Each early-career faculty researcher is making a substantial impact through their respective areas of expertise.

As in previous years, the variety of disciplines represented through the awards showcases �鶹ӳ����ý’s commitment to cultivating and recognizing groundbreaking and academically diverse research.

Honorees will receive a $10,000 annual research grant for three years in addition to the distinction of being an award recipient.

The prestigious award is second only to Pegasus Professor as �鶹ӳ����ý’s highest faculty honor.

The �鶹ӳ����ý community is cordially invited to come and congratulate the recipients from 3 to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 2 in the Pegasus Ballroom of the Student Union as part of the 2025 Founders’ Day Faculty Honors Celebration.

This year’s Reach for the Stars honorees are:

Amrita Ghosh

• Assistant professor of South Asian literature at �鶹ӳ����ý’s within its and a member of The India Center at �鶹ӳ����ý
• Ph.D. in postcolonial literature and theory from Drew University.

Amrita Ghosh hopes to create an understanding in conflict zones and bridge gaps in cultural interpretations spanning the varied peoples of South Asia through her cultural and literary research.

Her research as an assistant professor of South Asian literature at �鶹ӳ����ý focuses on studying literature and media from countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, among others.

Ghosh says she hopes to bring to light a better understanding of the nearly 2 billion people inhabiting these countries and how some of them have adapted since gaining independence and sovereignty from occupying nations.

“My research is important because it creates an understanding of the effects that colonialism had over South Asia for over 200 years, including the sources of conflicts, but also the resilience of the people,” she says. “It enables us to build cross border solidarity with a part of the world that’s often mired in essentialized representations.”

Ghosh says she believes there is value in learning about South Asia’s profoundly rich history for not just the 2 billion people living there, but for everyone.

“Through my research I hope to underscore solidarities and critical intimacies that can help mitigate the increasing rhetoric of division and fragmentation that is there in some South Asian nations,” she says. “South Asia has many different communities, ethnicities, identities and cultures living together. Through my work I hope to highlight syncretic pasts and how to also forge ahead together toward ethical futures.”

Ghosh was inspired by her family history tracing back to modern day Bangladesh. She had studied the aftermaths of the British partitions of the Indian subcontinent into Bangladesh, India, Pakistan.

“Prior to researching the Partition, I was always interested in this huge historical rupture because of stories I heard within the family,” Ghosh says. “I grew up hearing stories of Partition, of courage, resilience and of friendship of cross border relations. Many such families exist in South Asia with stories of Partition that are there buried within families and that created an interest for me to enter this field of study.”

In addition to her research and student mentorship, Ghosh has shared her prolific findings through authoring or editing a variety of unique books spanning topics on India’s largest film industry in Mumbai, popularly called Bollywood, and literary and media analysis of the militarized border zone such as Kashmir.

She says she’s also working on more enlightening discoveries to be published soon.

“I am also very excited about upcoming research that is coming out on intersecting the narratives of Partition and [artificial intelligence] AI,” Ghosh says. “This upcoming journal article is on how AI can be used in creative imaginations to rethink hatred and foster solidarities and friendships in the so-called rival nations of India and Pakistan.”

While some people may think the arts and humanities are distinct from STEM, Ghosh says she believes they are is both complementary to science and essential in enhancing the human experience.

“Literature, arts and the humanities have an important role at a time when the world is rapidly shifting through technology, scientific and business innovations constantly,” she says. “Literature and the arts can enable us to understand the significance of human reliance towards each other, the values of pluralistic thinking and help us come closer. I say this with hope especially because �鶹ӳ����ý has been such a space where knowledge is built together alongside many different divergent fields.”

Ghosh’s proficiencies aligned with �鶹ӳ����ý’s desire to expand its literary offerings, as the university was looking for an expert in South Asian literature. She says she the mutual interest was evident almost instantly.

“When I interviewed with �鶹ӳ����ý, I was very impressed with the wide variety of different research expertise that is there in my department,” Ghosh says. “After getting to know the department and my colleagues, I knew it was absolutely the right place for me. I also had the chance to meet with students for an interview and I still remember the fantastic energy they had even in a short meeting.”

While she still holds dear the memories of where she had lived before, Ghosh says she feels at home here in Orlando.

“When I first visited Orlando, I was particularly impressed with the dynamism of the city and what it offers to the people,” she says. “In my third year here, I call myself a Floridian now.”

Although Ghosh is comfortable here at �鶹ӳ����ý, she says that she’s far from finished with furthering her aspirations.

She says that being a Reach for the Stars honoree is incredibly humbling, and that it encourages her to continue growing with �鶹ӳ����ý.

“I am so thankful for the support �鶹ӳ����ý has shown me and this award means the world to me to be able to continue my research,” she says. “I feel overjoyed and so grateful for all the amazing opportunities that last three years of �鶹ӳ����ý have provided me that led to this award.”

