#psumcecs

[portlandstateresearch]

PSU’s Jonathan Bird (electrical and computer engineering faculty) receives a $2M grant from the United States Department of Energy. Bird will use the funds to demonstrate a newly-invented adjustable magnetic spring that allows for higher power adjustability and controllability.

[portlandstateresearch]

Martin Siderius, Electrical & Computer Engineering faculty, and research associates Lanfranco Muzi and John Bevvie, co-authored “An analysis of beamforming algorithms for passive bottom reflection-loss estimation,” published in the November 2018 issue of The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

Abstract: This study provides an argument cautioning against the use of adaptive-beamforming (ABF) techniques in conjunction with a known method for estimating the bottom reflection loss from natural marine ambient noise. This application of ABF has been investigated in the past with rather inconsistent results. Furthermore, no formal proof that ABF algorithms do indeed provide an estimate of the bottom reflection loss is available. This study moves from a recent derivation of the relationship between the bottom reflection coefficient and the Fourier transform of the marine-noise spatial coherence function. The circumstances under which the beamforming operation approximates a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) of the spatial coherence function estimated from array data are analyzed. It is shown that, under certain conditions, conventional beamforming is equivalent to directly computing the DFT of the coherence function, as long as some subtle details are properly taken into account. Furthermore, it is shown that ABF cannot be guaranteed, in general, to perform this operation, and therefore provide an estimate of the bottom reflection coefficient. The conclusions are demonstrated on simulated and measured data.

[portlandstateresearch]

Kelly Clifton, Civil & Environmental Engineering Professor, was recently named Associate Dean for Research for the Maseeh College of Engineering & Computer Science. “As the Associate Dean of Research for MCECS, I am excited to be a part of this next phase of growth and development of the college. I look forward to working with our talented faculty, staff, and students to advance our research enterprise and grow our capacity to engage in scientific exploration and discovery,” Clifton said.

[portlandstateresearch]

Please join me in congratulating Rick Campbell of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering for elevation to IEEE Fellow effective January 1 2019.  Less than 0.1% of voting members of IEEE are selected annually for this member grade elevation.  Rick was elected with the following citation: For contributions to millimeter and terahertz wafer-probe technology.   Congratulations for this well-deserved recognition, Rick.  And thank you for also bringing recognition to our Maseeh College community based on your extraordinary accomplishments. 

[portlandstateresearch]

Elliott Gall, Mechanical & Materials Engineering faculty member and Linda George, Environmental Science & Management faculty member, co-authored “Traffic-Related Air Pollution And Urban Building Design,” published in the September, 2018 issue of the ASHARE Journal. Informed by an air quality study at Portland’s Harriet Tubman Elementary School, the article makes a case that those managing built environments near roadways should more fully consider three key aspects of traffic related air pollution: time and spatial variation of the source, the complexity of multicomponent mixtures, and the path of air entering a building. 

[portlandstateresearch]

On the anniversary of last year’s total solar eclipse, a team of Portland State University engineering students and alumni released today a spectacular video and high-resolution photos showing the eclipse shadow as it moves across Oregon.

The video is the only one of its kind to have been produced following a nationwide NASA-funded project that sent weather balloons 100,000 feet above the earth’s surface to document the eclipse as it traversed the United States. It was made from panoramic images consisting of over 1,000 stitched photos captured by cameras mounted to weather balloons the team launched from Corvallis, Oregon on August 21, 2017.

[portlandstateresearch]

Among the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science’s signature offerings, the Undergraduate Research and Mentoring Program (URMP) funds paid undergraduate research opportunities for students majoring in all Maseeh College undergraduate disciplines.

[portlandstateresearch]

Jonathan Bird, mechanical and materials engineering faculty, and student Ho Yin Wong co-authored “Comparative Analysis of a Coaxial Magnetic Gear With a Flux Concentration Rotor and Consequent Pole Rotor Typology,” published in the August 2018 issue of IEEE Transactions on Magnetics.

Abstract: This paper presents the performance comparison between a flux concentration (FC) and triple-permanent magnet (PM) consequent pole (CP) magnetic gear (MG) rotor typology with the same 7.5:1 gear ratio. The triple PM CP MG is unique in that it can create torque change through two field heterodyning pole combinations. The performance with respect to volumetric and mass torque density is considered. It is shown that the FC typology can operate with a higher mass and volumetric torque density, even when using a low FC ratio rotor.