumar, assistant professor in the College of Computing, attributes the increase to the technology's availability and an inability to rein in "bad actors."  

He says these scams will only continue to get more sophisticated and personalized. They “can be created by knowing what you might be willing to fall prey to versus what I might fall prey to,” said Kumar, whose systems have influenced misinformation detection on sites like X (formerly Twitter) and Wikipedia. “AI is not going to autonomously do all of those bad things, but this order can ensure there are consequences for people who misuse it.”  

A Delicate Balance 

Building an AI platform requires large amounts of data regardless of its intended application. Two primary goals of the executive order are protecting privacy and advancing equity.  

To protect personal data, the order tasks Congress with evaluating how agencies collect and use commercially available information and address algorithmic discrimination.  

Acknowledging that everyone should be allowed to have their voice represented in the outputs of AI data sets, Deven Desai, associate professor in the Scheller College of Business, noted, "There are people who don't want to be part of data sets, which is their right, but this means their voices won't be reflected in the outputs.”   

The order also includes sections to address intellectual property concerns among inventors and creators, though legal challenges will likely set new precedents in the years ahead.  

When that time comes, Kosal says that defining “theft” in the context of AI becomes the true challenge and that, ultimately, money will play a significant role. "If you spit out a Harry Potter book and read it yourself, nobody will care. It's when you start selling it to make money, and you don't share proceeds with the original people, then it becomes an issue," she said.   

What Does AI-Generated Mean? 

The order instructs the Department of Commerce to develop guidelines for content authentication and watermarking to label AI-generated content. Desai questions what it means for something to be truly created by AI.  

An important distinction lies between using AI to assist a writer in organizing their thoughts and using the technology to generate content. He likens the trend to the music industry in the 1980s.  

"Synthesizers really changed people's ability to generate music and, for a while, people thought that was horrible. They can just program the music. They're not. I am still the human responsible for that music, or that article in this case, so what is the point of the label?" he asks. 

As AI assistance becomes commonplace in content creation, trusting the source of information is increasingly important. Recently, articles published on Sports Illustrated's website featured AI-generated content provided by a third-party company that had used a machine to write the content and create fake bylines. Sports Illustrated, which may not have known of the problem, ran the material without disclosure to readers. CEO Ross Levinsohn was ousted shortly after the story broke.  

“Perhaps if the third party had disclosed its use of AI software, SI would have been able to assess how much AI was used and then chosen not to run the material, or to run it with a disclaimer that AI helped write the material,” Desai said. "Of course, even if they label the content as AI-generated, a reader still won't know exactly how much of the content came from AI or a human.” 

AI and the Workforce 

As AI systems and models become more sophisticated, workers may become more concerned about being replaced. To counteract these concerns, the order calls for a study to examine AI’s potential impact on labor markets and investments in workforce training efforts.  

Kumar compares the rise of AI to similar technological innovations throughout history and sees it as an opportunity for workers and industries to adapt. "It's less a matter of AI replacing workers and more of reskilling people to use the new technology. It's no different from when assembly lines in the auto industry were created."  

Promoting Innovation and Competition 

The power to harness the full potential of AI has initiated a race to the top. Desai believes that part of the executive order providing resources to smaller developers can help level the playing field.   

"There is a possibility here for markets to open up. Current players using models that weren't built with transparency in mind might struggle, but maybe that's OK." 

The issue of reliability and transparency comes into focus for Desai, especially as it relates to government usage of AI. The order calls on agencies to "acquire specified AI products and services faster, more cheaply, and more effectively through more rapid and efficient contracting."  

When taxpayer dollars are at stake, government can’t afford to trust a technology it doesn’t fully understand — a topic Desai has explored elsewhere. "You can’t just say, ‘We don’t know how it works, but we trust it.’ That’s not going to work. So that’s where there may be a slowdown in the government’s ability to use private sector software if they can’t explain how the thing works and to show that it doesn’t have discriminatory issues.” 

What's Next 

Promoting and policing the safe use of AI cannot be done independently. Georgia Tech experts agree that participation on a global scale is necessary. To that end, the European Union will unveil its comprehensive EU AI Act, which includes a similar framework to the president's executive order.  

Due to the evolving nature of AI, the executive order or the EU's actions will not be all-encompassing. Law often lags behind technology, but Kosal points out that it's crucial to think beyond what currently exists when crafting policy.  

Experts also agree that AI cannot be regulated or governed through a single document and that this order is likely the first in a series of policymaking moves. Kosal sees tremendous opportunity with the innovation surrounding AI but hopes the growing fear of its rise does not usher in another AI winter, in which interest and research funding fade. 

At the forefront of this evolving data storage landscape, a collaboration between the Georgia Institute of Technology and Samsung seeks to substantially decrease the voltage in existing technology, unlocking the full potential of AI systems.

“Finding innovative solutions in data storage is paramount, it’s not just about saving photos or documents anymore. The storage needed is about enabling AI systems to transform how we interact with our devices, the world around us, and even each other,” said Asif Khan, an assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) with a joint appointment in the School of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE).

Khan's lab is spearheading the collaboration which brings together three ECE labs, including those of Professors Suman Datta and Shimeng Yu. The lead author of the paper is Dipjyoti Das, a postdoctoral fellow under Khan's supervision. The second author, Hyeonwoo Park, conducts research under Datta. The team is joined by researchers from MSE, the Institute of Materials, the Institute of Electronics and Nanotechnology, and a dedicated team from Samsung.

“This is a pivotal era of transformation and opportunity in high-memory compute,” said co-author Suhwan Lim, an engineer at Samsung. “Strategic intersectoral relationships like this between Samsung and Georgia Tech nurture innovative thinking and lead to exciting experiential results that push us all forward.”

Adding to the already substantial Georgia Tech presence in the field of computer memory storage, the team's findings will be featured at the upcoming International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) in San Francisco this month.

The Quest for Voltage Efficiency

The research focuses on improving NAND flash technology found at the core of storage devices like solid-state hard drives, USB sticks, and SD cards. NAND boasts an impressive 1,000-layer 3D architecture, cramming 100 terabytes of data into a minuscule space.

However, the critical challenge is NAND’s persistent high voltage requirements. Exceeding 20 volts poses challenges in computing due to increased energy consumption, heat generation, and the risk of damaging electronic components.

“NAND has been the backbone of data storage, so our research doesn't attempt to replace it; it's an upgrade. We're boosting NAND's power and pushing it into the digital storage future,” said Das, who designed and executed experiments, as well as contributed to characterization.

A Ferroelectric Future

The paper’s groundbreaking proposal aims to revolutionize NAND flash technology by replacing the traditional NAND gate stack — a multi-layered structure in a transistor essential for controlling the flow of electrical current in semiconductor devices — with a new ferroelectric structure and a tunneling barrier.

The team's method, introducing aluminum oxide (Al2O3) in the middle of the ferroelectric stack, has dramatically improved data storage capability, reducing voltage requirements by an impressive 40-60%.

Additionally, the study reveals that the Al2O3 layer functions as a tunnel barrier, impeding electron motion and establishing a dipole, creating an additional electric field that aligns with the polarization direction, boosting device memory performance.

The experiential findings could transform various sectors, including AI, mobile devices, edge data processing, embedded systems, and overall computing efficiency. 

“This breakthrough charts a new course towards more efficient, reliable and dense data storage solution,” said Datta, who is the Joseph M. Pettit Chair of Advanced Computing in ECE and a Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) Eminent Scholar. “We are grateful to Samsung for their continued support, as we work towards the next milestone.”

Looking for Collective Solutions to Shared Challenges

According to Das, the approach not only demonstrates the capability to achieve reduced voltage and enhanced memory but also aligns with scalability and broad industry adoption. 

As the project ventures into commercial avenues, the input of Samsung's researchers will be crucial. Das and Park are actively uncovering the intricacies of disturbances that could impede the market acceptance of the new gate stack.

In this context, disturbances refer to any unintended disruptions or deviations from transistor behavior expectations. Das stresses the importance of understanding, controlling, and clearly defining disturbance specifications. Establishing a well-defined threshold for disturbances is pivotal for achieving widespread commercialization readiness in their research.

“Working alongside industry leaders like Samsung is essential for any endeavor aiming to make a transformative impact in everyday technology,” added Khan. “It becomes particularly pertinent as we collectively look towards a future dominated by the power required to fuel advancements in AI.”
 

Citation: Dipjyoti Das*, Hyeonwoo Park*, Zekai Wang, Chengyang Zhang, Prasanna Venkatesan Ravindran, Chinsung Park, Nashrah Afroze, Po-Kai Hsu, Mengkun Tian, Hang Chen, Winston Chern, Suhwan Lim, Kwangsoo Kim, Kijoon Kim, Wanki Kim, Daewon Ha; Shimeng Yu, Suman Datta, Asif Khan. “Experimental Demonstration and Modeling of a Ferroelectric Gate Stack with a Tunnel Dielectric Insert for NAND Applications.” Proceedings of the 2023 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM). Paper # 24.1

The Wearable Intelligent Systems and Healthcare (WISH) Center will work to push innovation in wearable sensors and electronics technologies. Focus areas of the center will include electronics, artificial intelligence, biological science, material sciences, manufacturing, system design, and medical engineering.

“We are excited by the promise of bioelectronics improving human health and all the exciting science engineering that is required to make it a reality,” said Michael Filler, interim executive director of IEN.

WISH is directed by W. Hong Yeo, associate professor in Georgia Tech’s George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory, and Yuhang Hu, associate professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech.

“I founded WISH to bring together Georgia Tech’s expertise in various disciplines and to create opportunities for developing wearable bioelectronics and human-machine technologies leading to better lives and communities,” said Yeo.

Yeo’s research focuses on developing soft sensors, electronics and robotics for health monitoring and disease diagnosis at the intersection of human and machine interaction. Other researchers in the center represent disciplines from across Georgia Tech’s Colleges of Engineering, Computing, Sciences, Design, and Liberal Arts; Emory University; and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

WISH will be one of IEN’s 10 strategic research centers, along with the 3D Systems Packaging Research Center, a graduated NSF Engineering Research Center focusing on advanced packaging using 2.5D and 3D heterogeneous integration technologies, and the Georgia Electronic Design Center, one of the world’s largest university-based semiconductor research centers. WISH is an evolution of the Center for Human-Centric Interfaces and Engineering, which received seed funding from IEN to focus on collaborative research for human-centered design, biofeedback control, and integrated nanosystems to advance human-machine interaction in the scope of healthcare.

IEN supports early-stage research in underfunded research areas that span all disciplines in science and engineering through its seed grant programs, which focus on research in biomedicine, electronics, optoelectronics and photonics, and energy applications.

Falcomm is built on breakthroughs made over six years in the lab of founder and CEO Edgar Garay to revolutionize the power amplifier, a semiconductor found in devices from satellites to IoT to cellphones, that conditions and blasts the 1s and 0s from software through an antenna. Falcomm’s Dual-Drive PA combines ultra-efficient performance with an architecture that lends itself to production at scale. 

“Power amplifiers are the workhorse of the modern electronic era, but improvement to this technology hasn’t kept pace with the rise of the innovation economy,” said Garay, who holds a doctorate in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, where he conducted the research that led to the formation of his startup.

“Falcomm’s ultra-efficient, silicon-proven technology will bring advances in power and efficiency to the semiconductor industry that help communications manufacturers to realize massive efficiency gains, while lowering costs. With urgent challenges in the environment and supply chain, we can’t wait another 90 years for change.”

With simultaneous transmission at each terminal of a transistor, the Dual-Drive PA delivers performance that is 1.8 times more efficient at 2 times higher power, with half of the silicon area requirements of traditional power amplifiers. For manufacturers, these gains will reduce thermal management and energy costs, while easing overall system requirements. 

A patented architectural design allows the product to be manufactured in high volume by semiconductor foundries in the United States. With fabless technology, the company is poised to grow a network of industry partners that catalyzes expansion in the $23 billion power amplifier market.

Born in Venezuela, Garay developed a passion for using science and engineering to solve problems while repairing machinery on a farm in his hometown. While pursuing doctoral studies at Georgia Tech, he recognized the opportunity to bring innovation to the power amplifier, which had not changed in decades despite the rapid advance of technology and its critical role in devices. 

Garay’s research resulted in multiple patents, spurring him to spin out the technology and create Falcomm through assistance from Georgia Tech resources, including VentureLab and CREATE-X. Falcomm is the first company to receive investment from the Georgia Tech Foundation.

“Georgia Tech is proud to support our academic innovators to help them ensure their inventions have real-world impact,” said Raghupathy Sivakumar, Georgia Tech’s vice president of Commercialization and chief commercialization officer. “The Office of Commercialization is rapidly expanding our programs and initiatives to build out the largest and most robust entrepreneurial ecosystem at any public university. I am happy to say that Falcomm is the recipient of the first equity investment out of our new Research Impact Fund targeted specifically at spinouts based on Georgia Tech intellectual property."

The Falcomm team was recently bolstered by the addition of pioneering industry leaders who have demonstrated a track record of innovation in telecommunications, wireless, and semiconductors:

• Thomas Cameron, Ph.D., chief strategy officer, is a 35-year veteran of technology research and development in the wireless industry. During a 12-year stint at Analog Devices, Cameron served as chief technology officer of the Communications Business Unit and was a leading evangelist for the adoption of 5G connectivity. He held leadership and engineering roles in the RF industry at Bell Northern Research, Nortel, Sirenza Microdevices, and WJ Communications. Cameron has seven patents in wireless technology and has authored numerous papers and technical articles.
• Ned Cahoon, director of Foundry and Customer Relationships, brings more than 20 years of RF business development experience across the mobile and wireless infrastructure industries. He helped to stand up IBM’s $1 billion RF business before joining GlobalFoundries in 2016, where he served as a fellow in the office of the chief technology officer. A senior design and go-to-market leader, Cahoon brings experience building networks across foundries, academia, and technology companies.

For Falcomm, the funding follows quickly on the heels of the company’s selection to the TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200 in 2023. The company is a graduate of the Berkeley SkyDeck Accelerator and the EvoNexus incubator.

Bringing innovation to the tiny power amplifier can have a massive impact on some of the nation’s most pressing challenges. The energy efficiency gains resulting from an increase in power output come at a time of growing urgency around climate change. The ability to manufacture domestically comes at a time when nearshoring is a priority to address cost and supply chain challenges underscored by the global semiconductor shortage and resulting CHIPS Act.

“Edgar and his team are just as inspiring as they are hard-working. They have shown that it’s possible to assemble the talent and operations to innovate on a foundational technology that hasn’t seen meaningful advances in decades anywhere in the country,” said Guy Filippelli, Squadra Ventures’ managing partner. “By boosting efficiency and manufacturing domestically in the critical semiconductor industry, Falcomm’s innovations will bolster American competitiveness.”

The funding will be used to accelerate go-to-market activities with satellite companies and wireless infrastructure manufacturers, advance the company’s patented technology, and expand the team. Falcomm is actively hiring for roles in operations, engineering, and design. View job openings.

His talk marks the beginning of an annual lecture series established in memory of Professor Oliver Brand, who passed away in April. Brand had served as the executive director of the Georgia Tech Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology (IEN) since 2014.

