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ECE N1

FBRIGHTIDEAS

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF

ELECTRICAL & COMPUTER

ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF

ELECTRICAL & COMPUTER

ENGINEERING

NIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON

ECE NEWSECE NEWS

(Continued on back page)

YEAR IN REV

2009-201

www.engr.wisc.ed/ecewww.engr.wisc.ed/ece

Intelliwindows, a system to open and close

windows based on the

weather and a desired

temperature in order to

reduce air conditioning

costs. Invented by ECE

sophomore .

un.me, a software suite that emphasizes

physical, social interaction and collaboration

between users. Invented by ECE sophomore

.

Bright Crank, a solar cell and hand-powered

system made from recycled bicycle and car

parts to light up bus stops. Invented by a

team including ECE senior .

Blocks Web API, an interface to allow devel-

opers to create web content

with a language set via a

proxy server that can trans-

late across all existing web

interfaces. Invented by ECE

sophomore .

Variable Power Source H2 Production, a sys-

tem that runs electricity into a high-pressure

electrolyzer and then through solid-oxide

fuel cells to create a baseload of energy,

which can be converted into AC voltage and

run to the electric grid. Invented by a team

including ECE sophomore .

Range Extending Hitch

Technology, a detachable

engine-generator for

plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Co-invented by ECEsenior .

Power StripWattmeter, a

device that connects to

an electrical outlet via a

power strip and displays

the average power usage

of the electric devices

connected to the outlet. Invented by ECE

and physics senior .

Recycled electrication systemwill light up developing nations

t age 15, Dan Ludois tried to convince

his grandparents that the best way to run

electricity to a shed in the corner of their farm

was to use recycled parts from a microwave.

At the time, his grandparents werent entirely

convinced of the teenagers technical credibility,

but Ludois kept the idea in the back of his

mind for the next 10 years.

On Earth Day 2010, Ludois andtwo of his fellow UW-Madison

ECE graduate students presented

the idea, which has evolved into

an electricity system called the

Microformer, at the second-

annual Climate Leadership

Challenge, a campus competition

focused on combating climate

change. The Microformer is designed

to provide electricity to rural households in

developing countries, and the idea was rewarded

with more than $50,000 in prizes.

Ludois partners, Jonathan Lee and PatricioMendoza Araya, each have experience with engi-

neering projects for developing countries. Lee is

involved in the UW-Madison chapter of Engineers

Without Borders and has served on projects in

Haiti and Rwanda. Mendoza has worked on a

hydroelectric generator and smart grid projects in

his native Chile, which is where the Microformer

team may rst implement its system.

n February, ECE undergraduate students made a

strong showing at the 2010 Innovation Days, an

annual UW-Madison event that rewards innovative

and marketable ideas. A team including ECE senior

Undergrad competition showcasesECE student ideas and inventions

Jason Lohr (pictured, right)won fourth place in the Schoofs Prize for Creativity and $1,000 for

CocoStove, an inexpensive cooking stove that burns plant oils rather than wood charcoal and

could create a new industry in rural Haiti. The team also won the Younkle Best Presentation

award, which comes with a $1,000 prize. ECE alumnus Peter Tong (MS 65) and the Tong Family

Foundation are among the competitions benefactors. Other ECE student teams included:

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ECE NEWS2

reetings to all alumni and friends

of the Department of Electrical

and Computer Engineering! This

newsletter brings you important updates on

faculty, staff, alumni, students, and learning

and research initiatives.

During the past couple years, we have

been engaged in a comprehensive self-study

and strategic planning process. One of the

important outcomes has been a commitment

to the philosophy of once-a-member-always-

a-member. Students who graduate from our

department do not cease their relationship

upon leaving our doors. You become part

of a lifelong, connected community. As our

Visiting Advisory Board reminds us, alumniand supporters represent an important

resource of knowledge, expertise and

experience to help us maintain the excellent

education and research outcomes we provide

with and for our students. And, we have

adopted a renewed commitment to continue

to serve our alumni and friends.

As a rst step in this direction, were

placing a greater emphasis in the newsletter on

sharing news and information of likely interest

to alumni, department friends and supporters.

To help us fulll this fresh emphasis, we need

you to send us your newsor questionswhich well happily include in future issues.

So, please send us your news or Whatever

happened to ? or How is ? Well be

Message froM the Chair

pleased to answer your questions or share

your news in future issues.

As a second step, I request the assistance

of every department alumnus to E-mail me ashort note answering the following biographical

questions. Our objective is to accumulate a

diverse pool of education-to-career proles

that illustrate to prospective students (under-

grad or graduate) what future career options

are made possible with a UW-Madison ECE

degree. (1) What degree(s) did you obtain

from our department? (2) In what ways do

you recall and value your education at UW-

Madison and the ECE department? (3) What

is your current job, and how does it allow

you to make an impact and a difference in the

lives of others? (4) How did your UW-Madisoneducation prepare you to end up where you

are now?

.

GJohn Booske, Chair

2416 Engineering Hall1415 Engineering Drive

Madison, WI 53706

Phone: 608/262-3840

Fax: 608/262-1267

ecechair@engr.wisc.edu

www.engr.wisc.edu/ece

Pictured(back row, from left): Syed Akhtar, Kevin Olikara, Daniel Ludois, Craig Mitchell Jr.,Benjamin Tesch, Paul White, Jeremy Bricco, Daniel Dunar, Jacob Fritz; (front row, from left)College of Engineering Dean Paul Peercy, Micah Erickson, Anthony Di Loreto, Randy Johanning,Christopher Wolf, James Bukacek

n April 8, 2010, UW-Madison

engineering faculty, staff,

students, friends and familymembers gathered at the University of

Wisconsin Foundation to celebrate the

Grainger Power Engineering Award and

Fellowship recipients. The event honored

14 ECE students who are already making

contributions to their eld. The awards,

sponsored by The Grainger Foundation,

recognize students for their academic

successes in the eld of power engineering.

