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SPRING 2018 / VOLUME 02
Research at the forefront from the UMKC School of Computing and Engineering
VANGUARD
OPERATION:
AIR SUPPLY /03
CONNECTIVITY
Putting More
/05
COLLABORATION
Getting a
/07
COMMUNITY
Waste
/13
PROFILE
The Art of
Covert and cost-effective Real in Virtual
Reality
Better Grip Processing
Technology
Artificial
Intelligence
parachute drops Improves
Global Health
/FROM THE DEAN VANGUARD
Dear colleagues:
/’VAN,GÄRD/
It is with great joy that I introduce to our future construction engineers, A group of people leading the way in
you our second issue of the School and a motion capture facility which new developments or ideas
of Computing and Engineering’s can be utilized in every kind of
annual research publication, research from drone technology
Research at the forefront from the
Vanguard. With the launch of to biomedical engineering to
UMKC SCHOOL OF COMPUTING
this new magazine last animated film. The center
year, we were able will also feature a AND ENGINEERING
to deliver some community space
of our most with industry-
SCE LEADERSHIP TEAM
promising grade 3-D
Kevin Z. Truman, Ph.D., F.ASCE
and printing, and a Vice Provost of UMKC and Dean of the School
forward- metal shop for of Computing and Engineering
thinking fabrication, Ghulam Chaudhry, Ph.D.
Department Chair of Computer Science and
research rapid Electrical Engineering
stories to prototyping, Mark McClernon, Ph.D., PE
Department Chair of Civil and Mechanical Engineering
your front and artificial
Masud Chowdhury, Ph.D.
door. learning. Associate Dean for Faculty and Research
Finally, we Marjory Eisenman, M.A.
As SCE are excited Assistant Dean of Student Affairs
continues to receive $3 Christina Davis, M.A.
Director of Continuing Education
to grow, million in virtual
welcoming our reality and augmented
Elizabeth Wheeler
Director of Major Gifts
largest freshman reality equipment for Sara Vogt
class ever in 2017, it is advancements in entertainment Director of Marketing and Media Services
invaluable that we strengthen and and synthesized training. Kaitlin Woody, M.P.A.
Director of Alumni and Constituent Relations
deepen our relationships with
you — alumni, community leaders, As you explore the pages of
partners, and friends. The Kansas Vanguard, I encourage you to PRODUCTION
UMKC Division of Strategic Marketing
City region has a hunger for a imagine what will be next for SCE. and Communications
workforce trained in 21st century With the spaces and resources to MANAGING EDITOR
computing and engineering, and inspire greatness, what might our Ashley Blonquist
it is these relationships that make faculty and students do for our EDITOR
Sara Vogt
SCE best prepared to fill that need. school, our community and our
world? We’ll continue to keep you ART DIRECTOR/DESIGNER
Sarah Richardson
Due to the generosity of this apprised of the construction of
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
network of supporters, this year our new space and you can visit us Ashley Blonquist, Kelsey Haynes, John Martellaro,
SCE was able to announce that we anytime online at sce.umkc.edu/ Patricia O’Dell, Brian Schneweis
will begin construction of a new educationresearchcenter. PHOTOGRAPHERS
education and research center Brandon Parigo
directly adjacent to our current We look forward to working with SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Mike Duah, Hallie Spencer, Kim West
home in the Robert H. Flarsheim you to bring even more innovation
Science and Technology Hall. This to our community and beyond.
$32 million project, unanimously Contact us
Flarsheim Hall, Room 534
approved by the Missouri Board of Sincerely, 5110 Rockhill Road
Kansas City, MO 64110
Curators on Dec. 7, will add 44,000 816-235-2399
sce@umkc.edu
square feet of laboratory space for
faculty to conduct cutting-edge sce.umkc.edu
research and students to engage in Relay Missouri: 800-735-2966 (TTY)
SCE 17092573
real-world learning.
The new facility will be equipped
KEVIN Z. TRUMAN, PH.D., F.ASCE
Vice Provost, UMKC
with state-of-the-art technology.
Dean, School of Computing
These new amenities will include and Engineering
a clean room for the development
of nanotechnology, a high-bay
structural lab for the training of
School of Computing
and Engineering
/TABLE OF
CONTENTS
/DEPARTMENTS /FEATURE /UPCOMING
09
/03 /15
ACCOLADES
CONNECTIVITY
Putting More Operation:
Real in Virtual Air Supply
/17
Reality GET INVOLVED
Covert and cost-effective
BY JOHN MARTELLARO parachute drops
BY BRIAN SCHNEWEIS
/05
COLLABORATION
Getting a
Better Grip
BY KELSEY HAYNES
/PROFILE
/07 13
COMMUNITY The Art of
Waste Processing Artificial
Technology Improves Intelligence
Global Health Powerful technology
BY PATRICIA O’DELL could advance our nation’s
health care while On the cover: Travis Fields
cutting costs Photo: Brandon Parigo
BY ASHLEY BLONQUIST Photo illustration:
Mike Duah
A s s o ci at e Professor Zh u Li, P h.D. , immerses
hi ms elf in t o a n u n der wa t er world through VR
g o g gl es.