Leland Nordin

• Assistant Professor of materials science and engineering at within its with a joint appointment with .
• Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

Semiconductors are specialized components omnipresent in everyday electronics — including the phone that Leland Nordin answered to hear President Alexander N. Cartwright congratulating him on earning a 2025 Reach for the Stars award.

“It was a great honor and surreal moment to receive a call from �鶹ӳ����ý’s president informing me of the award,” says Nordin, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering whose research focuses on semiconductors. “I deeply appreciate that �鶹ӳ����ý recognizes the hard work my students and I are doing, and I am excited about the research opportunities this award will unlock.”

Nordin, who also holds a joint appointment at CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics, works to realize better and more efficient semiconductor materials and devices. Specifically, he and his group of students work on specialty devices that emit, detect, or manipulate light — such as lasers, LEDs and photodetectors like those found in a cell phone camera.

“My research is important because semiconductor materials and advanced devices drive nearly every critical technology today and will be central to future innovations,” Nordin says. “These future applications include, but are not limited to, quantum technologies, artificial intelligence, next generation 5G/6G communications, autonomous systems, space exploration, and hypersonics.”

While many of these terms may seem cumbersome and unfamiliar, Nordin says he hopes his research helps to translate these technologies into ways that improve the lives of people everywhere.

“I strive to develop semiconductor materials and devices that make a real impact,” he says. “For example, we are working on ultraviolet light emitters, particularly lasers, that could help efficiently sterilize hospitals and other critical environments. Additionally, we are exploring ways to improve computer memory, which is a key bottleneck in modern data centers that power the AI revolution.”

Nordin leverages �鶹ӳ����ý’s plentiful semiconductor resources, such as its state-of-the-art cleanrooms, to grow his research and educate students.

“We take a ‘full stack’ approach to semiconductor materials and devices, meaning we design, synthesize, fabricate and test our own materials and devices,” he says. “Using molecular beam epitaxy (a process akin to spray painting with atoms) we grow high-quality semiconductor materials. We then carve these materials into working devices in a cleanroom before testing their performance in our lab.”

In evaluating universities where he could launch his career, Nordin says he found �鶹ӳ����ý to be the most opportune place to harness his multidisciplinary research without excluding or overplaying any one aspect of his work.

“Before joining �鶹ӳ����ý, I worked across a range of disciplines, including physics, electrical engineering, and materials science and engineering,” he says. “I chose �鶹ӳ����ý because it is the ideal place to pursue this interdisciplinary work, offering world-class facilities, outstanding colleagues and as I’ve come to appreciate, exceptional research support. I am especially fortunate to have a joint appointment as well.”

Since joining �鶹ӳ����ý in 2023, Nordin has not only prioritized accelerating semiconductor and optoelectronic research but preparing students for a career in STEM.

“One of my primary goals is to train the next generation of the U.S. semiconductor workforce,” he says. “As an educator, I believe my most significant contribution is the students I mentor and graduate. I want them to be the most hardworking, well-equipped scientists and engineers in the field.”

Nordin says he takes great pride in the student research group he assembled, and that he greatly appreciates their trust in his ability to focus and guide meaningful research.

“I know it may sound corny, but I’m especially proud of the research group I’ve built and their enthusiasm for semiconductor materials and devices,” he says, “There’s always some risk in joining a junior faculty member’s lab, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the students in my group.”

Nordin says he is elated to receive this award, and he reiterates his appreciation for the support of his many close collaborators and friends.

“I am incredibly honored, humbled, and excited to receive this award,” he says. “I would like to express my gratitude to my current graduate students, undergraduate students and my academic mentors.”

Yogesh Rawat

• Assistant professor at the .
• Ph.D. in computer science at the National University of Singapore.

Yogesh Rawat aspires toward a future where artificial intelligence (AI) is accurate, efficient and ultimately trustworthy.

Rawat, who completed his postdoctoral training at �鶹ӳ����ý’s Center for Research in Computer Vision (CRCV) from 2017 to 2019, continues to hone his expertise in AI and computer vision as an assistant professor.

His work with computer vision focuses on video understanding, which enables AI to interpret media and respond to real-world events automatically.

“The world generates massive amounts of video data every second — whether through CCTV cameras, medical imaging or autonomous systems,” Rawat says. “However, manually analyzing such data is nearly impossible. My research focuses on developing AI models that can efficiently process and understand video streams in real time, allowing for faster decision-making in high-stakes environments.”

Allowing AI and machine learning to sift through and decipher video datasets may prove to be valuable as data interpretation can be automated to free up human expertise for high-level decision making, he says.

“The ability to analyze video in real time has immense potential to make our world safer and more efficient,” Rawat says. “From healthcare to security, disaster response and law enforcement, AI can provide instant insights where human analysis may be slow or impractical.

His research is funded by a variety of sources including the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity as part of the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and it has resulted in multiple patents and even a startup company. Among his proudest accomplishments are his contributions to secure and AI-powered identification systems.

“The intersection of technology and real-world impact is what drives my passion for this field,” Rawat says.

