Research

UCCS has secured a 1.25 Million AFOSR equipment grant to furnish a data center quality server room with three racks of blade servers and storage area networks and an innovation security lab to foster development of educational and research programs in Cyber Security, Physical Security, and Homeland Security. They are located in the new 150,000 square feet Science and Engineering Building completed April 2009. The innovation security server room will host three racks of blade servers with storage area network and 40 terabytes of storage. It will be used for

• the design and developed new secure network systems and protocols,
• the simulation or emulation of large scale networks for evaluating cyber attack and defense techniques,
• the configuration of networked of virtual machines/infrastructures for conducting capture the flag exercises and IA training workshops.
• the study of disaster recovery and network system restoration,
• performing multi-tier server cluster,QoS, Internet network research,
• conducting biometric and physical security research.

Overview:

The DISCO Lab, directed by Dr. Xiaobo Zhou, aims to explore in-depth understanding of Distributed, Sustainable and BigData Cloud computing and augmented services, and develop innovative technologies to enhance the system performance, dependability, scalability and sustainability. The research was supported in part by funding from the National Science Foundation and Air Force Research Lab.

Facilities and Equipment:

The DISCO Lab is located in the new science and engineering building. The server room is furnished with cutting-edge HP data center blade facility that has three racks of HP ProLiant BL460C G6 blade server modules and a 40 TB HP EVA storage area network with 10 Gbps Ethernet and 8 Gbps Fibre/iSCSI dual channels. It has three APC InRow RP Air-Cooled and UPS equipments for maximum 40 kWs in the n+1 redundancy design.

More Information:

To learn more, visit the DISCO lab website.

About Media Integration and Convergence Lab - MICL
With new interactions emerges new ways of thinking --- MCIL is about communication using all forms of media and technology. Emphasis is to create tools supporting human interaction leading to emergence of new ways and forms.  Interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary and seamless blending of ideas creating products is the focus to positively impact all of society.

More Information:

To learn more, visit the Games and Media Integration Lab website.

Research Interests 

• Compiler construction --- Program analysis and optimization for high-performance computing
• Programming languages --- High-level specification of domain-specific properties and program transformation
• Software engineering --- Automated code generation; systematic error-discovery and verification of software

More Information:

To learn more, visit Dr. Qing Yi's website.

Overview:

The faculty and students in the LINC Lab are involved in research in artificial intelligence, natural language processing, information retrieval and bioinformatics. Undergraduates, MS students and Ph.D. students work together in various capacities on individual and group projects. Examples of current projects include  linguistic analysis of social media, developing resources for resource-poor languages, developing intelligent interfaces for text entry for non-English languages, analysis of gene array expression data, and analysis of network intrusion data.

More Information:

To learn more, visit the LINC lab website.

This is the main web page of Cybersecurity Research Lab headed by Dr. Edward Chow. Currently we have the following projects at different stages:

• Enhance Security of Blockchain Systems

• Right Place Right Route Data Delivery(R2D2) project

• Proximity Based Encryption (PBE) sponsored by Northrop Grumman

• Software Defined Network Based TOR Network (SOR). Abdelhamid Elgzil

• Unified homeland security strategies through game theory. Rick White and Aaron Burkhart

• Cyber Resilience

• SCOLD: DDoS attacks and defenses

• SCORES (Smart Cloud Optimal Resource Selection)

• Tools and Techniques for Regulation Conformance

• Cyber Physical System Security. Jarret Rush.

• Return-Oriented Programming (ROP) Defense. Rodney Lykins.

• Trusted system and their application to security and Privacy in Cloud and Social Networks.

• Mobile Platform Vulnerability Analysis. Ehab Ashary, Abdulaziz Alzubaidi

• IDE for Secure Programming (possibly a new secure programming language?). Abdullah Sheneamer.

• Threats Theory and Their Applications. Sarah Pramanik, Abdelahmid Elgzil

• Privacy issues in distributed sign translation systems. Michael Mennozzi.

• Privacy by Design for Mobile Healthcare Applications. Arij Alfadi

More Information:

To learn more, visit the NETSEC Lab website.

