Institute of Research in Integrative Systems and Engineering (I-RISE)

Dr. Miguel Vélez-Reyes, DirectorUniversity of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez

P.O. Box 9048, Mayaguez, PR 00681-9048

Vision: Improving the competitiveness of the Puerto Rican Industry

• Pre-competitive research– Based on longterm research maps with focus on

areas relevant to the Puerto Rican industry• e.g. C&IT, BioXXX, Pharmaceutical, Energy

• Education and training– Graduate program (MS & Ph.D.),

Workshops to industry, Certificate programs

– K-12 outreach• Technology transfer

– Graduates, Knowledge, Prototypes

Research Areas• Sensing and Imaging Systems

– Image and Signal Processing– Embedded Systems for signal and image processing– Environmental Optical Remote Sensing, Biomedical

and Biological Imaging Applications• Energy and the Environment

– Power Electronics– Power Quality– Renewable Energy

Research Areas (cont.)

• Embedded Systems• Mixed Signal Electronics• Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS)• Microwave Systems and Design

– Antennas– Microwave Integrated Systems– Radar Systems– Active and Passive Remote Sensing

I-RISE Research Funding• Approximately $3.5M/year in sponsored research

– NSF, NASA, DoD, NGA, Government, Non-Profit, Industry• Examples of Current and Past Awards

– 1 Presidential Early Career Award Recipient - Dr. M.Vélez– 3 NSF CAREER Program Recipients - Drs. R. Rodríguez,

E. O’Neill & J. L. Cruz– 1 NASA FAR: Dr. Sandra Cruz-Pol– 4 NSF MRI Grants

• Radiation Lab - Drs. J.Colom & R. Rodríguez • Enhancement to EEPSYL – Drs. O’Neill, Vélez, Cedeño, Irizarry,

Orama.• Underwater Autonomous Vehicles for Coral Reef Mapping: Drs.

Armstrong, Velez-Reyes• MEMS Fab Facility: Drs. Sepulveda, Rodriguez-Solis, & others

– 3 NSF ERC Award - (CPES, CenSSIS, & CASA) – Dr. M. Vélez-Reyes & Dr. Cruz-Pol (PIs)

– 1 NASA URC: Prof. R. Fernandez Sein and Dr. M. Velez-Reyes– TI – ICDL – Dr. Manuel Jiménez

Location of I-RISE Research Laboratories (over 3,000 sq ft)

R&D CenterAdministrationLARSIPEEPSyLSILPower Quality

Stefani BldgClimmateRadiationICDLPower Elect.

Example of Industry and Government Sponsors and Collaborators

Competence Centers

• 1 NASA University Research Center– Tropical Center for Earth and Space Studies (TCESS)

• 3 National Science Foundation Engineering Research Centers– Center for Subsurface Sensing and Imaging Systems

(CenSSIS) NSF ERC– Center for Power Electronic Systems (CPES) NSF ERC– Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere

(CASA) NSF ERC

Tropical Center for Earth and Space Studies (TCESS)• NASA University Research Center established in 1995.

– Largest NASA grant in UPRM $1.7M/year.• Goal to conduct research and develop human resources in

areas of interest to NASA enterprises.– Material Sciences, Image and Signal Processing, Bio-optical

Oceanography, Biosystems Engineering• Participation of 27 faculty, and nearly 100 students at the

BS, MS and Ph.D. level from the Colleges of Engineering, Arts and Sciences, and Agriculture

• K-12 NASA Globe outreach program that has impacted over 30,000 students and 1,600 teachers in 8 years

• Over $20M leveraged in external funds to support research and develop infrastructure.

Center Director: Dr. Miguel Vélez-ReyesElectrical and Computer Engineering

What is an ERC?

Engineering Research Centers provide an integrated environment for academe and industry to focus on next-generation advances in complex engineered systems important for the Nation's future.

This is NSF’s elite center program

We are a core academic partner in 3 of them.

Center for Subsurface Sensing and Imaging Systems (CenSSIS)• Consortia of 4 Universities, 5 Strategic Partners, and 13

industrial partners.• Mission:

– To revolutionize the existing technology for detecting and imaging biomedical and environmental-civil objects or conditions that are underground, underwater, or embedded in the human body

• 8 faculty and 17 students from Engineering, and Arts and Science Faculties.

• UPRM research in sensing and modeling, signal processing and image understanding, data and image information management.

• Applications: biomedical imaging, environmental, and homeland security.

• Over 25 students per year, 10 peer reviewed publications per year, Hyperspectral image analysis toolbox

Project Director: Dr. Miguel Vélez-ReyesElectrical and Computer Engineering

Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA)

• Goal is to significantly improve weather forecast models with dense sampling of the lower atmosphere

• Sampling is achieved with network of microwave radars

• Areas: antennas, radars, atmospheric science, meteorology, networking, social sciences.

• Researchers: J. Colom, S. Cruz Pol, R. Rodríguez Solís, L. Orama, W. Diaz

Radar network in Puerto Rico

Proposed network overcomes problems with existent systems

Center for Power Electronic Systems• The first NSF Engineering Research Center with UPRM participation• Consortia of 5 Universities and 77 industrial partners lead by Virginia

Polytechnic Institute• Mision

– Improve energy efficiency and reduce cost in electronic systems for electric energy processing.

• At UPRM 6 faculty and over 22 students from Electrical and Mechanical Engineering

• UPRM research in distributed control of distributed power systems, electro thermal modeling, design optimization, power converters, power quality, alternate energy sources, and electric drives.

• Comprehensive education program in electric energy processing systems

Project Director: Dr. Miguel Vélez-ReyesElectrical and Computer Engineering

For more information

• IRISE/TCESS/CenSSIS/CPES– Dr. Miguel Vélez-Reyes, m.velez@ieee.org

• CASA– Dr. Sandra Cruz-Pol, SandraCruzPol@ieee.org– Dr. Jose Colóm-Ustáriz, colom@ece.uprm.edu

Final Remarks

• ECE Involvement with ERCs for nearly 10 years have established the base for next step towards research to contribute to economic development of PR

• Leverage of external partnerships.– Faculty development– Student opportunities– Industry opportunities

Questions???Suggestions, Advice, …

Students are our main product

Over 150 students at all levelsparticipate in ourprograms per year