He credits �鶹ӳ����ý’s enduring legacy as one of the top computer vision programs in the world to several key factors which ultimately led him here.

“�鶹ӳ����ý is one of the fastest-growing universities in the country, with a strong commitment to innovation and interdisciplinary research,” Rawat says. “It is home to one of the top computer vision research groups, led by [CRCV Director] Mubarak Shah, and offers a collaborative, resource-rich environment that enables groundbreaking AI research. The university’s strong connections with government agencies also provide an excellent platform for translating research into real world impact.”

Earning a Reach for the Stars award is something, he says, that is both humbling and profoundly inspiring.

“It is incredibly motivating to see my research acknowledged in this way and it reaffirms my commitment to pushing the boundaries of AI for societal benefit,” Rawat says. “This award is not just a personal achievement — it is a testament to the hard work of my students, collaborators and the incredible research environment at �鶹ӳ����ý.”

Similar to how his work with AI and computer vision is guided by human guidance, Rawat says his success is guided by those who support him at �鶹ӳ����ý.

“This recognition would not have been possible without the unwavering support of �鶹ӳ����ý,” he says. “I am deeply grateful to the technical assistance team, Mubarak Shah, [Department of Computer Science Chair] Damla Turgut, [Professor] Gary Leavens and [CECS Dean] Michael Georgiopoulos. I must give special recognition to [CRCV Administrative Coordinator] Cherry Place, whose incredible support has made a profound impact on my success.”

There are so many people at �鶹ӳ����ý to thank that at times it may be challenging to quantify just how crucial of a role they play, but Rawat says he’s particularly grateful for Place’s assistance and coordination.

“To be honest, at least 30% of what I have achieved would not have been possible without her,” he says. “I truly appreciate everything she has done for me and for our research group.”

Kelly Stevens

• Assistant professor of public administration at within its , and a member of �鶹ӳ����ý’s Resilient, Intelligent, and Sustainable Energy Systems (RISES) Faculty Cluster�����Ի���.
• Ph.D. in public administration from Syracuse University.

There’s no better place for remaining resilient and adaptive than the Sunshine State.

Kelly Stevens, assistant professor of public administration at �鶹ӳ����ý, thrives by navigating Florida’s unique weather conditions, energy opportunities and challenges through her research in sustainable and resilient technologies.

Much like the technologies she researches, Stevens harnesses creative methods of pursuing a bright future.

“A major part of my work right now looks at what community members identify as problems related to energy, resilience, and sustainability,” says Stevens, who is a member of �鶹ӳ����ý’s Resilient, Intelligent and Sustainable Energy Systems (RISES) Faculty Cluster. “It’s useful for people who are engineers or policy makers to understand how something like a power outage impacts people differently across the state — the elderly, the poor, people with medical conditions.”

Before she adopted the signature black and gold of �鶹ӳ����ý, she donned shades of garnet and gold while earning her master’s in meteorology from Florida State University and working as a meteorologist for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in the Division of Air Resource Management. Stevens says she was drawn to policy and program design as she continued immersing herself in the field of air quality modeling and monitoring.

Stevens returned to Florida after completing her doctoral degree in public administration from Syracuse University and supplementing her existing background with electricity and energy expertise.

She says bridging the gap between academic research and practice within Florida and beyond is part of how she ensures work makes a positive impact.

“I’m excited to be back in Florida applying what I’ve learned to different energy and environmental projects here in Central Florida,” Stevens says. “With my background in both social and physical sciences, I try to move beyond typically siloed disciplines to talk about complex questions in our energy system from a more holistic perspective. I believe this strategy is important to so we can better translate from science to practice by making sure technologies we create here at �鶹ӳ����ý are useful and user-friendly.”

Disaster preparedness is a critical component of resiliency, and it is something Floridians need to be particularly aware of given the state’s susceptibility to adverse weather such as hurricanes, she says. Her efforts to help local people is something Stevens says is incredibly rewarding.

“The project I am most proud of is the NSF-funded Resilience, Education and Advocacy Center for Hazard preparedness, the REACH hub,” she says. “We worked closely with the City of Orlando to design a portable and innovative resilience hub to provide energy-related services before and after disasters here.”

The hub eventually will be delivered to and used by the City of Orlando for local use to help residents stay safe, recharged and informed.

“With community feedback … we designed a solar-powered, portable hub with an extensive battery system to provide internet connection, cooling, information via display screens, and device charging that can help residents prepare for and respond to a disaster,” Stevens says. “The hub is built, we are conducting demonstrations, and anticipate the hub will be used by the City of Orlando as soon as this hurricane season.”

Stevens says she’s grateful for the collaborative nature of �鶹ӳ����ý, particularly for the Faculty Cluster Initiative, which links faculty from different colleges, institutes and centers together to accomplish interdisciplinary breakthroughs.