BRANDON PARIGO
ILLUSTRATION: MIKE DUAH
03 / UMKC SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND ENGINEERING / VANGUARD
/CONNECTIVITY
experience to anyone else in the world
PUTTING MORE wearing VR goggles. Think of it this way:
You put on a headset while sitting in your
office or living room, in the dead of winter,
REAL IN and fly along in real time with a skydiver
in the tropics at 15,000 feet.
// ZHU LI, PH.D .
VIRTUAL REALITY Li is exploring two technological
innovations that, in tandem, show the
Associate professor,
Department of Computer Science and
promise of delivering a lifelike, real-time, Electrical Engineering
BY JOHN MARTELLARO immersive virtual reality experience. RESEARCH INTERESTS
The first is developing algorithms to Image analysis, video compression and
compensate for a portable camera’s machine learning
The big hurdle for virtual inferior-to-the-eye ability to capture
JOINED UMKC
reality has always been that it detail, and essentially “fill in the blanks” 2015
in the visual data to create a more lifelike
doesn’t seem all that … real. image. The second involves advancing the
science of data compression to deliver
the processing speeds necessary to allow
ZHU LI, PH.D., associate professor
for real-time decision-making by the user
of computer science and electrical
— keeping up with their up-and-down or
engineering at UMKC, is hard at work in
side-to-side movements.
the lab in an effort to put more “real” in
your virtual reality experience. Major
“Video technology has come a long way.
industry players such as Samsung,
Now we have bigger screens with more
Qualcomm and Snapchat are helping fund
pixels, higher-quality pixels, but the
the research.
experience is still passive. You just sit
back and see,” Li says. “Immersive video
Li’s challenge: The human eye can collect
allows you to directly interact with and
and transmit — and the human brain can
explore the content. There is a concept
process — more data at a faster rate than
called Six Degrees of Freedom (DoF)
any technology currently in use. Passive While V R g o g gle s like the s e c an t ran s for m t h e
interaction, that is, to be able to turn your wo rld a ro un d its we a re rs , wor k i s s t ill be i n g
video, in which a camera operator decides do n e to improve data s tre ami n g t o c re at e more
head and walk in the scene. That is what
what the viewer will see, has the capability lifelike e x pe rie n ce s in re al t i me .
motivates the new research in enabling
to be extremely lifelike. But true virtual
immersive visual communication.”
reality allows the user to interact with
the content — to walk through a scene,
change directions, look up or down — and Li says the technology exists to capture
real-time video transmission can’t keep and transmit a realistic image. But the
up. As a result, the visual experience data stream is too massive for everyday
HOW SOON COULD THIS
of virtual reality is an imperfect, less- use — about 100 times larger than the
TECHNOLOGY BE MADE
detailed representation of the real world. existing internet can carry. Combining
AVAILABLE TO CONSUMERS?
advances in visual-capture and data-
“Today’s immersive virtual reality compression algorithms would put these 2-3 years, with continuous improvement
capabilities in devices for home use. Like on compression effciency
experiences are still very limited by
the computing and communication most consumer electronics, he expects
capabilities. Many technological the technology to be expensive initially,
HOW COULD THIS
challenges are still ahead in order for but become more affordable as the
TECHNOLOGY BE USED?
us to have photo-realistic and fully technology matures, eventually coming
interactive immersive experiences,” into the reach of the average consumer. • Real-time visual surveillance for
security and border control
Li says.
Once the data capture and compression • Smart cities
That’s why Li is developing technological hurdles are overcome, an array • Intelligent traffic engineering
work-arounds to make the huge volume of possibilities beyond armchair • Remote medicine and remote surgery
of data more manageable. Essentially, he skydiving will open up. Two-way, real- • Remote immersive classrooms for
wants to make it possible for anyone in time communication and multi-user virtual labs
the world with a GoPro to livestream their coordination could be just the beginning. • Sports training in virtual worlds
VANGUARD / SCE.UMKC.EDU / 04
2.
1. 4. 3. BRANDON PARIGO
1 . M o ti on sen sors a re pla ce d on P rofessor Gary S utkin, M.D. , MBA, w hich mo n ito r a n d tra ck his han d move me n ts durin g p elvic slin g s urg e ry re e n a ct me n t s . 2 . A cl os -
e r l o o k a t a t rocar, t h e i n strument used to insert a sling around the ure thra durin g s urge rie s . 3. Sutkin re -e n a cts a s urg e ry o n a pelvic an ato my model i n s i de t h e
S C E Huma n M ot i on La b oratory. 4. The feedbac k from the motion sen s o rs allow Sutk in a n d his te a m to de te rmin e w hich ha n d move me n ts are mo re li k ely t o c au s e
s urg i cal er rors.
APPROXIMATELY 2 PERCENT of Although it is a minimally invasive
GETTING A the 180,000 mid-urethral pelvic sling
surgeries performed each year result in
surgery, Sutkin says it’s considered high-
risk, and the rate of error has everything
surgical error. In complicated surgeries, to do with the surgeon’s hand movements.