O

Congrats to the 2010 recipients

of prestigious Grainger awards

For those of you able to contribute nan-

cially, I want to thank you on behalf of the

entire department for the important service

that you provide to our current and future

students. Because of your gifts, we have

been able to sponsor many excellent students

and faculty with scholarships, fellowships or

named professorships. Your generosity has

enabled us to subsidize the costs of text-

books, educational experience abroad, student

conference travel, awards for best TAs and

instructors, and need-based nancial aid.

Just as importantly, your contributions

have enabled us to nurture a spirit of lifelong

community by sponsoring the formation of a

graduate student lounge, ECE undergraduatestudent events and alumni receptions around

the country.

I am incredibly privileged to be Chair of our

department with such outstanding students,

faculty, staff, alumni, and supporters. Your

individual and collective accomplishments

continue to reect our proud traditions and

great reputation. Thank you for your continued

enthusiasm and support for our Department

of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

On Wisconsin!

Duane H. & Dorothy M. Bluemke Professor

John H. Booske, Chair

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DePartMeNt NeWs

Nanion Technologies, a bio-

and microtechnology company

co-founded by Lynn H. Matthias

Professor , won

the 2009 Deutscher Gruender-

preis award. Given to outstanding entre-

preneurs in Germany, the award recognizes

entrepreneurial role models.

Nanion is a spin-off company from the

Center of Nanoscience at the University

of Munich, Germany, that develops and

manufactures sophisticated instrumentation

for the analysis of ion channels, the pore-

forming proteins that help establish and

control the small voltage gradient across

the plasma membrane of all living cells byallowing the ow of ions down their electro-

chemical gradient. The companys automated

patch clamp platforms increase the efciency

of drug discovery and are used by pharma-

ceutical companies and leading academic

institutions globally.

The Optical Society has

awarded Philip Dunham Reed

Professor the

Nick Holonyak Jr. Award in

recognition of his fundamental

contributions to high-power semiconductorlasers including active photonic-crystal

structures for high coherent power genera-

tion; single-lobe grating-surface-emitting

distributed-feedback lasers; and high-power,

high-efciency sources based on aluminum-

free technology.

The Nick Holonyak Jr. Award was

established in 1997 and recognizes signicant

contributions to optics based on semi-

conductor-based devices and optical materials,

including basic science and technological

applications. Botez joins an exceptional group

of 12 past Holonyak Jr. Award recipients.

Associate Professor

will lead a multi-university,

multidisciplinary research

program to develop biology-

inspired intelligent micro-

optical imaging systems with a four-year,

$2 million National Science Foundation grant

through the Emerging Frontiers in Research

and Innovation program. With state-of-the-art

Professor Emeritus

received a 2009 Nikola

Tesla Award from IEEE. The

award recognizes Novotny

for pioneering contributions

throughout the last 40 years to the analysis

and understanding of AC machine dynamic

behavior and performance in adjustable-

speed drives.

McFarland-Bascom Professor

has been elected

an IEEE fellow for contributions

to statistical signal and image

processing.

Each year, following a rigorous evaluationprocedure, the IEEE Fellow Committee

recommends a select group of recipients for

elevation to fellow, one of the institutes most

prestigious honors. The recipients are taken

from an international pool of applicants.

The IEEE grade of fellow is conferred by the

board of directors upon a person with an

extraordinary record of accomplishments in

any of the IEEE elds of interest.

The 2009 San Diego Microgrid

Symposium, held September

17-18, brought together 25organizations at the University

of California, San Diego to

discuss switching the San Diego electrical

grid to a digital smart grid by 2011. Professor

served on the steering

committee, and PhD student Patricio A.

Mendoza Araya presented at the conference

on evolving microgrids work in Chile.

Computer Sciences and ECE

Professor received

a UW-Madison Kellet Mid-

Career Award and $60,000research award supported by

the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

Hill has been recognized for his research on

advancing parallel computer hardware.

technologies in microsystems, nanotechnology

and computer vision, Jiangs team will

incorporate elements of natural visual

systems into integrated, intelligent, micro-

imaging systems without anatomic and

physiological constraints.

Specically, they will develop spherical

multi-micro-camera arrays integrating light

eld photography for panoramic videos with

large depth of eld, articial-reecting-super-

position compound eyes for high-transmit-

tance and low-chromatic-aberration imaging

over a wide spectrum, and bio-inspired

multi-fovea coordination software for efcient

processing of visual information.

The Wisconsin Institutes for DiscoverySeed Grant provided the initial project grant.

Associate Professor

received a three-year,

$360,000 U.S. Department of

Defense grant to develop new

near-infrared and midwave-

infrared lasers using nanomembranes tech-

nologies. Traditional near-infrared (1.55 mm)

lasers can only be made on III-V substrates,

such as indium phosphide. Ma will work

with colleagues at the University of Texas

to develop such lasers on any substrates,including the desired silicon substrates.

The success will lead to the implementation

of optical interconnects for densely packed

silicon integrated circuits. The team also will

develop 3-5 mm midwave-infrared lasers

employing a similar principle.

Ma says the midwave-infrared lasers have

been difcult to make but would be very useful

for target seeking, sensing and laser radars.

Professor and

Chemical and Biological

Engineering Milton J. and A.Maude Shoemaker Professor

Tom Kuech have received a

two-year $330,000 grant from the Army

Research Lab to study high-efciency tandem

solar cells employing dilute-nitride materials

grown by metalorganic chemical vapor depo-

sition. One goal of the project is to increase

the efciency of multi-junction solar cells

through the development of new materials

to access key parts of the solar spectrum.