“Oliver’s work, especially in microelectromechanical systems and CMOS-based microsystems, is widely respected in the community, with more than 190 publications to his name,” said Mike Filler, IEN’s interim executive director. “Andreas Heirlemann’s scientific contributions embody the innovative spirit and excellence that Oliver championed throughout his life.”

In addition to their research connection, Heirlemann also had a personal connection with Brand. They worked closely together in the same research lab at ETH Zürich for three years before Brand moved to Georgia Tech.

“What impressed me most about Oliver was his innate friendliness,” said Hierlemann. “He was always supportive. He was always motivating students. I never heard a harsh word come out of him. He had an extremely positive outlook on life that I learned to admire. That is what I take as his legacy.”

Hierlemann’s lecture was presented in two parts. The first focused on microfluidics, hanging drop networks, and microphysiological systems. Microphysicological systems are 3D cell assemblies, or membrane structures like organs, that occur naturally in the body or are grown with stem cells. These systems allow for comprehensive testing and studying tissue interactions. 

The second part of his talk focused on high-density microelectrode array systems, including neuronal systems characterization and the handling and use of neurons.

Brand spent more than 20 years as a member of the Georgia Tech faculty. In addition to leading IEN, he was a professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, director of the Coordinating Office for the NSF-funded National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI), and director of the Southeastern Nanotechnology Infrastructure Corridor, one of the 16 NNCI sites.

Brand united researchers in the fields of electronics and nanotechnology, fostering collaboration and expanding IEN to include more than 200 faculty members. In addition to his respected work in the field of microelectromechanical systems, he is remembered for his kindness, dedication, and unwavering support toward all who knew him.

“Pressure injuries directly impact the veteran’s quality of life, because the medical provider will order the veteran to bed rest for weeks and potentially months,” said Kim House, a physician and medical director of the Spinal Cord Injury Clinic at the Atlanta Veterans Administration Healthcare System. “At every clinic visit, I provide education for pressure injury prevention.”

House could one day have a new tool to offer her patients, thanks to researchers in the Georgia Tech College of Engineering, and wheelchair-bound veterans are just the beginning.

Materials engineers are developing new fabric sensors and a customized wheelchair system that assesses and automatically eases pressure at contact points to prevent injuries from developing in the first place.

“We have three key issues happening: First, continuous pressure. Second, moisture, because when you're sitting in the same spot, you tend to sweat and generate moisture. And third is shear. When you try to move somebody, the skin shears. That perfect combination is what causes pressure injuries,” said Sundaresan Jayaraman, professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE). “We believe we have a solution to the perfect storm of pressure, moisture and shear, which means the user’s quality of life is going to get better.”

Get the full story on the College of Engineering website.

In addition to student research skill development, this biannual grant program gives faculty with novel research topics the ability to develop preliminary data to pursue follow-up funding sources. The Core Facility Seed Grant program is supported by the Southeastern Nanotechnology Infrastructure Corridor (SENIC), a member of the National Science Foundation’s National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI).

Since the start of the grant program in 2014, 90 projects from ten different schools in Georgia Tech’s Colleges of Engineering and Science, as well as the Georgia Tech Research Institute and three other universities, have been seeded.

The four winning projects in this round were awarded IEN cleanroom and lab access time to be used over the next year. In keeping with the interdisciplinary mission of IEN, the projects that will be enabled by the grants include research in electronic devices, geochemistry, bio-inspired design, and solid state physics.

The Fall 2023 IEN Core Facility Seed Grant Award winners are:

Using Zircon (U-Th)/Pb Geochronology to Trace the Source of Himalayan Megafloods
PI: Karl Lang
Student: Srinanda Nath
School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

Material Characterization of Keratin-based Barbules with Hygroscopic Coiling-uncoiling Behaviors and Biomimetic Fabrication of Artificial Hygromorphic Barbules
PI: Saad Bhamla
Student: Nami Ha (ME/BioE)
School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Ultra-high Mobility Semiconducting Graphene Device Fabrication
PI: Claire Berger and Walt de Heer
Student: Will Griffin
School of Physics

Extracting the Effect of Electrode-Ferroelectric Interface on Photovoltaic Efficiency
PI: Lauren Garten
Student: Marshall Frye
School of Materials Science and Engineering

The Southeastern Nanotechnology Infrastructure Corridor, a member of the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure, is funded by NSF Grant ECCS-2025462.

Since 2016, Tentzeris has held the Ken Byers Professorship in flexible electronics in ECE. He joined the faculty in 1998 and leads the ATHENA Research Group.

Ed Joy, co-namesake of the endowment with his wife Pat, holds the title of professor emeritus in ECE. His tenure as a professor of electrical engineering in the School spanned from 1970 to 1998, with a specialization in near-field antenna measurements.

Tentzeris,a noteworthy first recipient of the title, boasts an extensive research portfolio covering many domains. His expertise spans 3D Printed RF electronics, antennas and modules, flexible and conformal electronics an phased antenna arrays up to sub-THz, origami and morphing electromagnetics, Highly Integrated/Multilayer Packaging for RF and Wireless Applications using ceramic and organic flexible materials, “green” paper-based RFIDs and sensors, nanostructures for RF, wireless sensors, energy harvesting and wireless power transfer/wireless power grids, reconfigurable intelligent metasurfaces, heterogeneous integration and SOP-integrated (UWB, multiband, conformal) antennas.

His body of work includes more than 850 papers in refereed Journals and Conference Proceedings, 5 books and 25 book chapters. Recognized for his significant contributions to wireless communications encompassing additively manufactured antenna arrays and RF modules as well as wireless power transfer, wireless sensors and microlocalization/RFIDs, he has been awarded three significant research accolades in recent years:

• 2022 Georgia Tech Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Advisor Award
• 2021 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Symposium (APS) Best Student Paper Award
• 2021 "5G as a Wireless Grid" technology was featured as one of the World Economic Forum’s Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2021.

His influence extends beyond the Georgia Tech, as Tentzeris has served as a Distinguished Lecturer for three IEEE societies: IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society (MTT), the IEEE Council on Radio Frequency Identification, and IEEE Electronic Packaging Society (EPS), where he currently lectures.

In recognition of his exceptional contributions to flexible hybrid electronics and multilayer RF Modules, Tentzeris was honored as an IEEE Fellow by the Microwave Theory and Techniques in 2010 as well as a Fellow of the Electromagnetics Academy.

The new IRI, which has yet to be named, will explore the vast scientific, technological, societal, and economic impacts of innovative materials and devices, as well as foster their incorporation into systems that improve the human condition in areas such as information and communication technologies, the built environment, and human well-being and performance.

“The new IRI will not only combine the strengths of IEN and IMat, but will also allow us to further expand faculty representation from across the Institute,” said Julia Kubanek, vice president of Interdisciplinary Research at Georgia Tech. “As we look at the future of research in these areas, expanding inclusivity of researchers from the liberal arts, design, business, and basic sciences will allow us to better meet the education, workforce development, and innovation needs of Georgia, the U.S., and the world.”

The new IRI will strengthen Georgia Tech’s role in national focus areas such as the National Nanotechnology Initiative, the Materials Genome Initiative, and the CHIPS and Science Act, as well as identify and shape future priorities.

Core competencies of the new IRI will include:

• Fundamental science to comprehend and control matter from the nanoscale to the mesoscale.
• The synthesis, processing, and characterization of materials to achieve desired properties.
• The design and fabrication of novel devices and components with enhanced capabilities.
• The integration of materials, devices, and components into larger systems.
• Computing, modeling, simulation, and big data to advance progress at all length scales.
• Integration into all stages of research, from conceptualization to impact assessment, of economic, business, and social factors to ensure sustainable and equitable benefits.

“IEN and IMat have worked closely together for years, and there is overlap in the research areas we cover,” said Eric Vogel, IMat’s executive director. “This is an opportunity for us to build on IEN and IMat’s individual successes and our strong record of collaboration to create something even more exceptional.”

The new IRI will strengthen the state-of-the-art core cleanroom and characterization facilities, providing researchers with the tools and resources necessary for cutting-edge interdisciplinary research. These facilities will continue to serve both Georgia Tech and, through its leadership within the NSF National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure, the nation. Recognizing the importance of nurturing talent, it will champion education and outreach programs to inspire the next generation and equip the workforce with the skills necessary to collaborate and communicate across multiple disciplines.

“This is an exciting time to look to the future,” said Michael Filler, interim executive director of IEN. “We highly value the dedication and hard work of our staff and research faculty, who have been crucial to the success of IEN and IMat and will be the backbone of this new organization. We look forward to creating something exceptional in the coming months.”

Since becoming a part of the Georgia Tech faculty in 2012, where he holds a joint appointment in Materials Science and Engineering, Cai has played a pivotal role in advancing research on nanophotonic materials and devices. Notably, his authored work, "Optical Metamaterials: Fundamentals and Applications," serves as a globally recognized textbook and reference.

Cai's accolades include the OSA/SPIE Joseph W. Goodman Book Writing Award, the CooperVision Science & Technology Award, and the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award. He is also a Fellow of SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics.

Optica Fellows, a select group representing no more than 10 percent of the total membership, are individuals who have demonstrated exceptional dedication to advancing optics and photonics. The election process is highly competitive, with candidates recommended by the Fellow Members Committee and subsequently approved by the Awards Council and Board of Directors.

Alongside 128 other distinguished individuals, Cai will be honored at Optica conferences and events throughout 2024. The comprehensive list of the 2024 Optica Fellows is accessible online.

Altogether, the agency is investing $3 million in the three projects led by faculty members in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering (ME) and the School of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE). Georgia Tech is a contributing partner on a fourth project led by Notre Dame researchers to explore materials that can be switched from an insulator to a metal with an external trigger.

The new awards are part of NSF’s Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF) program, which is intended to discover and create advanced materials twice as fast and at a fraction of the cost of traditional research methods.

Read more about the researchers' plans on the College of Engineering website.

“Hosting Nanowire Week 2023 at Georgia Tech’s Global Learning Center has been an extraordinary experience,” said Michael Filler, interim executive director for the Institute of Electronics and Nanotechnology. “This conference has highlighted the interdisciplinary nature of nanowire research, bringing together scientists and engineers from around the globe. Their shared insights and discoveries are not just academic achievements; they are the building blocks for technological innovations that could transform industries and improve everyday life." Filler served as conference chair and worked with an international steering committee to plan the event.

With more than 115 speakers and poster presenters representing more than 20 countries, the agenda reflected the diverse and evolving landscape of nanowire research. Topics included nanowire growth and manufacturing, electron transport and doping in nanowires, quantum behavior and devices, energy conversion and storage, and more.

Nanowires are 1D nanostructures with a wide range of potential uses. The ability of bottom-up growth methods to ‘program’ nanowire structure and composition with nanoscale precision opens the door to novel materials properties and functionality.

Nanowire Week takes place every 18 months and brings together leading experts in the world of nanowires. Past locations include Lund, Sweden; Hamilton, Canada; Pisa, Italy; and Chamonix, France.

Point-of-care technologies are medical diagnostic tests performed outside the laboratory in close proximity to where a patient is receiving care. This allows health care providers to make clinical decisions more rapidly, conveniently and efficiently.

AMCE POCT, which is one of six sites in the U.S. selected by NIH as part of the NIH Point-of-Care Technologies Research Network, was originally established in 2018 to foster the development and commercialization of microsystems (microchip-enabled, biosensor-based, microfluidic) diagnostic tests that can be used in places such as the home, community or doctor’s office. The center played a pivotal role during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic as the national test verification center to rapidly evaluate COVID-19 tests and help make them widely available.

Read the full announcement

Lam is one of 100 newly elected members of the Academy for 2023, an honor reserved for people who’ve made major contributions to medicine, healthcare, and public health. He joins a roster of just 2,400 or so individuals. Membership is considered one of the highest recognitions in health and medicine.

“This honor is extremely humbling because it’s given to me as one person. But it really reflects the team effort that’s surrounded me all these years,” said Lam, W. Paul Bowers Research Chair in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.

“If you look at all the work that they’re recognizing me for, it starts with my laboratory, then goes beyond — into the centers that we’ve developed related to diagnostic technologies, and then, all the work that we’ve done for the National Institutes of Health during the pandemic.”

New NAM members are nominated and elected by current members, and they’re expected to contribute to National Academies activities providing independent analysis and advice to help the nation tackle complex problems.

Lam, who is a pediatric hematologist/oncologist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in addition to a researcher, was cited “for outstanding contributions in point-of-care, home-based, and/or smartphone-enabled diagnostics that are changing the management of pediatric and hematologic diseases as well as development of microsystems technologies as research-enabling platforms to investigate blood biophysics.”

Read the full article on the College of Engineering website

The team is comprised of Professor Greg Durgin and graduate students Vaibhav Bhosale, Jonathan Dolan, Grishma Kalepu, and Deeksha Manjunath. Their award-winning paper, “PaddleSats: Attitude Control and Station-Keeping for Ultra-Low Density SSP Satellites,” was selected from a field of 37 international papers.

The research presents the authors’ new PaddleSat concept in which satellites are constructed from uniformly thin surfaces, using deflections in their solar panels and subsequent changes in solar pressure-induced momentum to perform station-keeping operations. Such satellites have low launch costs and very long lifetimes in space, as there is no longer the need to carry station-keeping fuel.

PaddleSats also mitigate space debris concerns as the uniformly thin satellites will—without intervention from their controller—gradually descend from orbit (either in fragments or as a whole) due to the influence of solar pressure on the spacecraft. The PaddleSat concept is crucial for developing space solar power satellites for green energy or even low-cost communication satellites that do not contribute long-term orbital debris.

The four students who co-authored the paper began investigating the concept in 2022 as an “ECE 6390 Satellite Communications and Navigation Systems” course project. They continued to refine their work after the course, which led to this original, award-winning concept paper.

The IEEE WiSEE international conference series has been a home for the top-tier research in wireless-related systems in space for the last 11 years. The researchers were honored at this year’s conference held in Aveiro, Portugal from September 6-8.

Top photo caption: Student researchers Vaibhav Ghosale (middle) and Grishma Kalepu (right) being presented the WiSEE Best Paper Award from Juan Fraire, the conference’s technical program committee chair.

The National Cancer Institute estimates more than 600,000 people will die of cancer in the U.S. in 2023, but the researchers say their project could reduce the number of U.S. cancer-related deaths by 50%.

Josiah Hester, an associate professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Interactive Computing, is a co-principal investigator on the project and is responsible for the sensing and computing technology in the implantable device. He will also assist with large-scale experimentations and coordinate the integration of the technology.

Hester specializes in developing sensing, battery-free, and sustainable technology for wearable and mobile devices. He previously worked on a team that developed the first battery-free handheld gaming console.

Celine Lin, associate professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Computer Science, is working with Hester to develop ultra-energy-efficient chips for signal processing and embedded control. Together, they will develop a robust platform that is energy-efficient enough to last for months.

