Two ECE professors are among the recipients of the 2019 Google Faculty Research Awards. Sunil Bhave is being recognized in the Quantum Computing category for his proposal on “RF MEMS applications in Quantum Computing.” Hong Z. Tan’s proposal, “Tactile Supplements to Speech Perception: A User-Centered Approach,” is among thee recipients in the Speech category. These annual awards are structured as unrestricted gifts to recognize and support the research of world-class faculty members at top universities around the world.

Bhave will study the behavior of MEMS resonators at low temperatures. More information on his research can be found here, and a short demonstration video of Bhave’s RF subsystem technology can be found here. Bhave’s research interests include exploring, understanding, and exploiting interdomain coupling in optomechanical, spin acoustic, and atomic MEMS systems. He uses these coupled systems to design gyroscopes, magnetic field sensors, and field-programmable microwave subsystems.

Sunil Bhave, professor of electrical and computer engineering

 

Tan’s team is working with researchers at Google and MIT to develop a customized wearable tactile display for a Googler to aid his speech reading. The TActile Phonemic Sleeve (TAPS) was originally developed with a Facebook contract, highlighted in this short video produced by Purdue News. The team has recently published their latest results demonstrating the learning of 500 English words at a rate of 1 word per minute. Tan is the founder and director of Purdue’s Haptic Interface Research Laboratory, which is dedicated to research on the underlying principles for the design, development and evaluation of human-computer interfaces, with an emphasis on haptic, or touch-based, interfaces.

Hong Z. Tan, professor of electrical and computer engineering

This year Google received 917 proposals from roughly 50 countries and more than 330 universities. All proposals went through an extensive review process involving 1100 expert reviewers across Google, with 150 proposals being funded.

Several other ECE faculty have received Google Faculty Research Awards in the past, including Hong Z. Tan (2018), Fengqing Maggie Zhu (2018), Edward Delp (2017), Shreyas Sen (2016), T.N. Vijaykumar (2012 and 2013), Sanjay Rao (2013), and Y. Charlie Hu (2012).

Source: Announcing the 2019 Google Faculty Research Award Recipients