Five Ph.D. students from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology won awards at the 2011 Georgia Tech Research and Innovation Conference (GTRIC) on February 8. Over 400 graduate students were involved with research presentations at this event.

Greg Drayer won a GTRIC 2011 Fellowship Award, for his research poster, "Design and Simulation of a Reconfigurable Aquatic Habit for Experiments in Life Support Control." His Ph.D. advisor is Ayanna Howard, an associate professor in ECE specializing in systems and controls.

The GTRIC 2011 Best Designed Poster Award was presented to Jayant Ratti, whose Ph.D. advisor is George Vachtsevanos, ECE professor emeritus in systems and controls. Mr. Ratti's poster was entitled "Morphing Micro Aerial Robot with Quad Hybrid Energy-Efficient Mechatronics."

Three ECE Ph.D. students--Maysamreza Chamanzar, Kiruthika Devaraj, and Aakash Sahai--won GTRIC 2011 Travel Awards for their outstanding posters.

Mr. Chamanzar's poster was entitled "Ultra-compact On-chip Hybrid Plasmonic-photonic Sensors." He is advised by Ali Adibi, an ECE professor specializing in optics and photonics.

Ms. Devraj's poster was entitled "The Centimeter- and Millimeter-wavelength Ammonia Absorption Spectra under Jovian Conditions." She is advised by Paul Steffes, a professor who specializes in electromagnetics and telecommunications in the School of ECE.

A Ph.D. student based at Georgia Tech-Lorraine, Mr. Sahai's poster was entitled "Chaos in Laser Diodes." He is advised by David Citrin, a professor specializing in optics and photonics in ECE.

"This display of excellence in a diverse range of applications showcases the high quality of the breadth and depth of work done in ECE," said Gary S. May, professor and Steve W. Chaddick School Chair in ECE. "I'd like to wish Greg, Jayant, Maysamreza, Kiruthika, and Aakash much success as they continue to pursue innovative solutions to today's research challenges."