Electrical and Computer Engineering at Drexel
Welcome to the site of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Drexel University, one of the most dynamic and innovative communities of scholars and researchers in the nation. We are a major resource of high-quality professionals in all areas of ECE, from original investigators in nanotechnology, robotics, multimedia and clean energy - to analysts who use optimization techniques to study the stock markets, and telecommunication engineers who work on new wearable communication devices for first responders.
ECE Department Head elected President of IEEE
Dr. Moshe Kam, Robert Quinn Professor and Department Head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Drexel University, was elected by the membership of IEEE to serve as President-Elect in 2010. He will serve as the 49th President and CEO of IEEE in 2011, and as Past President in 2012. These positions make him also a voting member of the IEEE Board of Directors and the IEEE Assembly and a Corporate Officer. All positions are, however, unpaid volunteer positions.
Kam, 54, leads Drexel's Center for Excellence in Information Assurance Education, and directs the Data Fusion Laboratory - a research laboratory founded 20 years ago to investigate radar target classification. His professional interests are in wireless communications, dynamic systems, robotics and navigation, detection and estimation, and engineering education. His research has been supported by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), The National Institute for Justice (NIJ), DARPA, ONR, NSWC, US Army - CERDEC, Lockheed Martin and GlaxoSmithKline.
Kam received his B.Sc. degree in 1977 (Tel Aviv University), and his M.S. (1985) and Ph.D. (1987) degrees from Drexel University, all in electrical engineering. He is an IEEE Fellow "for contributions to the theory of decision fusion and distributed detection" (2001) and a recipient of an IEEE Third Millennium Medal. He served as an NSF Presidential Young Investigator (1990-1995) and is a Professional Engineer licensed in Pennsylvania. His IEEE volunteer positions included Chair of the IEEE Philadelphia Section (1998), Director of Region 2 (Eastern USA, 2003-2004) and Vice President for Edcuational Activities (2005-2007).
Incorporated in New York State, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an international organization with more than 380,000 professional and student members from over 160 countries. IEEE maintains 38 technical societies dedicated to specific technical topics, such as signal processing and consumer electronics. The IEEE has also developed over 900 industrial standards, and is responsible for 30% of the world's technical documentation on electrical engineering, computers, and control systems. IEEE manages more than 900 technical and scientific conferences every year.
IEEE was established in 1963 from a merger between the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE, established 1884) and the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE, established 1912). Among Presidents of these organizations were Alexander Graham Bell (1891-2), Charles P. Steinmetz (1901-2), Lee de Forest (1930) and Frederick E. Terman (1942). There was only one other IEEE President who served on Drexel University faculty, Bruce A. Eisenstein (2000).
Posted October 8, 2009.
Drexel's Formula Hybrid Team to compete in Italy
Drexel's Formula Hybrid Team is taking green racing to a new level in Rome, Italy, October 7-9 at the Formula Electric and Hybrid 2009 competition organized by the Associazione Technica dell'Automobile. Currently, the Drexel team is the only team representing the United States at the competition. The team will be competing with over fifteen teams from around the world for the first place title and the opportunity to raise awareness of the developments of technology in the ecological mobility field. The Drexel team will be racing their award-winning vehicle that placed third at the New Hampshire Speedway International Formula Hybrid Competition in May 2009. Since the New Hampshire competition, the team has upgraded the vehicle, which has taken the last year to develop through a joint Electrical and Computer Engineering and Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics senior design project.
"In preparation for Italy, we've upgraded the car even further, eliminating extra weight, improving handling and cooling and nearly doubling the performance of the car with a rear gear change and higher amperage controllers," says Joshua Verdieck ('09).
Teams will compete in Rome's Fiat facility and their cars will be judged in a series of static and dynamic events that include technical inspection, presentation and engineering design, solo performance trials and high performance track endurance. The events will be scored to determine how well the car performs. In each event, manufacturing firms will use specified minimum acceptable performance levels that are reflected in scoring equations for judging.
"We couldn't be more excited to participate in this event and demonstrate the developments in sustainable mobility," says Dr. Kevin Scoles, faculty advisor for the team and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs in Drexel University's College of Engineering.
For more information on Drexel's Formula Hybrid Team, please visit the team's website. For more information on the competition in Italy, please visit the competition's website.
Posted September 29, 2009.
DrexelCast: Orchestra Concert Event on October 4
The Music and Entertainment Technology Laboratory, in partnership with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Specticast, will host five orchestra concert broadcast presentations on the Drexel campus throughout the 2009-2010 performance season. These internet-based broadcasts will be presented in high definition in the Mitchell Auditorium in the Bossone Research Enterprise Center located at 3120 Market Street and are free and open to the public.
The next DrexelCast will take place on Sunday, October 4 at 2 p.m. and is entitled Bronfman, Bartók and Brahms. For more information about this and the other presentations, please visit the DrexelCast website.
These DrexelCast presentations are sponsored by the Westphal College of Media Arts and Design, the Penoni Honors College and the College of Engineering.
Posted September 29, 2009.