Research experience

Graduate Assistant      May 2015-Dec 2017
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Clemson University
  • Focus on the application of spatially distributed radiation sensors in detecting and locating contraband radioactive material in a metropolitan area in Dr. Carl Baum group.
  • Study and apply Estimation and Detection Theory such as maximum likelihood estimation (MLE).
  • Developed three-dimensional numerical models on localization and estimation of the signal using different number of sensors based on Matlab.
  • Use 25 sensors to estimate two source locations and radioactive strengths by changing their relative magnitude and distance over a specified area, then compared the estimated values with the real value to obtain the error, concluding how each affects the other based on different distances and strengths. I found that using different background radiations, varying the time of the signal, and adding more sensors did not significantly reduce the estimation error of weaker source when two sources are close together at the center of the area and one source is ten times the other.
  • Extend the research to estimate the location and radioactive strength of one source when the strength of the background radiation is unknown under different number of sensors.
Undergraduate Research Experience      June 2013-June 2014
Department of Physics, Central China Normal University (CCNU), China
  • Worked in Dr. Liu’s lab and got a basic understanding of the digital communication.
  • Researched the chirp spread spectrum (CSS) method, which is robust to channel noise and also resistant to multi-path fading even when operating at very low power.
  • Finished my undergraduate thesis ‘Combined indoor distance measurements based ZigBee and CSS’ guided by Dr. Shouyin Liu. I compared 10 indoor digital communication techniques focusing on ZigBee and Chirp Spread Spectrum (CSS). Since ZigBee is easy-to-operate and accurate over short distances and CSS prevents interferences and is accurate over long distances, they address the disadvantages of GPS signals in an indoor environment. From the data obtained, I found that ZigBee worked better under distances of 80 meters, while CSS worked better beyond 80 meters.