“I am deeply grateful to be part of a talented and innovative team of researchers who embrace challenging questions and different perspectives in their work,” she says. “I am also grateful for the support and opportunities provided by the Faculty Cluster Initiative in fostering interdisciplinary work, as well as support from the College of Community Innovation and Education as well as the School of Public Administration for highlighting the great work that happens here.”

Stevens says that the funds earned from the Reach for Stars award will sustain and further her research while helping to inspire and energize students.

“It is a huge honor to be recognized for this early-career award,” she says. “The research funding will be beneficial for funding more students to continue research on power outages and resilience over the next few years.”

The metallization process produces the metal contacts that are placed on the surface of silicon solar cells to harvest electrical currents. Silver is typically used to manufacture the contacts due to its ability to withstand high temperatures without oxidizing, but it’s very expensive to use.

“Silver constitutes some of the highest costs to producing photovoltaic cells, and the photovoltaics industry is expected to consume 20% of the annual global silver supply by 2027,” says Kristopher Davis, the project’s principal investigator and a �鶹ӳ����ý associate professor of . “Copper is less expensive and also has a low electrical resistivity and is therefore a great potential alternative metal, but it has many challenges.”

One of those challenges is the fact that copper can oxidize in high temperatures, negatively impacting its conductivity. To solve this problem, the researchers will use lasers to heat the copper nanoparticles and reduce the possibility of oxidation.

“This approach has the potential to increase the efficiency of heterojunction solar cells and dramatically reduce their manufacturing costs,” Davis says. “This will hopefully help accelerate the adoption of solar energy by lowering the cost barriers that exist for some consumers.”

�鶹ӳ����ý researchers on the team also include Aravinda Kar, a professor in and Ranganathan Kumar, a professor of and the associate dean of research and administration for the .

The �鶹ӳ����ý team will collaborate with their counterparts at the Institute of Energy Conversion, led by research scientist Ujjwal Das.

The project is one of 19 selected for funding from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, and one of eight projects that aim to reduce costs and increase efficiency of panel recycling processes through Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

About the Researchers

Davis joined �鶹ӳ����ý in 2017 as an assistant professor of materials science and engineering. He is a three-time graduate of �鶹ӳ����ý, having earned his Ph.D. and M.S. in optics and photonics and his B.S. in electrical engineering. He has joint appointments with the College of Optics and Photonics and the and is a member of the Resilient, Intelligent, and Sustainable Energy Systems (RISES) faculty cluster initiative.

Kumar joined �鶹ӳ����ý in 2003 as the chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and now serves as the associate dean for research and administration for the College of Engineering and Computer Science. He received his Ph.D. in theoretical and applied mechanics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering, and his research has been funded by NASA, the National Science Foundation and the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Kar is a professor in CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, and he received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research areas include laser-assisted manufacturing and materials processing as well as the design and processing of semiconductor materials and photovoltaic cells. He has won several awards, including the Arthur L. Schawlow Award from the Laser Institute of America (LIA). He is a fellow of LIA, as well as the National Academy of Inventors.

Neighborhoods throughout Orlando could easily find themselves without power, internet and mobility after significant weather events. Effective local response requires a mobile, self-sustaining solution to provide residents with services ranging from device charging and air-conditioned space to laundry to food distribution and even ice for food preservation. Even more, could such a solution also provide educational resources for residents to prepare for future emergencies more effectively?

Kelly Stevens, assistant professor of public administration and the project’s principal investigator, has been working with fellow �鶹ӳ����ý researchers to bring this vision to life. Together with the City of Orlando and other community leaders, the team has spent the past year conceptualizing what an effective Resilience, Education, and Advocacy Center for Hazard Preparedness (REACH) hub would look like.

Now, they’re ready to put their ideas into action.

The team recently received approval and funding for the project’s second phase from the National Science Foundation’s CIVIC program, which involved presenting the findings from the project’s first phase and successfully demonstrating its feasibility.

Stevens serves on the REACH project team with Yue “Gurt” Ge, public administration associate professor, L. Trenton S. Marsh, urban education assistant professor, Liqiang Wang, computer science professor, and Zhihua Qu, electrical and computer engineering professor, who serve as co-principal investigators. Senior personnel on the project include Maritza Concha, nonprofit management lecturer; Christopher Emrich, emergency management professor; and Kristopher Davis, associate professor of materials science and engineering.

“We are extremely happy with the success of Phase I,” Stevens says. “We had over 300 responses from residents to the community survey we built with our partners, which informed our design process in a way that allowed us to really co-design these hubs with and for the community.”

Stevens says feedback from the community was critical because residents’ responses provided insight into potential resources and amenities for the hub beyond the original concept — from an onboard ice maker to finding a more efficient way to distribute water than simply having water bottles onboard.

The architectural design produced by the team is critical to Phase II of the project, the principal goal of which is to build and test a prototype REACH hub in the communities where it will ultimately be used.

The hub is designed as a trailer chassis-based mobile unit that can be easily deployed in neighborhoods without power or service access. The unit will contain a slew of appliances and usable services for residents to charge their devices, cool off, access the internet and more. The key to the hub is its self-sustaining power, principally supplied through solar panels and supplemented by a conventional generator when under heavy load.