BETTER GRIP a 2 percent error rate doesn’t seem too
bad. However, in procedures like this, 30
Even the slightest slip can be fatal.
percent of those errors end in fatality. That’s where School of Computing and
BY KELSEY HAYNES Engineering faculty Stylianou and King
According to Gary Sutkin, M.D., MBA,
associate dean of women’s health at the come in.
New technology aims UMKC School of Medicine, that fatality
to reduce error rates in rate is too high. In an effort to reduce the error rate,
Sutkin has partnered with a pair of
common surgery Pelvic sling surgeries are designed to engineering experts, Antonis Stylianou,
support a woman’s urethra to keep it Ph.D., and Gregory King, Ph.D., PE, to
from dropping during physical activity. create ultra-realistic virtual and physical
To accomplish this, an instrument called models of the pelvic anatomy so they can
a trocar is used to insert a sling around study proper pathways for the trocar in
order to avoid injuries to the patient.
the urethra.
05 / UMKC SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND ENGINEERING / VANGUARD
/COLLABORATION
Pelvic sling surgeries, perhaps, can be and motions sensors, they want to create
best described as blind procedures.
There is no tool for the surgeon to see
a system that provides real-time feedback
to the surgeon during the operation
/FAST FACTS:
the patient’s pelvic organs. The team to track how close the trocar tip is to a PELVIC SLING
has been working in the SCE Human
Motion Laboratory to visualize Sutkin’s
patient’s vital organs.
SURGERIES
movements as he re-enacts the surgery According to King and Stylianou, the Risk of injury:
2%
using pelvic anatomy models and motion system will give a warning when the
sensors. This helps the team track the
location of the trocar inside the body
and gain feedback to determine what
trocar is close to puncturing a vital organ,
thus preventing errors in surgery. This 5-10%
model can also be used to create software Bladder Risk of mesh
movements cause surgical errors. that projects a heads-up display onto complications
surgeons’ eyeglasses, showing them
1%
Average patient age:
“Our project at this point is targeting where the trocar tip is and if they are
two issues: identify the best surgeon on the right path toward a successful
52
upper extremity motions to achieve best procedure. Bowel 53
results, and create virtual and physical 54
55
3%
models that can be used to train surgical Next steps for the project include the
residents,” says Stylianou. He adds that creation of the physical model and a 56
this technology will be extensively tested first round of tests where surgeons’ Blood Vessels 57
for its efficacy to reduce surgical errors performance experiences will be
before it’s implemented in hospitals
58
compared to novices. After that, a training
and clinics. program for surgical residents will be
developed to see if they can increase their 180,000 pelvic sling surgeries
performed each year
Currently, the team is working to performance and reduce error rates.
Source: International Osteoporosis Foundation
manufacture the physical model. Once Training for surgical residents will begin
they demonstrate the efficacy of their after the Fall 2018 semester.
practice methods using the 3-D models
//GREGORY KING, PH.D., PE
Associate professor,
Mechanical Engineering
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Musculoskeletal biomechanics of human
motion, which includes a number
of applications including balance
impairment in older adults, ergonomics
and human performance
JOINED UMKC
2007
//ANTONIS STYLIANOU, PH.D.
Assistant professor, Department of Civil
and Mechanical Engineering;
Director of Musculoskeletal
Biomechanics Research Laboratory
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Musculoskeletal biomechanics,
computational joint biomechanics,
orthopaedics and multibody dynamics
and modeling
JOINED UMKC
2010
//GARY SUTKIN, M.D., MBA
Professor, UMKC School of Medicine;
Associate dean and Victor and Caroline
Schutte Chair in Women’s Health;
Residency director and vice chair,
Obstetrics and Gynecology; Female Pelvic
Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery
BRANDON PARIGO
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Surgical safety
The te a m o f re s e a rche rs wo rk in g to re duce e rro r ra te s in p elvic slin g s urg e rie s .
JOINED UMKC L to R: M a ry O ka fo r, M d. A rifuzzaman A rif, Ga ry Sutk in , M.D. , M BA , Gre g o ry Kin g , P h.D. , P E,
2016 Antonis Stylian o u, P h.D. , Sa fe e r Siddicky a n d F izza M ahmud
VANGUARD / SCE.UMKC.EDU / 06
WASTE PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
IMPROVES GLOBAL HEALTH
BY PATRICIA O’DELL
UMKC professor receives Kansas City and UMKC in 2014. While units and they work incredibly well. We
at OSU, he and his team created a simple had some construction challenges, but
third round of funding to treat machine to process fecal waste in a they’re robust technologies that seem to
human waste management way that kills ascaris lumbricoides, the work.”