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ECE NEWS4ECE NEWS4

Assistant Professor is

designing low-power computing systems

that, if implemented on a broad scale,

could have signicant environmental and

economic benets.

When an Internet surfer opens Google and

types in a keyword, the command goes to oneof the companys U.S. data centers, which are

large-scale facilities with hundreds of computer

servers. In the last seven years, the utility bills

to power and cool the servers and auxiliary

equipment at U.S. data centers increased from

$15 billion to $30 billion in 2008, the last year

data is available.

This cost, coupled with the amount of

electricity consumed by computers in ofces

and homes, has consequences. To generate

that amount of electricity, we have to burn a

lot of fossil fuels, and thats not good for the

environment, Kim says. Also, we have toperform computations for almost every aspect

of our lives now, and by reducing the cost

for doing these computations, our national

economy could gain a competitive edge.

Kim is crafting designs and architectures

for low-power computing systems that

could address these challenges. He is

developing algorithms for two strategies to

reduce computer power consumption. The

rst strategy is to program machines that

can process computations more efciently.For example, several computations must

be completed for every pixel displayed on

a monitor or laptop screen. Each screen is

composed of tens of thousands of pixels,

but a viewer would not notice if some of

those pixels didnt show up.

The second strategy is to reduce wasted

energy during computations. To achieve

this, Kim is trying to identify which sections,

called blocks, of computer circuits can be

turned off during certain functions. Turning

the blocks off when they are not in use

rather than letting them remain on and idlereduces the overall power consumption of

the processor.

Once the block is turned off, it takes

some time to wake it back up, like it takes

time to wake a computer up after putting it

into sleep mode, he explains. To minimize

performance impact, or penalty, I have to

predict which blocks will be used and wont

be used in order to wake them up in time.

My main objective is to hide the time

penalty so users dont notice a slowdown.

Boosting computer performanc

with recongurable hardware

Assistant Professor

is studying how to use recongurable

hardware, which is a form of exible,

special-purpose hardware, to implement

a wide range of computer accelerators that

boost performance and increase energy

efciency.

Compton says the idea of her work is

similar to cooking. Chefs can make anything

from a cookbook, but they can make a dish

much faster if they memorize the recipe. A

traditional central processing unit, or CPU,is like a chef with a cookbook; it can process

anything, but its relatively slow since it

processes data sequentially and has to look

up the instructions every time, even if it has

handled the same task before.

Application-specic integrated circuits,

called ASICs, are hard-coded at the factory

with a single memorized recipe. This hard-

ware is fast because it doesnt

need to look up the instruc-

tions, and it processes

data in parallel, meaning

it handles multiple datathreads simultaneously

like a graphics pro-

cessing unit, or GPU.

Recongurable

hardware is like a

super chef who can

quickly memorize

or re-memorize

a small set

of recipes. Like

ASICs, the

T

Low-power computers could benet environment and U.S. economy

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hen Assistant Professor Nader

Behdad looks at a small antenna,

crickets and ies sometimes come

to mind. For the expert in applied electro-

magnetics, insects offer a humbling reminder

that, despite the best efforts of scientists in the

last 100 years, mankinds best sensors are still

not as sensitive as the senses of a bug.

This reminder serves as an inspiration for

Behdad, who is studying innovative approaches

for developing new electromagnetic tech-

nologies, including small and efcient

super-resolving antennas. Conventional

approaches dictate that efcient antennas

are sized in proportion to the wavelengths

they are designed to detect. For example,the wireless LAN system that an iPhone can

pick up works at a 2.4-gigahertz

frequency, which translates

to a wavelength measuring

roughly 12.5 centimeters.

The optimal antenna to

pick up this wavelength

would be around half

that length, or roughly

6.5 centimeters,

to work at optimal

efciency. However,

as cell phones andother wireless

devices continue

to get smaller and

smaller, antennas are

becoming so small

that their efciency is

being compromised.

Some ies, how-

ever, that are only about a

centimeter long, can detect

the direction of sound within

two degrees of accuracy. To do

this with our technology wed needantennas that are absolutely huge, explains

Behdad, who is considering two research

strategies for harnessing natures optimal

design. One way is to try to mimic what these

organisms are doing and come up with new

architectures based on living organisms. The

second way is to actually try to develop an

evolution lab.

This lab would theoretically examine basic

cell development and how that development

W

foCus oN NeW faCulty: NaDer BehDaD

could be altered to produce different out-

comes. For example, some organisms,

like sharks, are evolved to detect

electromagnetic signals produced

by certain sh. Perhaps, says

Behdad, this ability could be

engineered to allow other

organisms to not only sense

electromagnetic waves,

but also transmit them for

communication purposes.

Behdadwho joined the

ECE faculty in 2008 afterearning his PhD from the

University of Michigan in

2006 and spending two

years as an assistant elec-

trical engineering professor

at the University of Central

Florida, Orlandois taking

advantage of the collaborative

atmosphere at UW-Madison in

order to explore these complex

ideas. He is investigating various

biomedical applications for antennas,

including a partnership with Professor SusanHagness to study how antennas could be used

in micro-systems for breast cancer detection.

He is also brainstorming possibilities for the

evolution lab with biologists on campus.

Who knows if it could work? Thats the

problemnot knowing, he says. The question

is where to start, and theres no shortage of

expertise here. If theres anything you want to

know, there is someone in town who knows.

One wayis to try to mimic

what these organismsare doing and come upwith new architectures

hardware memorizes functions and performs

computations in parallel.

Recongurable hardware goes beyondASICs by loading sets of data that determine

which wires should be connected or discon-

nected, thereby creating different digital

circuits for different tasks. For example,

the hardware could load an MP3 encoder

accelerator to compress an audio le and

then quickly

switch to

become a

decryption

accelerator.