The device contains genetically engineered cells catered to each individual patient that attack and eliminate cancer cells in the body. Thanks to Hester’s efforts, the device can monitor a patient’s cancer and adjust the dosage of the genetically engineered cells in real time.

“We must keep the cells alive to fight the cancer, and we must understand and control our progress in delivering this treatment,” Hester said. “Releasing too many cells could be toxic, and not releasing enough could be ineffective.”

Omid Veiseh, a bioengineer at Rice University, serves as principal investigator on the project and genetically engineers the cancer-attacking cells.

Along with Hester and Lin, Veiseh’s team consists of 19 co-PIs from the University of Texas, Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, Northwestern University, the University of Houston, and Johns Hopkins University.

The researchers named their project Targeted Hybrid Oncotherapeutic Regulation (THOR) and named the implantable device Hybrid Advanced Molecular Manufacturing Regulator (HAMMR).

Over the next five years, the team will test this unique approach to cancer treatment on patients with ovarian, pancreatic, and other difficult-to-treat cancers. They expect to not only improve immunotherapy outcomes for patients, but to make treatment more accessible.

Hester said once the device is surgically implanted, it is designed to remain in the body for six months or more, making it a minimally invasive alternative to chemotherapy.

“If you’re a patient with advanced stage cancer, you might be going in weekly to do various invasive and painful procedures,” Hester said. “This implant could remove a lot of the burden and make cancer treatment more accessible.

“Instead of driving three or four hours to get your treatment — which is expensive, and you may not be able to do it — you can have this implant. You come for the surgery, then you leave, and it stays with you for six months. The localized treatment should reduce the pain and terrible symptoms that chemotherapy and other systemic treatments cause in current protocols.”

ARPA-H is a federal funding agency established in 2022 to support research that has “the potential to transform entire areas of medicine and health.” THOR is the second program to receive funding from ARPA-H after its first Open Broad Agency Announcement solicitation for research proposals.

The first funding contract went to a team of researchers led by Philip Santangelo, a professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory. Their project, known as CUREIT, uses mRNA drugs to activate or switch off certain genes to help the immune system fight cancer and other chronic diseases.

The award-winning paper was co-authored by Motorola Solutions Foundation Professor Sung Kyu Lim and Yi-Chen Lu (ECE Ph.D. ’23, currently at Apple), in collaboration with a team from Synopsys, Inc comprised of Wei-Ting Chan, Deyuan Guo, Vishal Khandelwal, and Sudipto Kundu.

The research, titled “RL-CCD: Concurrent Clock and Data Optimization using Attention-Based Self-Supervised Reinforcement Learning,” received Best Paper recognition out of 1,157 submissions. It presents a Reinforcement Learning (RL) agent in Concurrent Clock and Data (CCD) optimization — a technique used in modern computer design tools to improve the performance and reliability of digital circuits. The introduction of an RL agent enables systems to intelligently enhance their ability to correctly rank violating endpoints according to machine learning-based optimization strategies. This contributes to an optimization flow that maximizes the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the system's performance.

The team was presented the award at DAC 2023 — the flagship conference in electronic design automation (EDA) — in San Francisco this July.

Last year, Lim and his research team were presented with the Donald O. Pederson Best Paper Award for their research on Compact-2D physical design tools at DAC. The work was recognized as the best paper published in IEEE’s Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems (IEEE TCAD), the flagship journal of the IEEE Council on Electronic Design Automation (CEDA).

Top photo caption: The team receiving the Best Paper Award For Research this July at the Design Automation Conference. Left to right: Sung Kyu Lim, Wei-Ting Chan, Yi-Chen Lu, and Deyuan Guo (not pictured: Vishal Khandelwal, and Sudipto Kundu).

The award-winning paper was co-authored by Motorola Solutions Foundation Professor Sung Kyu Lim and Yi-Chen Lu (ECE Ph.D. ’23, currently at Apple), in collaboration with a team from Synopsys, Inc comprised of Wei-Ting Chan, Deyuan Guo, Vishal Khandelwal, and Sudipto Kundu.

The research, titled “RL-CCD: Concurrent Clock and Data Optimization using Attention-Based Self-Supervised Reinforcement Learning,” received Best Paper recognition out of 1,157 submissions. It presents a Reinforcement Learning (RL) agent in Concurrent Clock and Data (CCD) optimization — a technique used in modern computer design tools to improve the performance and reliability of digital circuits. The introduction of an RL agent enables systems to intelligently enhance their ability to correctly rank violating endpoints according to machine learning-based optimization strategies. This contributes to an optimization flow that maximizes the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the system's performance.

The team was presented the award at DAC 2023 — the flagship conference in electronic design automation (EDA) — in San Francisco this July.

Last year, Lim and his research team were presented with the Donald O. Pederson Best Paper Award for their research on Compact-2D physical design tools at DAC. The work was recognized as the best paper published in IEEE’s Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems (IEEE TCAD), the flagship journal of the IEEE Council on Electronic Design Automation (CEDA).

Top photo caption: The team receiving the Best Paper Award For Research this July at the Design Automation Conference. Left to right: Sung Kyu Lim, Wei-Ting Chan, Yi-Chen Lu, and Deyuan Guo (not pictured: Vishal Khandelwal, and Sudipto Kundu).

Led by biomedical engineer Gabe Kwong, the project will map the unique cellular profiles of cancer cells and leverage that knowledge to build new bioengineered sensors to detect those profiles. The goal is to create a new kind of multi-cancer early detection test that would allow oncologists to start treating the tumors sooner, when they’re still small and most responsive.

The funding announced Sept. 26 is from the new Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) and part of the Biden administration’s efforts to cut the cancer death rate in half in 25 years.

Read the full story on the College of Engineering website.

Among the select group of researchers involved in a specific project is Cong “Callie” Hao, an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). Hao will play a pivotal role in the "Intelligent Experiments Through Real-time AI: Fast Data Processing and Autonomous Detector Control for sPHENIX and Future EIC detectors" project, which is being led by Ming Xiong Liu of the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).

“I am thrilled to see how our achievements in computer architecture research can have cross-disciplinary impact on high-energy physics experiments, extending well beyond mere academic papers and hardware prototypes,” said Hao. “We are highly motivated and proud to tackle real-world problems by offering solutions that are both intelligent and practical.”

Hao and her research team will work to furnish an ultra-fast field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) system for particle detection and tracking in high-energy physics experiments. The system will be equipped with an automated design flow that eliminates the need for manual intervention. Achieving this necessitates sophisticated hardware optimizations, coupled with algorithmic innovations, according to Hao.

All projects are supported by the DOE Office of Science, Nuclear Physics Program, and were selected through a rigorous and competitive peer review process. According to the DOE press release, the fifteen projects will be conducted by researchers at eight DOE national laboratories and 22 universities. Projects will include the development of deep learning algorithms to identify a unique signal for studying physics of fundamental symmetry in extremely rare nuclear decays that if observed would demonstrate how our universe could have become dominated by matter rather than antimatter.

For example, CLDDs can be used to manage chronic medical conditions, such as diabetes, where maintaining precise control over mediation dosage is critical.

While they hold immense promise for improving patient outcomes and treatment adherence, CLDDs have only recently entered clinical use due to the difficulty in integrating the sensing and actuating components of human-machine Interfaces (HMIs).

Researchers at Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering have published an article in Device that provides a comprehensive overview of advancements, strengths, and challenges associated with various CLDD approaches.

Examples of devices already in use include insulin pumps, implantable pain pumps, and epilepsy neurostimulators.

In the paper, titled “Communication Protocols Integrating Wearables, Ingestibles, and Implantables for Closed-Loop Therapies,” the researchers explore both passive and active CLDDs.

Passive devices (typically implantable or ingestible) can release drugs over extended periods without active, real-time monitoring, while active CLDDs incorporate real-time monitoring and feedback mechanisms to adjust drug delivery in response to changing circumstances.

“Active closed-loop, drug-delivery systems are poised to usher in a new generation of remote, personalized healthcare driven by human-machine interfaces,” said study co-author Alex Abramson, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.

“But to accentuate the shift from passive to active CLDDs, the integration of advanced sensors and actuators is crucial,” added Ramy Ghanim, a PhD student in Abramson’s lab and co-author of the paper.

Sensors in CLDDs continuously monitor specific health parameters in the body (e.g., blood glucose levels for diabetics), and that data is fed to actuators that determine if a specific treatment is needed (such as releasing insulin).

Communication Systems

In the article, the researchers explore various methods for communication transmission in CLDDs, including hardwiring, radio frequency (RF) wireless communication such as Bluetooth, ultrasound, and in-body communication (harnessing the body itself for data transfer through methods like ionic, biochemical, and optical communication). Each method comes with unique advantages and challenges, according to the researchers.

Challenges in developing advanced HMIs include battery size constraints, powering requirements, data transmission rates, and locational dependance.

One big challenge is making sure these devices work no matter where they are inside a patient. Like a cellphone working best near a Wi-Fi router, these devices need to be in the right place to communicate effectively. Sometimes, they move around inside the body, which can be a problem.

The paper explores potential solutions to various challenges, including energy harvesting techniques, wireless powering, and location tracking systems. Ensuring secure data transmission and protection against hacking is also crucial, the researchers noted.

Benefits to Patients

Benefits of CLDDs include simplicity by automating treatment, reducing side effects by delivering medication precisely in a timely manner, and cost-effectiveness by reducing hospitalizations and complications associated with patient non-compliance.

Up to half of all patients requiring frequent and redundant dosages are noncompliant, sometimes missing doses due to complex treatment regimens, according to the researchers. Consequences include decreased quality of life, preventable disease progression, and an estimated annual cost of $528.4 billion in U.S. healthcare expenditure solely due to suboptimal medication therapy.

“Closed-loop drug delivery systems are poised to transform the landscape of chronic illness treatment by enhancing therapeutic release profiles and easing drug administration, thereby improving patients’ quality of life, decreasing medical expenditures, and improving compliance,” Abramson said.

CITATION: Ramy Ghanim, Anika Kaushik, Jihoon Park, and Alex Abramson, “Communication Protocols Integrating Wearables, Ingestibles, and Implantables for Closed-Loop Therapies,” Device, https://www.cell.com/device/fulltext/S2666-9986(23)00144-8, 2023   

Kiandra Peart, co-founder of Reinvend, said the amount of people surprised her.

“After the first VIP session was over, hundreds of people were just flooding through the door at all times,” she said. “We had to give the pitch a million times to explain it to a lot of different people, but they seemed really, really engaged, and we were also able to get a few interactions.”

Reinvend is working through a potential deal with Tech Dining on using their vending machines, which would expand food options for students after dining halls close.

Demo Day is the culmination of the 12-week summer accelerator, Startup Launch, where founders learn about entrepreneurship and build out their businesses with the support of mentors. Along with guidance from experts in business, teams receive $5,000 in optional funding and $30,000 of in-kind services. This year, the program had over 100 startups and 250 founders, continuing the growth trend for CREATE-X. The program aims to eventually support the launch of 300 startups per year.

Peart said the experience taught the team how to better pitch to potential clients and formulate a call to action after a successful interaction.

Since its inception in 2014, CREATE-X has had more than 5,000 participate in their programming, which is segmented in three areas: Learn, Make, and Launch. Besides providing resources, the program also helps founders through its rich entrepreneurial ecosystem.

“We want to increase access to entrepreneurship. That’s the heart of the program, and it’s the goal to have everyone in the Tech community to have entrepreneurial confidence. The energy and passion of our founders to solve real-world problems — it’s palpable at Demo Day. I’d say it’s the best place to see what we’re about and understand what this program offers,” said Rahul Saxena, director of CREATE-X, who also reminded founders that the connections they make here would last for years.

At its core, CREATE-X is a community geared toward innovation. Participants were at the forefront of integrating OpenAI's GPT-3 when it was not yet widely adopted. They share their insights with each other, and the program has mentors coming back from even the very first cohort. Starting with eight teams, CREATE-X has now launched more than 400 startup teams, with founders representing 38 academic majors. Its total startup portfolio valuation is above $1.9 billion.

Peart compared CREATE-X to an energy drink.

“After going through the program, I was really able to refine my ideas, talk with other people, and now that the program is over, I feel energized,” she said. “I think that having an accelerator right at home allows students who may have never considered starting a company, or didn't have access to an accelerator, to actually utilize their resources from their school and their own community to get their companies started.”

Although Demo Day just ended, CREATE-X is already gearing up for  the next cohort. Applications for Startup Launch opened Aug. 31, the same day as Demo Day.

“Consider interning for yourself next summer,” said Saxena. “We know you have ideas about solutions to address global challenges. You’re at Tech; you have the talent. Let us help you with the resources and support system.”

Georgia Tech students, alumni, and faculty can apply to GT Startup Launch now. The priority deadline is Nov. 6. To learn more about CREATE-X, find CREATE-X events to build a startup team, or learn more about entrepreneurship, visit th CREATE-X website

"Our investment will help train the next generation of talent necessary to fill key openings in the semiconductor industry and grow our economy from the middle out and bottom up," said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. "By supporting novel, transdisciplinary research, we will enable breakthroughs in semiconductors and microelectronics and address the national need for a reliable, secure supply of innovative semiconductor technologies, systems and professionals."

View the announcement

The Intel Rising Star Faculty Award (RSA) program annually recognizes early-career academic researchers who are at the forefront of technological research with the potential to reshape industries. The program provides both a monetary award and hopes to facilitate long-term collaborative relationships with senior technical leaders at Intel. Award recipients are also chosen for their innovative teaching methods and for their efforts to improve the fields of computer science and engineering.

Hao joined the ECE the faculty in 2022 and she currently holds the Sutterfield Family Early Career Professorship. She received her Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Waseda University, Japan, in 2017, and was a postdoc in UIUC from 2018 to 2021.

She supervises six Ph.D. students in the Software/Hardware Co-design (Sharc) Lab, exploring the joint area of efficient hardware design, machine learning algorithms, and agile design automation tools. The group's work involves high-performance graph neural network (GNN) accelerator design and automation, which are highly recognized and broadly used by high energy physicists, winning the 2023 International Conference on Field-Programmable Logic and Applications (FPL) community award for impactful open-source contributions. Her group also focuses on building open-source design automation tools, especially high-level synthesis, significantly expediting hardware and architecture development; one of their works was awarded IEEE International Symposium on Field-Programmable Custom Computing Machines (FCCM) best paper runner-up.

ECE’s Asif Khan was recognized with an Intel Rising Star Award in 2020.

Xi's winning paper, titled “Maximum Power-Point Theory for Thermoelectric Harvesters,” shows how linear losses in the energy-harvesting circuit that draws power from the thermoelectric source reduce the direct current voltage of the source and quadratic losses raise the series resistance. This phenomenon not only decreases the power delivered to the load but also shifts the maximum power point of the system. With the model developed by Xi, engineers can more easily and more effectively design thermoelectric harvesters so they output the highest power possible.

Swaminathan is professor emeritus in the Georgia Tech School for Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and the current department head of electrical engineering in the Penn State School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS).

For 28 years, Swaminathan dedicated his career to Georgia Tech, becoming the director of the 3D Systems Packaging Research Center (PRC) in 2019. The establishment of the PRC was led by Rao Tummala, the namesake of the Electronics Packaging Technology Award, and also professor emeritus in ECE. Swaminathan played a pivotal role in the advancement of the PRC while at Georgia Tech.

