Developing a medical research tool with LLM-augmented document search.

Developing and supporting advanced engine control systems including engine electrification/hybridization and cylinder deactivation.

Evaluation study for electrically-actuated valve concepts.

As a faculty member in Physics & Engineering department making regular progress toward tenure and meeting rigorous University requirements for scholarship, teaching service, and faith integration, I received notification of promotion to Associate Professor in Feb 2022.

In addition to significant teaching and project supervision responsibilities, I participated in University service including a co-chair role (hiring faculty and staff, managing staff, strategic planning, alumni/donor/ industry relations, etc.), University-wide curriculum management committee, and STEM outreach & recruiting.

Developed eight new courses (electronics w/ lab, intro to C and MATLAB programming w/ lab, digital logic w/ lab, CAD & mechatronics prototyping w/ lab, classical control, intro to radio communication, engineering ethics, and prep for fundamentals of engineering exam). Led two grant-funded undergraduate research projects in the area of power-aware computing, and co-led a third grant-funded undergraduate research project related to 3D-printed sulfur-concrete habitats for Mars. Led program assessment/continuous improvement efforts including a successful ABET general review. Designed and led a wide variety of collaborative student projects in the electronics, digital systems, controls, 2D/3D CAD, and mechatronics areas. Regular reviewer for IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Expo conference. Session chair at ECCE 2019.

Developed information-theoretic analysis of the fundamental tradeoffs between demand response and energy storage. Designed an optimal controller for server cluster power consumption. Explored the energy-performance tradeoffs of big data workloads (particularly in the indexing and indexed dataset space). This work resulted in the publication of two conference papers and a Doctorate thesis.

I wrote the curriculum for two summer camps (Lego Robotics, and a "Hacker" camp about engineering), and taught those camps.

Designed and implemented an integrated power distribution, voltage conversion, and network balancing architecture for energy-efficient server clusters. Designed, built, and tested a small-footprint multiphase 400-watt bidirectional DC-DC converter with 96% peak efficiency and phase shedding for extended efficiency range. Designed, built, and tested a distributed controller for voltage equalization of four series-connected servers using differential power processing (cut power conversion and distribution losses by over a factor of five). Collaborated with an industry research group at Texas Instruments to pursue commercial applications of this research. Published two conference papers and a Masters thesis on this project.

TA for ECE 469 Power Electronics Laboratory

After undergoing training with the Illinois Center for Teaching Excellence, I formally evaluated non-native English-speakers for the oral fluency portion of their graduate school entrance requirements.

Investigated the effects of energy storage, demand response, and wind penetration on reserve margin planning through simulations and analysis of measured data. Published a Masters thesis and presented two posters on the results of my investigation.

As TA for Principles of Electronic Instrumentation (2009-2010), I administered a weekly laboratory section, developed teaching materials for a weekly discussion section, managed two other TAs, and graded exams and homework assignments.As TA for Communication Systems (2011) and Control Systems (2011), I developed study materials, answered students questions, and graded exams and homework assignments.

Developed a high accuracy, low cost power quality monitor USB module. Designed a pitch controller for a small wind turbine. Completed a power curve analysis for a small wind turbine. Designed a statistical framework and simulation software for measuring the reserve margin impact of increasing wind penetration and intermittency mitigation technologies. Developed a passive RFID-style communication link for an in-skull pressure sensor. Designed custom underwater radio module for tracking behavior of freshwater mussels.

From 2008-2010, I developed object oriented software for IP network tests. During 2011, I worked in the embedded research department to evaluate the capabilities of a multicore networking chip.