Comptons

research fo-cuses on how

a computing

system deter-

mines which

accelerators

should be

loaded into

hardware at

any given time.

Since rst publishing on system-level

recongurable hardware management in

2005, Compton has studied how to allocate

the accelerators in response to, but inisolation of, the rest of the computer system.

The CAREER award will allow her to expand

her work to study the entire system and

schedule multiple computing resources

to work in tandem with the recongurable

hardware.

In terms of the cooking metaphor, she

essentially is looking at the entire kitchen

workow to determine how the various

chefsin other words, the CPU, GPU and

recongurable hardwarecan best work

together to most efciently make the dish,

or execute an application.

Ultimately, Compton is working to

demonstrate to hardware companies that

recongurable hardware provides enough

of a boost to warrant adding it to everyday

computing devices.

based onlivingorganisms.

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ECE NEWS6

is the general manager for the Cisco Emerging Technolog

Group, which focuses on creating solutions in new and adjacent technolog

markets. In his 13 years at Cisco, Amelse has held various marketing, man

facturing and engineering roles. A Madison native, Amelse holds a bachelo

degree from UW-Stout and an MBA from Santa Clara University. He has

served on the VAB for two years. I believe strongly in helping develop th

next generation of technical leaders, he says. He also remains connected

to Wisconsin via his familys maple syrup business, Amelse Farms.

(BS 89) is a lab manager for track and trace solutions

at 3M, where he is also a volunteer for the Technical Teams Encouraging

Career Horizons for middle and high school students. He obtained his

electrical engineering masters degree from the University of Minnesota in

1996 and joined the VAB in 2006. I want to help the department grow and

remain competitive, attract and retain top faculty and students, and develop

excellent graduates, he says.

(BS 79) works in the Ofce of Corporate Relations at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to connect companies in Ind

Japan and the United States to relevant research at MIT. She has spent

many years as an industry analyst, tracking and anticipating under-the-rad

technologies and their impact on business, consumers and society.

Most recently, she was vice president at Strategy Analytics, a market

research and analysis rm, where she launched the companys Emergin

Frontiers program. Before this, she was vice president of emerging trends at a startup that

was acquired by Gartner. She has worked as director of marketing at Global Insight, as an

articial intelligence researcher and software developer at IBM, and as a hardware design

engineer at the Delco Electronics Division of General Motors. Buck holds an MBA from the

University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management and was a PhD candidate in compuscience, specializing in articial intelligence, at Yale. She has served on the VAB for two yea

(BSME 80) is the F-15 chief program engineer at Boeing.

He holds a mechanical engineering masters degree from the University of

Missouri and an executive MBA from Washington University in St. Louis.

He has experience in engineering, program management, supply chain

management, manufacturing and information technology. He has served

on the VAB for two years.

is a staff scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in

the Environmental Energy Technologies Division, where he manages the

Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions (CERTS). Eto hold

a bachelors degree in philosophy (1979) and a masters degree in energyand resources (1981) from the University of California, Berkeley. Eto, who

has served on the VAB for two years, is connected to UW-Madison throug

the students and faculty who work on CERTS initiatives.

(BS 85) is a program manager at the Metropolitan Water District

of Southern California, where she manages and negotiates power contracts,

performs and reviews transmission planning and interconnection studies,

and markets green energy. Finley, who was on the UW-Madison swim team

as a student and remains an active lifeguard and triathlon participant, is a

member of several technical committees and received her masters degree in

Meet the eCe VisitiNg aDVisory BoarDfoCus oN aluMNi

T

By Professor John Booske,ECE department chair

he ECE Visiting Advisory Board

(VAB) provides a fresh view of

the department from interested

individuals working and living outside the

faculty and campus. We remain appreciative

and indebted to each former and current board

member for this important and unselsh work.

During this past academic year, the board

members visited campus and met with ECE

leaders, faculty, students, as well as with

college deans and development ofcers. They

have identied several key recommendations

to help the department in the next decade.

Consistent with the VABs recommendations,

the department is pursuing a number of

exciting new initiatives.We have helped ECE graduate students

form the ECE Graduate Student Association

and undergraduate students form the ECE

Student Leadership Council. These groups will

participate in organizing and hosting events

and panels for new and current students.

The VAB has strongly endorsed the

departments plan to revise our undergraduate

curriculum and specically recommend

greater student exibility in selecting elective

courses while maintaining technical depth in

the major. More experiential learning will

be emphasized in the early stages of the newcurriculum, and students will receive more

direct advising from faculty and their career

and education options.

Supported by the College of Engineering,

we are planning to launch a new website that

will provide greater information support for

students and Internet visitors. The website

will present what it means to have a career

in ECE, the value of an education in the UW-

Madison ECE department, news of events and

opportunities,and much more with the use

of video, text and graphics and an improved

ease of navigation. The rollout of the newwebsite is expected before the end of 2010.

The VABs recommendations have been

instrumental in guiding aspects of each of

these and other exciting initiatives, and we

are looking forward to their future help as we

navigate news ways of educating, institution-

ally supporting research and acquiring and

using nancial resources to continue delivering

some of the best learning and knowledge

outcomes in the country and the world.

.

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ECE N7

electrical engineering from the University of

Southern California in 1989. She has been

a licensed professional engineer in California

since that year. Being one of very few

female ECE graduates in 1985, I feel honored

to be a part of the VAB, she says. This

opportunity motivates me to expand upon

my outreach efforts and reect on my expe-

riences as an engineer to encourage others,

especially student-athletes, females and

minorities, to pursue engineering careers.

