Research Clusters
Open a cluster to see the people, labs and facilities behind it, then see citations and h-index by faculty member.
Clusters of research groups focused on specific topics.
Computer architecture, accelerators, high-performance and distributed computing, and the machine learning that runs on them, from data centers to the edge to the hospital.
Faculty
- Orlando Arias
- Yang Cheng
- Michael J. Geiger
- Yan Luo
- Dalila Megherbi
- Seung Woo Son
- Lewis Tseng
- Vinod Vokkarane
- Hengyong Yu
What students do here
Computer Engineering Bachelor of Science in Engineering (B.S.E.); Master of Science in Engineering (M.S.E.) concentrations in computer architecture and embedded systems, networking and distributed systems, and artificial and machine intelligence; Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) work in computing systems.
Related clubs:
- AI & ML Club (Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML))
- Association for Computing Machinery
- Open-Source Club
- All student clubs
Centers
- Center for Artificial Intelligence Computing Research (AICORE)
- Center for Smart Cyber-Physical Systems (SCyPS)
Labs
- Advanced Computing and Networking Systems Lab (ACANETS)
- Advanced Communication Networks Laboratory (ACNL)
- Center for Advanced Computation and Telecommunications (CACT)
- Computer Machine/Human Intelligence Networking and Distributed Systems (CMINDS)
Facilities
- Graphics Processing Units (GPU) and cluster computing resources
Regional ecosystem
Data-center, AI hardware and software employers along Route 128 and in Boston.
Space weather modeling, spacecraft data and instrument analysis, and the optical telescopes and wavefront control systems that image planets around other stars, anchored by the Lowell Center for Space Science and Technology (LoCSST).
Faculty
What students do here
Students build and test instruments that fly on balloons, rockets and satellites, analyze spacecraft data and model the space environment through LoCSST.
Related clubs: Rocketry Club, Drone Club. All student clubs
Centers
Facilities
- LoCSST instrument development labs
Regional ecosystem
NASA mission partners, and the region's aerospace and defense labs (Draper, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory).
Ultra-wide-bandgap semiconductors, spintronic and quantum devices, infrared lasers and detectors, and optical sensors.
Faculty
- Alkim Akyurtlu
- Anhar Bhuiyan
- Yang Cheng
- Xuejun Lu
- Christopher Mendillo
- Oshadha Ranasingha
- Joel Therrien
- Xingwei Wang
What students do here
Graduate certificates in Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) and microelectronics and in photonics and optoelectronics; the Draper Scholars Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) fellowship.
Centers
- LoCSST, Lowell Center for Space Science and Technology (LoCSST)
- Raytheon-UMass Lowell Research Institute (RURI)
Labs
- Advanced Electronic Technology Center (AETC)
- Center for Photonics, Electromagnetics and Nanoelectronics (CPEN)
- (Ultra)Wide Bandgap Materials and Devices Laboratory
Facilities
- Core Research Facilities nanofabrication cleanroom and characterization
Regional ecosystem
Analog Devices, MACOM, Kopin in Westborough, Draper, Lincoln Laboratory, and the Northeast Microelectronics Coalition hub.
Antennas, metamaterials and high-frequency circuits, and the additive manufacturing that prints them onto flexible substrates for defense, aerospace and wearables.
Faculty
What students do here
Graduate certificates in microwave and wireless engineering and in additive manufacturing for RF and microwave applications; RURI and PERC research assistantships.
Centers
Labs
Facilities
- Printed electronics and RF characterization equipment
- Fabric Discovery Center (FDC)
Regional ecosystem
RTX in Andover and Tewksbury, MACOM in Lowell, BAE Systems in Nashua, Analog Devices in Wilmington, Skyworks in Woburn.
Photovoltaics that last, power electronics and batteries for electric vehicles, and the resilient, secure grid that ties them together.
Faculty
What students do here
Power and energy courses in the Bachelor of Science in Engineering (B.S.E.) in Electrical Engineering; interdisciplinary graduate certificate in energy conversion; graduate work on grid resilience.
Related clubs: Graduate Renewable Energy Club. All student clubs
Centers
Facilities
- Photovoltaic (PV) durability and outdoor testing
Regional ecosystem
National Grid, Eversource, Schneider Electric in Andover, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) programs.
From insect-scale flapping-wing robots to how people decide whether to trust an autonomous system, with the control theory and signal processing underneath.
Faculty
What students do here
Controls and robotics electives, robotics capstones, Riverhawk Robotics and the Drone Club.
Related clubs: Riverhawk Robotics, Drone Club. All student clubs
Centers
- New England Robotics Validation and Experimentation Center (NERVE)
- Center for Smart Cyber-Physical Systems (SCyPS)
Facilities
- NERVE test courses
Regional ecosystem
Boston Dynamics in Waltham, Amazon Robotics in North Reading, Symbotic in Wilmington, iRobot in Bedford.
Securing the networks and control systems behind the power grid, transportation and critical infrastructure, and designing the optical and wireless networks that carry it.
Faculty
- Paul Robinette
- Orlando Arias
- Kavitha Chandra
- Chunxiao (Tricia) Chigan
- Yan Luo
- Dalila Megherbi
- Lewis Tseng
- Vinod Vokkarane
What students do here
Networking and security courses in both Bachelor of Science in Engineering (B.S.E.) programs; graduate certificate in communications engineering; Master of Science in Engineering (M.S.E.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) work with Center for Smart Cyber-Physical Systems (SCyPS) and Advanced Communication Networks Laboratory (ACNL).
Related clubs: Cyber Security Club. All student clubs
Centers
Labs
- Advanced Computing and Networking Systems Lab (ACANETS)
- ACNL, Advanced Communication Networks Laboratory
- Center for Advanced Computation and Telecommunications (CACT)
- Computer Machine/Human Intelligence Networking and Distributed Systems (CMINDS)
Facilities
- SUMMIT cyber-physical testbed -- National Science Foundation (NSF) Major Research Instrumentation (MRI)
- Faculty network and hardware security labs
Regional ecosystem
Utilities, defense and telecom, including MITRE in Bedford and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington.
Medical image reconstruction and photon-counting computed tomography (CT), computer vision, wavefront sensing for high-contrast astronomical imaging, and digital signal processing for measurement, instrumentation and control.
Faculty
What students do here
Students reconstruct and analyze computed tomography (CT) and other medical images with machine learning, build computer vision and real-time signal processing systems, and process data from optical instruments.
Centers
Labs
- Computer Machine/Human Intelligence Networking and Distributed Systems (CMINDS)
- Imaging and Informatics Lab
Facilities
- Photon-counting spectral CT scanner in the Imaging and Informatics Lab
- Graphics processing unit (GPU) deep learning workstations for image reconstruction
Regional ecosystem
The region's medical imaging and device companies and academic medical centers.
Cross-cutting application themes
Areas where several clusters work together.
Health and biomedical technology
Medical image reconstruction, optical and acoustic sensing, micro-robotics.
Space science and instrumentation
Exoplanet imaging optics, space weather and spacecraft data, infrared detectors and focal plane arrays, with Lowell Center for Space Science and Technology (LoCSST).
Defense and aerospace electronics
Radio Frequency (RF) and printed electronics through Raytheon UMass Lowell Research Institute (RURI) and Printed Electronics Research Collaborative (PERC), radiation effects in wide-bandgap devices, hardware security, resilient networks and grids.