Electrical and Computer Engineering Research Labs
Research labs supported by a variety of government and industry sponsors provide faculty, students and post-docs with outstanding opportunities for research, development, and technical innovation.
Bioinspired Robotics and Intelligent Control Laboratory
The BRICLab aims to develop advanced robotic systems using novel sensing, actuation, and decision making approaches. In particular, the lab focuses on research areas in dynamics, control, machine learning, and mechatronics and their applications in bioinspired robots and autonomous underwater/aerial vehicles. Director: Feitian Zhang
Communications and Networking Laboratory
The CNL Lab, under director Bijan Jabbari, focuses on communication networks and systems, with an emphasis on:
- Theory
- Architecture
- Modeling
- Performance analysis
- Mutli-access
- Mobility
- Routing and switching
- Teletraffic
- Protocols
Current areas of research include:
- Routing and path computation in optical networks.
- Optimal resource allocation in wireless networks.
- High-performance computer networks and applications.
Cryptographic Engineering Research Group
The CERG Group, under directors Kris Gaj and Jens-Peter Kaps, covers all aspects of implementing cryptographic algorithms in hardware and/or software, ranging from:
- High-performance implementations to ultra-low power implementations of public key and secret key algorithms.
- Fault-tolerant implementations.
- Attack-resistant implementation.
- Implementations of attacks.
CubeSat/SatCom Engineering Lab
This lab, under director Peter Pachowicz, focuses on hands-on engineering of ultra-small CubeSats and satellite communications systems by combining research and educational objectives. Lab facilities include:
- CubeSat Development and Testing Lab.
- SatCom Ground Station (VHF/UHF/S-band antenna system).
- Space Communication Station (9.1m dish).
Most hardware and software is designed and built though multiple undergraduate, graduate, and student club projects. Researchers' work covers a broad spectrum of topics such as:
- Development of ultra-small CubeSats.
- Resilient satellite bus architectures.
- Hybrid power systems.
- Rad-hard embedded software.
- Low-noise antennas, signal and data fusion.
- Custom software defined radios.
DASL@GMU and Lofaro Labs Robotics
Directors: Daniel M Lofaro.
Green, Accelerated and Trustworthy Engineering LAB (GATE)
The GATE Lab, under director Avesta Sasan, study the following computer engineering topics:
- Hardware Security and Trust.
- Machine learning security.
- Machine Learning model and Neuromorphic accelerator (HW/SW) co-design (Advance Computer Architecture).
- Low power methodologies and physical design.
- Approximate computing.
Hardware Security and Artificial Intelligence (HArt) Lab
Researchers in the HArt lab, under director Sai Manoj Pudukotai Dinakarrao, study computer architecture security using machine learning to create, detect, and defend emerging security threats on computing systems, including side-channel attacks and malware threats in stand-alone and connected IoT devices.
They are also investigating:
- In-memory computing for deep learning architectures.
- Accelerator design for machine learning applications.
- Architecting advanced adversarial threats and defenses for convolutional neural networks.
- Graph neural networks.
- Deep neural networks.
Intelligence Fusion Laboratory
The Intelligence Fusion Lab, under director Xiang Chen, focuses on mobile computing, wearable devices, and embedded systems. Research topics can involve:
- Deep learning application and acceleration.
- Distributed mobile computing.
- Machine learning security.
- Mobile display.
- Graphics.
- VR/AR technologies.
Network Architecture and Performance Laboratory (NAPL)
The NAPL Lab, under director Brian L. Mark, conducts research on the design, architecture, and performance of communication networks, encompassing wireline, wireless, and heterogeneous networks. Studies cover all aspects of network architecture, from the physical layer to the application layer. Research involves:
- Development of theoretical results.
- Algorithm design.
- Numerical computation.
- Computer simulation.
- Hardware and/or software development.
Neural Engineering Lab
The Neural Engineering Lab, under director Nathalia Peixoto, focuses are the development of prosthetic devices (or parts of devices) to help people with disabilities, particularly with pathologies of the nervous system. The lab also studies neuronal cell cultures and biosensors.
Ocean Acoustic Signal Processing Group
The Ocean Acoustic Signal Processing Group, which is a team of graduate students led by Professor Kathleen Wage, works on multi-disciplinary problems that require a synthesis of array processing, acoustics, and oceanography. The group focuses on:
- Random matrix theory.
- Sparse array design.
- Deep-water ambient noise.
- Mode propagation.
The work is funded by the Office of Naval Research.
Wireless Innovation and Cybersecurity Lab (WICL)
The WICL Lab, under director Kai Zeng, conducts research in wireless security and cyber-physical system security and privacy. Current research areas include:
- 5G cybersecurity.
- Cyber-physical system/Internet of Things security.
- Wireless physical layer security.
- Spectrum-sharing system security and privacy.
- Edge-computing security and privacy with applications of machine learning.
- Cryptography.
- Information theory.
- Optimization techniques.
Affiliated with ECE
Biomedical Imaging Laboratory
The Interdisciplinary Biomedical Imaging Lab conducts translational research using imaging to investigate pathophysiology and function. One overarching focus is the investigation of brain-body interactions through imaging. In particular, we are studying the interactions between the central and peripheral nervous system and the musculoskeletal system in a number of clinical conditions of major public health significance, such as chronic pain, stroke, spinal cord injury, and amputation.
This interdisciplinary group conducts pre-clinical research for developing new technology and translational research on human subjects. The group uses state-of-the-art ultrasound and laser instrumentation for developing new ultrasound, optical, and hybrid imaging techniques.
Our research has potential applications in noninvasive diagnosis, screening, and treatment monitoring for a number of diseases, as well as for understanding underlying mechanisms of disease. Principal investigators: Siddhartha Sikdar and Parag Chitnis. Peterson Family Health Sciences Hall, Room 3300.