The Center of Excellence in Research and Education for Big Military Data Intelligence (CREDIT)

The CREDIT center is a research center targeting mission-critical big data analytics and platforms with a five-million-dollar seed funding from the US Department of Defense (DOD). The center’s research focus includes deep learning, big data analytics, wireless sensor networks, data security, and the Internet-of-Things (IoT). CREDIT center has a multidisciplinary team of faculty researchers from Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science, research scientists and postdocs, and many graduate and undergraduate research assistants. This center is supported by 3 labs: the Deep Learning Lab, the Cloud Computing Lab, and the Wireless Communications Lab. The Deep Learning Lab in this center features four NVIDIA DGX-1 Deep Learning systems totaling 32 Tesla P100 GPUs with 114,688 CUDA cores, 2,752 GB memory, and 244 TB HDD. Each DGX-1 system has eight Tesla P100 GPU accelerators connected through NVLink, the NVIDIA high-performance GPU interconnect, in a hybrid cube-mesh network. Together with dual socket Intel Xeon CPUs and four 100 Gb InfiniBand network interface cards, DGX-1 provides unprecedented performance for deep learning. Moreover, the DGX-1 system software and powerful libraries are tuned for scaling deep learning on its network of Tesla P100 GPUs to provide a flexible and scalable platform for deep learning.

The Center of Excellence for Cyber security (SECURE)

The SECURE Center is focused on developing novel protocols to ensure cybersecurity in multiple environments—communications and networks, power grid, social networking in virtual space, cloud computing, and video analytics.  It is also engaged in developing sensitive techniques for malware and virus detection and elimination. The center develops innovative technologies such as hardware/software co-design, novel low-cost security primitives, and AI solutions for malicious behavior detection. Another area of emphasis is information (video, image, text and audio) steganography using discrete wavelet transform and artificial intelligence. This center is supported by 5 labs: Network Security lab, IoT Security Lab, Hardware Security Lab, IP Networking Lab, and Wireless Security Lab.

The Smart MicroGrid Advanced Research and Technology Center (SMART)

The vision of the SMART Center is to create multitude of smart microgrids in the world that are reliable, sustainable, secure and more environmentally safe. The center is focusing on the following areas: (i) enhancing the power quality for the microgrid, (ii) optimizing the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) of electronic devices in the microgrid, (iii) providing secure and robust data collection and exchange in the microgrid, (iv) designing novel fault detection, protection, and control of the microgrid, and (v) designing a test bed for experimental validation. The center is currently working on the following projects: 1) Modeling and Simulation of Low-Cost and High-Efficiency Solar Cells for the Microgrid,  2) Novel Model Predictive Control for Electrical Machine Drives Considering Circuit Faults, 3) Microgrid Distribution Power Flow Controller (DPFC) Based on Fuzzy and ANFIS Techniques, 4) Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT) Improvement for Energy Harvesting Systems, 5) Effects of Electromagnetic Interference on the Smart Grid, and 6) Electric Load Forecasting using Smart Meter Data.

The Center for Computational Systems Biology (CCSB@PVAMU)

The CCSB center is a multidisciplinary center which studies complex biological processes such as cancer, head injury in football, Parkinson’s disease, pulmonary hypertension, and herbicide-resistant weeds, by employing state-of-the-art computational and engineering skills.  External collaborations include Translational Genomics Research Institute, Salk Institute, University of Pittsburg Medical Center, and the University of Cambridge.  The Center is supported by funds from the CRI, NCI/NIH, Stand up To Cancer (SU2C), NSF, and Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF).

The Center of Excellence for Communication Systems Technology Research (CECSTR)

This center  received seed funding from Texas Instruments to conduct comprehensive research in the selected aspects of communication systems, Wavelets and Wavelet Transforms, Compressed Sensing/Compressive Sampling Systems, DSP Solutions, Signal/Image/Video Processing, Mixed Signal Systems, Communication Control Systems and High Speed (Broadband) Communication Systems. Among other emerging areas of research, it also seeks solutions to the problems that plague both military and commercial satellite and radar-based communication systems.

The Center for Radiation Engineering and Science for Space Exploration (CRESSE))

The CRESSE center is focused on developing materials and technologies that would keep astronauts and their critical electronic equipment safe from the effects of harmful space radiation.  The Center carries out research in the area of developing space radiation detection systems in testbed zones during exposures at particle accelerator facilities and obtaining detailed dosimetry data and particle spectroscopy data for use in prediction of risks of space radiation in environment and health.