Young & Amazing Researchers
Adel Alaeddini, Justin Wilkerson, and Ram Krishnan all started their careers in academia at the UTSA College of Engineering. Now, these assistant professors are making waves in their respective areas of research. From explosives to "small" data to cyber security, these young and amazing faculty members are making a positive impact at UTSA... and beyond! Read their stories below.
UTSA Engineering Professors Awarded Funding through Air Force Program
Adel Alaeddini and Justin Wilkerson, two assistant professors in the College of Engineering's Department of Mechanical Engineering, have been named award recipients of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Young Investigator Research Program. They are among only 56 researchers in the nation who received AFOSR funding this year. Both Alaeddini and Wilkerson will each receive $360k over the next three years.
"This award means a lot to me. As a junior faculty member, I have been spending a lot of time and effort on this high-risk topic during the last few years and it's sweet to see it's started paying off." - Adel Alaeddini, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
"We are delighted to have two AFOSR Young Investigator Awards in our mechanical engineering department in Dr. Wilkerson and Dr. Alaeddini," said JoAnn Browning, dean of the UTSA College of Engineering. "This prestigious award is an indicator of research excellence, the promise for future novel discoveries, and meaningful impact on society – something that both of these professors possess, and that permeates through the College of Engineering faculty."
The Air Force Young Investigator Program (YIP) supports scientists and engineers who have received Ph.D. or equivalent degrees in the last five years and show exceptional ability and promise for conducting basic research.
"When I heard about the award, I was very excited and a little bit surprised at the same time, as this was one of my first experiences applying for an Air Force award," said Alaeddini. "This award means a lot to me. As a junior faculty member, I have been spending a lot of time and effort on this high-risk topic during the last few years and it's sweet to see it's started paying off."
Alaeddini said that the majority of his funding will be used to recruit and train a number of Ph.D. graduate students for the next three years in the area of design and analysis of complex experiments. The main objective of the proposed research is to advance capabilities for design and optimization of complex and expensive medical tests using advanced data analytics for very small datasets.
"It was a pleasant surprise when I heard i received this award. It will enable me to provide 2-3 years of tuition and stipend support for two new PH.D students, and provide support for an undergraduate student interested in gaining exposure to materials research." - Justin Wilkerson, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering.
"It was a very pleasant surprise when I heard I received an AFOSR Young Investigator Research Award," said Wilkerson. "The award will enable me to provide two to three years of tuition and stipend support for two new Ph.D. students, as well as provide some support for an undergraduate student interested in gaining exposure to materials research. These students will assist me in carrying out the experimental and modeling research."
Krishnan Receives NSF Career Award
Wilkerson said the primary objective of his proposed research funded by this award is to demonstrate the efficacy of strategically introducing carbon nanotubes to the binder phase of polymer-bonded explosives in order to reduce their sensitivity without adversely affecting detonation performance. In other words, Wilkerson hopes to design explosives that are less susceptible to accidents
The objective of the YIP is to foster creative basic research in science and engineering, enhance early career development of outstanding young investigators, and increase opportunities for the young investigators to recognize the Air Force mission and the related challenges in science and engineering.
Ram Krishnan, Microsoft President's Endowed Assistant Professor in the College of Engineering's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award. He will receive more than $544,000 in support of his research on Group- Centric Secure Information Sharing - Models, Properties, and Implementation.
"Professionally, I am delighted that both NSF and my academic peers are convinced that my proposed career path can have a significant impact, and is worth investing in," said Krishnan. "This funding will help me to establish a strong cyber security research and education portfolio at UTSA over the next five years. Personally, receiving this award is very rewarding. My collaborators and colleagues here at UTSA have been very supportive over the years. A big thanks to all of them!"
NSF CAREER awards are exclusively reserved for junior faculty to help develop their career as a teacher-scholar. That means this award will support Krishnan's pursuit in academia to conduct innovative research, tightly integrated with a compelling education program.
"This funding will also help support and train undergraduate and graduate students at UTSA in research topics related to cyber security," he said.
"Professionally, I am delighted that both NSF and my academic peers are convinced that my proposed career path can have a significant impact, and is worth investing in." - Ram Krishnan, Microsoft President's Endowed Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
The UTSA cyber security program was ranked the best in the nation in 2014, according to a national survey of certified information technology security professionals, and more recently, the university was designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance/Cyber Defense by the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security.
In regards to his current cyber security research, Krishnan says that the need to share information online while confining it to authorized recipients is one of the most challenging problems in the field. His CAREER funding will focus on the policy problem of specifying, analyzing, and enforcing information sharing policies.
"The College of Engineering is very proud of Dr. Krishnan's accomplishments at UTSA, and this CAREER award is yet another reflection of his academic excellence," said JoAnn Browning, dean of the UTSA College of Engineering. "Coupling this award with his Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award this year, I think you begin to understand how much of an impact Dr. Krishnan makes on his students, colleagues, and engineering programs."
The CAREER Program is a foundation- wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education, and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations. In addition to Krishnan, the Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering currently has two CAREER award winners: Professor Yufei Huang, and Professor and Interim Department Chair Chunjiang Qian.