IRES Site: Fractional-Order Circuits and Systems Research Collaboration with EU COST Action

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This IRES Track I project provides U.S. students from the University of Alabama (UA) in Tuscaloosa with 12-week summer international research experiences at the Brno University of Technology (BUT) in the Czech Republic. This project supports the collaborative research efforts of UA and BUT faculty focused on fractional-order circuits and systems. “Circuits and systems” refers to the field encompassing all design, analysis, and implementation efforts related to electrical circuits. Electrical circuits are the foundation upon which all smart devices, wireless communications, automotive systems, power systems, and healthcare devices are built. Advancing circuits and systems in each of these fields requires highly qualified engineers who can not only design and implement circuits and systems, but who can creatively import concepts from new fields to overcome challenges not yet even imagined. Fractional-order circuits and systems is an emerging field expanding the boundaries of realizable electrical circuits; changing how circuits are designed and implemented. Applications of fractional-order systems range from the control of industrial machines with lower control effort and lower energy costs to modelling the electrical impedance of skeletal muscle to track changes in tissue properties to monitor for injury and disorder. However, advances in the design and practical implementation of fractional-order circuits and systems are needed before they can be quickly and efficiently adopted into control systems and biomedical signal processing circuits. The need for further research into this field was recognized by many universities in the European Union (EU), who launched the COST Action CA15225, “Fractional-Order Systems: Analysis, Synthesis and their importance for Future Design” to coordinate research efforts; with collaborators from 23 EU countries, 2 near-neighbor countries, and 3 international partner countries. This IRES site supports advancing the COST Action by providing US students with research experiences focused on the design, simulation and characterization of fractional-order circuits, systems, and devices under the mentorships of faculty at BUT, who are leading efforts with the COST Action. Six U.S. students each year participate in a one-semester course prior to their international experience to prepare them for their 12-week research under the mentorship BUT faculty in Brno. The specific challenges addressed by student projects include i) how to design and simulate fractional-order circuits for the electronic filtering of signals, ii) methods to improve the emulation and fabrication of fractional-order devices, and iii) alternative methods to characterize fractional-order material properties. Beyond technical skill development, this international research introduces students to the administrative and technical challenges of coordinating and executing a large international collaborative research effort. This program has several broader impacts that include: i) increasing the number of students from under-represented groups in STEM participating in research; ii) strengthening the international collaborative research network between researchers in the US and the Czech Republic; iii) increasing students intercultural maturity through interactions with international students/faculty and participation in Czech social & cultural activities; and iv) increasing student understanding of graduate studies to increase student pursuit of STEM graduate degrees. These impacts all support the program focus to develop a diverse, globally-engaged workforce with world-class skills.This project is jointly funded by the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.