Nine ASU Engineering faculty continue record of excellence with NSF CAREER Awards

Nine faculty members in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering have received National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Awards in 2021. The awards total an estimated $4.8 million to fund projects over the next five years. Earning the NSF CAREER award is a hallmark achievement for these early-career faculty members who have each developed a comprehensive plan to conduct impactful research and deliver a rich educational experience to their students.

To date, 32 Fulton Schools faculty members have earned NSF CAREER Awards in the past three years.

Ahmed Alkhateeb

Assistant Professor Ahmed Alkhateeb is implementing new machine learning approaches to help complex, large-scale wireless communication antenna systems more quickly and reliably predict channels and communication beams. This will help 5G and next-generation communication systems deliver more data to more devices, even when they’re on the move.

Gautam Dasarathy

Assistant Professor Gautam Dasarathy is rethinking traditional machine learning and information processing by developing interactive machine learning algorithms. Pairing the data collection and analysis will increase effectiveness and efficiency for a wide range of real-world applications such as pandemic response, cybersecurity, neuroimaging and communications.

Emma Frow

Assistant Professor Emma Frow studies the governance of emerging biotechnologies from multiple perspectives. This work includes ethnographic research that traces decision-making practices at the scale of technology design as well as engagement experiments that examine governance in the form of interdisciplinary collaborations among scientists and engineers.

Nicolò Michelusi

Assistant Professor Nicolò Michelusi is focusing on the design and analysis of distributed wirelessly connected systems using methods from stochastic (randomly determined) optimization and machine learning. This work will assist will help provide affordable, energy-efficient broadband access to underserved communities.

Giulia Pedrielli

Assistant Professor Giulia Pedrielli is working to improve optimization methods of single-use scalable individualized manufacturing systems for the biopharmaceutical industry of the future. Her research investigates new methods that make highly personalized products feasible and economically viable.

Jorge Sefair

Assistant Professor Jorge Sefair is applying new mathematical models and specialized algorithms to improve decisions related to conservation area design and land use. This work intends to maximize the ecological impact of preservation efforts while minimizing their economic costs.

Yang Weng

Assistant Professor Yang Weng is developing machine learning tools that can create more robust models to describe power flow in areas of the electrical grid without sensors. This will help the power distribution grid to become more resilient and capable of supporting advancing technologies like electric vehicles.

Yu Yao

Assistant Professor Yu Yao is combining polarimetric imaging and spectroscopy to create a biomedical imaging system that will be smaller, faster and have better resolution than currently available systems. The new information available from the improved system will be useful for medical procedures like cancer diagnosis as well as for space and industrial applications.

Yu “Tony” Zhang

Assistant Professor Yu “Tony” Zhang is developing tools and methods to promote progress in successful human-robot teaming. His project will focus on making advances in reflective robotics to enable more effective modes of comprehension, learning and collaboration between humans and robotic technologies to ensure closer human-robot partnerships.