Stevens Launches Center for Innovative Computing and Networked Systems

The new research center at Stevens is positioned to help shape the future of electrical and computer engineering technologies

The Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering and Science at Stevens Institute of Technology has founded a research hub - the Center for Innovative Computing and Networked Systems (iCNS) - to bring expert investigators together from multiple departments to drive breakthroughs in computing, electrical and electronics systems, computer hardware and software systems, power grid systems and applied artificial intelligence (AI).

"Over the past five years, the labs in our department alone received more than $20 million in external research funding and made broader impacts in the respective areas," said Min Song, professor and chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and iCNS director. "We realized we needed a more cohesive entity to further promote multidisciplinary and high-impact research and catalyze synergies between labs not only within our department, but also across Stevens."

Through the iCNS, each research lab leverages faculty investigators' interests and expertise to optimize team-based research to further the knowledge and technologies that drive modern computing and networked systems.

"The iCNS provides a vibrant intellectual platform for faculty investigators to secure more funding and conduct interdisciplinary, high-impact research," said Song, whose experience establishing a successful computing and cybersystems research institute at Michigan Technological University helped spark the creation of the iCNS. "It also enhances the school's visibility and promotes external research partnerships."

The iCNS focuses on both basic and applied research in areas such as advancing 5G/6G networks, enhancing circuits and digital systems, ensuring cybersecurity, improving the performance of cyber-physical systems and Internet of Things, exploring mobile and quantum computing, transforming renewable energy and power management, optimizing open radio access networks, improving robotics and automation, ensuring trustworthy AI and enhancing wireless communication systems.

Min Song, iCNS Director

"We are particularly excited about the real-world applications of this research," Song said. "There's potential for this work to have a meaningful impact on communications, smart cities, electric vehicle charging, healthcare, unmanned aerial vehicles, human-robot interaction, object identification, homeland security and so much more."

The iCNS will also support the next generation of electrical and computer engineering leaders with research scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students, and by developing educational research proposals.

The official iCNS launch at Stevens on September 25, 2024 will include a keynote speech, a government agency panel discussion, a reception and a digital research poster/demo session. Participants are expected to include the Air Force Research Laboratory and other industry leaders, as well as researchers, alumni, faculty and students.

The iCNS also anticipates establishing a National Science Foundation Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) to bring together researchers from academia, industry and government to collaborate on cutting-edge research and development to accelerate the advancement of new technologies.

"Our Center for Innovative Computing and Networked Systems can become a hub for innovation, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in computing and networking systems," Song said. "It unites our university's research expertise and resources to tackle complex challenges in computing and networked systems, and enables open research across diverse areas within the Stevens community and beyond. Through active research and involvement in the broader community, the center can ensure that innovation aligns with societal needs."