The award is one of IEEE’s Technical Field Awards (TFAs) which represents the highest award given by each IEEE Society, bestowed for contributions or leadership in specific fields of interest of IEEE.

The distinguished award, sponsored by the IEEE Electronics Packaging Society and Friends of Rao R. Tummala, acknowledges Swaminathan’s, “exceptional contributions to semiconductor packaging and system integration technologies, which have significantly improved electronic system performance, efficiency, and capabilities.”

In 2023, Swaminathan joined the Penn State faculty as the William E. Leonhard Endowed Chair. He also serves as the director of the Center for Heterogeneous Integration of Micro Electronic Systems (CHIMES), supported through Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC)’s Joint University Microelectronics Program 2.0 (JUMP 2.0).

Tummala was the Joseph M. Pettit Chair in Electronics Packaging in ECE from 1993 to 2019. As the founding director of PRC, he pioneered the Second Law of Electronics, propelling the industry forward with his visionary System-On-Package (SOP) concept. His contributions were further recognized with the distinguished title of Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar from 1993 to 2019.

Top photo: Madhavan Swaminathan (left) and Rao R. Tummala (right).

Kwak is a Ph.D. candidate in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and is part of Professor Shimeng Yu’s Laboratory for Emerging Devices and Circuits. The primary objective of the research group is to challenge the intrinsic limitations of conventional 2D scaling in integrated circuits. They aim to achieve this by vertically stacking circuit components using emerging devices in 3D monolithic integration.

The award-winning paper, titled "A Reconfigurable Monolithic 3D Switched-Capacitor DC-DC Converter with Back-End-Of-Line Oxide Channel Transistor," introduces a cutting-edge design that offers power-efficient and high-density switched-capacitor DC-DC converters. The novel converters are strategically placed on top of systolic arrays, facilitating fine-grain voltage scaling at the array level. The innovative architecture also minimizes the idle time of processing units by independently controlling the voltage for each array, all without incurring significant area overhead.

According to Kwak, the work in monolithic 3D integration offers exciting prospects for the future of computing. By conducting comprehensive studies of devices, circuits, and systems within 3D frameworks, the research provides a credible roadmap for extending Moore's Law — an advancement that is critically relevant as exponential growth in computational requirements like artificial intelligence models persist.

The work is supported by the Center for Heterogeneous Integration of Micro Electronic Systems (CHIMES), which operates under the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC)’s Joint University Microelectronics Program 2.0(JUMP 2.0), in collaboration with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

To enable this research, IMat leadership has supported strategic interdisciplinary initiatives since 2021. Each initiative has a dedicated faculty lead to guide the initiative and prepare teams to compete for mid- and large-scale, multi-investigator research centers with academic, national laboratory, and industry partners. Initiative leads also work to increase the campus’ collaborative spirit by working with other Interdisciplinary Research Institutes, campus units, and the Georgia Tech Research Institute to design and support research programs. Initiative leads serve for one academic year and may be considered for renewal based on their progress in achieving community-building goals and their impact on IMat and the materials innovation ecosystem at Georgia Tech.

“The goal of our initiative lead program is to provide support for these strategic interdisciplinary research areas,” said IMat Executive Director Eric Vogel. “Now that we are in the third year of the program, we have seen significant growth in many of the initiatives we have supported, including batteries and energy storage and materials laboratories for the future.”

Materials for Energy Storage Initiative to Become Georgia Tech Advanced Battery Center

Matthew McDowell has served as an IMat initiative lead in Materials for Energy Storage, a joint initiative with the Strategic Energy Institute (SEI), since the program began in 2021. With the nation’s increased focus on electric vehicles, battery storage technologies have gained significant attention since McDowell launched his initiative. In addition, the state of Georgia is becoming the epicenter of the battery belt of the Southeast, with more than $25 billion invested or announced in EV-related research in the past three years. The Materials for Energy Storage Initiative has worked to highlight Georgia Tech’s strong energy storage research community and how it can help shape the development of next-generation energy storage devices. In 2023, McDowell and his team hosted Georgia Tech Battery Day, a sold-out event that brought together more than 230 energy researchers and industry representatives to advance energy storage technologies.

This year, the Materials for Energy Storage Initiative will become the Georgia Tech Advanced Battery Center, with McDowell and Gleb Yushin as co-directors. The new center will build community at Georgia Tech, work to enhance relationships with industrial partners, and create a new battery manufacturing facility on Georgia Tech’s campus. The Advanced Battery Center is the latest initiative to gain external funding and become a center, in addition to the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics and the Georgia AI Manufacturing coalition led by former IMat Initiative Lead Aaron Stebner.

Meet the 2023-24 IMat Initiative Leads

Materials for Solar Energy Harvesting and Conversion

Juan-Pablo Correa-Baena is an assistant professor and the Goizueta Early Career Faculty Chair in the School of Materials Science and Engineering. He holds a B.S. in management and engineering and an M.S. and Ph.D. in environmental engineering, all from the University of Connecticut. Correa-Baena runs the Energy Materials Lab at Georgia Tech, which focuses on understanding and control of crystallographic structure and effects on electronic dynamics at the nanoscale of low-cost semiconductors for optoelectronic applications.

As an initiative lead, Correa-Baena will work to create a community around solar energy harvesting and conversion at Georgia Tech. He aims to integrate photovoltaic, photodetectors, and related devices into IMaT-related research; energize research in these areas at Georgia Tech at large; and consolidate the expertise of the many research groups working on or around photovoltaics/photodetectors that will allow us to target interdisciplinary research funding opportunities. He also wants to provide an official link at Georgia Tech for industry partners to interact with faculty on photovoltaics, with a special aim at First Solar and QCells, the largest solar panel factory in the western hemisphere.

Autonomous Research for Materials

Mark Losego is an associate professor, MSE Faculty Fellow, and Dean’s Education Innovation Professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering. He holds a B.S. from Penn State University and an M.S. and Ph.D. from North Carolina State University, all in materials science and engineering. The Losego research lab focuses on materials processing to develop novel organic-inorganic hybrid materials and interfaces for microelectronics, sustainable energy devices, national security technologies, and advanced textiles.

As an IMat initiative lead, Losego will help build a community at Georgia Tech that works toward developing autonomous and intelligent systems (robots) that execute physical experiments — processing, characterizing, and measuring the properties of materials — and then uses this knowledge to iteratively and intelligently execute subsequent experiments that produce new knowledge about process-structure-property relations, which inform materials discovery and design. He also hopes to learn what technical questions, training opportunities, or other incentives would compel Georgia Tech roboticists to collaborate with materials scientists to develop autonomous materials discovery systems and what the Georgia Tech materials community can do with emerging, inexpensive, and simple-to-use robotics systems to drive autonomous materials discovery.

Macromolecular Materials at Biotic and Abiotic Interfaces

Valeria Tohver Milam is an associate professor and MSE Faculty Fellow in MSE. She holds a B.S. from the University of Florida, and an M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, all in materials science and engineering. Her research interests are in DNA-based ligands for molecular, macromolecular, and mesoscale targets and bio-inspired colloidal assembly for multifunctional drug delivery vehicles and colloidal-based sensing. She also leads the Milam Group.

As an IMat initiative lead, Milam will work to build an inclusive and active community across and beyond Georgia Tech to identify emerging research directions in macromolecular materials. Macromolecules, whether natural, bio-inspired, or completely synthetic, hold promise for enabling the next generation of materials to successfully perform at biotic as well as abiotic interfaces. Motivated by broad applications ranging from health to the environment, this initiative will bring together experimental and computational engineers and scientists focused on fundamental studies of macromolecular systems. The goal is to identify pathways to novel compositions, structures, synthesis, and characterization approaches to designing and implementing macromolecular materials.

Mechanical Metamaterials

D. Zeb Rocklin is an assistant professor in the School of Physics. He holds a B.Sc. in physics and economics from the California Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research interests include soft condensed matter physics and adjacent fields like statistical physics, physics of living systems, and hard condensed matter with a particular focus on the relationship between the geometric structure of a system and its mechanical response. He leads the Rocklin Group at Georgia Tech, which focuses on the structure and motion of soft materials.

As an IMat initiative lead, Rocklin aims to bring faculty together within the Colleges of Sciences, Engineering, and Design to develop, characterize, and apply novel metamaterials — those with programmed structures above the atomic scale, blurring the line between material and machine. They can reveal fundamentally new physics while also incorporating new functionality for flexibility, strength, and intelligent processing of mechanical force and energy.

Materials and Interfaces for Catalysis and Separations | Marta Hatzell
Marta Hatzell is an associate professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. She earned a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and an M.Eng in environmental engineering from Pennsylvania State University. Her research group focuses on exploring sustainable catalysis and separations with applications from electrofuels and solar fuels to desalination.

To mitigate issues related to climate change, there is a societal push to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Thermal separations and catalysis are the primary sources of carbon emissions in industry today. Thus, there is a growing research focus on developing next-generation materials for net zero catalysis and separation processes. In year one, Hatzell aided in bringing together faculty for two center-level proposals through the NSF and DOE. She also helped run a workshop to disseminate information regarding the DOE Earthshot call. In her second year as an initiative lead, Hatzell will continue to bring faculty together who are working on materials-related issues aimed at decarbonizing industrial separations and catalysis, identify the bottlenecks for new materials, and assess their long-term impacts.

Quantum Responses of Topological and Magnetic Matter | Zhigang Jiang
Zhigang Jiang is a professor in the School of Physics. He holds a B.S. in physics from Beijing University and a Ph.D. in physics from Northwestern University. He was also a postdoctoral research associate at Columbia University jointly with Princeton University and NHMFL from 2005 to 2008. His research interests are in the quantum transport and infrared optical properties of topological and magnetic materials. His current projects include infrared magneto-spectroscopy of topological semimetals, band-engineering topological phases in metamorphic InAsSb ordered alloys, and developing new materials for portable, real-time radiation monitoring devices.

The goals of this initiative are twofold: first, to anchor, develop, and promote the community of researchers working on the fundamental magnetic properties of quantum materials. And second, to connect these researchers to application-centric initiatives led by other science or engineering colleagues across Georgia Tech. The focus will be on fundamental research progress in topological and magnetic matter and to communicate their importance, relevance, and significance to Georgia Tech’s research audience. In addition, this initiative aims to leverage fundamental discoveries in quantum materials and explore how they can be translated in their own right into quantum systems with new functionalities for spintronics, qubits, and electronic devices.

Materials in Extreme Environments | Richard W. Neu
Richard W. Neu is a professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Materials Science and Engineering. His research involves the understanding and prediction of the fatigue behavior of materials and closely related topics, typically when the material must resist degradation and failure in harsh environments. He has investigated a broad range of structural materials, including steels, titanium alloys, nickel-base superalloys, metal matrix composites, molybdenum alloys, high entropy alloys, medical device materials, and solder alloys used in electronic packaging. 

Neu served as an initiative lead in 2022 and will continue in this role in 2023. He will continue to engage and build an interdisciplinary research community to address the complex issues associated with new materials in extreme environments. These environments include high temperature, high pressure, corrosive, wear/erosion, cyclic loading, high-rate impacts, and radiation. In harsh environments, materials are continuously evolving and deforming, presenting a roadblock in advancing engineering systems due to the uncertainty in the performance of new materials or new process methods such as additive manufacturing. Managing this risk by predicting the uncertainties, both internal to the material (its structure feature) and external environment, is an important consideration that materials engineering must address.

Organic Photonics and Electronics | Jason Azoulay

Jason Azoulay is an associate professor and Georgia Research Alliance Vasser-Woolley Chair in Optoelectronics in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, with a joint appointment in the School of Materials Science and Engineering. He received his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California at Santa Barbara and performed postdoctoral studies at Sandia National Laboratories. His research group unites strong synthetic foundations with physics, materials science, and engineering to synthesize and apply next-generation functional materials. Research within his group includes homogeneous catalysis applied to polymer synthesis; electronic, photonic, magnetic, and quantum materials; device fabrication and engineering; chemical sensing in complex aqueous environments for environmental monitoring; and the synthesis, application, and engineering of high-performance polymers across multiple technology platforms.

Emerging semiconductor materials open new pathways and opportunities to address critical national needs with global societal impacts in climate change, manufacturing, energy, healthcare, information science, consumer applications, defense-wide applications, and many others. Azoulay will work across multiple Georgia Tech centers, topical working groups, and institutes to create a unique materials research environment that spans traditionally siloed disciplines and materials classes. These efforts will advance the chemistry, materials science, and application of emerging photonic, optoelectronic, semiconductor, spin-based, and quantum technologies and raise the recognition of the materials innovations at Georgia Tech to the international stage.

Materials for Biomedical Systems | W. Hong Yeo

W. Hong Yeo is an associate professor and Woodruff Faculty Fellow in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the director of the IEN Center for Human-Centric Interfaces and Engineering at Georgia Tech. He received a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and genome sciences from the University of Washington and did a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on the areas of nano-microengineering, soft materials, molecular interactions, and biosystems, with an emphasis on nanomembrane bioelectronics and human-machine interfaces.

Yeo led the Materials for Biomedical Systems initiative in 2022 and will continue in this role in 2023, where he will continue to foster collaborations between faculty, researchers, and clinicians to advance research in biomaterials and biomedical systems. In 2022, this initiative successfully hosted the MBS Day by inviting more than 80 people from academia, industry, and national labs to share knowledge, research ideas, and commercialization opportunities. Yeo believes collaborative research environments between materials science and engineering and medicine will result in fundamental breakthroughs in bioinspired materials, human-centered designs, and integrated biomedical systems, which will significantly advance human healthcare. He also hopes to enhance human health via multidisciplinary materials research to tackle the National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenge to engineer better medicines in collaboration with both academic and industry partners.

The day began at the Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology (IEN), where students learned about ferrofluids, thin films, magic sand, measuring their height in nanometers, and the size and scale of the universe. They also visited the Materials Characterization Facility for an introduction to characterization and demonstrations of some of its tools, including the digital optical microscope and atomic force microscope. The IEN portion of the day concluded with a window tour of the IEN cleanroom and an opportunity to gown up in “bunny suits,” the standard uniform worn by cleanroom users.

“We’re committed to developing the pipeline of the future microelectronics workforce,” said Mikkel Thomas, assistant director of workforce development at IEN. “This includes K-12 students who may not know what microelectronics are, or the career paths associated with them. We were glad to host part of Chip Camp and introduce these students to IEN.”

Following a lunch break, campers visited the Invention Studio makerspace, where they built their own rockets — and then launched them in Tech Green.

Micron Chip Camp is a global initiative offering opportunities to students in the U.S. and Asia both in person and online. Micron teamed up with STE(A)M Truck, Atlanta's leader in hands-on STEAM education, for the Georgia session.

In addition to hosting students for camps, IEN provides a variety of outreach programs for K-12 and adult learners, which include short courses and seminars, research experiences for undergraduates, and research experiences for teachers. To learn more about these opportunities, visit research.gatech.edu/nano/workforce-development.