“Right now, we’re working to select vendors that will construct the hub and everything on it,” Stevens says. “We’re looking for someone who can build the hub itself, design the electrical and solar components, install the appliances, and ultimately provide us with a fully realized and working hub.”

Stevens also notes the hub itself is only half the battle. Critical to the project’s value in the community is its educational component, designed to provide affected residents with necessary information about disaster preparedness and recovery before and after a disaster.

“Our ‘blue skies’ curriculum will consist of community-driven, interactive and immersive STEM education learning stations,” says Marsh, who serves as the project’s education lead. “We want to build the programming around what residents recognize; the landmarks they view as signs of strength and resiliency, as well as areas they feel are more vulnerable or susceptible to inclement weather.”

The hubs will also host just-in-time preparedness content for residents to assist with preparation and decision-making ahead of a potential emergency. Evacuation plans and food preparation, Marsh says, are plans the team hopes to focus content on.

Ideally, the team hopes to leverage emerging augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) technologies in developing educational programming to provide residents with in-depth, immersive experiences. The �鶹ӳ����ý-led HazardAware project also collects data that can provide individual address-based natural hazard and home resilience information tailored to residents’ specific homes.

“We hope that we’ll be able to further leverage our resources at �鶹ӳ����ý to accomplish these goals with virtual and augmented reality programming, specifically through a potential partnership with the university’s ,” Marsh says.

Once the prototype hub has been built and the educational programming completed, the team will run extensive tests and experiments on the hub’s appliances and power systems to ensure its viability in real-world scenarios. After that, testing will move into the community — where Stevens says the team will really get a sense of how the hub will work.

“We’re going to implement four test deployments in local neighborhoods — three during ‘blue skies’ and one after an actual emergency,” Stevens says. “We want to see how people actually interact with the hub — what they’re interested in, what parts are functional and even what parts aren’t super functional.”

The final step, once testing is completed, is to hand off ownership of the hub to the city of Orlando. The city will be responsible for the deployment, maintenance and future development of the project. Michael Hess, director of the City of Orlando’s Future Ready program, and Ian Lahiff, an energy project manager with the city, serve as senior personnel on the project.

“The city has been our core partner from Day One, so we know they’re in this for the long haul,” Stevens says. “Our team is confident they will be good stewards of the project and its impact on the community.”

The ultimate goal, Stevens says, is to produce an effective and efficient means of increasing resilience in the community.

“When we can show our community that �鶹ӳ����ý is leveraging its expertise and resources to produce technology — in a quick timeframe and at a very local scale — that can actually be used in the community, that’s the real impact,” she says.

Researcher Credentials

Stevens received her doctorate in public administration from Syracuse University and joined �鶹ӳ����ý’s School of Public Administration, part of �鶹ӳ����ý’s College of Community Innovation and Education, in 2017. She is a member of �鶹ӳ����ý’s Resilient, Intelligent, and Sustainable Energy Systems (RISES) Cluster�����Ի���

Ge joined �鶹ӳ����ý in 2018 and serves as co-lead of the Urban Resilience Initiative based at �鶹ӳ����ý Downtown. He has also served on the RISES faculty research cluster since 2021. He holds a doctorate in urban and regional science from Texas A&M University.

Marsh earned his doctorate in teaching and learning with a concentration in urban education from New York University and joined �鶹ӳ����ý’s College of Community Innovation and Education in 2019 after a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor.

Qu arrived at �鶹ӳ����ý in 1990 after earning a doctorate in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Currently the Thomas J. Riordan and Herbert C. Towle Chair of �鶹ӳ����ý’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, he is also the founding director of both RISES — a university research center on energy systems — and the multi-institutional ��(�󷡷��ٷ���).

Wang earned his doctorate in computer science from Stony Brook University in 2006 and joined the �鶹ӳ����ý Department of Computer Science in 2015.

Recipients of this prestigious, early-faculty award exhibit the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education, and lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.

Each �鶹ӳ����ý awardee is using their expertise to study the core part of a key system — whether it’s Perotti understanding heart mechanics in relation to health and disease, Guo’s research on harnessing solar power through electric vehicles or Chen, who is redefining high-speed connectivity used in communication antennas.

Non-Magnetic Technology for the Future of Communications

Kenle Chen

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Project Title: Non-Reciprocally Coupled Load-Modulation Platform for Next-Generation High-Power Magnetic-Less Fully Directional Radio Front Ends

Award: $500,000

Our current radio spectrum, or the range of frequencies used for wireless communications, is quickly becoming congested due to rapidly increased user volume from humans and smart devices, as well as from new wireless technologies, such as Wi-Fi7, 5G+ and more.

Assistant Professor Kenle Chen, from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is developing a first-of-its-kind technology that could alleviate this congestion and allow for more efficient and reliable communications.

