The project entitled - A Design Proposal: The Center for Cyber Sensors Networks for Human and Environmental Applications - aims to increase the research capacity of Central State University (CSU) with the goal of developing a focused research center in two years. CSU is a mostly undergraduate Historically Black University where 95% of the students are African American. The work will strengthen the research credentials of the university's faculty as well as the resources and facilities of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) departments, thereby creating the foundation for the university to become an institution more competitive in research. The ultimate goal is for CSU to develop the research infrastructure to establish a research center in the area of cyber sensor networks. In order to establish such a center, the institution must have an established research focus with integrated educational initiatives; demonstrate a long-term plan for research infrastructure improvement; and develop a comprehensive plan to achieve and maintain national competitiveness in a defined research area. The outcomes produced by this work will position CSU to accomplish the following over the next two years: increase the institution's research capabilities, increase faculty research capacity, improve the research infrastructure, and increase the research capabilities of undergraduate students.
The project will develop a sharable self-optimizing and cooperative control cyber sensor network platform for sensor-oriented applications such as persistent surveillance on human behavior and the tracking of environmental phenomena. As a multidisciplinary research collaboration, the project involves image/video processing, algebraic techniques, statistical physics, data fusion, cooperative control, and optimization. The educational activities are integrated through an interdisciplinary undergraduate seminar course in cyber sensors networks. The course will increase awareness of national problems in the environment, as well as current studies in human performance, attracting students to research and continued study in STEM. The research will enhance the institution's efforts in recruiting and retaining minority students by engaging them in undergraduate research.
