Chua Nonlinearity is an essential component in almost all natural (from ocean waves to heart rhythms) and man made (from clocks to lasers) systems, but it is often shunned by engineers in view of its intractability. The goal of this research is to exploit the use of nonlinearity in engineering, and to develop mathematical techniques and numerical tools for analyzing complicated nonlinear phenomena, including bifurcation and failure boundaries, chaos, and the dynamics of sigma-delta modulation. Among several application areas involving nonlinearity, the focus is on the design of cellular neural networks for image processing such as handwritten character recognition (e.g., ZIP codes), motion detection, and early vision capabilities (e.g., robotic vision). To enhance the future engineer's ability to derive and validate nonlinear device models, and to analyze and design practical nonlinear circuits and systems, user friendly software and hardware tool kits are being developed which implement the most advanced mathematical theories and recently-developed techniques from nonlinear dynamics.
