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COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

CENTER FOR ADVANCED COMMUNICATIONS (CAC)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The mission of the Center for Advanced Communications is to advance knowledge in the areas of wireless communications, satellite navigations, acoustic and ultrasound sensing and radar systems, and to facilitate the transformation of this knowledge into commercial innovations.

 

In 1991, a year after its founding by the late Joseph DiGiacomo ’58 EE, the CAC was designated a Center of Excellence for Advanced Communications by the National Science Foundation. This placed the CAC in the unique position of being the only NSF research center at what was then a non-PhD granting institution.

In 2002, Professor Moeness Amin, PhD, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was named the Center’s director. He is credited with transforming the Center for Advanced Communications into “an excellent and rare example of how to sustain and grow a research operation in a smaller university.” The NSF's national report, which featured the CAC as one of four case studies, found the Center’s  research talent, lab facilities and entrepreneurial mindset to be a “great accomplishment.” Read more about Dr. Amin’s contributions to the growth of the CAC in this related article.

CAC AT A GLANCE

8

Faculty Researchers

5

Number of current research projects

5

STATE-OF-THE-ART RESEARCH LABS

OUR RESEARCH

Projects undertaken by the Center for Advanced Communications are led by College of Engineering faculty and involve undergraduate and graduate students, research professors, research associates and postdoctoral fellows. CAC projects have been sponsored by Pennsylvania state agencies, federal government agencies and companies of all sizes.

The CAC has five state-of-the-art research labs:

Primary research areas, include:


Current research projects:

  • Machine Learning-based RF Signal Detection and Classification
    PI: Dr. Xun Jiao; Co-PIs: Drs. Mojtaba Vaezi and Moeness Amin
    Sponsor: L3Harris Technologies, Camden, NJ
    Project Duration: one year (2021)
    Investigating the discrimination of RF signals based on distinctions in their temporal structures, spectral characteristics, and time-frequency signatures, which are automatically learned from the training data.
  • Cognitive Radar
    PI: Dr. Moeness Amin
    Sponsor: Army Research Lab
    Improve cognitive radar’s perception-action cycle of cognition and radar sensor adaptation to optimally satisfy the needs of its mission according to desired objectives
  • Data Collection and Analysis of Tracheal Sounds
    PI: Dr. Moeness Amin
    Sponsor: RTM Vital Signs, LLC
    Project Duration: 01/01/2020 – 12/31/2020
    Measuring, processing, and analyzing trachea sounds to detect and classify respiratory phases and abnormality
  • COVID-19 Risk Monitoring by Wearable Sensor
    PIs: Dr. Moeness Amin and RTM Vital Signs, LLC
    Sponsor: PA Department of Community and Economic Development
    Detecting early signs of COVID-19 by measuring acoustic sounds as the air goes out and in through the trachea
  • Smart Brain Imager
    PI: Dr. Meltem Izzetoglu and Infrascan, Inc.
    Sponsor: PA Department of Community and Economic Development
    Accelerating cognitive health monitoring by developing a universal, durable, affordable and reliable platform, based upon functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) technology, that is miniaturized, fully wireless and app-operable

Director
Dr. Moeness Amin, Professor,
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

CAC RESEARCHERS

Dr. Moeness Amin, Director

Dr. Amin has made major contributions to advances in the theory of signal and array processing with applications to radar, sonar, communications, satellite navigations, ultrasound, healthcare, and RFID. These contributions are captured in three books, 22 book chapters and over 800 publications with more than 20,000 citations and an H-index of 72. His numerous honors include the 2017 Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Advanced Science and Technology, the 2016 Alexander von Humboldt Research Award, the 2016 IET Achievement Medal and the 2014 IEEE Signal Processing Society Technical Achievement Award. MORE...

Dr. Ahmad Hoorfar

Dr. Hoorfar is a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of the Antenna Research Laboratory. He has contributed research in electromagnetic field theory, multifunction, wideband and low-profile antennas, miniaturized antennas, metamaterial media and surfaces, through-the-wall sensing and imaging radar, evolutionary computational methods and antenna measurement techniques. Among the sponsors for his research are the National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, DARPA, Army Research Lab, Naval Air Warfare Center and numerous companies. Dr. Hoorfar has published more than 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and conference papers, written more than 150 technical reports, and been an invited speaker at various international symposia in his key research areas. MORE...

Dr. Robert Caverly

Dr. Caverly is a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of the Microwave and Electromagnetics Laboratory where his research interests include characterization of semiconductor devices such as PIN diodes and FETs in the microwave and radio frequency control environment. From 2014–2016, he traveled the world as a Distinguished Microwave Lecturer, an IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S) appointment for those recognized as experts in their fields. He is also involved in analog and digital CMOS VLSI design, an area where he has taught a number of workshops, as well as courses at Villanova. Dr. Caverly is the author of more than 100 journal and conference papers and two books. MORE...

Dr. Rosalind Wynne

Dr. Wynne is an associate professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of the Laboratory for Lightwave Devices. Her expertise is in photonics, fiber optic devices and sensors and microstructured fiber sensors for chemicals, biomaterials and hazardous materials. She teaches undergraduate courses in Introduction to Optoelectronics, Electronic Materials and Devices, and Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering, and graduate courses in Introduction to Photonics and Optical Communications. She was recently awarded a Manufacturing PA grant focusing on the optimization of microelectromechanical systems fabrication, assembly and packaging. MORE...

Dr. Meltem Izzetoglu

An assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Dr. Izzetoglu is director of the Biomedical Signals, Systems and Analysis Laboratory, where her focus of study is the brain. She has collaborated with researchers throughout the Philadelphia region and within and between universities both nationally and internationally. Current research includes aging studies, semantic memory recall and sustained attention research, and next-generation functional near-infrared spectroscopy-based optical brain imaging systems, for which she was awarded a Manufacturing PA grant. MORE...

CAC NEWS

Dr. Moeness Amin, Director

Dr. Amin’s 800 Publications Pass 20,000 Citations with H-Index of 72

Dr. Moeness Amin, director of Villanova University's Center for Advanced Communications, reached an important milestone in his three decades of research and scholarship. His published work, which includes more than 250 journal papers and 550 conference papers, all while at Villanova, has exceeded 20,000 citations with an H-index of 72.

Dr.. Robert Caverly

Professor Robert Caverly, PhD, Named Recipient of 2020 Outstanding Faculty Research Award

Dr. Robert Caverly, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of the Microwave and Electromagnetics Laboratory was recognized for his impressive scholarship and reputation in microwave control circuitry. The award recognizes a faculty member who demonstrates the highest standards of excellence in research, scholarship and contributions to their field.

Dr. Rosalind Wynne, Director, Laboratory for Lightwave Devices

CAC Researchers Awarded Grants through Manufacturing PA Initiative

Manufacturing PA awarded academic-industry research grants to Electrical and Computer Engineering’s Drs. Rosalind Wynne and Meltem Izzetoglu. Dr. Wynne is partnering with Avo Photonics on “Manufacturing Process, Assembly and System Yield Optimization for Microelectromechanical Systems Devices,” while Dr. Izzetoglu is developing a smart brain imager in collaboration with Infrascan, Inc.