Finley has been on the VAB for three years.

is senior

vice president of global

engineering servicesat Plexus Corporation,

where he is responsible

for ve design centers

located around the

world. Frisch joined

Plexus in 1990 and has held various director

and vice president positions. He obtained a

bachelors degree in electrical engineering

and technology from the Milwaukee School

of Engineering, where he has been a part-

time lecturer, and a masters degree in

electrical engineering and computer science

from Marquette University. I hope myindustry experience will be able to contribute

to the future success of the college, as I

believe the success of my company and the

electronics industry hinges on the ability to

develop well educated graduates, he says.

(BS 87, MS 88, PhD

92) is the senior vice

president of program

management in the QCT

division at Qualcomm

Inc. He has held variouspositions in engineering,

business development, program management

and general management at Qualcomm, and

he has experience in organizing, managing

and leading large, interdisciplinary, multi-site

development and operations organizations.

He served on the VAB in 2009 and remains

committed to help ECE maintain its quality

student experience.

(MS 82, MBA 82) has more than 20 years of experience

in co-founding and managing hardware and software solution companies.

Currently, he is the CEO and CFO of EvolveWare Inc., a software company

that has developed a unique technology to automate the transformation

of source systems to any target system. Prior to founding EvolveWare,

Marfatia co-founded Silicon Electronics and has previously worked at

ROLM Corporation and Pyramid Technology. Active in various community

organizations, Marfatia has served on the VAB for two years and says he

remains committed to UW-Madison to help the institution receive the recognition it deserves.

(BS 73, MS 74, PhD 77) is research manager of the

Advanced Technology Milwaukee Labs at Rockwell Automation/Allen

Bradley, where he conducts projects in real-time Ethernet, multilevel

inverters, motor starters, regenerative converters and permanent magnet

motor controls. Nondahl has more than 30 years of experience in electrical

drives, motor controls and communication networks for industrial appli-

cations. He has produced multiple technical papers and U.S. patents. He

has been active in the IEEE Industry Applications Society for many years

and is currently serving as the president of the society. He has served on the VAB for two years.

WE WoulD lIkE To HEAR fRom you!

IN MEMORIAM

Charles Gabriel (BS 72)

Lawrence Hall (PhD 73)

John Hart Jr. (BS 41)

Owen Holtan (BS 38)

Otis Ingebritsen (BS 47)

Douglas Jeske (BS 88)

Gordon Kent (BS 47)

Paul Ketchum (BS 38)

George Klinge (BS 50)

George Linn (BS 51)

Robert Medenwald (BS 48)

Arthur Moeller (PhD 65)

Ernest Mullen (BS 58)

Charles Navratil (BS 50)

William Pappathopoulos

(BS 66)

Raymond Partt (BS 49)

Richard Pierce (BS 48)Gene Reed (BS 57)

William Reeve (BS 52)

James Slagg (BS 49)

Milton Stenstrom (BS 49)

Walter Tolk (BS 49)

Reinhard Vater (BS 41)

Norman Volz (BS 51)

Frederick Bartman (BS 41)

Stephen Basche (BS 79)

Clifford Bastle (BS 51)

Robert Bohn (BS 47)

Ronald Breitwisch (BS 75)

Donald Brewer (BS 47)

Michael Brozek (BS 73)

Robert Derber (BS 49)

Lee Eichenseer (BS 61)

Samuel Elice (BS 48)

Nathan Engebretson (BS 34)

Paul Fischer (BS 42)

Laverne Froseth (BS 58)

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ECE NEWS8

hen Andrew Hanson (BS 09) met his laboratory partner for ECE 170:

Introduction to Circuitsduring his freshman year, he didnt realize he

was meeting his future business partner. Four years and a software

start-up later, Hanson and his former classmate, Justin Beck(BS 09), are still together working on their crazy idea.

When Hanson and Beck shared another class during their

sophomore year, Hanson took the opportunity to talk to

Beck about his internship at Google the previous summer.

The two met for lunch and chatted about the gaming industry,

as well as some ideas for new products. By the end of the meal, the two

decided to work together on a new game, called Little Dudes, for a

couple of months.

By winter break that year, the pair devised a new game called Parallel

Kingdom, a multi-player online role-playing game for the Google Android

and Apple iPhone. The games background is based on Google maps,

so a player in Madison can log in and wander the digital streets of the

city, interacting with other players who also are physically based inMadison. The game is open-ended and allows players to progress

though levels either by being friendly or hostile toward their neighbors.

In order to market Parallel Kingdom, Hanson and Beck founded

PerBlue in summer 2008. After graduating in 2009, they worked at the company full-time and

eventually hired seven others, most of who are also recent UW-Madison alumni. Parallel Kingdom

currently has more than 100,000 user accounts. Many players are located on the West Coast

and in Japan, and the number of European players is also growing.

Justin and I both enjoy this a lot because its our own thing, says Hanson. In hindsight,

I can see how much free time I would have had in college if we hadnt done this, but Im glad I

spent that time working on Parallel Kingdom.

n Oct. 16, 2009, an ECE alumnus

was among eight engineering

alumni honored at the colleges

annual Engineers Day, which recognizes and

celebrates inuential engineers. At the event,

Dean Foate (BS 82) received a Distinguished

Achievement Award.

Foates career is marked by his loyalty to

a pair of colleagues and the company hisfather co-founded. After graduating from

UW-Madison, Foate and his wife, Cindy, left

Foates two college roommates and closest

friends for Indiana,

where Foate began

his career design-

ing electronic engine and transmission

controls for Delco Electronics. However,

it wasnt long before the pair persuaded

Foate to return to Wisconsin and join Plexus

Corporation. The decision was made easier

when Foate and Cindy had a son, Jake, and

the family moved back to Foates native

Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1984, where they

subsequently had a daughter, Allison.

Foate began working for Plexus on

Groundhogs Day. His father couldnt believe

his son was giving up a secure job in the

middle of a recession to work for the small

company he had co-founded and retired

from. Yet Foate and his friends were

determined to become better engineers and

leaders to grow the companyand thats

exactly what they did.