parasite that plagues children in areas
IT’S A PICTURE not many can paint in with poor sanitation. The machines are We’ve migrated our efforts to
their minds, at least not accurately — a meant to be used in communities that concentrate on processing sludge in large
picture of the dire conditions in remote primarily use pit latrines. quantities. The 1,000-unit processor —
villages in Africa and India. Those the larger one — is a little over my height
conditions entail the extreme health risks “The issue of infection comes when waste and about a foot in diameter. On a smaller
many face, including children, due to poor stays in the pit latrine. It has to be hauled scale, we could build one to fit on the back
sanitation practices. But Gary Foutch, away,” he notes. “Sometimes the latrines of a tractor so sludge could be processed
Ph.D., has seen it firsthand. So the last simply get filled and the community while it’s being collected.”
six years of his research has focused on has to dig another one, which leaves
sanitation technology that can kill ascaris contaminated material in the ground. As And Foutch’s project isn’t the only one
roundworm, a soil-transmitted parasite a result, the communities in which this is addressing this important public health
that has been wreaking havoc in these happening continue to get infected.” issue. Foutch notes that in both Africa —
remote communities. where he is often working — and in India,
progress in sanitation has come from
“You know the pictures you see of nearly multiple initiatives.
starving children with big bellies? They’re
most likely infected with these worms, “India has developed a program to
which take the nutrition from any food Latest estimates indicate eliminate these sanitation practices in
the child eats,” he says. “Some of these that more than 880 million two years and set up systems for cities to
kids will pick up handfuls of gravel and children are in need compete against one another to be the
eat it just to get the feeling of being full.” of treatment for these first to do so. To pay for it, they are taking
parasites. different approaches, such as advertising.
Foutch, research faculty in the School of They put in attractive toilets — the kind
Computing and Engineering, recently — WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION you might see at a sporting event —
(2017) and sell advertising on the outside. It
received his third round of funding from
the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation generates enough money to pay for it and
in conjunction with their initiative to keep it clean,” he says.
“Reinvent the Toilet.” He and his team Foutch’s work directly addresses these
are developing a device that will process issues. By using these new machines,
Along those lines, this stage in Foutch’s
fecal sludge to eliminate parasites in an called viscous heaters, to sanitize waste,
project is focused on commercialization.
effort to combat malnutrition and death. Foutch says communities won’t put
themselves at risk when closing or
“It’s very possible that this whole project
“The Gates Foundation wanted to fund opening a new latrine.
will wrap up by the end of 2018. The likely
systems that would run off the grid, didn’t result is a company somewhere in the
use water and focused on reinventing His team has now completed the world will be making viscous heaters
the toilet,” says Foutch of his first round machines, one of which can process a for commercial applications involving
of funding. “I printed off the request for couple hundred liters of fecal sludge an sludge,” he says.
proposal and laid it on my desk. Every hour, and another that can process 1,000
day I came in and I read it. After about liters of waste an hour.
But it’s not solely the academic or
two months, my idea crystallized. I wrote
technical achievement that continues to
it up and sent it in. There were more than The 200-liter model is in the lab, but the
drive Foutch.
5,000 of these two-page applications. 1,000-liter model is on a site in Isipingo,
They funded 57 of us.” South Africa, as part of the sewage
treatment works. “This system is very beneficial to me
Foutch started the project at Oklahoma personally because I feel as if I’m
State University, where he had spent “We created it, proved it worked, then we contributing to solving a health problem
34 years of his career before moving to scaled up,” Foutch says. “We built both on a global scale.”
07 / UMKC SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND ENGINEERING / VANGUARD
/COMMUNITY
Forty percent of the world’s population lives
in areas with poor or inadequate sanitation,
many of whom live in Africa. These
conditions create the opportunity for waste,
and any parasite it may contain, to re-enter
the soil or water supply.
Use of improved
sanitation facilities to
prevent reinfection of
intestinal worms
Less than 25%
25% – 50%
51% – 75%
75% – 100%
//GARY FOUTCH, PH.D.
Research faculty, Civil and Mechanical
Engineering; Honorary professor,
Chemical Engineering, University of
KwaZulu Natal, Durban, South Africa
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Kinetics, chemical reactor design,
I sipin go, S ou t h Af r ica,
ultrapure water processing and sanitation the s ite o f a 1,000-lite r v i s c ou s h e at e r,
w hich helps imp rove wast e s an it at i on .
JOINED UMKC
2014
VANGUARD / SCE.UMKC.EDU / 08
OPERATION: AIR SUPPLY BY BRIAN SCHNEWEIS Covert and cost-effective parachute drops
hen dropping supplies “Unfortunately, this puts the aircrew in
for military operations, harm’s way, and there are many cases of
W every second and every
detail matter — details
like cost and accuracy.
aircraft filled with bullet holes,” Fields
says.
But it’s these details that An alternative is to use a parafoil system
have proven to be extremely difficult to like the canopies used by skydivers.
overcome, especially when it comes to the These systems have sophisticated control
precision of the drops. Even a gust of wind algorithms that enable high accuracy;
can have catastrophic results that directly however, they are expensive — often
affect the safety and security of troops upward of $80,000 — and are usually
stationed abroad. reserved for the direst situations.