The 12 projects received a total of $27 million in investment, supporting the use of knowledge learned from studying the Rules of Life — the complex interactions within and between a broad array of living systems across biological scales, and time and space — to tackle pressing societal challenges, including clean water, planet sustainability, carbon capture, biosecurity, and antimicrobial resistance to antibiotics. The Georgia Tech-related projects received a total of $7.7 million.

"The enormous opportunity to apply biological principles to solving the biggest problems of today is one we cannot take lightly," said Susan Marqusee, NSF assistant director for Biological Sciences. "These projects will use life to improve life, including for many underprivileged communities and groups."

The Georgia Tech-led projects include:

• Co-Producing Knowledge, Biotechnologies and Practices to Enhance Biological Nitrogen Fixation for Sustainable Agriculture. $2.67 million (Georgia Tech and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, award 2319430)

The project’s principal investigator is Lily Cheung, assistant professor of ChBE@GT, and the co-principal investigators are Shuichi Takayama, professor of biomedical engineering at Georgia Tech, and William San Martín, assistant professor of global environmental science, technology, and governance at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

The researchers will address food security through low-cost technology based on biological principles to increase nitrogen content in soils and improve crop production on marginal lands.

• Next-Generation Biological Security and Bio-Hackathon, $2.81 million (Georgia Tech and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, award 2319231).

The project’s principal investigator is Corey Wilson, professor of ChBE@GT, and the co-principal investigators are Matthew Realff, professor of ChBE@GT, and Christopher Voigt, professor of biological engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The researchers will create programmable, biological combination lock methods — "on and off" states — for using synthetic biology safely, containing potentially dangerous organisms and protecting valuable ones.

• Synthetic Protocell Communities to Address Critical Sensing Challenges, $2.23 million (Georgia Tech, award 2319391).

The project’s principal investigator is Mark Styczynski, professor of ChBE@GT, and the co-principal investigators are Shuichi Takayama, professor of biomedical engineering at Georgia Tech; Brian Hammer, associate professor of biological sciences at Georgia Tech, and Neha Garg, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Georgia Tech.

The researchers will create synthetic "protocells" enabling the development of a highly sensitive, field deployable analysis system that could be used for many applications such as measuring micronutrient deficiencies in undernourished populations.

NIBIB is a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) dedicated to advancing health through the promotion of cutting-edge research in biomedical imaging and bioengineering.

The award will provide support for the interdisciplinary team’s work, “Space-Time Compressed Sampling Techniques for Integrated Ultrasound Imaging System-on-a-Chip,” focused on advancing compact, energy-efficient integration of ultrasound front-end electronics.

The Trailblazer R21 Award is specifically aimed at new and early-stage investigators, with the goal of facilitating groundbreaking research at the intersection of life sciences, engineering, and the physical sciences. Notably, applicants are required to propose novel high-risk high-return research approaches that have minimal or no preliminary data.

The three-year project aims to integrate compact and power-efficient electronics into portable and wearable ultrasound imaging systems, meeting the growing demand in the field. Li and Degertekin will explore a novel approach called compressed sensing (CS) at the integrated circuit level to overcome the current challenges posed by the requirements of high-performance imaging and the limitations of power, physical size, and interconnects.

The research purposes a novel CS framework that reduces the size of ultrasound data without sacrificing image quality. By combining compression techniques and advanced chip design, the team hopes to achieve faster and more efficient imaging.

Ultimately, the researchers plan to develop a prototype device that integrates different components on a single chip, potentially reducing the need for multiple cables during catheter-based ultrasound procedures. The performance of this prototype will be compared to traditional imaging systems to assess its effectiveness.

The project is expected to contribute valuable theories, models, circuit techniques, and insights into the design space and limitations of emerging portable and wearable ultrasound systems.

While at Tech, Hewitt studied electrical engineering. He met his co-founder, Evan Jarecki, through an internship with Gulf Stream Aerospace. They had complimentary skills and similar goals, so they decided to go into business together.

What did you think about the way you and your co-founder worked?

It’s surprised me how much of a superpower it was. That just turned out to be magical.

How did you and your co-founder decide on what startup to create?

The way that vending machines order food, or the way that grocery stores invoice the people who make deliveries, happens with a super old-school technology called DEX. When we got started, you literally had to carry a guitar jack cord around to be able to plug into these DEX ports to communicate with the mainframe of the grocery store or the control board of the vending machine. The other end of that would be like a Zebra or Motorola PDA, and that's how you communicate with them. I think it’s bizarre when people learn how old-school information happens in vending and in grocery stores.

Why did you join CREATE-X?

Knowing that it would take both hardware and software kind of raised the bar of what we needed to get this idea off the ground. We knew that instead of just two guys on two laptops working in a garage coding their way to a solution, we were going to need a couple more people with different specialties. Doing those things usually involves cash. CREATE-X means to me an ecosystem and a support system for innovation.

How did your startup develop?

The idea definitely got more refined. There was still this process of experimentation and accelerated mini failures that gave us a lot more confidence. Even though we came into the program with an idea of what we wanted to solve, it became a lot more refined through this constant iteration, experimentation, and customer discovery throughout the program.

What were your biggest challenges?

Money issues were some of the biggest challenges. How do you fund a lot of these initial projects with no budget? There’s this romantic view of being a startup. It’s not as romantic as the movies make it seem.

What gave you confidence despite the challenges?

Our customers wanted us to be successful because they wanted the solution. That felt so validating, not only that we can solve a problem, but people value it. We used one customer’s investment in us to talk to other investors. That gave a lot more confidence in the ultimate solution that we decided to pursue.

How did the Georgia Tech community benefit you during the beginning stages of your startup journey?

We were getting all the right attention from different people. You've got nothing when you make a startup. You don't have HR. You don't have legal. You don't have office space. You don't have a training manual. You hire the first employee, and you make a bunch of mistakes. All of these things are brand new. I was able to lean on the network at Georgia Tech and ask people through the program, “Who can I talk to who has done this before?” And they would say, “Talk to this guy. He's either failed at it or he's succeeded at it. Either way, you'll learn something.” I think that helped us sidestep a number of mistakes. I would have failed without the help of others. That was the biggest lesson.

What advice would you give someone who wants to build a startup?

I’ve noticed that those who try tend to still leave a dent on the world. If you put yourself out there, what I’ve seen is the Atlanta startup community is actually supportive. We have connections to people now.

Where are you now with your startup, and what are your plans?

Instead of being a founder, I want to work with a founder.

Gimme Vending has been named product of the year, 40 Under 40, Tag Top 40, #1 B2B in Georgia, and received other recognition. After almost nine years as CEO, Hewitt will now try something new. He’s leaving his startup this month and is excited about electrification and emerging tech in developing community support. He plans to work with founders in those areas. Hewitt also plans to be a CREATE-X mentor and a mentor in pitch competitions across the state.

Speak to our next cohort of CREATE-X founders at Demo Day, Aug. 31, 3-5p.m., at the Georgia Tech Exhibition Hall. Register for Demo Day today to reserve your spot at this free event!

EPS Distinguished Lecturers are selected from among EPS Fellows, award winners, and society leaders. Selected experts are highly regarded members of the technical community and renowned experts in their respective fields. They are invited to deliver lectures and courses at EPS events, including chapters, conferences, workshops, symposia, and IEEE Student Chapter events.

Notably, Tentzeris has previously served as a Distinguished Lecturer for the IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society (MTT) and the IEEE Council on Radio Frequency Identification (CRFID), highlighting his exceptional contributions across multiple societies within IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).

Since 2016, Tentzeris has held the Ken Byers Professorship in flexible electronics in ECE. He joined the faculty in 1998 and leads the ATHENA Research Group. Tentzeris’ research specializes in 3D Printed RF electronics, antennas and modules, flexible and conformal electronics and phased antenna arrays up to sub-THz, origami and morphing electromagnetics, Highly Integrated/Multilayer Packaging for RF and Wireless Applications using ceramic and organic flexible materials, “green” paper-based RFIDs and sensors, nanostructures for RF, wireless sensors, energy harvesting and wireless power transfer/wireless power grids, reconfigurable intelligent metasurfaces, heterogeneous integration and SOP-integrated (UWB, multiband, conformal) antennas.

As an EPS Distinguished Lecturer, Tentzeris will deliver lectures on Smart Cities, Smart Agriculture, Smart Manufacturing/Industry 4.0, and Digital Twin domains.

STEM careers are still male dominated, with 19% of bachelor's degrees in engineering awarded to women, and 3% to minority women. STEM Gems is shining a light on successful women working in these fields and providing young girls with encouragement and practical advice as they navigate their own paths. Campers spent the week learning about a variety of careers in STEM, engaging in hands-on activities, touring labs at Georgia Tech, and interacting with leading female engineering professors. They even learned about the college admissions process and bonded through workshops and group discussions on topics such as risk-taking and the importance of a growth mindset.

"The thing I was most interested in this week was the lab tours," said Darshika Domma, a STEM Gem and first-year student at Lambert High School. "We saw what it's really like in the research labs, what it looks like, what they do there. I got to learn a lot more about how STEM is applied to real life."

Nithya Neelagiri, a sophomore at South Forsyth, heard about STEM Gems from her younger sister. "I'm already interested in chemical engineering and thought the camp would be a great way to gain some experience," she said. One of her favorite activities was a probability game played with marbles. "At that point, I had already really bonded with my teammates, so we had a lot of fun doing the math together." Several other campers shared how fascinated they were with a lab tour that featured research being done on rat brains and the potential biomedical applications for humans. The girls' excitement at the end of the week is a testament to the camp's inspiring mission — and the bright futures ahead of them.

Highlights by the numbers:

50 energetic girls.
44 world-changing careers in STEM.
20 eye-opening lab tours.
12 hands-on activities.
7 exceptional women in STEM facilitators. 6 leading female engineering professors.

The Center for Advanced Motor BioEngineering and Research will make cutting-edge biosensors that were developed jointly by the two universities, disseminate them to neuroscientists across the country and around the world, and provide training and other resources for how to use the biosensors to explore a range of research questions.

Co-principal investigators for the project are Samuel Sober, Emory associate professor of biology, and Muhannad Bakir, Georgia Tech professor of electrical and computer engineering.

“Our technology allows you to see data that was invisible before — the electrical signals that single neurons in the spinal cord send to muscles all over the body during complex movements,” Sober says. “This information is like the missing link for trying to understand how the brain controls behavior.”

“The potential to develop new microscale technologies — with advances commonly used in semiconductor chip manufacturing — to enable scientific and medical discoveries in neuroscience is incredibly motivating,” Bakir adds. “It’s the inspiration driving this project.”

The NIH Brain Research Through Advancing Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative is aimed at revolutionizing understanding of the human brain. The five-year grant awarded to Emory and Georgia Tech is part of the BRAIN Initiative’s U24 Program, which supports projects to broadly disseminate validated tools and resources for neuroscience research.

Joining the power of two universities
 

Sober and Bakir combined the expertise of their labs to develop their breakthrough technology — biosensors that precisely record electrical signals from the nervous system to muscles that control movement.

Sober works at the forefront of describing the computational signals that the brain uses to control muscles. He’s particularly interested in how the brain learns, or relearns, motor skills — for example, in a recovering stroke patient.

Currently, clinicians use electromyography, or EMG, as a tool to diagnose the health of muscles and the motor neurons that control them. EMG typically involves the use of a tiny wire, or electrode, inserted into a muscle to record the electrical activity in the muscles.

Sober wanted a much finer resolution of data and more practical methods for his research on how the brain activates and controls muscles in songbirds as they learn to sing. He needed devices tiny enough to implant in the birds’ vocal cords. The devices also needed flexibility and strength to bend with the movement of a muscle without breaking. And each had to contain an array of gold electrodes to gather high-resolution data.

Enter Bakir, who works at the frontier of flexible electronics.

The unique collaboration between the two researchers allowed them to forge new scientific territory. “We leveraged state-of-the art microfabrication tools to solve a problem deeply rooted in the life sciences,” Bakir says.

A tiny device delivers big-picture insights
 

The researchers’ teams developed flexible electrode arrays that include microscopic 3D contacts for recording muscle activity. Each microarray includes one or more threads, about the width of a human hair. The devices are so tiny that they can be sewn into a muscle like a suture thread or even loaded into a syringe and injected into the muscle, making them minimally invasive. An earlier version of these technologies was developed in the Georgia Tech PhD work of Muneeb Zia, who is currently a Georgia Tech research faculty member.

They dubbed the new devices “Myomatrix arrays,” incorporating the Greek work “myo” for muscle. The high-tech biosensors allow researchers for the first time to record high-resolution data across large groups of muscles simultaneously while subjects perform complex behaviors.

To help test and refine the devices, the researchers have already given them to more than 100 different labs in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia where they have been used to explore neuroscience questions in a variety of species — from the crawling muscles in a caterpillar to the locomotion of a mouse leg and the reaching movements of a monkey’s arm.

Setting the stage for clinical use
 

Comparing data from across species will help speed discoveries of the normal functioning of the neuromuscular system. That sets the stage for the Myomatrix arrays to become a valuable tool in clinical settings.

The researchers recently completed initial experiments with the biosensors in healthy humans, marking another major step forward.

The devices may eventually enable doctors to diagnose a neurogenerative disease earlier so that interventions can start sooner. The sensitivity of the Myomatrix arrays could also potentially measure any improvement a patient may experience after taking a drug or other therapy.

The BRAIN Initiative grant will allow the researchers to disseminate the technology to even more labs to do longer-term studies.

“A lot of times when new scientific technology gets developed it can be jealously guarded by the inventors for years,” notes Sober. “One of the big impacts of this technology is that we’ve already been giving it away as much as possible in an open-science way. And that’s helped us in turn to keep improving the technology because we are getting so much feedback.”

The Georgia Tech team will continue to fabricate and package the Myomatrix arrays using advanced microelectronic technologies in special “cleanrooms” where the air is purified to such extreme levels that the number of dust particles in the environment can be counted.

A global educational component 

The Emory team will continue to work on assembling and testing the devices, in addition to training users from around the world in the use of technology via Zoom meetings and in-person sessions.

“This project is not just about making and disseminating the devices; it’s also a teaching mission with a big educational component,” Sober says. “We believe that this technology is going to have a major impact on the field of motor neuroscience.”

The project members will work with the NIH to ensure that the devices are distributed to a diverse range of users, institutions and research areas, consistent with the BRAIN Initiative’s goal to make the latest neuroscience tools more broadly accessible.

“We’ll be serving scientific communities that historically have not had access to such technologies or manufacturing capabilities,” Bakir says. “Emory and Georgia Tech are opening the doors to our facilities and to our expertise so that anyone who works in motor neuroscience can access and leverage these new devices, which require hundreds of millions of dollars to build and equip. This democratization of the technology will help to advance motor neuroscience at a more rapid pace.”

This story was originally published by Emory University. Check out their article here.

Photo Caption
Co-principal investigators for the project are (left) Samuel Sober, Emory associate professor of biology, and Muhannad Bakir, Georgia Tech professor of electrical and computer engineering. They combined the expertise of their labs to develop their breakthrough technology.

