This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) award supports the development of an interdisciplinary graduate training program in Wireless Intelligent Sensor Networks (WISeNet) at Duke University. Recent advancements in wireless sensors are transforming many areas of science and engineering, spanning ecology, geosciences, robotics, and artificial intelligence. Intellectual Merit: This program provides students with an interdisciplinary training that will prepare them to conduct research on novel intelligent methods and algorithms for wireless sensor networks. The thematic basis is the development of intelligent sensors that process, store, and learn from data so as to improve their ability to gather information over time.
Broader impacts include unprecedented observation of environmental and ecological processes, and more effective and reliable use of sensors for defense and national security. In collaboration with an Advisory Board of external and international collaborators, WISeNet faculty and students will rapidly transfer research findings into the curriculum, and develop integrated computational tools that directly support the WISeNet research goals. The program will partner with Duke?s REU program and Graduate School to enhance diversity. Students will receive a WISeNet graduate certificate that includes required laboratory and field experiments; new cross-disciplinary courses; and simulation, visualization, and virtual reality projects. The program will develop a common research and educational experience for U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers working in the areas of sensor networks, environmental modeling and prediction, and computational intelligence, and provide students with an academic environment and placement opportunities where they can flourish at a global scale.
IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries.