Currently, there are no great low-cost,
This is an intense situation with serious yet accurate, delivery options that can be
consequences, and it’s one Travis Fields, employed from safe altitudes.
Ph.D., assistant professor at the UMKC
School of Computing and Engineering is Nevertheless, the DOD still needs effective
surprised to find himself exploring often. methods to safely get supplies to troops
on the ground.
“During my graduate work, I definitely did
not imagine all the ways the work I was “As we have continued to push the limits
doing could be translated and applied,” and boundaries of our operational bases,
says Fields, whose research focuses on the aerial resupply has become the only way
applications of drone technology. to provide goods,” Fields says.
His work is certainly sought after and Another complication that hinders
has garnered interest from several high- successful supply drops is rugged
profile government agencies, including terrains of hard-to-reach drop zones and
the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, unpredictable weather.
Development and Engineering Center
(NSRDEC) and NASA. Grant funding from “Winds are the major factor that impact
these organizations has allowed Fields aerial delivery,” Fields says. “Winds
and his research partner from the Naval change constantly, and if the predictions
Postgraduate School, Oleg Yakimenko, are off the true wind by even a few
Ph.D., to collaborate on innovative miles per hour, the payload can be off by
parachute technologies to accurately drop hundreds to thousands of feet.”
supplies from safer altitudes.
In short, accuracy is crucial in these
missions and can save lives.
DA NG E RO U S D ROPS
“Most — if not all — incidents have come
Currently, the Department of Defense will from using unguided systems that missed
perform the drops from very low altitudes the target,” Fields says. “By having gliding
to ensure they do not miss the target. capability, we hope to hit the right location
and avoid such issues.”
VANGUARD / SCE.UMKC.EDU / 10SA F E R L A ND I NG S of the parachute and allows for more
accurate gliding to reach the desired
the NASA Langley Research Center,
the only one of its kind in the Western
target. hemisphere. Additionally, the primary
With cost and accuracy needs in mind,
partner in the research, the U.S.
Fields, Yakimenko and SCE students
As Fields and his team continue to Army NSRDEC, has provided more
are testing a cruciform, or cross
test this novel system, they have been than $160,000 since 2015, with more
canopy system, that is manufactured
fortunate to have unique experiences funding set to arrive this year.
with two rectangular nylon panels
and grant support along the way.
that are sewn together. This process,
The funding, Fields says, is essential to
according to the researchers, is
significantly easier and less expensive TEST RU NS the research and has helped the team
run experiments at Camp Roberts
than trying to create the complex
in California on several occasions.
shape of the parafoil. Fields and his team recently had an
Camp Roberts is an Army National
opportunity to do testing from UH-60
Guard base with a restricted airstrip,
“This system, which is probably an Black Hawk helicopters at the Army
McMillan Airfield, used for unmanned
order of magnitude cheaper than those Yuma Proving Ground.
aircraft. While there, the team uses
based on a parafoil, demonstrates
both fixed-wing and large multirotor
a capability to rely on a calculated “It was a great opportunity and
unmanned aircrafts to carry packages
aerial release point and uses a limited enabled us to show that our system
up to 4,000 feet and then deploy the
control authority to steer toward a really is steering and could be a
systems. To gain additional insight into
desired point of impact,” Yakimenko more cost-effective method for aerial
the parachute guidance performance,
says. delivery,” Fields says.
the team uses a quadcopter to chase
after the parachutes to collect video
The package is fitted with an airborne Fields also secured $75,000 from
footage of the descent. This helps
guidance unit that features sensors NASA’s Established Program to
diagnose what the system is doing and
and Raspberry Pi, a credit-card- Stimulate Competitive Research to
adjust for future tests.
sized computer, to provide real-time further explore unmanned systems
situational awareness. Additionally, and models. NASA even provided the
“Going to Camp Roberts is absolutely
the Raspberry Pi controls a motor that team with five days of fully supported
crucial for us to test our steering and
pulls on a particular suspension line testing in its vertical spin tunnel at
/FEATURE
/CRUCIFORM VS. PARAFOIL SYSTEMS
Several self-guided
aerial delivery
approaches have
been developed
throughout the
past 20 years, each
aiming to provide a
low-cost, simple and
accurate precision-
delivery system.
1/ 2/
CRUCIFORM PARAFOIL
• Introduced by A. Forichon in 1961 • Relatively inefficient, air-filled gliding wings
• Symmetrical design • Can be controlled primarily in the
lateral direction
• Composed of two identical fabric
rectangles, crossed and joined to each • Small-scale parafoils have very high landing
other at the square intersection to form a location accuracy (thanks to the use of
flat surface having four equal arms sophisticated path-planning and flight-
control algorithms)
• Oftentimes rotate during descent
• Missions using these are expensive
• Inexpensive
to execute
11 / UMKC SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND ENGINEERING / VANGUARDguidance methodologies,” Fields creativity, readiness, thoroughness and
says. “Out there we can go higher willingness to stay for several days in a
and farther away than in the national
airspace around Kansas City, which
currently limits operations to 400 feet
desert, where we usually conduct our
tests,” Yakimenko says. “I know I can
always rely on Dr. Fields’ team.”
