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The Center for Advanced Communications (CAC) College of Engineering hosted its annual meeting on Oct. 9. The day began with an introduction given by Dr. Moeness Amin, director of the CAC, followed by welcoming remarks delivered by the Rev. Edmund Dobbin O.S.A., University president and Dr. Milton Cole, the University’s assistant vice president for Academic Affairs for Research. Throughout the day, presentations were given by University faculty and postdoctoral colleagues on the CAC’s current research developments in the fields of signal processing, communications, antennas and microwave.

“The primary goal of the CAC is to facilitate the transformation of knowledge into innovations that will create new wealth and strengthen a community,” Amin asserted. “We hold these meetings to present our research activities and findings to our sponsors and to seek opportunities to work together.”

Cole’s deliverance focused on the University’s primary undergraduate populace: “Villanova has a stated purpose and a strategic plan in its mission statement on concentrating on the education of undergraduates. Through the resources of groups like the CAC this mission has evolved.”
Dr. Bijan Mobasseri, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, gave a presentation advancing his group’s output on data hiding and digital watermarking algorithms. According to Mobasseri, on data hiding, implanted within an image, video or audio application, is a secret message that has no effect on the resulting signal unless it is accessed with a secret key. Mobasseri explained, “The objective is to alter the data in a way that the end result is not drastic.”

In “A Self Coherent Approach for Anti-Jam GPS,” Amin addressed the difficulty of eliminating deliberate and non-deliberate interference in order to ensure that the GPS receiver will obtain accurate locations, times and speeds. Giving a presentation on “Polarimetic Sensor Array Processing,” Dr. Yimin Zhang, CAC associate research professor, focused on single carrier transmission and demonstrated the ability to provide high data-rate transmission required by the next generation wireless communication systems in “Space-Time Coding for Frequency Selective Fading Channels.”

Dr. Fauzia Ahmad, postdoctoral research member, and Dr. Ahmad Hoorfar, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, both spoke on “Through-Wall Radar Imaging.” Ahmad approached this from a signal processing angle, concentrating on a new method of distinguishing space objects behind a wall, whereas Hoorfar focused on the electromagnetic/antenna viewpoint, discussing the development of a hybrid code to test electromagnetic signals, the plausibility of identifying targets through polarization and the design of inconspicuous antennas.

During “Research and Education Initiative in Microwave/RF SoC Components,” Dr. Robert Caverly, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, discussed recent research work in the field of RF microelectronics in communication systems. Dr. Wei Sun, postdoctoral research member, orated a technique that allows a wireless receiver to resist distortions in “Blind Equalization for Dynamic Indoor Wireless Channels.”

Associate professor of chemical engineering Dr. Randy Weinstein’s “Thermal Management of Electronic Systems” featured the collaborative work of his with mechanical engineering professor, Dr. Amy Fleischer, on developing techniques of cooling optical and electrical modules on a printer circuit board. The presentation, “Thermal Management of Energy, Electronic and Environmental Systems,” delivered by Dr. Gerald Jones, chairman of the mechanical engineering department, presented a new carbon-composite heat exchanger for the cooling of electronic equipment.

After the presentations, attendees toured the research labs in the Center for Engineering Education and Research (CEER).

In attendance were representatives from more than 35 government agencies, industry and academic institutions. Among those present were the Air Force Research Lab, Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division, Office of Naval Research, PECO Energy Company, Boeing Company, Concurrent Technologies Corporation, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, Lafayette College and University of Pennsylvania.