Category: News

Dr. Nick Gans, head of the Automation and Intelligent Systems division, has been awarded the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant in collaboration with Immobileyes Inc. for “Small UAS Detection and Classification for Rapid Multiple C-UAS Operations using a Novel Multi-Wavelength Directed Energy Technology.”

The goal of the Air Force (AF) STTR project is to develop and evaluate the feasibility of Immobileyes Laser Storm system to support AF counter unmanned aerial system (UAS) tactics and operations procedures. Laser Storm is a patented, programmable, and scalable laser-emitting device capable of projecting a “shower” of multiple wavelength laser beams adapted to overwhelm multiple sensors. UTARI’s will work with Immobileyes to test the feasibility of enabling its Laser Storm technology to automatically identify target, track and blind multiple UAS’s through machine learning driven computer vision and advanced control algorithms.

STTR programs are highly competitive programs that encourage domestic small businesses to engage in Federal Research/Research and Development (R/R&D) with the potential for commercialization. Central to the STTR program is the partnership between small businesses and nonprofit research institutions. The STTR program requires the small business to formally collaborate with a research institution in Phase I and Phase II. STTR’s most important role is to bridge the gap between performance of basic science and commercialization of resulting innovations.

z held in Atlanta. The poster, “Feasibility Study of Smart Seat Cushion for Automated Interface Pressure Modulation” is focused on evaluating the smart seat cushion’s functionality in mapping, redistribution and offloading the seating interface pressure. The smart seat cushion monitors and modulates seating interface pressure in real-time to reduce pressure ulcer prevalence among wheelchair users.

Researchers on the project include Pavan Nuthi, Aida Nasirian, Muthu Wijesundara, Melissa Allman, Faith Meza, and Seema Sikka.

ASIA’s mission is to advance care, education and research to improve the lives of persons affected by spinal cord injury. It is a multi-faceted, forward-thinking and influential organization in the field of spinal cord injury (SCI) that creates, promotes, and disseminates standards for practice, education and research, and proactively translates these to improve the lives of people affected by SCI.

Learn more about the seat cushion here.

Dr. Frank Lewis, Professor of Electrical Engineers & Fellow, National Academy of Inventors, has again be ranked as a top Electronics & Electrical Engineering Scientist by Research.com. Dr. Lewis ranks #12 in the U.S. and #23 in the world.

Research.com focuses on the quality and visibility of research. Their mission is to offer leading researchers better exposure of their achievements. Their rankings of scientists are based on transparent procedures based on well-established metrics gathered from trusted sources of data. Learn more about their methodology here.

Kevin Hoos, Senior Research Assistant, presented “Progressive Damage Analysis of Complex 3D Textiles with Open Holes using Independent Mesh Method and Discrete Damage Modeling,” at AIAA SciTech conference in late January. The work aims to progress toward verified and validated composite damage modeling tools for textile composites.

The 2023 AIAA SciTech Forum focused on the “Future: Explore the Frontiers of Aerospace.” The program explores how aerospace is solving societal grand challenges, the funding resources available, the intersection of science and engineering, accelerating confidence in this digital world, and making Sci-Fi a reality.

Researchers on the project include Hari Adluru (UTARI), Endel Iarve (UTARI), Eric Zhou (University of Dayton Research Institute), Keith Ballard and David Mollenhauer (Air Force Research Laboratory).

Dr. Nick Gans, Principal Research Scientist and head of the Automation and Intelligence Division, attended the IEEE/CVF Winter Conference on Applications of Computer Vision (WACV), where he organized The First Workshop on Photorealistic Image and Environment Synthesis for Computer Vision (PIES-CV). This workshop engaged experts and researchers on the synthesis of photorealistic images and virtual environments, particularly in the form of public datasets, software tools, and infrastructures, for computer vision (CV) research. Such public datasets, software tools, and infrastructures can enable researchers to better design, test and compare CV algorithms and will lower entry barriers by enabling researchers that lack expensive hardware. Photorealistic image and environment synthesis can benefit multiple research areas in addition to CV, such as machine learning, robotics, human perception, multimedia systems, and mixed reality.