In emerging communication systems, an essential device is a circulator that helps control the flow of signals by routing them between an antenna, transmitter and receiver. It can be found on base stations on Earth and on satellites in space.

Traditional circulators rely on “magnetic material,” in which signals travel in one direction under the influence of a magnetic field.

“I can foresee that this research will be wildly exciting and enable knowledge for the future 6G systems featured as joint communication and radar,” Chen says.

Recently, microchip-based, non-magnetic circulators have become possible, but their performance is far from their magnetic counterparts. For instance, state-of-the-art non-magnetic circulators can only handle watt-level of transmission power, which is far below the usable range of many realistic systems, Chen says.

Chen’s approach unleashes the high-power operation of a non-magnetic circulator in an indirect way that will enable more than 10 watts of signal transmission and allow bidirectional signal flow at the antenna interface. Making the technology completely magnetic-less renders a more affordable solution for wireless industries, Chen says.

“It’s a way to directionally route the transmission signal and receive signal, so it’s a bidirectional process, using a single unified antenna,” Chen says. “It will meanwhile enhance the efficiency of high-power amplifiers, the most energy-consuming unit on all wireless platforms.”

Additionally, current magnetic circulators are quite expensive, large and heavy in size — leading to high manufacturing and installation costs for the system as well as increased maintenance requirements. Chen’s new technology will shrink the weight and size of the emerging radio system.

The significant advantages of Chen’s disruptive technology have created interest from wireless and semiconductor industries. Chen says that when installing a current antenna array high onto a base station, oftentimes a helicopter or heavy lifting equipment is needed.

“If we can get rid of magnetic circulators, then we can very much minimize the size and weight of this antenna array,” he says. “So, workers can just carry it on their back as they install it — saving the overall cost and improving labor efficiency and safety.”

Chen’s NSF project will establish the theoretical foundation and practical design methodologies for the proposed technology. He will demonstrate the effectiveness of his proposal using prototypes that mimic the advanced antenna array system within an anechoic, or echo-free, chamber at �鶹ӳ����ý.

Chen will be working with his research group and the �鶹ӳ����ý INSPIRE Lab. His team will also provide outreach programs to K-12 students with videos and lectures about wireless technology.

Chen earned his doctoral degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University in 2013 and worked in the industry before joining �鶹ӳ����ý in 2018. He credits the four years he spent in the wireless semiconductor sector for fueling his excitement toward developing new research.

“I can foresee that this research will be wildly exciting and enable knowledge for the future 6G systems featured as joint communication and radar,” Chen says. “Beyond the technological frontiers, it will address the nation’s core interests in spectrum sustainability and ubiquitous coverage of high-speed connectivity and lead to economic benefits in the future.”

Harnessing the Sun’s Energy Through Electric Vehicles

Zhaomiao (Walter) Guo

Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering

Project Title: A Decentralized Optimization Framework for Next-Gen Transportation and Power Systems with Large-scale Transportation Electrification

Award: $525,781

Using the increasing number of electric vehicles (EVs) on the roads as an advantage, civil, environmental and construction engineering Assistant Professor Walter Guo’s project will couple two important infrastructure systems — transportation and power — to contribute to a more sustainable future.

Guo is currently building a network model that will examine EVs to capture and store solar energy, which can then be transferred into a power system as the EV replenishes its own battery supply — creating a bidirectional flow of power.

Guo, who is also a part of �鶹ӳ����ý’s Resilient, Intelligent and Sustainable Energy Systems faculty cluster initiative and center, says his ultimate research goal is to introduce more clean energy into the power and transportation systems in a cost-effective way.

While Guo’s model will rely on his computational and engineering expertise, the outcome is largely dependent on the adoption of the system by transportation departments, utility companies and industry partners, including individuals who own EVs.

“EV and solar technologies are going to have a large market penetration in the next 10 or 20 years,” Guo says. “And when we’re able to get these two technologies to work together, it will completely change both systems.” Guo is looking forward to broadly collaborate with the stakeholders, including Florida Department of Transportation, utility companies and the City of Orlando to enable this paradigm shift.

“When the EVs provide support during an outage, they can potentially help recover the power system’s critical loads, allowing the power system startup to be easier,” Guo says.

Guo’s study will also incorporate key concepts in game theory to explore how the average EV owner may adopt the model if given rewards, such as monetary incentives.

“It’s a cyclical process,” he says. “By providing incentives to the EV owners, we essentially reduce the ownership costs for them. So eventually, it will promote the adoption of EVs that in turn, will enable the integration of solar or renewable energy in power systems.”

To quantify the value of providing a certain amount of energy back into the power system, Guo will consider various factors like time, vehicle use and cases where the demand for power is high, such as during a power outage due to a natural disaster.

“When the EVs provide support during an outage, they can potentially help recover the power system’s critical loads, allowing the power system startup to be easier,” Guo says.

Since the time he was working as a transportation engineer in 2012 to his postdoctoral assignment in 2018 where he investigated the power transmission and distribution networks for EVs, Guo’s career path has led him straight to this project.