“
without a waiver.”
Though the tests are only the
The team’s system has great potential
to increase precision delivery
I definitely did not
beginning of developing and
implementing this technology, Fields is
capabilities for critical military
missions, particularly when costs
imagine all the
happy to report positive results. inhibit more complex parafoil-based
deliveries. Fields’ system features
ways the work I
“We have performed two tests from
4,000 feet above ground where we
descent profiles that are not currently
achievable with other glide systems,
was doing could
were within 10 feet of the target, and
a test from 6,000 feet where we were
which means his system can achieve
more accurate drops, more successful be translated and
near 300 feet from the target,” Fields
says. He adds that the success their
missions and save more lives.
applied.”
work has seen is directly attributable “This low-cost approach opens up the
to the support from the UMKC School potential for semi-precision delivery
of Computing and Engineering and the in a variety of scenarios well beyond
passion the students have. Yakimenko military use, including aid relief for //TRAVIS FIELDS, PH.D.
Assistant professor,
agrees. situations like the hurricane in Puerto
Mechanical Engineering
Rico or any other major disaster or
“I enjoy working with the crisis,” Fields says. “I believe this RESEARCH INTERESTS
Precision aerial delivery, unmanned
undergraduate and graduate students will be a transformational technique aircraft systems, system identification,
from UMKC because of their desire for aerial delivery operations in both robotics and flight controls
to be involved in real-world, defense- military and humanitarian relief JOINED UMKC
related applications, as well as their efforts in the years to come.” 2013
As s i s tant Pro fessor Trav i s F ields, P h.D. ,
co nducts research u sin g u n manned
a i rcrafts , wh ich dro p 10- t o 15-pound
p ayl o ad s u p t o 1,600 feet ab ove the
g ro und i n rest r i ct ed a i rsp a ces.
BRANDON PARIGO
VANGUARD / SCE.UMKC.EDU / 12Profe/FEATURE
s s o r Yugi Lee, Ph .D., oversees about 20 P h.D.
s t u de nts w ho co n t r i bu t e t o var i ous researc h projec ts
i n vol v i ng a r tifi ci al in t ellig en ce and deep learning.
BRANDON PARIGO
the lives of caregivers and their patients. time and money. These bots can interact
THE ART OF Yugyung (Yugi) Lee, Ph.D., a professor
at the School of Computing and
with patients, provide answers and take
patient information just like a customer
Engineering, knows just how powerful service representative. But chat-bots
ARTIFICIAL and positive that impact can be. save more than four minutes per inquiry.
That’s an average cost savings of $0.50-
Lee’s primary focus is to improve the $0.70 per interaction.
INTELLIGENCE health-care industry using artificial
intelligence. We sat down with Lee to get In total, chat-bots could save
her take on AI and its role in health care, organizations $8 billion annually
BY ASHLEY BLONQUIST and why some may be resistant to using worldwide by 2022.
advanced technology.
Powerful technology could Q: How could AI improve the quality of
Q: Do you think the health-care
industry has been resistant to AI?
advance our nation’s health health care?
care while cutting costs I think health-care providers are
AI will allow doctors and researchers to resistant to AI because they believe
focus on making decisions. It does this that human intervention is reliable and
by collecting and analyzing data and trustworthy, and they don’t have that
THERE’S NO DENYING technology is providing more information and context same confidence in machines.
permeating the health-care industry. for doctors.
Doctors and nurses are trading their There’s also the possibility they believe
pens and papers for tablets that store Q: What about reducing health-care their jobs will be replaced by robots.
patient information and streamline costs? AI solutions won’t replace doctors and
note-taking. Digital machines can now nurses, but will support them. Not to
take your blood pressure without a cold Health-care providers spend a lot of mention, we are seeing a shortage of
stethoscope ever touching your arm. money on things like customer service doctors and rising health-care costs,
representatives who take patient which is why it’s time to turn to solutions
But those two examples don’t come close information. By using chat-bots — like AI that support doctors and reduce
to explaining the power of technology computerized response systems — costs.
and the potential impact it could make in infused with AI, those providers can save
13 / UMKC SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND ENGINEERING / VANGUARD/PROFILE
Q: What other AI projects are you and
your students doing?
We are currently working on a cognitive
robot that can be useful for patients
who may have physical or mental
disabilities. It has advanced capabilities
such as natural language processing to /DEEP LEARNING IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
understand what a patient is asking while
Deep Learning is an area of artificial intelligence. Deep Learning technologies can help
analyzing the conversational flow and
with accurate detection and prevention of diseases, intelligent decision-making and
responses.
predicting future outlooks for patients.
We’re also studying human behaviors THESE ARE JUST A FEW OF THE AI AND DEEP LEARNING APPLICATIONS
and perspectives through social media ALREADY IN USE OR BEING DEVELOPED BY LEE AND HER TEAM TO
data. We analyze texts, tweets, images IMPROVE THE LIVES OF DOCTORS AND PATIENTS.
and videos and use them for scientific
inquiry in an effort to improve the
health-care industry.