— Ann Watson, Emory Photo/Video

“The Curci Foundation funds research that’s just emerging, that’s on the edge,” Sponberg says. “Part of the goal is to develop fundamental knowledge that will seed all sorts of future research.” 

Cheung’s research has the potential to improve medical treatments — including many cancer treatments — and also to help create plants that are more resilient to climate change, which could help feed communities of the future. 

Sponberg’s research into agile movement also has medical applications — potentially changing the way we approach physical therapy for degenerative diseases — as well as a number of other applications, including building better robots.

Read the full story on the College of Sciences website.

In addition to student research skill development, this biannual grant program gives faculty with novel research topics the ability to develop preliminary data to pursue follow-up funding sources. The Core Facility Seed Grant program is supported by the Southeastern Nanotechnology Infrastructure Corridor (SENIC), a member of the National Science Foundation’s National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI).

Since the start of the grant program in 2014, 86 projects from ten different schools in Georgia Tech’s Colleges of Engineering and Science, as well as the Georgia Tech Research Institute and three other universities, have been seeded.

The four winning projects in this round were awarded IEN cleanroom and lab access time to be used over the next year. In keeping with the interdisciplinary mission of IEN, the projects that will be enabled by the grants include research in biomedical devices, nuclear engineering, phase change materials, and environmental engineering.

The Spring 2023 IEN Core Facility Seed Grant Award winners are:

Direct Lithography Micro-Optic 3D Lightfield Endoscope Module
PI: Shu Jia
Student: Corey Zheng
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering

Organic Copolymer Semiconductor for Direct Detection of Ionizing Radiation
PI: Anna Erickson
Student: Shae Cole
George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering (Nuclear and Radiological Engineering Program)

Investigating Phase Transformations in 2D Materials via in situ TEM Biasing Experiments
PI: Josh Kacher
Student: Alex Butler
School of Materials Science and Engineering

Development of Interdigitated Electrodes-Based Antimicrobial Surfaces to Prevent Biofilms
PI: Xing Xie
Student: Feifei Liu
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

The Southeastern Nanotechnology Infrastructure Corridor, a member of the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure, is funded by NSF Grant ECCS-2025462.

Ellis and Golder are advised by Arijit Raychowdhury, professor and Steve W. Chaddick School Chair, in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. They participated in the competition alongside University of Kansas students Tanvir Hossain and Mahmudul Hasan and their Ph.D. advisor, Assistant Professor Tamzidul Hoque.

The team’s primary objective in the Microelectronics Security Competition was to showcase two distinct attack methods on a provided design from the organizers, followed by the implementation of countermeasures against these attacks. Their submission successfully demonstrated both attacks on the original design and incorporated three different countermeasures. Specifically, they implemented two countermeasures to combat the differential power analysis (DPA) attack and one countermeasure to address the differential fault analysis (DFA) attack.

The team demonstrated their design in-person at HOST ’23 which was held May 1-4 in San Jose, California. HOST is the premier symposium that facilitates the rapid growth of hardware-based security research and development. Since 2008, it has served as the globally recognized event for researchers and practitioners to advance knowledge and technologies related to hardware security and assurance.

“As a leader in the field of scalable electronics manufacturing and having served as associate director of IEN, Professor Filler is in an excellent position to take on this new role,” said Julia Kubanek, professor and vice president for interdisciplinary research at Georgia Tech. “He will lead IEN in continuing to support Georgia Tech faculty pursuing microelectronics and nanotechnology-sponsored research programs and collaborations. This is especially important right now given current CHIPS Act-related funding and workforce development opportunities.”

As associate director of research programs, Filler nurtured research opportunities aligned with Georgia Tech’s Strategic Plan and the Research Next missions and goals; catalyzed new interdisciplinary research communities in the area of electronics and nanotechnology; managed the portfolio of interdisciplinary research centers and programs associated with IEN; and developed strategies for industry engagement with IEN and its centers and programs.

Filler succeeds Oliver Brand who tragically passed away in April 2023 after serving as IEN’s executive director for more than a decade. During Brand’s tenure as executive director, IEN expanded its core facilities and research programs and grew to include more than 200 faculty members at Georgia Tech from multiple colleges and schools. Brand was also instrumental in securing the coordinating office for the NSF-supported National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure at Georgia Tech.

“I’m humbled and honored to take the helm of IEN at this critical time,” said Filler. “I step into this role with profound respect for the talent, dedication, and excellence of the IEN staff, faculty, and students. I am not only committed to furthering Oliver’s legacy but also capitalizing on the opportunities brought by the CHIPS Act to support the campus community and shape the future of electronics and nanotechnology."

Filler’s research focuses on the synthesis, understanding, and manufacturing of semiconductor nanowire materials and devices to enable “hyper-scalable” electronic systems. Prior to joining the IEN leadership team, Filler co-directed the Community for Research on Active Surfaces and Interfaces (CRASI) as well as the Computational Skins for Multifunctional Objects and Systems (COSMOS) research programs.

Filler earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Cornell University and Stanford University, respectively, prior to completing postdoctoral studies at the California Institute of Technology. He has been recognized for his research and teaching with the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, Georgia Tech Sigma Xi Young Faculty Award, CETL/BP Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award, and as a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation Environmental Chemistry Mentor.

Fekri holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. from Sharif University of Technology and a Ph.D. from Georgia Tech. He became an assistant professor in ECE in 2000, showcasing a strong dedication to research and teaching. He is a prominent figure in wireless communication, information theory, machine learning, and inductive logic reasoning. Over his career, he has secured more than 15 research awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF), including the prestigious NSF career award.

His work has resulted in 250+ peer-reviewed articles and a book publication by Prentice Hall. Notably, he has received three significant research awards in recent years for his contributions to wireless communications, including communication-efficient distributed learning, machine learning in wireless networking systems, and wireless network traffic reduction via learning. In 2015, he was honored as an IEEE Fellow by the Information Theory Society for his notable contributions to coding theory. In 2020, he was appointed as an ECE-GTRI (Georgia Tech Research Institute) Fellow.

Fekri's research aims to advance post-Shannon Era Communications, focusing on conveying information through interactive communication between senders and receivers. This concept aligns with semantic communication for AI and decision-making, which will play a vital role in future 6G wireless networks.

He envisions a transformative shift from "connected things" to "connected intelligence" in wireless networks, where AI empowers interconnectedness among humans, devices, and intelligence in a highly connected cyber-physical world. Fekri strives to gather experts in wireless communications, electromagnetics, devices and computing, robotics and control, and artificial intelligence to drive scientific breakthroughs and translate them into impactful advancements for 6G wireless networks.

Fekri's dedication extends to mentoring and training exceptional students. He has guided 17 Ph.D. graduates, with five securing faculty positions in the US and seven joining renowned research labs at companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon, Qualcomm, CISCO, and Samsung. His commitment to teaching has earned him the Class of 1934 Course Survey Teaching Effectiveness Award twice. As a result, he was recognized early in his career at Georgia Tech as the ECE Outstanding Junior Faculty Member. Additionally, he actively mentors junior faculty members, advocating for diversity and the recruitment of women and underrepresented groups in the faculty recruitment committee.

HKN award recipients are determined by a majority vote of the graduating class of the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) undergraduate program. They recognize the central and crucial role of professors in training and motivating future electrical, computer and allied field student engineers.

Professor Naeemi received this year’s W. Marshall Leach/Eta Kappa Nu Outstanding Senior Teacher Award. Naeemi’s research crosses the boundaries of materials, devices, circuits, and systems investigating integrated circuits based on conventional and emerging nanoelectronic and spintronic devices and interconnects.

He holds the distinction of being the inaugural recipient of the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society (SSCS) James D. Meindl Innovators Award. He has also received accolades such as the NSF CAREER Award, SRC Inventor Recognition Award, and multiple best paper awards at international conferences.

In recognition of his innovative use of educational technology, Professor Naeemi was honored by the Institute with the Class of 1934 Outstanding Innovative Use of Education Technology Award this year. His educational tools have greatly enhanced the learning experience of students studying quantum theory and semiconductor physics/devices worldwide.

Associate Professor Krishna was awarded the Richard M. Bass/Eta Kappa Nu Outstanding Junior Teacher Award. His research encompasses computer architecture, interconnection networks, networks-on-chip (NoC), and deep learning accelerators, with a particular emphasis on optimizing data movement in modern computing systems.

Krishna was inducted into the High-Performance Computer Architecture (HPCA) Hall of Fame in 2022, recognizing his significant contributions to the field. He has also been honored with the Class of 1940 Course Survey Teaching Effectiveness Award from Georgia Tech (2018) and the Roger P. Webb Outstanding Junior Faculty Award from the ECE (2021).

Naeemi and Krishna’s enduring impact on the School of ECE undergraduate program and the wider engineering community will forever be recognized with their names etched on the Eta Kappa Nu Outstanding Teacher Awards display in the Van Leer Building.

The research, led by recent Ph.D. Graduate Xiaochen Peng and ECE Professor Shimeng Yu, proposes an end-to-end benchmark framework to evaluate state-of-the-art compute-in-memory (CIM) accelerators. The work provides the design automation community a family of open-sourced NeuroSim series with tools to allow users to explore different hardware specifications and find the best design options for their research on CIM accelerators.

The paper’s co-authors include Shanshi Huang, Hongwu Jiang, and Anni Lu, who are all current or former Ph.D. students in Yu’s Laboratory for Emerging Devices and Circuits research group.

The NeuroSim series has been recognized for its comprehensive capabilities and has attracted many users, including industry researchers from major companies such as Intel, TSMC, IBM, Samsung, and SK Hynix, as well as researchers from universities and academia worldwide. The project is primarily supported by the National Science Foundation and the Semiconductor Research Corporation.

The award will be presented at the Design Automation Conference (DAC), taking place from July 9-13 in San Francisco.

Earlier this year, Peng, who currently works at TSMC Corporate Research (North America) as a principal engineer, received the 2023 Outstanding Dissertation Award from the European Design and Automation Association (EDAA) for her NeuroSim series work.

In 2022, ECE Professor Sung Kyu Lim and his research team won the Donald O. Pederson Best Paper Award for their paper on a physical design tool named Compact-2D that automatically builds high-density and commercial-quality monolithic three-dimensional integrated circuits (3D ICs).

Hosted by the Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology (IEN), Chips Day began with a recorded statement from U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff emphasizing the importance of microelectronics and semiconductor research and commending Georgia Tech for hosting the event.

The agenda included speakers with a wide variety of expertise, including Gregg Bartlett, chief technology officer of GlobalFoundries, Fayrouz Saad, director of public engagement for the CHIPS Program Office, and Victor Zhirnov, chief scientist of Semiconductor Research Corporation, among others. Multiple Georgia Tech faculty members also gave talks, including Chaouki Abdallah, executive vice president of research, and Arijit Raychowdhury, professor and chair of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

During his keynote address, Bartlett discussed market trends in the semiconductor industry and the market focus and roadmap for GlobalFoundries, one of the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturers. He explained that GlobalFoundries’ core focuses are on innovation and differentiated platforms, including silicon photonics, FinFET, and feature-rich CMOS. Bartlett also noted that, due to the dynamic nature of the semiconductor market, success requires collaboration across research consortia and academic institutions, including events like Chips Day and the recent partnership on semiconductor research and workforce development signed with Georgia Tech.

"I am incredibly proud of the work that the IEN faculty, staff, students, and our industrial and governmental partners did to make Chips Day a success,” said Michael Filler, IEN’s associate director of research. “This event brought together some of the brightest minds in the semiconductor industry to share their ideas and collaborate on solutions to some of the most pressing challenges facing our field.”

Chips Day also included a ceremony honoring John Hooper (M.S. EE 1955, Ph.D. EE 1961), Georgia Tech Regents’ Professor emeritus and the founding director of the Microelectronics Research Center (MiRC), which is now IEN. It included an overview of Hooper’s career and accomplishments given by David Hertling, professor emeritus in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Hooper’s children, Jeff and Christie, were also in attendance.

Hertling explained how Hooper worked with President Joseph Pettit in the 1980s to establish a strong microelectronics research presence at Georgia Tech. This included designing the MiRC, which was uniquely constructed as a resource center to enable faculty from all disciplines to engage in cutting-edge research. This model allowed Tech to attract top microelectronics talent and become a leader in the space. Thanks to Hooper’s efforts, among others, IEN is now home to one of the largest academic cleanrooms in the country and supports the research of more than 1,000 users per year from Georgia Tech, other academic institutions, industry, and government labs.

In addition to the talks, Chips Day included industry panels on economic and workforce development featuring thought leaders in these respective areas. Georgia Tech students participated in a poster session to give attendees a glimpse into their research and vendors showcased the latest products and solutions driving advancements in semiconductors and microelectronics.

“Georgia Tech is committed to advancing semiconductor research and development,” concluded Filler. “I am confident that the work that was done at Chips Day will help to ensure that the United States remains a leader in semiconductor innovation for years to come."

During the conference, the IEN team, along with the National Nanotechnology Coordinating Office (NNCO) from Washington, D.C., shared the many opportunities available to educators to learn about and teach nanotechnology to their students. IEN also provided an optional tour of its micro- and nanofabrication cleanroom and its Materials Characterization Facility for conference attendees. During the tour attendees got a firsthand view of the work that takes place, the capabilities of the facility, and notable research accomplishments.

“Partnering with organizations like the NSTA gives us an opportunity to teach educators how they can incorporate nanotechnology in their classrooms,” said Mikkel Thomas, IEN’s associate director for education and outreach. “Since the conference was held in Atlanta, we were able to not only share the many programs we have with them but also showcase our facilities.”

As part of its mission to prepare the workforce of the future, IEN offers opportunities for educators to learn about and teach nanotechnology. This includes the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program for high school teachers and technical college faculty a paid opportunity to experience the excitement of nanotechnology research and share this experience in their classrooms. In addition, the Summer Nanoscience Institute for Middle School Teachers (NanoSIMST) is a five-day workshop in which teachers will learn about nanoscience, develop lesson plans, and receive hands-on activities that bring nanoscience into the classroom.

In addition, high school teachers that participated in IEN’S Summer 2022 RET program shared their experiences with attendees by presenting a talk at the conference. The RET program was funded by the National Science Foundation and is part of a larger program within the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI).

The team, “Advancing Health Equity and Diagnostic Technologies (GA) Development,” will use the award to support key institutional, corporate, government, education, and community partners to create an innovative ecosystem that will inspire, develop, and translate affordable and widely available point-of-care (POC) medical technologies to advance health equity throughout the southeast.

“The Southeastern U.S. has the lowest life expectancy in the nation, and there are significant health disparities along economic, educational, racial, and geographic divisions,” said Wilbur Lam, Georgia Tech professor, principal investigator, and innovation lead. “The team will work to build an ecosystem of partners to drive use-inspired research and technology translation in the area of POC diagnostics and wearables with strong community engagement to help address these areas and advance health equity.” 

The NSF Engines program is a transformational investment for the nation, ensuring the U.S. remains in the vanguard of competitiveness for decades to come. 