Over the past five years, Guo’s team of collaborators, which includes students, have played a major role in developing the preliminary results needed to receive the NSF CAREER grant.

“The idea of our contribution is to seamlessly integrate the transportation system with the energy system,” he says. “I hope to carry forward this research direction to a broader context that fundamentally improves sustainability and resilience.”

Modeling Heart Mechanics at the Microscale

Luigi Perotti

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Title: How Does the Heart Contract? A Microstructure-Based Approach to Understand Cardiac Function and Dysfunction

Award: $520,769

Mechanical and aerospace engineering Assistant Professor Luigi Perotti’s project will develop a computational model capable of relating observable macroscopic motion in the heart, such as a cardiac contraction, to its causes at the cellular and tissue levels.

By linking cellular and tissue level mechanics to heart function in health and disease, Perotti’s work can inform investigations of how localized and more widespread abnormalities contribute to cardiac dysfunction across scales.

“If we can link the micro and macroscales more accurately, then we can improve diagnosis and treatment because we can have a more precise, causal link between the changes that happened in the heart,” Perotti says.

“If we can link the micro and macroscales more accurately, then we can improve diagnosis and treatment…” Perotti says.

To build, test and improve their models, Perotti and his team in the Computational Biomechanics Lab, will use existing literature and acquired magnetic resonance imaging data, like those from Cardiac Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Displacement Encoding with Stimulated Echoes Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or DENSE MRI.

The multiscale computational models will be compared with this experimental data to connect deformation at the cellular and microstructural levels to motion measurable at the tissue and ventricle scales.

“We hope that our results based on microstructural models and imaging data can suggest new quantitative biomarkers to quantify cardiac motion,” Perotti says.

The project will also include outreach to students from local schools to inspire their interest in science, engineering and healthcare.

“Students will be able to hold basic heart models in their hands to understand how the myofiber organizes in a helical structure across the wall and understand how this helical structure is important for cardiac contraction,” Perotti says.

For Perotti, his heart has always been intrigued by coding and biology. His research as a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Los Angeles, initially focused on analyzing the maturation of spherical viral shells and how to model their change in shape. However, after his mentor invited him to join a cardiac electrophysiology project, Perotti’s interest in the complex studies of the heart with medical experts intensified.

Since joining �鶹ӳ����ý in 2019, he continues projects with faculty and students, and says he enjoys the collaborative opportunities the university offers.

“From the time I interviewed for this position, I always had the impression that �鶹ӳ����ý is very energetic and there is a strong push to grow together,” he says.

Through this project, Resilience, Education and Advocacy Center for Hazard preparedness (REACH) hubs will be developed thanks to a recently announced $50,000 grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Civic Innovation Challenge program. They could be deployed any time a disaster — whether natural or human-made — strikes.

Leading the project is a team of �鶹ӳ����ý faculty, including Assistant Professor Kelly Stevens and Associate Professor Yue “Gurt” Ge, Assistant Professor L. Trenton Marsh, and College of Engineering and Computer Science professor Liqiang Wang and Pegasus Professor Zhihua Qu.

The REACH hubs will be able to serve two primary roles. Following disasters or local emergencies, the hubs will provide critical services such as cooling, broadband internet and reliable electricity to areas whose access to those needs may already be unstable. The hubs also will serve as hazard-preparedness and hands-on STEM education centers.

“Different types of hubs are being developed and used across the U.S., but ours is unique in that it has an equally important use during non-emergency times,” Stevens says. “Making a solar-powered, portable hub is technically challenging, but the benefits it can provide to communities whose access to standard services may already be restricted without an external shock make it well worth it.”

Stevens says that the grant also paves the way for partnership opportunities.

“The NSF CIVIC program is unique because it focuses on civic partnerships that can be quickly implemented and ultimately sustained long-term by participating local partners,” she says. “We will host a local stakeholder meeting next month with our partners and two public input meetings in December to really get feedback from the whole community.”

She says the community meetings will help determine factors ranging from what services the hubs will provide and where they will be deployed after a disaster to which educational topics should be covered during non-emergency events.

Beyond the external partnerships, Stevens says this project opens the door for new cooperation with other �鶹ӳ����ý colleagues across different disciplines.

“The research we are doing builds on interdisciplinary coordination from public administration, computer science and engineering across �鶹ӳ����ý,” she says.

The research team will have six months to prepare a plan for the REACH hub and submit it to the NSF, after which they are eligible for up to $1 million in awarded funds to execute the project.

About the Research Team

Stevens received her doctorate in public administration from Syracuse University and joined �鶹ӳ����ý’s School of Public Administration, part of �鶹ӳ����ý’s College of Community Innovation and Education, in 2017.  She is a member of �鶹ӳ����ý’s Resilient, Intelligent, and Sustainable Energy Systems (RISES) Cluster and

After joining �鶹ӳ����ý in 2018, Ge has since been appointed co-lead of the Urban Resilience Initiative based at �鶹ӳ����ý Downtown. He has also served on the RISES faculty research cluster since 2021. He holds a doctorate in urban and regional science from Texas A&M University.

