| Punit Prakash, ECE, has been appointed chair of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Technical Committee on Therapeutic Systems and Technologies for 2016 – 17. |
Author: Jennifer McDonald
A good night’s sleep: Engineers develop technology for special needs children
MANHATTAN — A Kansas State University engineering team is developing a technology collection that can 
make a big difference in the lives of children with developmental disabilities.
The team’s projects so far have addressed around-the-clock technology: bed-based sensors to track child breathing and heart rates; wearable sensors to track child behaviors; and designs that can improve the quality of life for paraeducators who work with these children.
Now the team has received a three-year $400,000 National Science Foundation grant to expand these ideas and better establish a link between nighttime wellness and daytime learning and behavior. The project, “UNS: GARDE: Research to quantify the health and development of children with disabilities around the clock,” involves several Kansas State University engineering researchers who are combining their expertise.
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Two engineering professors make top 25 list
Don Gruenbacher and Medhat M. Morcos, faculty members of electrical and computer engineering at Kansas State University, have been recognized as two of the 25 top professors of electrical engineering at OnlineEngineeringPrograms.com.
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New Building
K-State alumnus creates opportunities for others
Merle Converse has enjoyed a lot of opportunities in his life. He was elected high school homecoming king, he married Helen, who was homecoming queen and his high school sweetheart, and he has enjoyed a successful career in a field he’s passionate about.
He has many fond memories of K-State, including encouraging advice from M.A. Durland, then dean of the College of Engineering. His parents and several siblings graduated from K-State and he grew up attending Engineering Open House on campus. He recalls the pride of becoming a commissioned officer through Air Force ROTC and earning his degree in electrical engineering from K-State in 1958.
“My job in the Air Force was to study electronic systems and select the ones the Air Force could use,” Converse said. “The combination of all my training at K-State was really ideal.”
Kansas State University helped prepare him, and now he creates opportunities for others with the Merle and Helen Converse Electrical and Computer Engineering Scholarship. Now a resident of Helotes, Texas, Converse has worked 53 years at Southwest Research Institute, where he holds 10 patents as an engineering technical advisor and electronic equipment designer.
“I have a great feeling about Kansas State University,” he said. “I want to help other students attend and have the same great experiences I had.”
How you can invest in Kansas State University
Converse created his scholarship with a charitable rollover from his IRA. To learn more about this tax-friendly way to make a difference at Kansas State University, visit www.found.ksu.edu/IRA or e-mail engineering@found.ksu.edu.
$2.5 million grant funds study of how infectious diseases become epidemics
MANHATTAN — Two Kansas State University researchers are exploring how diseases spread across long distances in an effort to learn how to better control the next human, animal or plant epidemic.
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New Horizons
Glen Fountain, K-State Alumnus in Electrical Engineering, gave the talk on The NEW H
ORIZONS-PLUTO Mission for The 2015 Galaxy Forum, at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center on Saturday, August 29. The Ad Astra Kansas Foundation to enrich science education, with the cooperation of the Kansas Cosmosphere sponsored the free educational event. Approximately 110 people attended the event, completely filling the room.
ECE PhD students rank high in international programming competition
Haotian Wu and Xin Li, of our Network Science and Engineering (NetSE) group finished 
26th internationally in the recent IEEEExtreme programming competition out of 2059 teams, and they were the 3rd ranked team in the U.S.
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Monitoring the Health of Disabled Children Around the Clock
Professors Steve Warren, Punit Prakash, David Thompson, and Bala Natarajan are creating nighttime tools to monitor disabled children with health issues that include seizures. This work was featured in a segment on Fox News October 23.
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Jefferson Science Fellowship Seminar Nov. 5 to feature Anil Pahwa
Electrical energy needs are growing globally due to increased dependence on electricity for daily activities in homes and businesses. A larger world population, coupled with development of programs to provide electricity access to 1.3 billion people around the world currently without it, add to this increased demand.
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