"These NSF Engines Development Awards lay the foundation for emerging hubs of innovation and potential future NSF Engines," said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. "These awardees are part of the fabric of NSF's vision to create opportunities everywhere and enable innovation anywhere. They will build robust regional partnerships rooted in scientific and technological innovation in every part of our nation. Through these planning awards, NSF is seeding the future for in-place innovation in communities and to grow their regional economies through research and partnerships. This will unleash ideas, talent, pathways and resources to create vibrant innovation ecosystems all across our nation." 

Led by Lam, the team aims to build an ecosystem to drive use-inspired research and technology translation for health equity and leverage relationships with underserved Georgia communities to inspire a technology roadmap and adopt new technologies.​ An annual event and comprehensive roadmap will drive sustainable technology translation, workforce development, and systemic education.  

The awardees span a broad range of states and regions, reaching geographic areas that have not fully benefited from the technology boom of the past decades. These NSF Engines Development Awards will help organizations create connections and develop their local innovation ecosystems within two years to prepare strong proposals for becoming future NSF Engines, which will each have the opportunity to receive up to $160 million.   

Launched by NSF's new Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships and authorized by the "CHIPS and Science Act of 2022," the NSF Engines program uniquely harnesses the nation's science and technology research and development enterprise and regional-level resources. NSF Engines aspire to catalyze robust partnerships to positively impact regional economies, accelerate technology development, address societal challenges, advance national competitiveness and create local, high-wage jobs. 

View a map of the NSF Engines Development Awards. More information can be found on the NSF Engines program website.  

NSF MEDIA REQUESTS: media@nsf.gov  

GEORGIA TECH MEDIA REQUESTS: georgia.parmelee@gatech.edu  

Tech's team, comprised of four racers, narrowly emerged from the field of 15 schools and 52 individual pilots to take home the title following two days of competition at the Fayette Fliers Field in Tyrone, Georgia. While scores from the qualifying round and the previous races in the knockout round are compiled into a sum, it was RotorJackets' vice president Tanner Beard who put his team in the lead in the final race of the competition. Beard also finished in second place in the individual competition, but it's the team’s accomplishment that he's proudest of.

Beard and outgoing team president Luke Lawver started flying first-person view (FPV) drones together in 2018 before officially founding RotorJackets in the fall of 2020. As Beard, a mechanical engineering student, and Lawver, an aerospace graduate student, get set to leave Tech, the pair couldn't have imagined the success the group has achieved in a short time.

"I'm just very proud of how far it's come. We started out practicing on fields with PVC pipes, and our gates and materials were falling apart. We didn't really have anything, but we were able to build everything up, and we've practiced every single weekend for events like this," Beard said.

The team learned the layout of the championship track just two weeks before the event, but practicing from first light to sundown was nothing new for the RotorJackets. The hard work and preparation continued up until the last minute as the team was forced to replace a drone the night before the competition. But the two senior members of the team were impressed by first-year computer engineering student Ian Boraks –– the incoming president –– and Dylan Wyckoff, in his first-ever drone race. Wyckoff is a third-year computer science major and will take over as the club’s treasurer.

Both relished the opportunity to fly alongside their experienced teammates and are now focused on continuing their legacy in pursuit of a three-peat.

Other than winning titles, the club also wants to expand the drone-flying community on campus. When the fall semester begins, monthly events will be held on Tech Green, where all students can learn how to fly. No experience is necessary, and all equipment will be provided. Not all club members are racers, and the benefits of learning the skill go well beyond the group.

"The cool thing about FPV as a hobby is that, especially as an engineering major or someone in any STEM field, it teaches you a ton of practical skills that are incredibly useful in your day-to-day job," Lawver said. "We build all of our drones basically from scratch, so you can learn about electrical hardware design, mechanical hardware design, and software engineering and dive into whatever areas you want. Or, you can just treat it as a black box, and you'll have fun with it."

Using the skills they've acquired, the RotorJackets have expanded their footprint at Tech, using drones to enhance coverage of events like the iconic Mini-500 as well the Pi Mile, and they've assisted Athletics in creating digital content. 

While not necessary to join the club and learn the ropes, obtaining your Remote Pilot Certificate from the FAA is recommended if you're interested in the more advanced stages of drone piloting, and the plan is to offer this certification through the club in the coming semesters.

For information on how to join the RotorJackets and the latest updates on upcoming events, join their Discord.

They’re in our TVs, refrigerators, and washing machines, helping us live comfortable lives. They also help us stay alive as part of the medical network, used in pacemakers, blood pressure monitors, and MRI machines, among other things. Also, our national economic and defense systems rely on them. Basically, semiconductors control and manage the flow of information in the machinery that keeps the world going.

And right now, at Georgia Tech, researchers are working to innovate chip technology to ensure that U.S. semiconductor development is globally competitive, reliable, sustainable, and resilient, today and in the future.

“If you look at semiconductors, or the whole area of computing, it spans across Georgia Tech — across many different schools and disciplines,” said Arijit Raychudhury, professor and Steve W. Chaddick Chair in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). “Starting with physics and chemistry, where we essentially learn how different types of materials will react, to materials science and engineering, to electrical engineering and computer engineering, to computer science.”

It's a diverse, multidisciplinary enterprise from bottom to top, Raychudhury noted. And there is still plenty of room at the bottom, as theoretical physicist Richard P. Feynman famously said more than 60 years ago, predicting that one day we’d be making things at the atomic level. We are. It’s a familiar realm to Victor Fung and his lab, where they are designing new materials for semiconductors from the ground up, atom by atom.

“We are interested in exploring how to translate the latest advances in AI and machine learning to aid in accelerating computational materials simulations and materials discovery,” said Fung, assistant professor in the School of Computational Science. “We’ve been developing methods which can accurately predict a wide range of materials’ properties, to greatly facilitate high-throughput materials screening.”

Fung’s lab is using AI to discover previously unstudied materials with the electronic properties to build into chips. This approach to creating “designer” semiconductors would be significantly faster and cover more of the materials space than current methods.

Improving the Landscape

Smaller, more efficient, and more powerful are all part of the constantly evolving landscape in semiconductor research and development. It’s a very expensive landscape. While many chips are about the size of a fingernail, they are among the most complex human-made objects on Earth. Just building a semiconductor fabrication factory costs billions of dollars.

For a chemical engineer like Michael Filler, that sounds like opportunity.

“Chemical engineers think about how we produce products on a massive scale,” said Filler, associate professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and associate director of the Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology (IEN).

Filler, whose research involves the growing of semiconductor components, like transistors, from seed particles, is aiming to help democratize the process of chip development, bringing down the cost substantially while maintaining performance. In a not too distant future, that could mean an individual at home printing a chip on a machine similar to a 3D printer.

“Imagine a laser printer that can literally spit out custom electronics in a matter of minutes,” Filler said. “We’re big believers in the individual’s ability to be creative and know what they want to build for their applications. Ultimately, we’re interested in giving makers and prototypers opportunities to customize electronics.”

He’s in the right place for the far-reaching research he has in mind, adding, “We are so blessed with great facilities at Georgia Tech. It would be hard to imagine working somewhere else, because very few places have the diversity and quality of tooling we have here.”

IEN, which facilitates much of the semiconductor research at Georgia Tech, is based in the Marcus Nanotechnology Building, with its state-of-the-art micro/nano fabrication facilities such as the shared cleanroom space and a laser machine lab for micromachining.

But it is the range of expertise and creativity among faculty and students who are making IEN and Georgia Tech a thought leader in semiconductor research. This is evidenced by Tech’s recent grant of $65.7 million from the Semiconductor Research Corporation and the Defense Research Projects Agency to launch two new interdisciplinary research centers.

Events like Georgia Tech Chip Day (May 2) and Nanowire Week, an international gathering happening in Atlanta in October, also speak to Tech’s growing influence in this area.

Answering the Call

The Covid-19 pandemic clarified just how difficult it can be to make more chips. A shortage of semiconductors affected the supply of phones, computers, and other commonly used items during the global shutdown. Increased demand, depleted reserves, and too few manufacturing plants and workers significantly crippled the supply chain.

“The high degree of geographic concentration in certain parts of the semiconductor supply chain has recently created a heightened risk of supply interruptions,” said Chip White, Schneider National Chair in Transportation and Logistics and professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE). “Such interruptions and resulting wild fluctuations in semiconductor demand can threaten the nation’s public health, defense, and economic security.”

With that in mind, translational supply chain research is going on in several places on campus, White said, including the Supply Chain and Logistics Institute and the NSF AI Research Institute for Advances in Optimization. White and his colleagues are developing software platforms for stress testing manufacturing supply chains. The goal is to identify vulnerabilities and risk mitigation procedures to design and operate next generation supply chains for critical industries such as the semiconductor industry, to improve global competitiveness and strike a balance between market forces and national security.

In an effort to address and feed the next generation demand for chips, the Biden administration recently launched a massive effort to outcompete China in semiconductor manufacturing, offering $39 billion in funding incentives for companies seeking to build plants in the U.S.

Another related area of importance in the ongoing development of semiconductors is growing the workforce of the future, and that includes a new wave of researchers. This is a role that Jennifer Hasler takes seriously.

“I have a strong interest and belief in mentoring,” said Hasler, ECE professor and founder of the Integrated Computational Electronics lab at Georgia Tech. She’s proven, theoretically at least, that the technology already exists to build a silicon-based version of the human cerebral cortex (which would cost billions of dollars to design and build), but one of her favorite roles is working with new, young faculty.

“It’s a personal thing for me, but it’s one of the coolest things I’m involved in,” she said. “When they come to Georgia Tech, they see how big this place is, bigger than a company. I like to say to them, ‘Let’s calm down, take a breath, you’re good, so let’s go make some cool stuff. Let’s get some momentum going.’”

For Raychowdhury, director of the new Center for the Co-Design of Cognitive Systems (part of the JUMP 2.0 program), developing the skilled workforce of the future means answering the call of the nation.

“This is one of the largest ECE departments in the country, with many, many talented students,” he said. “And given the need and shortage of skilled professionals in this particular area, I think it’s critical for us to create that kind of pipeline.” Last year, ECE undergraduate students started taking a new, two-semester course, sponsored by Apple, in which they actually build microprocessors from scratch.

“This is completely new,” Raychowdhury said. “It’s expensive to offer this course, but we plan to keep doing it and we’re in conversations with other companies that want to invest in workforce development. So, in addition to doing fantastic research, we want to be sensitive to the needs of the country and a new generation.”

ECE’s computer engineering graduate program advanced one spot to fifth place (tied with University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) and the electrical engineering graduate program remained in fourth (tied with California Institute of Technology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and University of Michigan-Ann Arbor).

The new rankings mean that all four of ECE’s undergraduate and graduate programs are back in the top five according to U.S. News & World Report rankings. In terms of rankings among public universities, both graduate programs placed second. All ECE’s undergraduate and graduate programs now rank either No. 1 or No. 2 among public universities.

“The rankings affirm the value of ECE's excellence-at scale-approach in providing a high-quality education to a broad and diverse range of students, preparing them for the demands of a rapidly changing world and workplace,” said Arijit Raychowdhury, the Steve W. Chaddick School Chair for ECE. “The hard work and dedication of our entire community is reflected in the School’s continued recognition."

Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering graduate program have also entered the top five, climbing two spots to No. 5 in this year’s rankings.

The new rankings put the College of Engineering in third among public universities. It also complements last fall’s undergraduate list, where the College is ranked No. 5 overall.

About the U.S. News & World Report Rankings
U.S. News releases graduate school rankings each spring. Their evaluation of engineering as a whole is based on a variety of factors, including research expenditures, peer assessments, and doctoral degrees awarded. Rankings of specific engineering disciplines are based solely on peer assessments by department heads.

As the Linda J. and Mark C. Smith Chair in bioscience and bioengineering in Tech’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), Inan designs clinically relevant medical devices and systems and translates them from the lab to patient care applications. In his talk, Inan will be discussing his groundbreaking research on wearable healthcare technologies and the potential they hold for revolutionizing the field.

Inan is a member of the prestigious Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows (elected in 2022) for his “outstanding contributions to the non-invasive assessment of the mechanical aspects of cardiovascular health and performance using wearable devices.” Additional achievements include an Academy Award for Technical Achievement from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (The Oscars, 2021), the Georgia Power Professor of Excellence for the College of Engineering (2019), and the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program award (NSF CAREER, 2018).

TEDxAtlanta 2023: WE RISE brings together an impressive group of participants from diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. The speakers include entrepreneurs, activists, educators, artists, scientists, and many other changemakers who have risen above challenges to make a positive impact on the world.

The event's participants will share their stories and insights on how they have overcome adversity, embraced innovation, and challenged the status quo to make a difference in their communities and beyond. Through their talks, they will inspire and empower attendees to rise above their own challenges and take action towards creating a better future for all.

TEDxAtlanta 2023: WE RISE will take place on Friday, May 19 from 9 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. at the Rialto Center for the Arts (80 Forsyth Street Northwest Atlanta, GA 30303). Learn more and purchase tickets at tedxatlanta.com.

Described by friends and colleagues as a true gentleman scholar, Brand made a lasting impact on those he met.

“Oliver was a gentle soul. He led IEN with empathy and advocated vigorously for his team,” said Chaouki Abdallah, executive vice president for research at Georgia Tech. “When asked to participate in large research initiatives, he was inclusive and effective. He knew when to lead, and when to support. Our recent successes in capturing large semiconductor funding are largely due to Oliver’s expertise and his leadership. I will miss him.”

“Oliver was beloved by staff, students, and faculty alike at Georgia Tech and around the world. He was a delightful person who made every occasion brighter with his kindness, dedication, passion, and intellect,” added Julia Kubanek, vice president of interdisciplinary research at Georgia Tech. “His research contributions have been far-reaching, exemplifying true transdisciplinarity. He advocated tirelessly for the career interests and needs of researchers, especially his students as well as the research faculty and staff of IEN. He made IEN a true family and we will miss him enormously.”

Brand spent more than 20 years as a member of the Georgia Tech faculty and officially began his role as executive director of IEN in 2014. In addition to leading IEN, he was a professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), the director of the Coordinating Office for the NSF-funded National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) as well director of the Southeastern Nanotechnology Infrastructure Corridor, one of the 16 NNCI sites.

“Oliver's impact at Georgia Tech and ECE was exceptional, as very few individuals in any academic setting can match the magnitude of his influence,” said Arijit Raychowdhury, the Steve W. Chaddick School Chair of ECE. “While he was undoubtedly a distinguished figure in the research community, Oliver was equally renowned at ECE as a mentor and educator. He had a unique ability to instill his enthusiasm for learning and exploration in you, motivating you to strive for excellence not just professionally, but more importantly as a friend and human being.”

Brand was passionate about supporting and connecting those doing basic and applied research in the areas of electronics and nanotechnology, and under his direction, IEN grew to include more than 200 faculty members at Georgia Tech from multiple colleges and departments.