Overview:

The Vision And Security Technology (VAST) lab, directed by Dr. T. Boult, is actively pursuing research in both vision and security.  Particular areas of research depend on both funding and students' interests. We currently have funding (either direct or with company partners) from NSF  in Computer Vision, NSF Smart and Connected Health, IARPA JANUS (UMD lead), Google, Samsung.  Past funding includes ONR, Rome Labs (Air Force), US Army Research Labs, Missle Defense Agency, US Department of Education, and NISSSC, with multiple pending proposals. We are working with local industry in Colorado Springs, and work with/support many of the teams in the UCCS Bachelor of Innovation program.  Dr. Boult also works with multiple students that have their own funding and hence can direct their own work.

Facilities and Equipment:

The Vision and Security Technology (VAST) lab at UCCS occupies approximately 1800 sq. ft. plus an external server room. The lab has over a dozen multi-core servers, including a 48-core server with 512GB of RAM, and several high-end Nvidia GPUs suitable for deep learning tasks. The lab has over 60TB of storage, mostly in RAID configurations. The UCCS team also has access to the UCCS Cyber-security Datacenter, with a 128-core blade center with another 40TB of storage. The lab has accounts for Amazon Web Services (AWS) and access to XSEDE for larger scale computing, if needed.

Most student desks in the lab have dual-core or quad-core PC-class computers, though some students have laptops to simplify mobile / field work.

The lab has wide array of industrial research cameras as well as specialized cameras including multiple pan-tilt-zoom cameras and three camera-equipped mobile robots, including an early iRobot Packbot.  The lab also has a collection of camera-equipped smartphones and tablets.

In a separate lab space with ample room for user study experiments an OptiTrack external infrared tracking system has been installed.  This system can be used for acquisition of high-accuracy ground truth position and orientation measurements and head/body tracking for virtual reality experiments.

More Information:

To learn more, visit the VAST lab website.

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs is a Cadence University Program Member. All Cadence tools are available for use by faculty, staff, and students affiliated with the University for use on academic research projects only and class work. This web page provides information on how software donated from Cadence Design Systems is used by the faculty and students of the ECE department.

• ECE 4220/5220 Analog IC Design
• ECE 4270/5270 RFIC Design
• ECE 4340/5430 VLSI Circuit Design I
• ECE 4260/5260 Mixed Signal design
• ECE 4242/5242 Advanced Digital Design Methodology

Web page and software currently maintained by EAS-IT
eas-helpdesk@uccs.edu
Last Modified: October 7th, 2017.
Cadence is a registered trademark of Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
2655 Seely Avenue
San Jose, CA 95134

This lab provides a focus for sponsored and un-sponsored research in communication systems, communication theory, and signal processing. Research projects have included analyses, computer simulation, and hardware experimentation involving spread spectrum communications, space communications, and wireless mobile communications.

The CSL comprises a number of student and research work centers. Each work center has at least one device to control, which includes Educational Control Products (ECP), Magnetic Levitation and Control-Moment Gyroscope systems, and a Rhino Robotics six-degrees-of-freedom robotic arm. Each center has a full complement of test-and-measurement equipment. This laboratory is run jointly with the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Electromagnetics Laboratory (Anechoic Chamber)

This lab is used for instruction in basic circuits design, digital circuits design, microcomputer systems design, and electronic circuits design. The laboratory is equipped with personal computers, power supplies, function generators, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and other components needed to support required laboratories in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering curriculum. This laboratory also houses stations for embedded systems design.

The EML supports programs in the areas of wave propagation, microwaves, antennas, and metrology. Undergraduate and graduate laboratory courses have been developed in the areas of microwaves, millimeter waves, and infrared (IR) diagnostic techniques to support the existing courses in electromagnetic theory. These laboratory facilities provide students with measurement techniques and skills in the radio frequency (RF), microwave, millimeter wave, and IR wavelength regions. The EML contains a large broadband, shielded microwave anechoic chamber.