Foate held various leadership positions

within Plexus, and when he became presi-

dent of the design and development organi-

zation, he decided to seek formal training.

He earned a masters degree in engineering

management from the Milwaukee School of

Engineering in 1999, graduating with honors.

His business knowledge helped drive the

growth and protability of Plexus, which is

now recognized as an industry-leading elec-

tronics manufacturing services provider with

revenues of approximately $1.7 billion and

the best shareholder returns among industrypeers. In 2002, Foate was named president

and chief executive ofcer of the company.

Foate credits his engineering education at

UW-Madison for the

communication and

leadership skills he

needed to launch his career. He now helps

other aspiring engineers as a supporter of

FIRST, a program for children to develop

technological and leadership skills. He also

sponsors a scholarship program and created

a Plexus foundation to provide technology

support to schools. Engineers have changed

the world in everything from technology to

infrastructure to communication, and engi-

neers can make a signicant impact on the

quality of life around the world, he says.

Hanson says he and his colleagues

are open to the possibility of eventually

selling PerBlue to another software

company, but for now they are happyrunning the company themselves. Either

way, Hanson has acquired a strong set of

entrepreneurial skills that he credits both

to his experiences at PerBlue and as an

ECE and computer sciences student.

In addition to Parallel Kingdom, Hanson,

a native of Rochester, Minnesota, was active

with student organizations while on campus.

He worked on the hybrid vehicle team and

was very committed to the UW-Madison IEEE

robotics team software group. It was fun to

see something you were writing go out and

actually move, he says.Those experiences combined with his

classes taught Hanson how to work with a

team to solve problemsskills he says have

carried over to PerBlue. Additionally, Hanson

advises other students interested in entre-

preneurship to be willing to learn about and

tackle many different roles, from engineering

to accounting to management.

And, of course, befriending a lab partner

never hurts.

O

foate receives Distingished Achieveent Award

Andrew Hanson: Transferring entrepreneurship from classroom to company

W

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ECE N9

mIHAEl SplITER

Bending engineering, bsiness and socia resonsibiity

that are reducing the cost-per-watt of solar

energy. The division has drawn national

attention and was featured in a New York

Timescolumn in September 2009.

For Splinter, developing solar-related

equipment and technology is a valuable move

for Applied Materials not only because of the

growing global market for green technologies,

but because of the environmental benets.

This blending of engineering and business

with social responsibility represents Splinters

general leadership philosophy. A persons

values and the practicing culture of a

company are incredibly important. Things

like being close to the customer, practicing

mutual respect and trust in the workplace,and always striving to have world-class

performancethese three things are high

on my list, he says.

As the industry of green technologies

advances, Splinter remembers his own

experiences as a young engineer in an

emerging eld. Much like I thought when I

was graduating that electronics, computer

chips and circuits would be something I

could make a career of, engineers can look

forward to focusing on our changing energy

landscape, he says, adding that a continued

focus on practical science by universities willbe important in the coming decades.

In the next 40 years, students graduating

today will be facing pollution, carbon dioxide

and water problems, and I cant imagine a

world where engineers arent going to be

working to solve these problems in a

practical, cost-effective way, he says.

Beyond the classroom, Splinter says hes

also glad to see students remain engaged

in social issues and activism. It makes me

o matter how far Michael Splinter

(BS 72, MS 74) travelseither

geographically or metaphorically

up the corporate ladderhe remains at heart

a Badger and an engineer.

Originally from Horicon, Wisconsin,

Splinter focused his graduate studies on

integrated circuits, and after receiving hisdegree he ventured to southern California to

work for the Electronics Research Center at

Rockwell International. During his 10 years

at Rockwell, Splinter began developing the

interest and skills to pursue management

positions and rose to become manager of

the semiconductor fabrication operations

division. Splinter then joined Intel Corporation,

where he held multiple executive roles during

his 20-year tenure.

Since 2003, Splinter has been the chief

executive ofcer of Applied Materials, located

in Santa Clara, California. Among his manytasks at the nanomanufacturing company that

develops equipment, service and software

for semiconductor chips and many other

products, Splinter is overseeing the creation

of a new division focused on energy and the

environment. This new division is generating

a variety of products focused on reducing

the use of fossil fuels, including equipment

to vastly increase the number of solar panels

manufactured each year, as well as products

N

excited that Wisconsin is still a place people

are going to learn and not be afraid of

challenging the status quo.

Splinter remains connected to UW-Madison

in a variety of ways, including serving on the

University of Wisconsin Foundation Board of

Directors and previous tenures on the College

of Engineering Industrial Advisory Board. He

is especially interested in seeing more engi-

neering students from diverse backgrounds.

Despite his many executive titles, Splinter

ultimately still considers himself an engineer.

Engineering is about learning how to

problem-solve, organize and look at things

in ways that are practical and solvable, he

says. And I think that kind of education wasvery practical for me and has helped me

tremendously in my early years and

continues to help me today.

ECE N9

Professor Emeritus died February 21 at the age of 77. Born in Montrose, Colorado,

King worked his way through college as a radio announcer, earning his bachelors degrees

in electronic and electrical engineering at the Indiana Institute of Technology and his

masters degree and PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado. King began

his career in academia at the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 1962 and joined UW-Madison

as a professor of electrical engineering in 1969. Named a Fulbright Fellow in 1973 and a guest

professor at universities in Denmark and New Zealand, King focused his teaching and research

on various aspects of electromagnetic theory and experiments relating to propagation over

non-uniform surfaces. He eventually left UW-Madison to join LLNL as a research engineer and

co-founded KDC Technology Corporation

in 1983, where he focused on developing

microwave instrumentation to evaluate

materials. Active in the Institute of Electrical

and Electronic Engineers and the National

Academy of Sciences, King held nine patents

and authored many professional papers. King

is survived by his wife, Diane; two children,

Karl and Kristin; and three grandchildren.IN

MEMORIAM

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ECE NEWS10

wo ECE faculty have achieved a nanoscale laser structure they anticipate will produce

semiconductor lasers in the next two years that are more than twice as efcient as

current continuous-wave lasers emitting in the mid-infrared. The novel structure

will produce lasers with more power and that are more efcient, reliable and stable, says Philip

Dunham Reed Professor Dan Botez, who created the new structure with Professor Luke Mawst.