"During his tenure as executive director of IEN, Oliver skillfully guided the significant expansion of Georgia Tech's world-class research programs, core facilities, and educational activities in electronics and nanotechnology,” said Michael Filler, associate director for research programs in IEN. “He was instrumental in securing the coordinating office for the NSF-supported National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure. Most importantly, Oliver was cherished by the IEN community for his unassuming yet effective approach to team building and his unwavering commitment to supporting others."

Brand was a leading researcher in the area of Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and, in particular, the development of micro-scale physical, chemical, and biological sensors. He used his expertise in this area to help create the NIH-funded Atlanta Center for Microsystems Engineered Point-of-Care Technologies (ACME POCT), a center focused on the development and translation of microsystems-engineered technologies including microchip-enabled devices, MEMs-based sensors, microfluidics, and smartphone-based systems. ACME POCT was instrumental in developing accurate Covid-19 tests as part of the NIH’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics initiative, which was critical in slowing the spread of the virus.

“Oliver was a true pioneer in the field of microsystems engineering and nanotechnology. In more recent years, his interest expanded to the development of sensors for medical applications, and I had the good fortune of partnering with him on multiple collaborations,” said Wilbur Lam, a professor in the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering and Brand’s co-director of ACME POCT. “During the last several years, thanks in large part to Oliver’s leadership, our Center served as the national test validation center to verify the performance of Covid-19 diagnostics for the NIH and FDA, and Oliver and our team helped the entire country in ‘testing the tests’ to combat the global pandemic.”

In a 2022 article published by the New York Times, Bruce Tromberg, director of the NIH’s National Institute of Biomedical Engineering, called Brand and the rest of the team “absolutely heroic” for their contributions to the Covid-19 pandemic. The team also received the Outstanding Achievement in Research Program Development Award at the annual Georgia Tech Faculty and Staff Honors Luncheon in the spring of 2022 for their work in this area.

Throughout his career, Brand co-authored more than 120 publications in scientific journals and conference proceedings. He received the 2011 ECE Distinguished Mentor Award and the 2012 ECE Richard M. Bass/Eta Kappa Nu Outstanding Teacher Award, which is determined by the vote of the ECE senior class. He also served as general co-chair of the 2008 IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, co-editor of the Wiley-VCH book series Advanced Micro and Nanosystems, was a member of the editorial board of Sensors and Materials, a co-recipient of the 2005 IEEE Donald G. Fink Prize Paper Award, and a senior member of IEEE.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Claudia, and his children Marina and Tim. He will be deeply missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing him.

Alper Erturk (Lead PI), Carl Ring Family Chair and professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, and Yuhang Hu, associate professor and Woodruff Faculty Fellow in the Woodruff School and the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, were awarded $7.5 million for their project, Bio‐Inspired Material Architectures for Deep Sea (BIMADS). Randall Engle, professor in the School of Psychology, was awarded the same amount for his project titled Understanding and Building Overall Cognitive Capability Through Attention Control.

Erturk and Hu’s interdisciplinary project will explore the fundamental science behind the biological characteristics that allow deep sea fish to adapt and survive in high pressure ocean environments. They will then translate those findings to engineer bioinspired materials needed to realize the Navy’s advanced capabilities in deep sea environments.

“In the deep ocean, marine organisms have evolved to thrive in high pressure environments, and adapt to pressure changes while remaining functional,” Erturk said. “Our goal for this project is to discover, test, and translate biological mechanisms into synthetic materials and structures that can dynamically adapt to high pressures in the ocean.”

Specifically, the researchers will test and explore the origins of the biological mechanisms (both molecular and macroscopic) that underlie the ability for deep sea snailfish to adapt to high pressures, pressure changes, and pressure differentials across material interfaces. Using findings from the biological studies, the researchers will design synthetic materials and structures that will then be evaluated in high pressure chambers.

“Knowledge gained from these studies will provide insight toward the design of structures spanning from atmospheric dive suits to robotic fish for the deep ocean,” Hu said.

BIMADS brings together experts in marine biology, bioengineering, biomimetic materials, chemistry, mechanochemistry and multiphysics chemomechanical modeling, hydrogel synthesis, biohybrid material fabrication, and the design, mechanics, and dynamics of architected structures. In addition to Erturk and Hu, the team also includes Anna Balazs and Lance Davidson from the University of Pittsburgh, John Costello from Providence College, Shashank Priya from the University of Minnesota, and Andrew Sarles from the University of Tennessee.

Attention Control in Naval Training

Engle’s project will explore the brain’s mechanisms of attention control and investigate methods to potentially improve it or reduce its decline.

“We want to better understand the role that controlling attention and individual differences in that ability has in real-world, complex tasks such as flying a plane, driving a car, or even studying for a physics test,” Engle said. “We expect this work will help the Navy identify job trainees who are best able to attend to complex tasks, and also help to mitigate the effects of fatigue and mind wandering common to those tasks.”

According to Engle, the Navy trains about a thousand air traffic control professionals each year and spends over $100,000 per candidate. But nearly a quarter of candidates fail training, leading to significant financial waste.

Engle’s work with air traffic control trainees showed that current evaluations used to select candidates for training only predicts a small percentage of success. Engle found that, by using his measures of ability to control attention in evaluations, the Navy could more than double predictive success in candidate training. In addition, researchers found that Engle’s measures appeared to have less adverse impact and bias against women and minority candidates.

Engle’s collaborative research team includes researchers from MIT, the University of Chicago, Purdue University, and Michigan State University. Each team member is studying a different aspect of attention control.

Both Voelker and Vorpahl work for Karma Automotive, a luxury electric vehicle manufacturer based in California. Beginning with their time at Tech, they've never let gender bias stop them from pursuing their passion.

"It's math," Vorpahl, a visualization and digital design modeler at Karma, said. "You either get the question right, or you get the question wrong. I think that attitude really helps when you get into a professional environment. It teaches you to have tougher skin where if you are the best for that job, you will get the job. That's what Georgia Tech instilled."

Vorpahl grew up in the industry watching her family operate what is now the oldest independently owned Mercedes-Benz dealer in metro Atlanta after her grandfather, an engine designer for the German automaker, came to America and opened the shop in 1967. She arrived at Georgia Tech unsure if she'd follow in her family's footsteps, but ultimately, she landed an internship at Daimler, the nation's largest commercial vehicle manufacturer.

While other interns came in with a background in automotive design, Vorpahl’s willingness to learn and tireless work ethic landed her a full-time job as the only woman in the company's design studio.

During her three years at Daimler before accepting her position at Karma in 2022, she'd occasionally make the drive from Portland, Oregon, back to Georgia. Along the way, she crossed paths with truckers, who often expressed surprise that Vorpahl was among those behind the scenes designing their rigs. She often heard questions like “Why do you work there?” or “How did you end up there?”

And her response was simple. "Women like cars, too.” 

That rang true through Voelker's childhood as well. When the senior director of program management for Karma arrived in Atlanta for her first year at Georgia Tech, she knew she'd found a place that could help her turn an aptitude for math and science, and a fervor for cars, into a career.

"Best move I ever made," Voelker said on her decision to enroll at Tech, although it wasn't just the Institute's stellar reputation that lured her from her home state of New Hampshire. "I visited campus in February. There was 6 feet of snow on the ground and then I came to Atlanta, and the flowers were blooming."

After changing her major from mechanical engineering to industrial design, Voelker got her foot in the door through an internship with Masterack, a commercial cargo vehicle equipment manufacturer based in Atlanta. She attended Tech at a time when women made up around 27% of the undergraduate population, so when she entered the workforce, she wasn't fazed. "It never bothered me. I have always felt like I fit right in, especially when it's the right school, the right class, or the right company where everybody appreciates learning from each other and working together towards a common goal," she said.

In fact, her experience on North Avenue taught her to always keep learning and never give up, a piece of advice she now passes along to other women entering the industry.

"Don’t be afraid to give your opinion in meetings, speak up and use all of the knowledge that you've learned over the years toward whatever project you're working on," said Voelker, who worked her way up the ladder at Masterack for 18 years before seeking a new challenge at Karma. “That's one thing that I haven't backed down on. If I have a strong opinion about something, I have no fear of saying it.”

Vorpahl and Voelker each commended Karma for their dedication to promoting hard-working women and a culture that fosters diversity — a principle that Vorpahl especially values after completing two study abroad programs at the University of Singapore and the University of Strathclyde.

“One of the biggest advantages was seeing how people from different countries approach design and how different schools approach design. You don’t want a bunch of people who all think exactly the same way. Otherwise, we’d all be driving around in the exact same vehicle,” she said.

Leading Karma’s commercial vehicle product line, Voelker noted that she has continued to see more women in leadership positions and at industry conferences, and she hopes that momentum carries over to the next generation. Highlighting the importance of igniting both young girls’ and boys' interest in STEM, Voelker recently spoke to a local second grade class to share her experiences.

"I've been really fortunate to have had some great mentors over my career, so I love to pay it forward to the younger generation," she said. "They were so excited, and I hope that stays with them and excites them to learn more about engineering."

In addition to providing an example to young women of how to succeed in a competitive industry, Vorpahl also hopes to share the technical aspects of what she's learned in the field with her alma mater and offer future graduates a roadmap to a career in automotive design.

"The students would thrive in this industry because it is so nitpicky, and Tech minds would just love it," she said. "There's not really a direct path from the Georgia Tech studios into car studios, so I'm hoping that I can show them that path."

Voelker and Vorpahl are bonded by their employer and their alma mater, but it’s their shared passion for seeing their hard work hit the pavement that continues to drive them.  

Peng’s award-winning dissertation proposes an end-to-end benchmark framework to evaluate state-of-the-art compute-in-memory (CIM) accelerators by considering the hardware performance with the impacts from device options, circuit topologies, architecture hierarchy and data flow, as well as the software accuracy with non-ideal hardware properties. Her work provided the design automation community a family of open-sourced NeuroSim series. These tools allow users to explore different hardware specifications and find the best design options for their research on CIM accelerators. The NeuroSim series has been recognized for its comprehensive capabilities and has attracted many users, including industry researchers from major companies such as Intel, TSMC, IBM, Samsung, and SK Hynix, as well as researchers from universities and academia worldwide.

EDAA is an open nonprofit association, aimed at educational, scientific, and technical purposes for the benefit of the international electronics design and design automation community. In recognition of the importance of university research to the advancement of design automation and test, and to encourage young researchers to work in the field, EDAA annually honors four young researchers with an Outstanding Dissertation Award.

Peng will be honored with the award at this year’s Design, Automation, and Test in Europe Conference on April 18, 2023 in Antwerp, Belgium.

With historic investments from major players in the EV space, including Rivian, Kia, and Hyundai, the state of Georgia is uniquely positioned to serve as a leader in this effort. As the state's leading research institute, Georgia Tech is on the cutting edge of the movement. 

The transportation sector is the largest greenhouse gas emitter in the U.S. at nearly 30%, with passenger vehicles accounting for around 80% of the sector's total output1 as of 2019. Electric vehicles are widely regarded as a budding solution to reduce emissions, but even as both demand and production continue to increase, EVs currently account for around 1% of the cars on America's roadways. 

From the supply chain to the infrastructure needed to support alternative-fuel vehicles alongside consumer hesitancy, achieving the goals set by both the public and private sectors — including the Biden Administration's target of EVs making up at least 50% of new car sales by 2030 — will not be easy. Through research and development, policy, and collaboration, Tech experts are working toward finding solutions that will serve as catalysts during this transitionary period for the environment and the way Americans drive.

Check out the full story. 

The team consisted of Georgia Tech theoretical physicists Sami Hakani and Itamar Kimchi, along with experimental physicists Feng Ye (Oak Ridge National Lab), Lance DeLong (University of Kentucky), and, from the University of Colorado at Boulder: Gang Cao, Yifei Ni, Yu Zhang, and Hengdi Zhao. The group was drawn to the research after their previous study investigated the same material.

“Because this material did not fit any preexisting models, we had to develop new ideas to understand it,” said Georgia Tech graduate student Hakani, who played a key role in developing the theory. “These new ideas will help us study related materials that could be used for next-generation magnetic field devices.”

An Exception to the Rule

The physicists first became interested in the Mn3Si2Te6 material due to its unique electrical properties — in particular, a property called colossal magnetoresistance, an extreme enhancement in a material’s electrical conductivity when a magnetic field is applied.

In most materials, applying a magnetic field does not change that material’s conductivity. However, in another class of materials, applying a magnetic field does change conductivity; this is called magnetoresistance, and it can scale to “giant” and “colossal” changes in conductivity. In instances of colossal magnetoresistance, a material can change from behaving like an insulator (like Styrofoam) to being as conductive as a metal wire.

This change is not altogether unusual. Materials displaying giant magnetoresistance are not uncommon and are often used in computers; however, in all of these known materials, the material does not change its behavior in a way that significantly depends on the direction of the applied magnetic field. This new trimer-honeycomb material does.

“The phenomenon defies all existing theoretical models and experimental precedents,” said Kimchi, theoretical physicist and assistant professor in the School of Physics at Georgia Tech. And that’s where he and Hakani come in.

Uncovering Looping Currents

“As theoretical physicists, we develop new kinds of mathematical models,” said Kimchi. “When it’s qualitatively difficult to understand how anything can make sense in experimental data — when there’s something qualitatively shocking — we try to come up with that basic picture.”

Using the information uncovered by the experimental physicists, Hakani and Kimchi set out to understand why the extreme change in conductivity only happens when the magnetic field is applied perpendicularly to the honeycomb-like surface of the material.

“Our idea smelled promising, but, unfortunately, we quickly realized that currents between the magnetic manganese ions would be forbidden by symmetry, which was discouraging,” said Kimchi. “However, Sami then did the symmetry analysis for the octahedrally arranged tellurium ions, and, for them, currents were symmetry-allowed and could work out!”

Viewed from above, the material looks like a series of two-dimensional honeycombs. From the side, however, the material is composed of “sheets,” like a layer cake. Within each “sheet” of honeycomb, electrons can move in circular paths around each octahedral cell. These looping, circular-moving currents within the material are responsible for the material’s unique behavior. 

On its own, without a magnetic field present, electrons move both counterclockwise and clockwise around the honeycomb “cells,” like cars going in both directions around a roundabout. Just like in uncontrolled traffic, “traffic jams” make it difficult for electrons to move quickly throughout the material. Without a way to streamline traffic, the material acts more like an insulator.

However, if a magnetic field is applied perpendicular to the honeycomb-like surface, a “flow of traffic” is established, and electrons navigate the loops more quickly. The material then acts as a conductor, showing a seven-magnitude increase in conductivity — equivalent to an increase of a billion percent.

A New Paradigm

The transformation from insulator to conductor can also be driven by applying electrical currents in the material, but in that case, it doesn’t happen instantaneously. It can take seconds or even minutes for the material to switch from insulator to conductor.

The team believes that this tunability and slower type of switching, coupled with the material’s sensitivity to currents, could lead to new applications and discoveries in current-controlled quantum devices, a field of devices that range from sensors to computers to secure communication.

The next step? Working to better understand the newly discovered quantum state, and finding other materials where the quantum state might exist.

“Looking forward, we hope to understand not only what makes this material special, but also which microscopic ingredients are needed for related materials to become useful quantum technologies in our future,” said Hakani.