The Electromagnetics Laboratory (EML)

Principal Investigator:

• Dr. Gregory L. Plett, University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS)

Co-Principal Investigators:

• Dr. Regan A. Zane, University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder)
• Dr. M. Scott Trimboli, (UCCS)
• Dr. Dragan Maksimovic, (CU-Boulder)

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

This is a critical point in history where advanced engineering solutions are required to propel the U.S. automotive industry irrevocably to the next level: the electrified drivetrain. The present workforce is not sufficient to this task. It is imperative that automotive engineers with traditional backgrounds focused on internal combustion and mechanical drivetrain technologies be retrained with the most current advanced solutions in battery controls and vehicle power electronics. For the long-term success of the U.S. automakers, it is even more important that a future workforce be developed that has both broad and deep comprehension of the issues involved and the most advanced solutions known to these problems.

Two campuses of the University of Colorado system are uniting to submit this proposal to establish the GATE Center of Excellence in Innovative Drivetrains in Electric Automotive Technology Education (IDEATE). The University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder) is widely regarded as having one of the top graduate programs in power electronics in the country; the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) has unrivaled expertise in algorithms for automotive battery control. By collaborating, IDEATE will build on our team’s proven strengths to develop innovative curricula and to initiate courses and programs that will provide students with a unique opportunity for holistic and specialty education in electric drivetrain technology. Graduates from these programs will provide benefit not only to major automotive manufacturers, but also to new electric drivetrain focused small businesses and suppliers. Specifically, IDEATE has four principal objectives, which are illustrated in Figure 1:

• Establish graduate certificate in electric drivetrain technology: UCCS will develop two new courses in battery modeling for controls and in algorithm development for high-capacity battery pack controls. CU-Boulder will develop a new course in power electronics for electric drive vehicles, and will refresh an existing course to focus on design of adjustable speed AC drives. These four graduate courses will form a new graduate certificate in electric drivetrain technology that will be offered jointly by both campuses and will be available to both continuing-education and on-campus students.
• Establish graduate degree options to educate a future workforce: Leveraging the new courses developed for the graduate certificate in electric drivetrain technology, and strength of the existing curricula, both campuses will establish new Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering (MSEE) degree options. UCCS will offer an option in battery controls, including a new course in methods of optimization; CU-Boulder will offer an option in vehicle power electronics.
• Support fundamental research to develop new enabling technology: The new courses will provide background enabling PhD research in areas critical for the long-term success of the electric drivetrain.
• Have local appeal but national impact: Leveraging already strong on-line course and certificate offerings, all of the new courses and the graduate certificate in electric drivetrain technology will be made available on-line, enabling students anywhere in the country to complete their coursework without the need to relocate to Colorado.

Microelectronics Research Laboratory (MRL) is a group of related laboratories supporting all aspects of microelectronics, including fundamental microelectronic device modeling and processing, integrated circuit design and fabrication. MRL links the efforts of the following associated laboratories: (1) Advanced Development Laboratory (Class 100 cleanroom), (2) Device Characterization and Analysis Laboratory, and (3) Advanced Materials Laboratory for undergraduate and graduate students. The Microelectronics Research Laboratories have supported the National Science Foundation and NASA funded research projects. Several well-established companies have spun out of MRL-supported activities, including Ramtron and Symetrix. Areas of research in the MRL include:  a) Non-volatile memory based on Complex Oxides.  b) Non Volatile memory based on nanocrystals.  c) Bio detectors. d) Tunable devices for RF circuit applications (tunable filters, oscillators, and matching networks). e) Piezoelectric energy conversion.