These next-generation lasers could benet a wide range of industries, as they could be used

in biomedical devices, environmental monitoring devices, missile avoidance systems and even

food packaging processes. This wide range of applications is possible because the research-

ers have all but eliminated the temperature sensitivity for lasers operating in continuous-wave

mode, meaning the laser emits uninterrupted, coherent light.

For example, with current mid-infrared technologies

for detecting explosives, lasers can detect from

only approximately 30 feet away, Botez says.

With these lasers, devices could detect

explosives at more like 300 feet away.

Also important is that the researchers

created the new laser structure via a scal-

able industrial process.

How is a regular semiconductor laser built?

Researchers can harness electron movement toproduce a laser. In a free-oating atom, electrons orbit in rings

closer to or farther from the nucleus, depending on how much energy the electron is carrying.

In a solid, atoms are xed in a lattice (like a complex chain or pattern), and electrons move

in and jump between energy bands instead of between the xed energy levels corresponding

to the various orbits in free atoms. In semiconducting materials, electrons can move into an

energy band, called a conduction band, which produces a current. They can also move inside

a band called a valence band that is so jam-packed with electrons that no net current ow

happens. Electrons can easily be stimulated to move to the conduction bandbut to maintain

equilibrium, they eventually have to return to the valence band to ll in the holes they left

behind. The electron returns to the valence band via a port or well in the conduction band,

which dips closer to the valence band in a region called the active region. As that occurs, the

electron gives off its excess energy, sometimes in the form of a photon, which is a quantum of

light. (A quantum of something is the smallest discrete quantity possible.)

Electrons that spontaneously move between bands and produce light can be used for devices

like LEDs. However, to produce a laser beam, researchers place the lattice of atoms in a cavity

with mirrors, and the generated photons stimulate the electrons to return to the

valence band, thus releasing a photon with the same energy as the stimulating

one. The original photon and the new photon are in phase with each other and

will further stimulate the release of other photons, thus continuously amplifying

the number of photons and bouncing off the cavity mirrors. The process repeats

until the cavity reaches a threshold for oscillation and light is directed out of the

cavity in a coherent laser beam.

This is how a standard semiconductor laser works, but the problem is that

band-to-band transitions are limited to wavelengths below approximately three

microns, which correspond to transition energies of about .4 electron volts. Ifthe transition energies are smaller, which would correspond to longer wave-

lengths, the energy is released as heat, rather than lightmeaning traditional

semiconductor lasers have limited emitted-light wavelength potential.

A move forward: Quantum cascade lasers

To overcome wavelength limitations, scientists from Bell Laboratories

developed a laser by quantizing the energy bands, meaning they broke the

energy bands into sub-bands. As the lattice structure vibrates, it causes the

electrons to move rapidly between sub-bands, and the transitions between

sub-bands cause the electrons to emit energy. However, the process is

Textremely inefcient since electrons transi-

tioning between two sub-bands emit 1,000

phonons (quantized lattice vibrations) for every

one photon. Bell Labs scientists reduced this

inefciency by creating a cascade structure

by stacking 40 sub-band photon-emitting stages.

These stages allow one electron to be used

to emit a photon 40 times as it sequentially

moves and transitions along the cascade

structure. The result is only 25 phonons are

emitted for every one emitted photon and

then lasing action can be achieved.

The problem with this type of

laser is that xed compositions of

the layers for a particular stage,

which repeats along the cascade

structure, result in electrons

escaping from the structure.

Imagine dropping a ball down a

ladder; the ball may hit the rst couple

of steps, or sub-bands, but as it progressesalong the ladder, it can veer off course and drop

off the ladder entirely. A continuous-wave laser

system, which operates continuously, heats

up internally as electrons escape from the

structure, which in turn limits the emitted

power and the overall device efciency.

This loss of electrons, or carrier leakage,

has been a major barrier to increasing laser

efciency for practical applications.

A solution: Deep-well quantum cascade lasers

About ve years ago, a process for growing

multi-layer semiconductor structures becameavailable for fabricating quantum-cascade

lasers. Called metalorganic chemical vapor

New semiconductorlaser structure could produce more

efcient, powerful and portable sourcesemitting in the mid-infrared

Botezand M

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ECE N11

ECE and computer science student and founder of

FreedomDesigns.org, a name-your-own-price free-lance Web design business,

is among nine UW-Madison undergraduates to earn a $2,500 Wiscontrepreneur

scholarship to foster their entrepreneurial skills. The awards are distributed

through the UW-Madison Ofce of Corporate Relations. A computer science

and computer engineering major from Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, Bethencourt

is working to create software for a collaborative graphic design program.Supported by a grant from the Kauffman Foundation, the Wiscontrepreneur initiative offers a

variety of courses, programs, awards and activities to spur entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial

thinking across the entire campus and state.

deposition (MOCVD), the process is scalable,

unlike previous crystal growth techniques

suited for laboratories but not manufacturers.

MOCVD involves exposing a substrate to

high heat and chemicals, causing layers to

form on the substrate in an atomic-lattice

conguration. Unlike previous crystal-growth

techniques, MOCVD allows researchers to

fabricate cascade-laser structures with stages

composed of layers of varying composition.