1/
iHEAR
This mobile app has a wireless receiver that acts as a
Q: What kind of impact do you think
replacement for hearing aid devices. It has features such
your students will have on the health- as noise filtering, audio recognition, speech recognition
care industry? and translation.
They can solve real problems that impact
human lives. My students and I have
2/
ORO VISION
achieved exciting breakthroughs in
This mobile app is used to help detect oral diseases in
several different realms of health, such
their earliest stages. It has been implemented in the
as image classification in oral health, past year and has diagnosed certain diseases at an
helping Alzheimer’s patients answer accuracy rate of 95 percent.
questions through photos rather than
words, and an intelligent mobile app for
those with hearing disabilities.
3/
COGNITIVE VISUAL RECOGNITION TRACKER (CVRT)
This mobile app can help physicians determine trends
Q: What have you learned from your
in patient data. That data can then be used to provide
students? better overall treatment for diseases and predict future
analytics.
There is no shortcut in research.
Continuous, hard work is an essential
part of moving a project forward. And, in
4/
DEEPBRAIN
almost all cases, hard work is rewarded.
This app analyzes patterns from brain images and
develops personalized treatments for patients with
Q: What do you hope your students
mental disorders.
have learned from you?
I hope they have learned to enjoy their
research and find a value and joy in it
— especially when it comes to creative
problem solving and finding innovative THERE ARE SEVERAL WAYS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CAN HELP BOTH
solutions to help others. Most of all, I DOCTORS AND PATIENTS — WHILE SAVING TIME AND MONEY.
hope they can find their purpose in life
on this earth as a scientist or engineer. DOCTORS PATIENTS
• Help leverage mobile or wearable • Help consumers select doctors or
devices that can collect and transcribe benefit plans by collecting symptoms,
//YUGYUNG (YUGI) LEE, PH.D. audio, video and written notes during then providing valuable answers and
Professor, Computer Science patient visits resources
RESEARCH INTERESTS • Help clinicians make sense of • Create personalized treatments for
Artificial Intelligence, distributed information and transform raw data patients with mobility issues because
computing and big data analytics,
software engineering and semantic web into actions of a stroke, or injuries to their spinal
cord or brain
JOINED UMKC • Detect conditions such as depression,
1999 obesity or heart disease by reading
into vocal tone or facial expressions
VANGUARD / SCE.UMKC.EDU / 14/ACCOLADES AT SCE IN 2017
STUDENT TEAMS DST SYSTEMS, INC. was awarded the
School of Computing and Engineering TRAVIS FIELDS, PH.D., was awarded
Company of the Year Award. $53,222 by the Naval Postgraduate School
THE SCE BIG BEAM COMPETITION TEAM
for his project titled “Development of
placed 10th at the national competition.
KC STEM ALLIANCE was awarded the Unmanned Aircraft-based Autonomous
School of Computing and Engineering Airborne Target Tracking and Pursuit”;
STEM Outreach Partner Award. $80,461 by the U.S. Army Natick Soldier
Research, Development and Engineering
FACULTY Center for “Continued Development and
Testing of Steerable Cross Canopy Descent
Vehicles”; and $224,525 by U.S. Army
ANTHONY CARUSO, PH.D., AHMED
Natick Soldier Research, Development
HASSAN, PH.D., DEB CHATTERJEE, PH.D.,
and Engineering Center for “Advancing
TRAVIS FIELDS, PH.D. and FAISAL KHAN,
Steerable Low-Cost Precision Aerial Delivery
PH.D., were awarded over $7.2 million by
Systems.”
the Office of Naval Research for “Short
Pulse Research and Evaluation and non-
SWaP Demonstration for C-sUAV Study.” MEGAN HART, PH.D., was awarded
$25,000 by Kansas City Power & Light for
her project “Water Testing: Cement-Based
ZHIQIANG CHEN, PH.D., was awarded
Filtration of LaCygne AQC Discharge” and
$72,710 by the National Science
awarded funds to connect international
Foundation for his project “Development of
SCE Steel Bridge Team geoenvironmental engineers. This
Aerial-Ground Sensing and Data-Enabled
seed grant is to foster long term joint
THE SCE STEEL BRIDGE TEAM placed 2nd Vulnerability-Resilience Modeling for Crop
international research and is funded by the
in stiffness and 1st overall for U.S. teams in Systems Subject to Drought.”
National Science Foundation’s program
the international competition.
to connect women faculty in geotechnical
BAEK-YOUNG CHOI, PH.D., was awarded a
engineering.
COMMUNITY AWARD NASA Faculty Fellowship at NASA Marshall
WINNERS Space and Flight Center for Summer 2017.
AHMED HASSAN, PH.D. and
DERAKHSHANI, PH.D., were awarded
JIM HOGAN, B.S. (CIVIL ENGINEERING ’84), MASUD CHOWDHURY, PH.D., was awarded
$58,074 by ZOLOZ for “A Novel Biometric
was honored with the 2017 UMKC SCE $50,000 under the UM System Fast Track
Technique Based on Microwave-Imaging of
Alumni Achievement Award. grant from the University of Missouri
Deep-Biological Tissue Using Commercial
Economics Initiatives and received a
Wireless Devices.”