Marsh earned his doctorate in urban education from New York University and joined �鶹ӳ����ý’s College of Community Innovation and Education in 2019.

Qu arrived at �鶹ӳ����ý in 1990 after earning a doctorate in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Currently the Thomas J. Riordan and Herbert C. Towle Chair of �鶹ӳ����ý’s , he is also the founding director of both the RISES, a university research center on energy systems, and the multi-institutional (FEEDER).

Wang earned his doctorate in computer science from Stony Brook University in 2006 and joined the �鶹ӳ����ý in 2015.

The lab, which is co-sponsored by Florida Power & Light (FPL) and GE Digital, is a state-of-the-art research facility for faculty and students. Located on the first floor of Research 1 on the main campus, it features control-center equipment and software that students can use to simulate and test real-life grid control operations, including finding ways to optimize and secure the grid of the future.

“This new facility is exactly the kind of strategic partnership that makes �鶹ӳ����ý a premiere choice for students with future-focused career goals.” — �鶹ӳ����ý President Alexander N. Cartwright

“This new facility is exactly the kind of strategic partnership that makes �鶹ӳ����ý a premiere choice for students with future-focused career goals. GE Digital and FPL have been both philanthropic investors and design collaborators in this lab, ensuring our students in this field will be industry-ready on day one of their careers,” says �鶹ӳ����ý President Alexander N. Cartwright. “It’s a win-win. Our students get a leading education in a lab environment, and both companies open up a pipeline of incredible talent for their workforce.”

Kwasi Opoku, a doctoral student studying electrical engineering, was one of the students FPL and GE Digital sought input from during the design phase of the lab to provide feedback on the equipment and furnishings that would be helpful for students.

Opoku, who is from Ghana, says for years he has been intrigued by power systems, and the idea of incorporating renewables, like solar and wind. He recalls living in Ghana when conventional power sources were insufficient and supplies had to be rationed.

“It was a national conversation about power and the options being considered,” he says. “That’s where the conversation began for me.”

Opoku was originally drawn to �鶹ӳ����ý after becoming aware of the RISES (Resilient, Intelligent and Sustainable Energy Systems) faculty cluster. The collaboration brings together �鶹ӳ����ý researchers from multiple colleges who are working to develop sustainable and resilient energy systems and storage.

Opoku’s area of research is power system protection and specifically finding new ways to detect faults in microgrids and renewables. He’s looking forward to using the lab’s testbed and hardware-in-the-loop simulation.

“You don’t always have hardware available to test, and usually you use simulation only. This is as close to real-life as you can get,” he says.

Max Carroll ’21 completed his bachelor’s degree in the summer in electrical engineering with focus on power and renewable energy. He was inspired to pursue a career in energy after experiences in Germany, where he grew up and still visits frequently.

“When you drive through Germany you see windmills and renewable energy sources everywhere, and when I went back, they were expanding on it, and adding panels,” says Carroll. “I said to myself, ‘How do these things actually work?’ ”

Now a graduate student studying electrical engineering at �鶹ӳ����ý, Carroll is planning on spending a lot of time in the new space.

“I’ll be doing my research there, as all the tools I need are in there. But I can also study there,” he says. “The computers have virtually all the programs there that I’ll need for my classes.”

“We are excited to bring this innovative research space to �鶹ӳ����ý engineering students,” says Ed De Varona, FPL’s vice president of transmission & substation. “The lab is a terrific training ground for rising engineers to work directly with the latest technologies and help refine and innovate the way energy is transmitted and distributed across the grid now and in the future.”

Currently, more than 1,400 undergraduate and graduate students at �鶹ӳ����ý are studying electrical or computer engineering — disciplines that support energy systems and electricity grids. Another 500-plus �鶹ӳ����ý students have indicated they plan to pursue an electrical or computer engineering major once prerequisite coursework is completed.

�鶹ӳ����ý’s College of Engineering and Computer Science offers a power and renewable energy track as part of its undergraduate programs. In addition, a graduate certificate is offered in sustainable and resilient energy systems.

“The Microgrid Control Lab provides unprecedented access to a modern grid control center that enables some of the brightest young minds in the country to collaborate, learn and help reimagine the energy grid of tomorrow,” says Jim Walsh, general manager of GE Digital’s Grid Software Solutions. “As renewable energy sources, like solar, continue to expand and evolve, the technology behind the grid has to keep up. It is critical that electrical and computer engineering talent have real-life experiences with the hardware and software that underpins the modern grid helping utilities securely deliver reliable clean energy.”

GE Digital is also beginning a new internship program that invests in the development of its team and future grid engineering leaders. The program will offer �鶹ӳ����ý students an intensive experience in the utilities and power sectors and help students develop analytical and software development skills using emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning.

FPL and GE Digital together employ approximately 400 �鶹ӳ����ý alumni in their workforces.