Senior Design 228
Electronic/Emb Sys Lab 230
ECE Help Center 232
Advanced Robotics Lab 130

• Veeco di MultiMode V atomic force microscope
  1nm x 5nm resolution
• Scanning near-field optical microscope
• Confocal microscope
• TIRF microscope
• Fluorescence spectrometer
• Spectrophotometer (UR-Visible-IR)
• Low-field NMR spectrometer
• Flow cytometer
• Real-time PCR system
• Coulter counter
• Centrifuges + water purifier

• Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer, 400 MHz - Varian
• Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer, 200 MHz - Varian
• Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer, 60 MHz - Anasazi
• Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (2) - Perkin Elmer Spectrum One
• Atomic Absorption Spectrometer - Varian SpectrAA
• Fluorescence Spectrometer - Hitachi
• Polarimeter (2) - Autopol II and IV
• Refractometer (2) - Reichert Mark III
• Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer (2) - Agilent 5890, 6890
• Gas Chromatograph with Flame Ionization Detector - HP 5890
• Gas Chromatograph with Flame Ionization Detector - Varian 3400 CX
• Liquid Chromatograph with UV Detector - Agilent 1100
• Liquid Chromatograph with UV Detector - Hitachi L7000
• Microwave (2) - CEM Discover Monomode, Mars Multimode
• Centrifuge - Sorvall Legend XTR

The EAS IT department maintains a centralized data center to provide computational resources for both instruction and research. The DataCenter maintains a vCenter environment with the following clusters:

1. CS Extended Study
   • 10 Hosts, HP ProLiant BL 460c Gen9
     6 CPUs x 1.598 GHz (Intel Xeon CPU E5-2603 v3 @ 1.60 GHz)
     32 GB of memory
2. Instruction (EAS College, Instruction)
   • 7 Hosts, DELL PowerEdge R810
     24 CPUs x 1.994 GHz (Intel Xeon CPU E7540 @ 2.00 GHz)
     192 GB of memory
   • 4 Host, HP ProLiant BL460c G6
     8 CPUs x 2.4 GHz (Intel Xeon CPU E5530 @ 2.40 GHz)
     32 GB of memory
3. Research Development
   • 8 Hosts, HP ProLiant BL460c G6
     8 CPUs x 2.4 GHz (Intel Xeon CPU E5530 @ 2.40 GHz)
     64 GB of memory
4. Research Simulation
   • 6 Hosts, HP ProLiant BL460c G7
     12 CPUs x 2.66 GHz (Intel Xeon CPU X5650 @ 2.67 GHz)
     128 GB of memory

Datastores:

1. EAS-NAS01..EAS-NAS06 (Instruction, MAE Research)
   • 9.09 TB storage space each (54 TB)
2. Instruction
   • 16 TB storage space
3. Operation (EAS IT)
   • 7.9 TB storage space
4. VDI (CLaaS)
   • 4TB storage space
5. EAS-DATA (EAS IT, College, Research)
   • 12 TB storage space

• 5 pulsed Nd:YAG lasers 10mJ-10J/pulse; 1064,532,266nm
• 10mW continuous wave HeNe
• 2 butterfly mounted tunable diode lasers
• Laser-grade optical components
• Digital oscilloscopes (Gs/sec), NI DAQ, CCD

Solid State Laboratory

• Rigaku SmartLab X-ray diffractometer
• SQUID magnetometer
• Vibrating sample magnetometer
• Multiple-source sputter deposition system

Microwave Laboratory

• Microwave network analyzer (500 MHz-110GHz)
• Four-point probe

Nano-characterization Laboratory

• Scanning electron microscope with lithography

Ultra-fast Optics Laboratory

• Ultra-fast pulsed laser system
• Far infrared spectrometer
• Brillouin light scattering system
• Magneto-optic Kerr Effect

Other

• Two clean room facilities
• Low-energy electron diffraction
• Reflection high energy diffraction
• Sylus profilometer
• Auger electron spectroscopy
• X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
• UV photoelectron spectroscopy
• Near-field scanning optical microscope
• UV/Vis/IR spectrometer
• Ferromagnetic resonance systems (10GHz,24GHz,35-55GHz)
• Giant magnetoresistance
• Molecular beam epitaxy
• Evaporation systems
• Nano-particles
• Mask aligner
• Argon etcher

• Wind tunnel: 12''x12'' test section, max velocity 30m/s
• Instron 5582 universal materials testing machine: 250:1 range, +/-0.5% accuracy, 500Hz data acquisition rate
• HardRocker HRS150 digital Rockwell hardness tester