AASHISH CHANDRA, M.S. (ELECTRICAL 2017 Leadership Excellence Achievement
ENGINEERING ’11), was awarded the School Program Award from the Missouri Society
AHMED HASSAN, PH.D. and ANTHONY
of Computing and Engineering Young of Professional Engineers Western Chapter
CARUSO, PH.D., were awarded $440,550
Alumni Award. for demonstrating mentoring abilities that
by the Office of Naval Research for their
encourage students to seek leadership
project “RF Coupling Revisited.”
KIRAN CHELLURI, M.S. (COMPUTER excellence in the engineering profession.
SCIENCE ’01), was awarded the School of
JOHN KEVERN, PH.D., was awarded a
Computing and Engineering Supporter REZA DERAKHSHANI, PH.D., was awarded
$175,000 research grant from Iowa State
Award. $79,584 from ZOLOZ for his project
University and the National Academies
“Optokinetic Anti-Spoofing” and $77,048
of Sciences to support his research in
from ZOLOZ for “Single and Multi-Frame
“Entrained Air Void System for Durable
Deep Learning Super-Resolution.”
15 / UMKC SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND ENGINEERING / VANGUARD/UPCOMING
Highway Concrete.” Kevern was also AMIR MEHDIZADEH, PH.D., was awarded laboratory from Mr. Keumtak Oh of the
awarded $33,385 by Marquette University $43,973 by the University of Missouri Ministry of Science and ICT, Republic of
for “Joint Sawing Practices and Effects Research Board. Korea.
on Durability” and $62,482 by Wisconsin
Department of Transportation policy DEB O’BANNON, PH.D., received the GANESH THIAGARAJAN, PH.D, P.E., was
research program for “Evaluation of Society of Women Engineers’ 2017 awarded $410,010 by the National
Penetrating Sealers Applied to Saw Cut Distinguished Engineering Educator Award. Science Foundation for his project
Faces in Concrete Pavement Joints.” “Micro-Macro Scale Investigations to
Study Osteocyte Mechanobiology”
FAISAL KHAN, PH.D., was awarded $49,980 and $17,000 from the Kansas City
under the UM System Fast Track grant Consortium on Musculoskeletal Diseases.
from the University of Missouri Economics
Initiatives and $40,000 from the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory for his
project “Creation of an Adaptive Remaining These highlights represent select
Lifetime Prediction Model of Power achievements of our distinguished faculty.
Electronics.”
VIJAY KUMAR, PH.D., was named a 2017
Distinguished Member by the Association
for Computing Machinery.
ZHU LI, PH.D., was awarded $50,000 from
Qualcomm Technologies to support his Deb O’Bannon, Ph.D., accepting her award.
research in point cloud compression;
$58,174 by ZOLOZ for his project “Mobile AJITA RATTANI, PH.D., NARSI REDDY and
Human Re-Identification”; $15,000 by the REZA DERAKHSHANI, PH.D., received
National Science Foundation for “University the Best Paper Award at the 2017 IEEE
of Missouri-Kansas City Planning Grant: I/ Homeland Security Symposium for their
UCRC for Big Learning”; and $10,000 from paper “Gender Prediction Using Mobile
Snap, Inc. for his work related to video Ocular Biometrics: A Feasibility Study.”
compression.
JERRY RICHARDSON, PH.D., was awarded
DEEP MEDHI, PH.D., was awarded $16,000 $20,937 by Water Resources Solutions, LLC
by the National Science Foundation to for “Woodson County State Fishing Lake
support two undergraduate students on Spillway Repair.”
his project “SRN: On Establishing Secure
and Resilient Networking Services.” Medhi SEJUN SONG, PH.D., was awarded $16,000
was also named an Institute of Electrical by the National Science Foundation for
and Electronics Engineers Fellow for his “REU Supplement: CC*DNI Networking
contributions to optimization and the Infrastructure: Data Driven Research-Wise
design of computer-communication Network Infrastructure Upgrade” and
networks. $63,709 by Futurewei Technologies, Inc. for
“Super High Throughput and Low Latency
Video Streaming.” Song also received
a $7,000 unrestricted donation to his
VANGUARD / SCE.UMKC.EDU / 16/GET INVOLVED
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April 26, 2018 | 4:30PM Six, three-hour sessions offered More than 100 students receive donor-
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Deadline to register: Aug. 13, 2018 constructing a new 44,000 square-foot
2018 SPRING COMMENCEMENT facility, there are opportunities to support
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Find more SCE events online at for details. Please give online at sce.umkc.edu/giving
sce.umkc.edu/events or contact Elizabeth Wheeler:
(816) 235-1277 or
wheelerei@umkcfoundation.org.
17 / UMKC SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND ENGINEERING / VANGUARDTake your career to the next level with a
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