Funded Research
The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering boasts an active and agile research community comprised of our nationally recognized staff, students, and collaborating colleagues. This cadre of scientists is bolstered by grants, both private and public, to further explore our field’s unknown horizons.
Our department is filled with knowledgeable, astute individuals dedicated to uncovering new ideas and technology in the areas of Bioelectriconics, Communications, Computer Architecture, Nanoelectronics, and Power Systems. Our department encourages these efforts by providing a number of cutting-edge facilities and services to cultivate scientific progress.
Our research team is world recognized and funded by top names in both the public and private sectors. Government organization such as The National Science Foundation, The Army Research Office, and the U.S. Department of Energy, as well as corporations such as Cisco Systems, Qualcomm, Hewlett-Packard, and Red Hat have all allocated resources to further our research and development.

Research in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering covers the gamut from basic to applied. Specific topics include not only those under our eight research areas, but themes such as novel ways to teach fundamental concepts, engineering as a life-long discipline, and the engineering education community.
The following list represents the projects currently active. Unfunded research is conducted continuously as the scientific curiosity of our faculty lead them to new areas of inquiry. Although we list only the principal investigators from each project, research is typically carried out through
SHF: Small: A New Approach for Hardware Design of High-Precision Discrete Gaussian Sampling
Sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF)Aydin Aysu
Project runs from February 1, 2022 to January 31, 2024
CAREER: Engineering Ultra-Wide Bandgap III-Nitride Devices for Highly Efficient and Robust Electronics
Sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF)Spyridon Pavlidis
Project runs from February 1, 2022 to January 31, 2027
Microprobe-integrated Human Organoid Arrays To Study AS Genotypes And Therapeutics
Sponsored by Foundation for Angelman Syndrome Therapeutics (FAST) Amay Jairaj Bandodkar
Albert J. Keung
Project runs from January 3, 2022 to January 2, 2024
A More Complete History of America: Developing Arabic OCR to tell the story of Arabs in America
Sponsored by National Endowment for the Humanities Akram F. Khater
Chau-Wai Wong
Project runs from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023
CAREER: Pricing Non-convexities Toward Transparency in Electricity Markets
Sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF)Wenyuan Tang
Project runs from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2026
Wheelchair Electric Assist
Sponsored by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Incorporated (IEEE) Jeremy Edmondson
Rachana Gupta
Project runs from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023
Developing large DER Protection Guidelines and Settings for Mitigating System-wide Impacts across Transmission and Distribution Systems, CAPER Enhancement Project EHP-09-PG
Sponsored by UNC - UNC Charlotte Mesut E. Baran
David Lee Lubkeman
Project runs from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023
CAREER: Environmentally Stable Electrically Pumped Perovskite Laser
Sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF)Qing Gu
Project runs from January 1, 2022 to March 31, 2025
V2V Communications in Air Corridors on AERPAW Platform
Sponsored by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Incorporated (IEEE)Mihail L. Sichitiu
Project runs from November 1, 2021 to October 31, 2023
AlInN-GaN Vertical Power Electronic Devices
Sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF)Jonathan Joseph Wierer Jr
Project runs from October 1, 2021 to October 31, 2023
STC: Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center
Sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF) Jacob Jones
Aziz Amoozegar
Douglas F. Call
John J. Classen
Owen Duckworth
Project runs from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2026
SCH: A Personalized Wearable Rehabilitation Sensing System for Stroke Survivors
Sponsored by National Institutes of Health (NIH) Yong Zhu
Xiaogang Hu
Alper Yusuf Bozkurt
Xipeng Shen
Xu Liu
Project runs from September 17, 2021 to August 31, 2025
FFATA: QLCI-CI: NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Robust Quantum Simulation
Sponsored by University of Maryland, College Park Frank Mueller
Gregory T. Byrd
Huiyang Zhou
Project runs from September 1, 2021 to August 31, 2026
Goali: From Heat to Spin to Electricity: Fundamental Understanding and Development of High-Performance Spin-Driven Thermoelectric Heterostructures
Sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF) Daryoosh Vashaee
Ki Wook Kim
Project runs from September 1, 2021 to August 31, 2024
Rapid Development of Marketable Root-Knot Nematode Resistant Sweetpotato Varieties: Translation of Genomics and Advanced Phenomics into On-Farm Crop Management Solutions
Sponsored by US Dept. of Agriculture - National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) George C. Yencho
Adrienne Marie Gorny
Jonathan R. Schultheis
Michael Kudenov
Daniel Trevellan Tregeagle
Project runs from September 1, 2021 to August 31, 2025
SCH: Enhanced Detection of Impending Problem Behavior in People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Through Multimodal Sensing and Machine Learning
Sponsored by Vanderbilt UniversityJames Paul Dieffenderfer
Project runs from August 15, 2021 to July 31, 2025
Enabling Secure and Efficient Sharing of Accelerators in Expeditionary Systems
Sponsored by US Navy-Office Of Naval Research Amro Awad
Aydin Aysu
Project runs from July 26, 2021 to July 25, 2024
Towards Secure, Crash Recoverable and High-Performance Memory Systems in Future Expeditionary Tactical Systems
Sponsored by US Navy-Office Of Naval ResearchAmro Awad
Project runs from July 20, 2021 to July 19, 2024
3D Volumetric Reconfigurable Metamaterials (VRaMM)
Sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF)David Ricketts
Project runs from July 15, 2021 to June 30, 2024
Bio-MAPS: BioMolecular-Array Patterns for Precision Differentiation of Intestinal Stem Cells
Sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF) Michael Daniele
Stefano Menegatti
Jan Genzer
Scott Magness
Project runs from July 15, 2021 to June 30, 2024