Botez and Mawst are using the MOCVD

process to grow varying-composition

structures that prevent carrier leakage. To

compensate for the added strain caused in the

structure by creating deeper (quantum) wells,

they also create taller barriers. Now, rather

than electrons escaping from the system like

balls falling off a ladder, the system works

like a set of tiered boxes, with a ball get-

ting caught at each stage. This ensures that

electrons will efciently produce photonsin every stage of the cascade structure. The

new structure is called a deep-well quantum

cascade laser.

By suppressing carrier leakage, there is

about 2.5 times less heating in the device while

the laser is in continuous-wave operation,

says Botez. This is a dramatic improvement

that means the device will be almost

temperature insensitive.

The result will be continuous-wave lasers

that Botez anticipates will achieve at least

20 percent wall-plug efciency, which is the

electrical-to-optical power efciency of alaser system. Twenty percent efciency

would be roughly double the current world

record for practical continuous-wave quantum

cascade lasers.

This new structure, coupled with the fact

that MOCVD is a process suitable for mass

production, means that optimized mid-infra-

red lasers can become much more wide-

spread in medicine, the military and a wide

variety of industries.

The effect will be that as you get more

continuous wave power you should also get

better long-term reliability and stability, be-cause these lasers will be much less sensitive

to temperature variations than conventional

quantum cascade lasers, Botez says.

Botez and Mawst are actively interested

in commercializing the technology, which

is covered by two issued and one pending

U.S. patents through the Wisconsin Alumni

Research Foundation.

stuDeNt NeWs

Graduate student and under-

graduate student have received

a grant from the IEEE Standards Education

Committee for a project titled Characterization

of electron cyclotron resonance machine

magnetic eld parameters using IEEE standard

measurement practices. IEEE will publish their

nal project paper.

In March, PhD student received

a competitive UW-Madison PhD capstone

award, which recognizes students across

campus who have performed as outstanding

teaching assistants throughout their tenure.

A maximum of ve awards are presented

each year; students are nominated by faculty

and selected by a campus committee.

ECE student wins 2010 Alliant Energy/Erroll B. Davis Jr. Achievement Award

Shortly after graduating in December 2009 with his bachelors degree

in electrical and computer engineering, received the

prestigious Alliant Energy/Erroll B. Davis Jr. Achievement Award, which

recognizes outstanding scholarship and community service.

Adenle served for two years as the rst vice president of the NationalSociety of Black Engineers-WI Black Engineering Student Society. He also

started the diversity spring welcome event at the College of Engineering

to welcome underrepresented students to campus. Adenle has interned at the headquarters

of both General Electric and British Petroleum. Originally from Nigeria, Adenle has a long-

term dream of starting a non-prot organization dedicated to research and development

of solutions to energy shortage issues in African countries.

Adenle was presented with the award and $1,000 on Feb. 5, 2010, in Madison. Award

presenters included UW System President Kevin P. Reilly, UW System Senior Vice President

Rebecca Martin and Barbara Swan, executive vice president, general counsel and chief

administrative ofcer for A lliant Energy.

Solomons commitment and contributions show what one student can do to make the

UW experience richer both for himself and others. Students like Solomon are an inspiration

to all of us who urge our young people to put their talents to use to improve the society they

will soon lead, Reilly says.

The award is made possible by the Alliant Energy Foundation, which established an

endowment in 2007 in honor of former Alliant Energy CEO Erroll B. Davis Jr. Recipients of

the award represent undergraduate students from traditionally underrepresented minority

groups pursuing degrees in engineering or business, two degrees held by Davis, who now

serves as Chancellor for the University of Georgia System. Recipients must be enrolled at

either UW-Madison or UW-Platteville, which are located in regions of the state where Alliant

Energy provides energy services.

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ECE NEWS12

Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering1415 Engineering Dr.

Madison, WI 53706

is a newsetter or ani and riends o the uW-madison Deartent o Eectrica & oter Engineering.

prodced by: Engineering Externa Reations / Editor: Sandra knisey / Design: phi Bieb Paid for with private funds.ECE NEWSECE NEWS

Send address changes and other correspondence to:

(Continued from front page)

Recycled electrication system

The Microformer was recognized as the most

action-ready idea at the Climate Leadership

Challenge, which is staged by the UW-Madison

Nelson Institute Center for Sustainability and

the Global Environment. The award comes

with a $50,000 cash prize, plus funds for

a promotional trip and a one-year lease for

space in the new University Research Park

Metro Innovation Center. Were excited to be

part of the innovation community over there

and nd resources to help us with the business

aspects of this, says Lee.

The team will form a company to ne-tune and

test the design, as well as begin implementing

the system in interested communities. The

students plan to sell affordable online kits that

instruct people how to build the system and

maintain it safely. Eventually, the group hopes to

expand to sell a variety of kits for constructing

renewable energy sources from local materials.

Fromleft:DanLudois,

JonathanLeeandPatric

ioMendozaAraya

After the earthquake that happened in Chile

[in February 2010], this is a good opportunity

for me to give back and encourage others that

things can be improved, says Mendoza.

The Microformer is based on the trans-

former inside microwave ovens. The trio put

the transformerwhich converts the 120

volts of electricity from standard wall outlets

into 2.5 kilovolts of potential powerinto

a metal paint can full of mineral oil, which

cools the transformer. The team then adds

a recycled spark plug to serve as an insulator

to move power in and out of the can.The resulting system provides enough

electricity to power a few lights, a small

refrigerator and other small electronics, such

as a cell phone charger or laptop. Essentially,

the Microformer can power a household in a

developing country with the electricity needs

equivalent to a typical U.S. dorm room.

A key aspect of Microformer is the cost:

A typical U.S. transformer costs more than

$1,000, but by using recycled materials, each

Microformer costs only $60-$70.