Acquisition of High Frequency Oscilloscope and Logic Stimulator & Analyzer to Enhance Research and Research Education in Engineering and Physics at SFSU
Abstract
DoD funding will enable six faculty members from the School of Engineering and the Department of Physics & Astronomy at San Francisco State University to acquire a state-of-the-art high frequency oscilloscope and a logic stimulator and analyzer from Keysight Technologies. The instruments will be connected and synchronized to provide a major system that will be used for testing, debugging, and characterizing digital, analog and mixed signal integrated circuits and circuit boards. It will open new avenues for research at an institution that serves a large number of students from underrepresented groups. The instrument will provide new multi-user experimental research capabilities and augment existing capabilities to support diverse research areas in hardware security, machine learning, neural-machine interface, robotics, and semiconductors that are of interest to all DoD agencies. The acquisition of the proposed system is urgently needed for advancing the research programs of faculty members and their student researchers, who are conducting forefront research at an urban, non-Ph.D. granting, Hispanic-serving institution. It will provide a state-of-the-art experimental platform to advance research in the following areas: (i) The PI Hamid Mahmoodi will test the functionality and characterize performance and security of circuits and design techniques for enhancing the security of integrated circuits and for developing and utilizing non-volatile programmable circuits for hardware security. (ii) Co-PI Fatemeh Tehranipoor will use the instrument to test security vulnerabilities of chips and to experimentally investigate the robustness of secure design techniques. (iii) Co-PI Hao Jiang will use the instrument to test and characterize functionality and performance of memristor based pattern recognition circuits in research that focusses on energy efficient design of interface circuits to memristor cross-bar arrays designed for machine learning. (iv) Co-PI Xiaorong Zhang and her students will test neural sensing circuits and processing systems for calibration and debugging to develop new methods of human machine interfacing by sensing bioelectric signals from human brains or muscles and performing pattern recognition to recognize human intent. Co-PI David Quintero will use the instrument for testing and debugging electronics used in wearable robotics to enable mobility and improve the quality of life for the disabled. Co-PI AKM Newaz will use the instrument to characterize electronic and electrooptical properties of nanoscale devices made from atom-thick two- and zero-dimensional materials. In addition to enhancing research capacity, the system will provide opportunities for MasterÕs and undergraduate students to engage in research using leading-edge technologies enabling them to acquire the skills to compete successfully for positions in the technology sector and/or matriculate in Ph.D. programs. Tutorials, manuals, and laboratory modules developed for use by the student researchers will be shared with the larger community via online publication. The equipment acquired will provide opportunities for recruiting, retaining, and engaging faculty and students, in particular those from underrepresented groups, in engineering and physics at one of the nationÕs most ethnically and culturally diverse universities. It will thereby contribute to increasing diversity in the STEM fields, while training the next generation of a highly skilled workforce in engineering and physics.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 19, 2019
- Source ID
- W911NF1910463
Entities
People
- Hamid Mahmoodi
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- Office of the Secretary of Defense
- San Francisco State University