Two engineering professors – Dr. Sevgi Z. Gurbuz (Electrical & Computer Eng.) and Dr. Dr. Hamed Moftakhari (Civil, Construction, and Environmental Eng.) at The University of Alabama received national recognition for leading-edge research that will advance knowledge and enhance the educational experience. The National Science Foundation selected the two professors for a CAREER Award, one of the nation’s most prestigious honors for top-performing young scientists, during the recently completed academic year. Each grant will provide about $550,000 for research, education and outreach efforts. Across campus, 35 active UA faculty received NSF CAREER Awards during their tenure.
For Dr. Sevgi Zubeyde Gurbuz, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, her CAREER Award will enable further exploration of next-generation AI-enhanced radars. Dr. Gurbuz’s research involves developing new machine learning and signal processing techniques for controlling the transmissions of and processing the returns from low-cost, low-power, small radar transceivers. The techniques developed will pave the way for devices and smart environments to better respond to human movements in applications of human-computer interaction, such as sign language recognition, health monitoring and autonomous vehicles. This project will explore transforming fixed radars into intelligent systems that can autonomously ramp up sensing capabilities and draw in other sensors to improve understanding of what humans are doing, and hence the ability of technology to respond to human needs.
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