A new qualitative metric for assessing advanced graduate courses incomputer engineering and science

Presents a philosophy underlying the design of a few advanced and graduate courses at ASU in the subdisciplines of HDLs, communications networks, computer-aided design of digital systems, distributed systems, distributed algorithms, and modeling and simulation. The philosophy has given rise to a new metric-the extent and significance of the knowledge “discovered” by the students, towards evaluating the quality of such courses. Discovery refers to the knowledge that is brought out into the open by the student for himself/herself, and it is significant in that it becomes an integral part of the individual who not only gains invaluable insight and confidence in the subject matter but can improvise, reason, and apply it to other areas in creative ways. The article illustrates the application of the metric through a number of actual cases encountered during teaching at ASU     

Genre in the field of computer science and computer engineering

Based on a study of nearly 200 international faculty in the field of computer science and computer engineering, roughly 90 written genres in the computing discipline are identified and organized according to five central aims in the profession: generation, procuration, dissemination, evaluation, and regulation. The importance of writing in the field is discussed, and recommendations for further research follow to encourage greater breadth and depth in the identification and study of generic corpora characteristic of specific professional communities. Benefits of such research assist students preparing to enter a profession, working professionals wishing to improve their writing in a profession, and writing specialists who offer training or editorial services for a profession     

The development of biomedical engineering: historical comments and personal observations

The historical development of biomedical engineering and biophysics in the United States is summarized as experienced by the author, concentrating on the early decades until about 1970. Sections include: Early Developments and First Institutions; Early Initiatives and Committees of the IRE and AIEE Since 1947; Development of Biophysics in the USA; The IEEE Society for Engineering in Medicine and Biology and the Drive for a Bioengineering Society; The Development of the Biomedical Engineering Society; Some Other Biomedical Engineering Societies; The NIH Initiative for the Development of Biomedical Engineering; First Academic Programs in Biomedical Engineering in the USA; International Interdisciplinary Organizations; and Some Conclusions and Recommendations.     

Picoscale science and nanoscale engineering by electron microscopy

A future scanning/transmission electron microscope is proposed to be a comprehensive machine that is capable of providing picoseconds time-resolved information at sub-nanometer scale and even at picometer scale, spatial resolution. At the same time, physical and chemical properties can be measured in situ from a region as small as a few nanometers by introducing local electric, mechanical, thermal, magnetic and/or optical stimulations/excitations under vacuum or even in a quasi-ambient environment. It is anticipated that nanoscopy and picoscopy will be key tools for studying picoscale science and developing nanoscale technology related to materials science, biology, physics and chemistry.     

A digital library for biomedical imaging on the Internet

Traditional medical image management systems, such as picture and archiving communication systems, are based on specialized workstations and closed systems architecture. Internet technology is being explored for the efficient and cost-effective distribution of biomedical images. This article discusses new issues of a digital library for medical imaging, presents two different architectures for a Web-based medical imaging library, and illustrates their utilization with implemented examples     

Trends and perspectives in computer science and engineering education

This paper provides an overview of significant developments in computer science and engineering education with discussions on curriculum development, continuing education, and certification. Forecasts of industry needs in the 1980's for computer professionals are included, together with the trends in curriculum developments they may auger.     

A single-bit sampling demodulator for biomedical implants

A phase-shift keying (PSK) demodulator is demonstrated for the target application of low power and high data rate inductive links. The demodulator based on the single-bit sampling demodulation scheme is capable of operating in binary, quadrature, 8-, and 16-PSK mode. The prototype chip realized in 0.18-µm CMOS process can demodulate up to 1.25 MSymbol/s at 5-MHz carrier frequency. It occupies 240×310 µm² and consumes 140 µA from 1.2 V.     

Art and technology II. A call for collaboration

As decribed in Part I, the collaboration of art and engineering in the creation of new art works has become a serious preoccupation of many modern artists, who are asking for the help of engineers. A number of organizations now exist whose aim is to facilitate the contact between artists and engineers and to help support them in their collaborative projects. You need not be a Renaissance Man, it is said, to apply for a match with an artist. It won't be all fun and games, although part of it will be, and you might even end up doing something so useless from an engineering point of view, and so right from another point of view, that you could begin wondering why engineering is practiced the way it is?i.e., you might get turned on. This article tells you a bit about what it was like for some others who have already tried, and calls on you to join the action.     

A telemetric pressure sensor system for biomedical applications

A new implantable pressure sensor for long-term monitoring of intracranial pressure is presented. The sensor is powered by telemetry and can be interrogated wirelessly. A capacitive pressure transducer, whose capacitance is converted to a frequency-encoded signal by an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), senses the absolute pressure. The pressure-encoded signal, the ASIC input voltage, and onboard calibration parameters are transmitted to an external reading unit. The proposed novel packaging solution is designed for long-term stability and reliability of the sensor. The accuracy of sensor at body temperature is better than 2 mbar across a pressure range of 600-1200 mbar. The sensor is 13 mm in diameter and 4.5 mm in height.     

A class-E power amplifier for wireless biomedical systems

This letter presents the design, implementation and experimental results of a class-E power amplifier (PA) suitable for wireless biomedical sensor nodes (WBSNs) integrated into a wireless body area network (WBAN). A self-biased inverter is used as a preamplifier stage to provide a 50 %-duty-cycle square wave to drive the class-E PA. The design (PA with the preamplifier), which is fabricated in a 0.18-μm CMOS technology, achieves 40.2 % drain efficiency while output power is 14.7 dBm at 433 MHz under 1.2-V supply, as demonstrated by the experimental results.     

The science of conversation: training in dialogue for NNS in engineering

A survey of 1000 undergraduate engineering students clearly revealed students' desire for two types of training in oral communication: training in presentation skills and in the skills of professional conversation. This article briefly describes the survey's design and results, and identifies the lack of conversational training for nonnative English speakers (NNS) as a previously unnoticed weakness in our curriculum. It traces curricular development in conversational training initiated in response to survey results, describes specific challenges to NNS posed by dialogue, and suggests exercises that can help NNS engineering students to improve their fluency and confidence in English conversation.