Dr. Hamid Mahmoodi and Collaborators received an NSF Major Research Instrument Award of $749,304 to Acquire New Automatic Test Equipment

Dr. Hamid Mahmoodi, Professor in Computer and Electrical Engineering, leading a team of faculty members from Engineering and Computer Science at San Francisco State University (Drs. Hao Jiang, Xiaorong Zhang, Pooyan Fazli, and David Quintero), received a new award of $749,304 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program. This MRI award supports the acquisition of a state-of-the-art Automatic Test Equipment at SFSU School of Engineering and Department of Computer Science to accelerate research, expand research training capacity, and build new programs on electronic design and testing as well as collaborative robotics. This industry-standard test system (Teradyne J750Ex-HD) will bring new experimental capability to test a variety of integrated circuits and circuit boards and will enable functional tests, parametric measurements, memory tests, scan tests, and speed tests. This MRI equipment acquisition will create new research opportunities and enhance existing research capabilities at an urban, Hispanic-serving, non-Ph.D. granting institution in the critical areas of hardware security, machine learning hardware, neural machine interface, wearable robotics, and artificial intelligence in robotics. The equipment will catalyze the establishment of an expert testing center that will benefit the broader research community and promote extensive collaborations with academic and industry partners. It will provide opportunities for Master’s and undergraduate students to engage in frontier research using cutting-edge technologies, which is critical for them to compete successfully for positions in industry or entrance into Ph.D. programs. The Automatic Test Equipment will provide a new tool for recruiting, retaining, and engaging students and faculty members from underrepresented groups in engineering and computer science at SFSU.

The School of Engineering has been very successful in obtaining instrumental grants from federal funding agencies. In the past ten years, the School has received six grants from the NSF MRI program and one from the Department of Defense (DoD) with a total amount of $2,896,789 (see details below).

Project Title: MRI: Acquisition of Automatic Test Equipment to Enhance Research and Research Training in Engineering and Computer Science at San Francisco State University
Funding agency: NSF
Amount: $749,304
Award period: 08/01/2020 - 07/31/2023
PIs: Hamid Mahmoodi, Hao Jiang, Xiaorong Zhang, Pooyan Fazli, David Quintero

Project Title: Acquisition of High Frequency Oscilloscope and Logic Stimulator & Analyzer to Enhance Research and Research Education in Engineering and Physics at SFSU
Funding agency: DoD
Amount: $599,684
Award period: 09/01/2019 - 08/31/2021
PIs: Hamid Mahmoodi, Hao Jiang, David Quintero, AKM Newaz, Fatemeh Tehranipoor, Xiaorong Zhang

Project Title: MRI: Acquisition of a Power-Hardware-in-the-Loop (PHIL) System to Enhance Research and Student Research Training in Engineering and Computer Science
Funding agency: NSF
Amount: $297,318
Award period: 09/15/2017 - 08/31/2019
PIs: Jin Ye, Ed Cheng, Cheng Chen, Hao Yue, Mohamed Badawy

Project Title: MRI: Acquisition of an Atomic Force Microscope to Enhance Research and Student Research Training in Engineering, Biochemistry, Biology and Physics departments at SF State University
Funding agency: NSF
Amount: $472,818.00
Award period: 01/01/2017 - 12/31/2019<
PIs: Mojtaba Azadi, Andrew Ichimura, Zhigang Chen, Kwok Siong Teh, Joseph Chen

Project Title: MRI: Acquisition of a Microwave Vector Network Analyzer to Enhance Research and Student Research Training in Engineering and Physics at SFSU
Funding agency: NSF
Amount: $268,577.00
Award period: 09/1/2015 - 08/31/2018
PIs: Hao Jiang, Hamid Mahmoodi, Kwok Siong Teh, Weining Man, Xiaorong Zhang

Project Title: MRI: Acquisition of a State-of-the-Art Servohydraulic Structure Test System to Enhance Engineering Research and Research Education at San Francisco State University
Funding agency: NSF
Amount: $246,454.00
Award period: 09/1/2011 - 08/31/2014
PIs: Cheng Chen, Hamid Shahnasser, Wenshen Pong, Hamid Mahmoodi

Project Title: MRI: Acquisition of a Temperature-controlled Probe Station and Semiconductor Parameter Analyzer to Enhance Research and Research Training in Engineering and Physics at SFSU
Funding agency: NSF
Amount: $262,634.00
Award period: 09/15/2010 - 08/31/2013
PIs: Hamid Mahmoodi, Kwok Siong Teh, Hao Jiang, Weining Man, Cheng Chen