WACV is a premier international computer vision event comprising the main conference and several co-located workshops and tutorials. The conference was held January 3-7 in Waikoloa, Hawaii.

UTARI’s Biomedical Technologies Division, led by Dr. Muthu Wijesundara, had two abstracts accepted for 2023. They are related to the smart seat cushion technology for individuals with spinal cord injury. 

• International Seating Symposium (ISS – The 38th International Seating Symposium. April 13-15, 2023. Pittsburgh, PA)
• American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA – 50th Annual Scientific Meeting, April 17-19, 2023. Atlanta, GA)

The smart seat cushion monitors and modulates seating interface pressure in real-time to reduce pressure ulcer prevalence among wheelchair users. You can learn more about the smart seat cushion here.

Dr. Frank Lewis, a Professor in the UTA Department of Electrical Engineering, and the Moncrief-O’Donnell Endowed Chair and Head of the Advanced Controls & Sensors Group at UTA Research Institute, has received two distinguished honors.

Dr. Lewis has been named a Clarivate Highly City Researcher of 2022. He has received the recognition every year since 2019. Each year, Clarivate identifies the world’s most influential researchers. Only about 0.1% of the world’s researchers earn this exclusive distinction.

He has also been named a Fellow of the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The main mission of the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association is to strengthen scientists in the field of AI and other fields worldwide to promote the development and application of AI through academic research, academic exchanges, science education, science exhibitions, academic conferences, academic publications, summer/winter camps and other activities.

Dr. Nick Gans, Principal Research Scientist and head of UTARI’s Automation and Intelligent Systems Division, was accepted in early access by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The paper “Rule-Based Safe Probabilistic Movement Primitive Control via Control Barrier Functions,” has been finalized and posted in “Early Access.” In the paper, researchers developed a novel and safe control design approach that takes demonstrations provided by a human teacher to enable a robot to accomplish complex manipulation scenarios in dynamic environments. The paper is an extension of previous work that was a finalist for the 2021 Best Paper at IEEE Conference on Automation Science and Engineering.

The collaborative team includes Dr. Nick Gans, UTARI, Dr. Bill Beksi, UTA, Dr. Mohammadreza Davoodi, UTARI and University of Memphis, Dr. Asif Iqbal, UTARI, Joe Cloud, UTA.

IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. IEEE and its members inspire a global community through its highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities.

Dr. Haleh Aghajani’s, along with colleagues, paper was accepted at the 44th Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) Conference.

H. A. Affleck, G. E. Brannon, H. Aghajani, V.P. Nguyen, K. Brown, Y. Liao, “Social Media ads as a method of research recruitment: A comparison of minority women who enrolled vs. who completed a virtual study,”

The annual SBM Conference will be held in Phoenix, AZ in April of 2023. This year’s theme will be “Translating Science into Impact.” It will showcase success stories in translating behavioral science into real-world impact and will prepare attendees to overcome barriers and increase the impact of their work.

SBM is a nonprofit organization composed of researchers, clinicians, educators, industry professionals, and policymakers from more than 20 healthcare disciplines. They focus on behavioral, psychosocial, environmental, and biomedical theory, knowledge, and interventions relevant to health and disease.

Dr. Yan Wan, Professor, Electrical Engineering, has been elected to American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Associate (AIAA) Fellow Class of 2023. AIAA Associate Fellows are “individuals of distinction who have made notable and valuable contributions to the arts, sciences, or technology of aeronautics or astronautics.” Per AIAA, Dr. Wan has distinguished herself by her notable contributions and accomplishments to the aerospace community, and thus have earned this esteemed level of membership.

Each year, only one for every 150 voting members are selected and approved.  The selection process is highly competitive, and only approximately 17% of the AIAA membership are associate fellows.

With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 95 corporate members, AIAA is the world’s largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession.