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SPRING 2018 							/						                                                                       VOLUME    02

Research at the forefront from the UMKC School of Computing and Engineering

VANGUARD

OPERATION:
AIR SUPPLY                                     /03
                                               CONNECTIVITY
                                               Putting More
                                                                 /05
                                                                 COLLABORATION
                                                                 Getting a
                                                                                 /07
                                                                                 COMMUNITY
                                                                                 Waste
                                                                                                 /13
                                                                                                 PROFILE
                                                                                                 The Art of
Covert and cost-effective                      Real in Virtual
                                               Reality
                                                                 Better Grip     Processing
                                                                                 Technology
                                                                                                 Artificial
                                                                                                 Intelligence
parachute drops                                                                  Improves
                                                                                 Global Health
VANGUARD - OPERATION: AIR SUPPLY Covert and cost-effective parachute drops - University ...
/FROM THE DEAN                                                                       VANGUARD
Dear colleagues:
                                                                                     /’VAN,GÄRD/
It is with great joy that I introduce to   our future construction engineers,         A group of people leading the way in
you our second issue of the School         and a motion capture facility which        new developments or ideas
of Computing and Engineering’s             can be utilized in every kind of
annual research publication,               research from drone technology
                                                                                      Research at the forefront from the
Vanguard. With the launch of               to biomedical engineering to
                                                                                      UMKC SCHOOL OF COMPUTING
this new magazine last                           animated film. The center
year, we were able                                     will also feature a            AND ENGINEERING
to deliver some                                            community space
of our most                                                   with industry-
                                                                                      SCE LEADERSHIP TEAM
promising                                                       grade 3-D
                                                                                      Kevin Z. Truman, Ph.D., F.ASCE
and                                                              printing, and a      Vice Provost of UMKC and Dean of the School
forward-                                                           metal shop for     of Computing and Engineering

thinking                                                           fabrication,       Ghulam Chaudhry, Ph.D.
                                                                                      Department Chair of Computer Science and
research                                                            rapid             Electrical Engineering

stories to                                                          prototyping,      Mark McClernon, Ph.D., PE
                                                                                      Department Chair of Civil and Mechanical Engineering
your front                                                          and artificial
                                                                                      Masud Chowdhury, Ph.D.
door.                                                              learning.          Associate Dean for Faculty and Research
                                                                  Finally, we         Marjory Eisenman, M.A.
As SCE                                                           are excited          Assistant Dean of Student Affairs

continues                                                      to receive $3          Christina Davis, M.A.
                                                                                      Director of Continuing Education
to grow,                                                    million in virtual
welcoming our                                            reality and augmented
                                                                                      Elizabeth Wheeler
                                                                                      Director of Major Gifts
largest freshman                                    reality equipment for             Sara Vogt
class ever in 2017, it is                     advancements in entertainment           Director of Marketing and Media Services

invaluable that we strengthen and          and synthesized training.                  Kaitlin Woody, M.P.A.
                                                                                      Director of Alumni and Constituent Relations
deepen our relationships with
you — alumni, community leaders,           As you explore the pages of
partners, and friends. The Kansas          Vanguard, I encourage you to               PRODUCTION
                                                                                      UMKC Division of Strategic Marketing
City region has a hunger for a             imagine what will be next for SCE.         and Communications
workforce trained in 21st century          With the spaces and resources to           MANAGING EDITOR
computing and engineering, and             inspire greatness, what might our          Ashley Blonquist

it is these relationships that make        faculty and students do for our            EDITOR
                                                                                      Sara Vogt
SCE best prepared to fill that need.       school, our community and our
                                           world? We’ll continue to keep you          ART DIRECTOR/DESIGNER
                                                                                      Sarah Richardson
Due to the generosity of this              apprised of the construction of
                                                                                      CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
network of supporters, this year           our new space and you can visit us         Ashley Blonquist, Kelsey Haynes, John Martellaro,
SCE was able to announce that we           anytime online at sce.umkc.edu/            Patricia O’Dell, Brian Schneweis

will begin construction of a new           educationresearchcenter.                   PHOTOGRAPHERS
education and research center                                                         Brandon Parigo

directly adjacent to our current           We look forward to working with            SPECIAL THANKS TO:
                                                                                      Mike Duah, Hallie Spencer, Kim West
home in the Robert H. Flarsheim            you to bring even more innovation
Science and Technology Hall. This          to our community and beyond.
$32 million project, unanimously                                                      Contact us
                                                                                      Flarsheim Hall, Room 534
approved by the Missouri Board of          Sincerely,                                 5110 Rockhill Road
                                                                                      Kansas City, MO 64110
Curators on Dec. 7, will add 44,000                                                   816-235-2399
                                                                                      sce@umkc.edu
square feet of laboratory space for
faculty to conduct cutting-edge                                                       sce.umkc.edu

research and students to engage in                                                    Relay Missouri: 800-735-2966 (TTY)
                                                                                      SCE 17092573
real-world learning.

The new facility will be equipped
                                           KEVIN Z. TRUMAN, PH.D., F.ASCE
                                           Vice Provost, UMKC
with state-of-the-art technology.
                                           Dean, School of Computing
These new amenities will include           and Engineering
a clean room for the development
of nanotechnology, a high-bay
structural lab for the training of

                                                                                                  School of Computing
                                                                                                    and Engineering
VANGUARD - OPERATION: AIR SUPPLY Covert and cost-effective parachute drops - University ...
/TABLE OF
CONTENTS

           /DEPARTMENTS                                     /FEATURE             /UPCOMING

                                             09
                    /03                                                                  /15
                                                                                ACCOLADES
           CONNECTIVITY
         Putting More                  Operation:
        Real in Virtual                Air Supply
                                                                                          /17
                Reality                                                     GET INVOLVED
                                Covert and cost-effective
       BY JOHN MARTELLARO               parachute drops
                                 BY BRIAN SCHNEWEIS

                    /05
          COLLABORATION
            Getting a
           Better Grip
          BY KELSEY HAYNES
                                                            /PROFILE

                    /07                      13
              COMMUNITY                The Art of
     Waste Processing                    Artificial
  Technology Improves                Intelligence
        Global Health               Powerful technology
         BY PATRICIA O’DELL   could advance our nation’s
                                       health care while               On the cover: Travis Fields
                                           cutting costs                 Photo: Brandon Parigo
                                BY ASHLEY BLONQUIST                           Photo illustration:
                                                                                      Mike Duah
VANGUARD - OPERATION: AIR SUPPLY Covert and cost-effective parachute drops - University ...
A s s o ci at e Professor Zh u Li, P h.D. , immerses
hi ms elf in t o a n u n der wa t er world through VR
g o g gl es.

                                                                  BRANDON PARIGO
                                                           ILLUSTRATION: MIKE DUAH
03 / UMKC SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND ENGINEERING / VANGUARD
VANGUARD - OPERATION: AIR SUPPLY Covert and cost-effective parachute drops - University ...
/CONNECTIVITY

                                               experience to anyone else in the world
PUTTING MORE                                   wearing VR goggles. Think of it this way:
                                               You put on a headset while sitting in your
                                               office or living room, in the dead of winter,
REAL IN                                        and fly along in real time with a skydiver
                                               in the tropics at 15,000 feet.
                                                                                               // ZHU LI, PH.D .

VIRTUAL REALITY                                Li is exploring two technological
                                               innovations that, in tandem, show the
                                                                                               Associate professor,
                                                                                               Department of Computer Science and
                                               promise of delivering a lifelike, real-time,    Electrical Engineering
BY JOHN MARTELLARO                             immersive virtual reality experience.            RESEARCH INTERESTS
                                               The first is developing algorithms to            Image analysis, video compression and
                                               compensate for a portable camera’s               machine learning
The big hurdle for virtual                     inferior-to-the-eye ability to capture
                                                                                                JOINED UMKC
reality has always been that it                detail, and essentially “fill in the blanks”     2015
                                               in the visual data to create a more lifelike
doesn’t seem all that … real.                  image. The second involves advancing the
                                               science of data compression to deliver
                                               the processing speeds necessary to allow
ZHU LI, PH.D., associate professor
                                               for real-time decision-making by the user
of computer science and electrical
                                               — keeping up with their up-and-down or
engineering at UMKC, is hard at work in
                                               side-to-side movements.
the lab in an effort to put more “real” in
your virtual reality experience. Major
                                               “Video technology has come a long way.
industry players such as Samsung,
                                               Now we have bigger screens with more
Qualcomm and Snapchat are helping fund
                                               pixels, higher-quality pixels, but the
the research.
                                               experience is still passive. You just sit
                                               back and see,” Li says. “Immersive video
Li’s challenge: The human eye can collect
                                               allows you to directly interact with and
and transmit — and the human brain can
                                               explore the content. There is a concept
process — more data at a faster rate than
                                               called Six Degrees of Freedom (DoF)
any technology currently in use. Passive                                                       While V R g o g gle s like the s e c an t ran s for m t h e
                                               interaction, that is, to be able to turn your   wo rld a ro un d its we a re rs , wor k i s s t ill be i n g
video, in which a camera operator decides                                                      do n e to improve data s tre ami n g t o c re at e more
                                               head and walk in the scene. That is what
what the viewer will see, has the capability                                                   lifelike e x pe rie n ce s in re al t i me .
                                               motivates the new research in enabling
to be extremely lifelike. But true virtual
                                               immersive visual communication.”
reality allows the user to interact with
the content — to walk through a scene,
change directions, look up or down — and       Li says the technology exists to capture
real-time video transmission can’t keep        and transmit a realistic image. But the
up. As a result, the visual experience         data stream is too massive for everyday
                                                                                                  HOW SOON COULD THIS
of virtual reality is an imperfect, less-      use — about 100 times larger than the
                                                                                                  TECHNOLOGY BE MADE
detailed representation of the real world.     existing internet can carry. Combining
                                                                                                  AVAILABLE TO CONSUMERS?
                                               advances in visual-capture and data-
“Today’s immersive virtual reality             compression algorithms would put these             2-3 years, with continuous improvement
                                               capabilities in devices for home use. Like         on compression effciency
experiences are still very limited by
the computing and communication                most consumer electronics, he expects
capabilities. Many technological               the technology to be expensive initially,
                                                                                                  HOW COULD THIS
challenges are still ahead in order for        but become more affordable as the
                                                                                                  TECHNOLOGY BE USED?
us to have photo-realistic and fully           technology matures, eventually coming
interactive immersive experiences,”            into the reach of the average consumer.            • Real-time visual surveillance for
                                                                                                    security and border control
Li says.
                                               Once the data capture and compression              • Smart cities

That’s why Li is developing technological      hurdles are overcome, an array                     • Intelligent traffic engineering

work-arounds to make the huge volume           of possibilities beyond armchair                   • Remote medicine and remote surgery

of data more manageable. Essentially, he       skydiving will open up. Two-way, real-             • Remote immersive classrooms for
wants to make it possible for anyone in        time communication and multi-user                    virtual labs

the world with a GoPro to livestream their     coordination could be just the beginning.          • Sports training in virtual worlds

                                                                                                                   VANGUARD / SCE.UMKC.EDU / 04
VANGUARD - OPERATION: AIR SUPPLY Covert and cost-effective parachute drops - University ...
2.

  1.                                                           4.                                                                         3.                                              BRANDON PARIGO

 1 . M o ti on sen sors a re pla ce d on P rofessor Gary S utkin, M.D. , MBA, w hich mo n ito r a n d tra ck his han d move me n ts durin g p elvic slin g s urg e ry re e n a ct me n t s . 2 . A cl os -
 e r l o o k a t a t rocar, t h e i n strument used to insert a sling around the ure thra durin g s urge rie s . 3. Sutkin re -e n a cts a s urg e ry o n a pelvic an ato my model i n s i de t h e
 S C E Huma n M ot i on La b oratory. 4. The feedbac k from the motion sen s o rs allow Sutk in a n d his te a m to de te rmin e w hich ha n d move me n ts are mo re li k ely t o c au s e
 s urg i cal er rors.

                                                                APPROXIMATELY 2 PERCENT of                                              Although it is a minimally invasive
GETTING A                                                       the 180,000 mid-urethral pelvic sling
                                                                surgeries performed each year result in
                                                                                                                                        surgery, Sutkin says it’s considered high-
                                                                                                                                        risk, and the rate of error has everything
                                                                surgical error. In complicated surgeries,                               to do with the surgeon’s hand movements.

BETTER GRIP                                                     a 2 percent error rate doesn’t seem too
                                                                bad. However, in procedures like this, 30
                                                                                                                                        Even the slightest slip can be fatal.

                                                                percent of those errors end in fatality.                                That’s where School of Computing and
BY KELSEY HAYNES                                                                                                                        Engineering faculty Stylianou and King
                                                                According to Gary Sutkin, M.D., MBA,
                                                                associate dean of women’s health at the                                 come in.
New technology aims                                             UMKC School of Medicine, that fatality
to reduce error rates in                                        rate is too high.                                                       In an effort to reduce the error rate,
                                                                                                                                        Sutkin has partnered with a pair of
common surgery                                                  Pelvic sling surgeries are designed to                                  engineering experts, Antonis Stylianou,
                                                                support a woman’s urethra to keep it                                    Ph.D., and Gregory King, Ph.D., PE, to
                                                                from dropping during physical activity.                                 create ultra-realistic virtual and physical
                                                                To accomplish this, an instrument called                                models of the pelvic anatomy so they can
                                                                a trocar is used to insert a sling around                               study proper pathways for the trocar in
                                                                                                                                        order to avoid injuries to the patient.
                                                                the urethra.

05 / UMKC SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND ENGINEERING / VANGUARD
VANGUARD - OPERATION: AIR SUPPLY Covert and cost-effective parachute drops - University ...
/COLLABORATION

Pelvic sling surgeries, perhaps, can be       and motions sensors, they want to create
best described as blind procedures.
There is no tool for the surgeon to see
                                              a system that provides real-time feedback
                                              to the surgeon during the operation
                                                                                                                             /FAST FACTS:
the patient’s pelvic organs. The team         to track how close the trocar tip is to a                                      PELVIC SLING
has been working in the SCE Human
Motion Laboratory to visualize Sutkin’s
                                              patient’s vital organs.
                                                                                                                             SURGERIES
movements as he re-enacts the surgery         According to King and Stylianou, the                                          Risk of injury:

                                                                                                                                                     2%
using pelvic anatomy models and motion        system will give a warning when the
sensors. This helps the team track the
location of the trocar inside the body
and gain feedback to determine what
                                              trocar is close to puncturing a vital organ,
                                              thus preventing errors in surgery. This                                   5-10%
                                              model can also be used to create software                                            Bladder           Risk of mesh
movements cause surgical errors.              that projects a heads-up display onto                                                                  complications

                                              surgeons’ eyeglasses, showing them

                                                                                                                                  1%
                                                                                                                                                     Average patient age:
“Our project at this point is targeting       where the trocar tip is and if they are
two issues: identify the best surgeon         on the right path toward a successful
                                                                                                                                                       52
upper extremity motions to achieve best       procedure.                                                                              Bowel            53
results, and create virtual and physical                                                                                                               54
                                                                                                                                                       55
                                                                                                                                  3%
models that can be used to train surgical     Next steps for the project include the
residents,” says Stylianou. He adds that      creation of the physical model and a                                                                     56
this technology will be extensively tested    first round of tests where surgeons’                                          Blood Vessels              57
for its efficacy to reduce surgical errors    performance experiences will be
before it’s implemented in hospitals
                                                                                                                                                       58
                                              compared to novices. After that, a training
and clinics.                                  program for surgical residents will be
                                              developed to see if they can increase their                                   180,000                    pelvic sling surgeries
                                                                                                                                                       performed each year
Currently, the team is working to             performance and reduce error rates.
                                                                                                                           Source: International Osteoporosis Foundation
manufacture the physical model. Once          Training for surgical residents will begin
they demonstrate the efficacy of their        after the Fall 2018 semester.
practice methods using the 3-D models

  //GREGORY KING, PH.D., PE
   Associate professor,
   Mechanical Engineering

   RESEARCH INTERESTS
   Musculoskeletal biomechanics of human
   motion, which includes a number
   of applications including balance
   impairment in older adults, ergonomics
   and human performance

   JOINED UMKC
   2007

  //ANTONIS STYLIANOU, PH.D.
   Assistant professor, Department of Civil
   and Mechanical Engineering;
   Director of Musculoskeletal
   Biomechanics Research Laboratory

   RESEARCH INTERESTS
   Musculoskeletal biomechanics,
   computational joint biomechanics,
   orthopaedics and multibody dynamics
   and modeling

   JOINED UMKC
   2010

  //GARY SUTKIN, M.D., MBA
   Professor, UMKC School of Medicine;
   Associate dean and Victor and Caroline
   Schutte Chair in Women’s Health;
   Residency director and vice chair,
   Obstetrics and Gynecology; Female Pelvic
   Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery
                                                                                                                                                                  BRANDON PARIGO
   RESEARCH INTERESTS
   Surgical safety
                                              The te a m o f re s e a rche rs wo rk in g to re duce e rro r ra te s in p elvic slin g s urg e rie s .
   JOINED UMKC                                L to R: M a ry O ka fo r, M d. A rifuzzaman A rif, Ga ry Sutk in , M.D. , M BA , Gre g o ry Kin g , P h.D. , P E,
   2016                                       Antonis Stylian o u, P h.D. , Sa fe e r Siddicky a n d F izza M ahmud

                                                                                                                                             VANGUARD / SCE.UMKC.EDU / 06
VANGUARD - OPERATION: AIR SUPPLY Covert and cost-effective parachute drops - University ...
WASTE PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
IMPROVES GLOBAL HEALTH
BY PATRICIA O’DELL

UMKC professor receives                               Kansas City and UMKC in 2014. While             units and they work incredibly well. We
                                                      at OSU, he and his team created a simple        had some construction challenges, but
third round of funding to treat                       machine to process fecal waste in a             they’re robust technologies that seem to
human waste management                                way that kills ascaris lumbricoides, the        work.”
                                                      parasite that plagues children in areas
IT’S A PICTURE not many can paint in                  with poor sanitation. The machines are           We’ve migrated our efforts to
their minds, at least not accurately — a              meant to be used in communities that            concentrate on processing sludge in large
picture of the dire conditions in remote              primarily use pit latrines.                     quantities. The 1,000-unit processor —
villages in Africa and India. Those                                                                   the larger one — is a little over my height
conditions entail the extreme health risks            “The issue of infection comes when waste        and about a foot in diameter. On a smaller
many face, including children, due to poor            stays in the pit latrine. It has to be hauled   scale, we could build one to fit on the back
sanitation practices. But Gary Foutch,                away,” he notes. “Sometimes the latrines        of a tractor so sludge could be processed
Ph.D., has seen it firsthand. So the last             simply get filled and the community             while it’s being collected.”
six years of his research has focused on              has to dig another one, which leaves
sanitation technology that can kill ascaris           contaminated material in the ground. As         And Foutch’s project isn’t the only one
roundworm, a soil-transmitted parasite                a result, the communities in which this is      addressing this important public health
that has been wreaking havoc in these                 happening continue to get infected.”            issue. Foutch notes that in both Africa —
remote communities.                                                                                   where he is often working — and in India,
                                                                                                      progress in sanitation has come from
“You know the pictures you see of nearly                                                              multiple initiatives.
starving children with big bellies? They’re
most likely infected with these worms,                                                                “India has developed a program to
which take the nutrition from any food                     Latest estimates indicate                  eliminate these sanitation practices in
the child eats,” he says. “Some of these                   that more than 880 million                 two years and set up systems for cities to
kids will pick up handfuls of gravel and                   children are in need                       compete against one another to be the
eat it just to get the feeling of being full.”             of treatment for these                     first to do so. To pay for it, they are taking
                                                           parasites.                                 different approaches, such as advertising.
Foutch, research faculty in the School of                                                             They put in attractive toilets — the kind
Computing and Engineering, recently                        — WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION                you might see at a sporting event —
                                                             (2017)                                   and sell advertising on the outside. It
received his third round of funding from
the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation                                                                 generates enough money to pay for it and
in conjunction with their initiative to                                                               keep it clean,” he says.
“Reinvent the Toilet.” He and his team                Foutch’s work directly addresses these
are developing a device that will process             issues. By using these new machines,
                                                                                                      Along those lines, this stage in Foutch’s
fecal sludge to eliminate parasites in an             called viscous heaters, to sanitize waste,
                                                                                                      project is focused on commercialization.
effort to combat malnutrition and death.              Foutch says communities won’t put
                                                      themselves at risk when closing or
                                                                                                      “It’s very possible that this whole project
“The Gates Foundation wanted to fund                  opening a new latrine.
                                                                                                      will wrap up by the end of 2018. The likely
systems that would run off the grid, didn’t                                                           result is a company somewhere in the
use water and focused on reinventing                  His team has now completed the                  world will be making viscous heaters
the toilet,” says Foutch of his first round           machines, one of which can process a            for commercial applications involving
of funding. “I printed off the request for            couple hundred liters of fecal sludge an        sludge,” he says.
proposal and laid it on my desk. Every                hour, and another that can process 1,000
day I came in and I read it. After about              liters of waste an hour.
                                                                                                      But it’s not solely the academic or
two months, my idea crystallized. I wrote
                                                                                                      technical achievement that continues to
it up and sent it in. There were more than            The 200-liter model is in the lab, but the
                                                                                                      drive Foutch.
5,000 of these two-page applications.                 1,000-liter model is on a site in Isipingo,
They funded 57 of us.”                                South Africa, as part of the sewage
                                                      treatment works.                                “This system is very beneficial to me
Foutch started the project at Oklahoma                                                                personally because I feel as if I’m
State University, where he had spent                  “We created it, proved it worked, then we       contributing to solving a health problem
34 years of his career before moving to               scaled up,” Foutch says. “We built both         on a global scale.”

07 / UMKC SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND ENGINEERING / VANGUARD
VANGUARD - OPERATION: AIR SUPPLY Covert and cost-effective parachute drops - University ...
/COMMUNITY

                                                          Forty percent of the world’s population lives
                                                          in areas with poor or inadequate sanitation,
                                                          many of whom live in Africa. These
                                                          conditions create the opportunity for waste,
                                                          and any parasite it may contain, to re-enter
                                                          the soil or water supply.

                           Use of improved
                           sanitation facilities to
                           prevent reinfection of
                           intestinal worms

                                          Less than 25%

                                          25% – 50%

                                          51% – 75%

                                          75% – 100%

//GARY FOUTCH, PH.D.
 Research faculty, Civil and Mechanical
 Engineering; Honorary professor,
 Chemical Engineering, University of
 KwaZulu Natal, Durban, South Africa

 RESEARCH INTERESTS
 Kinetics, chemical reactor design,
                                                                               I sipin go, S ou t h Af r ica,
 ultrapure water processing and sanitation                                     the s ite o f a 1,000-lite r v i s c ou s h e at e r,
                                                                               w hich helps imp rove wast e s an it at i on .
 JOINED UMKC
 2014

                                                                                                  VANGUARD / SCE.UMKC.EDU / 08
VANGUARD - OPERATION: AIR SUPPLY Covert and cost-effective parachute drops - University ...
OPERATION:
AIR SUPPLY
BY BRIAN SCHNEWEIS

Covert and cost-effective
parachute drops
hen dropping supplies         “Unfortunately, this puts the aircrew in
                  for military operations,      harm’s way, and there are many cases of

    W             every second and every
                  detail matter — details
                  like cost and accuracy.
                                                aircraft filled with bullet holes,” Fields
                                                says.

                  But it’s these details that   An alternative is to use a parafoil system
have proven to be extremely difficult to        like the canopies used by skydivers.
overcome, especially when it comes to the       These systems have sophisticated control
precision of the drops. Even a gust of wind     algorithms that enable high accuracy;
can have catastrophic results that directly     however, they are expensive — often
affect the safety and security of troops        upward of $80,000 — and are usually
stationed abroad.                               reserved for the direst situations.
                                                Currently, there are no great low-cost,
This is an intense situation with serious       yet accurate, delivery options that can be
consequences, and it’s one Travis Fields,       employed from safe altitudes.
Ph.D., assistant professor at the UMKC
School of Computing and Engineering is          Nevertheless, the DOD still needs effective
surprised to find himself exploring often.      methods to safely get supplies to troops
                                                on the ground.
“During my graduate work, I definitely did
not imagine all the ways the work I was         “As we have continued to push the limits
doing could be translated and applied,”         and boundaries of our operational bases,
says Fields, whose research focuses on the      aerial resupply has become the only way
applications of drone technology.               to provide goods,” Fields says.

His work is certainly sought after and          Another complication that hinders
has garnered interest from several high-        successful supply drops is rugged
profile government agencies, including          terrains of hard-to-reach drop zones and
the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research,          unpredictable weather.
Development and Engineering Center
(NSRDEC) and NASA. Grant funding from           “Winds are the major factor that impact
these organizations has allowed Fields          aerial delivery,” Fields says. “Winds
and his research partner from the Naval         change constantly, and if the predictions
Postgraduate School, Oleg Yakimenko,            are off the true wind by even a few
Ph.D., to collaborate on innovative             miles per hour, the payload can be off by
parachute technologies to accurately drop       hundreds to thousands of feet.”
supplies from safer altitudes.
                                                In short, accuracy is crucial in these
                                                missions and can save lives.
DA NG E RO U S D ROPS
                                                “Most — if not all — incidents have come
Currently, the Department of Defense will       from using unguided systems that missed
perform the drops from very low altitudes       the target,” Fields says. “By having gliding
to ensure they do not miss the target.          capability, we hope to hit the right location
                                                and avoid such issues.”

                                                                                         VANGUARD / SCE.UMKC.EDU / 10
SA F E R L A ND I NG S                                    of the parachute and allows for more
                                                            accurate gliding to reach the desired
                                                                                                              the NASA Langley Research Center,
                                                                                                              the only one of its kind in the Western
                                                            target.                                           hemisphere. Additionally, the primary
  With cost and accuracy needs in mind,
                                                                                                              partner in the research, the U.S.
  Fields, Yakimenko and SCE students
                                                            As Fields and his team continue to                Army NSRDEC, has provided more
  are testing a cruciform, or cross
                                                            test this novel system, they have been            than $160,000 since 2015, with more
  canopy system, that is manufactured
                                                            fortunate to have unique experiences              funding set to arrive this year.
  with two rectangular nylon panels
                                                            and grant support along the way.
  that are sewn together. This process,
                                                                                                              The funding, Fields says, is essential to
  according to the researchers, is
  significantly easier and less expensive                   TEST RU NS                                        the research and has helped the team
                                                                                                              run experiments at Camp Roberts
  than trying to create the complex
                                                                                                              in California on several occasions.
  shape of the parafoil.                                    Fields and his team recently had an
                                                                                                              Camp Roberts is an Army National
                                                            opportunity to do testing from UH-60
                                                                                                              Guard base with a restricted airstrip,
  “This system, which is probably an                        Black Hawk helicopters at the Army
                                                                                                              McMillan Airfield, used for unmanned
  order of magnitude cheaper than those                     Yuma Proving Ground.
                                                                                                              aircraft. While there, the team uses
  based on a parafoil, demonstrates
                                                                                                              both fixed-wing and large multirotor
  a capability to rely on a calculated                      “It was a great opportunity and
                                                                                                              unmanned aircrafts to carry packages
  aerial release point and uses a limited                   enabled us to show that our system
                                                                                                              up to 4,000 feet and then deploy the
  control authority to steer toward a                       really is steering and could be a
                                                                                                              systems. To gain additional insight into
  desired point of impact,” Yakimenko                       more cost-effective method for aerial
                                                                                                              the parachute guidance performance,
  says.                                                     delivery,” Fields says.
                                                                                                              the team uses a quadcopter to chase
                                                                                                              after the parachutes to collect video
  The package is fitted with an airborne                    Fields also secured $75,000 from
                                                                                                              footage of the descent. This helps
  guidance unit that features sensors                       NASA’s Established Program to
                                                                                                              diagnose what the system is doing and
  and Raspberry Pi, a credit-card-                          Stimulate Competitive Research to
                                                                                                              adjust for future tests.
  sized computer, to provide real-time                      further explore unmanned systems
  situational awareness. Additionally,                      and models. NASA even provided the
                                                                                                              “Going to Camp Roberts is absolutely
  the Raspberry Pi controls a motor that                    team with five days of fully supported
                                                                                                              crucial for us to test our steering and
  pulls on a particular suspension line                     testing in its vertical spin tunnel at

  /FEATURE

/CRUCIFORM VS. PARAFOIL SYSTEMS
Several self-guided
aerial delivery
approaches have
been developed
throughout the
past 20 years, each
aiming to provide a
low-cost, simple and
accurate precision-
delivery system.

1/                                                                              2/
CRUCIFORM                                                                       PARAFOIL

• Introduced by A. Forichon in 1961                                             • Relatively inefficient, air-filled gliding wings

• Symmetrical design                                                            • Can be controlled primarily in the
                                                                                  lateral direction
• Composed of two identical fabric
  rectangles, crossed and joined to each                                        • Small-scale parafoils have very high landing
  other at the square intersection to form a                                      location accuracy (thanks to the use of
  flat surface having four equal arms                                             sophisticated path-planning and flight-
                                                                                  control algorithms)
• Oftentimes rotate during descent
                                                                                • Missions using these are expensive
• Inexpensive
                                                                                  to execute

 11 / UMKC SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND ENGINEERING / VANGUARD
guidance methodologies,” Fields                       creativity, readiness, thoroughness and
says. “Out there we can go higher                     willingness to stay for several days in a
and farther away than in the national
airspace around Kansas City, which
currently limits operations to 400 feet
                                                      desert, where we usually conduct our
                                                      tests,” Yakimenko says. “I know I can
                                                      always rely on Dr. Fields’ team.”
                                                                                                                    “
without a waiver.”

Though the tests are only the
                                                      The team’s system has great potential
                                                      to increase precision delivery
                                                                                                  I definitely did not
beginning of developing and
implementing this technology, Fields is
                                                      capabilities for critical military
                                                      missions, particularly when costs
                                                                                                  imagine all the
happy to report positive results.                     inhibit more complex parafoil-based
                                                      deliveries. Fields’ system features
                                                                                                  ways the work I
“We have performed two tests from
4,000 feet above ground where we
                                                      descent profiles that are not currently
                                                      achievable with other glide systems,
                                                                                                  was doing could
were within 10 feet of the target, and
a test from 6,000 feet where we were
                                                      which means his system can achieve
                                                      more accurate drops, more successful        be translated and
near 300 feet from the target,” Fields
says. He adds that the success their
                                                      missions and save more lives.
                                                                                                  applied.”
work has seen is directly attributable                “This low-cost approach opens up the
to the support from the UMKC School                   potential for semi-precision delivery
of Computing and Engineering and the                  in a variety of scenarios well beyond
passion the students have. Yakimenko                  military use, including aid relief for      //TRAVIS FIELDS, PH.D.
                                                                                                   Assistant professor,
agrees.                                               situations like the hurricane in Puerto
                                                                                                   Mechanical Engineering
                                                      Rico or any other major disaster or
“I enjoy working with the                             crisis,” Fields says. “I believe this        RESEARCH INTERESTS
                                                                                                   Precision aerial delivery, unmanned
undergraduate and graduate students                   will be a transformational technique         aircraft systems, system identification,
from UMKC because of their desire                     for aerial delivery operations in both       robotics and flight controls
to be involved in real-world, defense-                military and humanitarian relief             JOINED UMKC
related applications, as well as their                efforts in the years to come.”               2013

As s i s tant Pro fessor Trav i s F ields, P h.D. ,
co nducts research u sin g u n manned
a i rcrafts , wh ich dro p 10- t o 15-pound
p ayl o ad s u p t o 1,600 feet ab ove the
g ro und i n rest r i ct ed a i rsp a ces.

                                                                                                                                          BRANDON PARIGO

                                                                                                                     VANGUARD / SCE.UMKC.EDU / 12
Profe/FEATURE
         s s o r Yugi Lee, Ph .D., oversees about 20 P h.D.
s t u de nts w ho co n t r i bu t e t o var i ous researc h projec ts
i n vol v i ng a r tifi ci al in t ellig en ce and deep learning.

                                                                                                                                                            BRANDON PARIGO

                                                                        the lives of caregivers and their patients.   time and money. These bots can interact
       THE ART OF                                                       Yugyung (Yugi) Lee, Ph.D., a professor
                                                                        at the School of Computing and
                                                                                                                      with patients, provide answers and take
                                                                                                                      patient information just like a customer
                                                                        Engineering, knows just how powerful          service representative. But chat-bots
       ARTIFICIAL                                                       and positive that impact can be.              save more than four minutes per inquiry.
                                                                                                                      That’s an average cost savings of $0.50-
                                                                        Lee’s primary focus is to improve the         $0.70 per interaction.

       INTELLIGENCE                                                     health-care industry using artificial
                                                                        intelligence. We sat down with Lee to get     In total, chat-bots could save
                                                                        her take on AI and its role in health care,   organizations $8 billion annually
       BY ASHLEY BLONQUIST                                              and why some may be resistant to using        worldwide by 2022.
                                                                        advanced technology.

      Powerful technology could                                         Q: How could AI improve the quality of
                                                                                                                      Q: Do you think the health-care
                                                                                                                      industry has been resistant to AI?
      advance our nation’s health                                       health care?
      care while cutting costs                                                                                        I think health-care providers are
                                                                        AI will allow doctors and researchers to      resistant to AI because they believe
                                                                        focus on making decisions. It does this       that human intervention is reliable and
                                                                        by collecting and analyzing data and          trustworthy, and they don’t have that
     THERE’S NO DENYING technology is                                   providing more information and context        same confidence in machines.
     permeating the health-care industry.                               for doctors.
     Doctors and nurses are trading their                                                                             There’s also the possibility they believe
     pens and papers for tablets that store                             Q: What about reducing health-care            their jobs will be replaced by robots.
     patient information and streamline                                 costs?                                        AI solutions won’t replace doctors and
     note-taking. Digital machines can now                                                                            nurses, but will support them. Not to
     take your blood pressure without a cold                            Health-care providers spend a lot of          mention, we are seeing a shortage of
     stethoscope ever touching your arm.                                money on things like customer service         doctors and rising health-care costs,
                                                                        representatives who take patient              which is why it’s time to turn to solutions
     But those two examples don’t come close                            information. By using chat-bots —             like AI that support doctors and reduce
     to explaining the power of technology                              computerized response systems —               costs.
     and the potential impact it could make in                          infused with AI, those providers can save

       13 / UMKC SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND ENGINEERING / VANGUARD
/PROFILE

Q: What other AI projects are you and
your students doing?

We are currently working on a cognitive
robot that can be useful for patients
who may have physical or mental
disabilities. It has advanced capabilities
such as natural language processing to       /DEEP LEARNING IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
understand what a patient is asking while
                                             Deep Learning is an area of artificial intelligence. Deep Learning technologies can help
analyzing the conversational flow and
                                             with accurate detection and prevention of diseases, intelligent decision-making and
responses.
                                             predicting future outlooks for patients.

We’re also studying human behaviors          THESE ARE JUST A FEW OF THE AI AND DEEP LEARNING APPLICATIONS
and perspectives through social media        ALREADY IN USE OR BEING DEVELOPED BY LEE AND HER TEAM TO
data. We analyze texts, tweets, images       IMPROVE THE LIVES OF DOCTORS AND PATIENTS.
and videos and use them for scientific
inquiry in an effort to improve the
health-care industry.
                                                                                1/
                                                                                iHEAR

                                                                                This mobile app has a wireless receiver that acts as a
Q: What kind of impact do you think
                                                                                replacement for hearing aid devices. It has features such
your students will have on the health-                                          as noise filtering, audio recognition, speech recognition
care industry?                                                                  and translation.

They can solve real problems that impact
human lives. My students and I have
                                                                               2/
                                                                               ORO VISION
achieved exciting breakthroughs in
                                                                               This mobile app is used to help detect oral diseases in
several different realms of health, such
                                                                               their earliest stages. It has been implemented in the
as image classification in oral health,                                        past year and has diagnosed certain diseases at an
helping Alzheimer’s patients answer                                            accuracy rate of 95 percent.
questions through photos rather than
words, and an intelligent mobile app for
those with hearing disabilities.
                                                                               3/
                                                                               COGNITIVE VISUAL RECOGNITION TRACKER (CVRT)

                                                                               This mobile app can help physicians determine trends
Q: What have you learned from your
                                                                               in patient data. That data can then be used to provide
students?                                                                      better overall treatment for diseases and predict future
                                                                               analytics.
There is no shortcut in research.
Continuous, hard work is an essential
part of moving a project forward. And, in
                                                                                4/
                                                                                DEEPBRAIN
almost all cases, hard work is rewarded.
                                                                                This app analyzes patterns from brain images and
                                                                                develops personalized treatments for patients with
Q: What do you hope your students
                                                                                mental disorders.
have learned from you?

I hope they have learned to enjoy their
research and find a value and joy in it
— especially when it comes to creative
problem solving and finding innovative       THERE ARE SEVERAL WAYS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CAN HELP BOTH
solutions to help others. Most of all, I     DOCTORS AND PATIENTS — WHILE SAVING TIME AND MONEY.
hope they can find their purpose in life
on this earth as a scientist or engineer.    DOCTORS                                            PATIENTS

                                             • Help leverage mobile or wearable                 • Help consumers select doctors or
                                               devices that can collect and transcribe            benefit plans by collecting symptoms,
  //YUGYUNG (YUGI) LEE, PH.D.                  audio, video and written notes during              then providing valuable answers and
   Professor, Computer Science                 patient visits                                     resources

   RESEARCH INTERESTS                        • Help clinicians make sense of                    • Create personalized treatments for
   Artificial Intelligence, distributed        information and transform raw data                 patients with mobility issues because
   computing and big data analytics,
   software engineering and semantic web       into actions                                       of a stroke, or injuries to their spinal
                                                                                                  cord or brain
   JOINED UMKC                               • Detect conditions such as depression,
   1999                                        obesity or heart disease by reading
                                               into vocal tone or facial expressions

                                                                                                           VANGUARD / SCE.UMKC.EDU / 14
/ACCOLADES AT SCE IN 2017

STUDENT TEAMS                                         DST SYSTEMS, INC. was awarded the
                                                      School of Computing and Engineering          TRAVIS FIELDS, PH.D., was awarded
                                                      Company of the Year Award.                   $53,222 by the Naval Postgraduate School
THE SCE BIG BEAM COMPETITION TEAM
                                                                                                   for his project titled “Development of
placed 10th at the national competition.
                                                      KC STEM ALLIANCE was awarded the             Unmanned Aircraft-based Autonomous
                                                      School of Computing and Engineering          Airborne Target Tracking and Pursuit”;
                                                      STEM Outreach Partner Award.                 $80,461 by the U.S. Army Natick Soldier
                                                                                                   Research, Development and Engineering
                                                      FACULTY                                      Center for “Continued Development and
                                                                                                   Testing of Steerable Cross Canopy Descent
                                                                                                   Vehicles”; and $224,525 by U.S. Army
                                                      ANTHONY CARUSO, PH.D., AHMED
                                                                                                   Natick Soldier Research, Development
                                                      HASSAN, PH.D., DEB CHATTERJEE, PH.D.,
                                                                                                   and Engineering Center for “Advancing
                                                      TRAVIS FIELDS, PH.D. and FAISAL KHAN,
                                                                                                   Steerable Low-Cost Precision Aerial Delivery
                                                      PH.D., were awarded over $7.2 million by
                                                                                                   Systems.”
                                                      the Office of Naval Research for “Short
                                                      Pulse Research and Evaluation and non-
                                                      SWaP Demonstration for C-sUAV Study.”        MEGAN HART, PH.D., was awarded
                                                                                                   $25,000 by Kansas City Power & Light for
                                                                                                   her project “Water Testing: Cement-Based
                                                      ZHIQIANG CHEN, PH.D., was awarded
                                                                                                   Filtration of LaCygne AQC Discharge” and
                                                      $72,710 by the National Science
                                                                                                   awarded funds to connect international
                                                      Foundation for his project “Development of
SCE Steel Bridge Team                                                                              geoenvironmental engineers. This
                                                      Aerial-Ground Sensing and Data-Enabled
                                                                                                   seed grant is to foster long term joint
THE SCE STEEL BRIDGE TEAM placed 2nd                  Vulnerability-Resilience Modeling for Crop
                                                                                                   international research and is funded by the
in stiffness and 1st overall for U.S. teams in        Systems Subject to Drought.”
                                                                                                   National Science Foundation’s program
the international competition.
                                                                                                   to connect women faculty in geotechnical
                                                      BAEK-YOUNG CHOI, PH.D., was awarded a
                                                                                                   engineering.
COMMUNITY AWARD                                       NASA Faculty Fellowship at NASA Marshall
WINNERS                                               Space and Flight Center for Summer 2017.
                                                                                                   AHMED HASSAN, PH.D. and
                                                                                                   DERAKHSHANI, PH.D., were awarded
JIM HOGAN, B.S. (CIVIL ENGINEERING ’84),              MASUD CHOWDHURY, PH.D., was awarded
                                                                                                   $58,074 by ZOLOZ for “A Novel Biometric
was honored with the 2017 UMKC SCE                    $50,000 under the UM System Fast Track
                                                                                                   Technique Based on Microwave-Imaging of
Alumni Achievement Award.                             grant from the University of Missouri
                                                                                                   Deep-Biological Tissue Using Commercial
                                                      Economics Initiatives and received a
                                                                                                   Wireless Devices.”
AASHISH CHANDRA, M.S. (ELECTRICAL                     2017 Leadership Excellence Achievement
ENGINEERING ’11), was awarded the School              Program Award from the Missouri Society
                                                                                                   AHMED HASSAN, PH.D. and ANTHONY
of Computing and Engineering Young                    of Professional Engineers Western Chapter
                                                                                                   CARUSO, PH.D., were awarded $440,550
Alumni Award.                                         for demonstrating mentoring abilities that
                                                                                                   by the Office of Naval Research for their
                                                      encourage students to seek leadership
                                                                                                   project “RF Coupling Revisited.”
KIRAN CHELLURI, M.S. (COMPUTER                        excellence in the engineering profession.
SCIENCE ’01), was awarded the School of
                                                                                                   JOHN KEVERN, PH.D., was awarded a
Computing and Engineering Supporter                   REZA DERAKHSHANI, PH.D., was awarded
                                                                                                   $175,000 research grant from Iowa State
Award.                                                $79,584 from ZOLOZ for his project
                                                                                                   University and the National Academies
                                                      “Optokinetic Anti-Spoofing” and $77,048
                                                                                                   of Sciences to support his research in
                                                      from ZOLOZ for “Single and Multi-Frame
                                                                                                   “Entrained Air Void System for Durable
                                                      Deep Learning Super-Resolution.”

 15 / UMKC SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND ENGINEERING / VANGUARD
/UPCOMING

Highway Concrete.” Kevern was also            AMIR MEHDIZADEH, PH.D., was awarded           laboratory from Mr. Keumtak Oh of the
awarded $33,385 by Marquette University       $43,973 by the University of Missouri         Ministry of Science and ICT, Republic of
for “Joint Sawing Practices and Effects       Research Board.                               Korea.
on Durability” and $62,482 by Wisconsin
Department of Transportation policy           DEB O’BANNON, PH.D., received the             GANESH THIAGARAJAN, PH.D, P.E., was
research program for “Evaluation of           Society of Women Engineers’ 2017              awarded $410,010 by the National
Penetrating Sealers Applied to Saw Cut        Distinguished Engineering Educator Award.     Science Foundation for his project
Faces in Concrete Pavement Joints.”                                                         “Micro-Macro Scale Investigations to
                                                                                            Study Osteocyte Mechanobiology”
FAISAL KHAN, PH.D., was awarded $49,980                                                     and $17,000 from the Kansas City
under the UM System Fast Track grant                                                        Consortium on Musculoskeletal Diseases.
from the University of Missouri Economics
Initiatives and $40,000 from the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory for his
project “Creation of an Adaptive Remaining                                                  These highlights represent select
Lifetime Prediction Model of Power                                                          achievements of our distinguished faculty.
Electronics.”

VIJAY KUMAR, PH.D., was named a 2017
Distinguished Member by the Association
for Computing Machinery.

ZHU LI, PH.D., was awarded $50,000 from
Qualcomm Technologies to support his          Deb O’Bannon, Ph.D., accepting her award.
research in point cloud compression;
$58,174 by ZOLOZ for his project “Mobile      AJITA RATTANI, PH.D., NARSI REDDY and
Human Re-Identification”; $15,000 by the      REZA DERAKHSHANI, PH.D., received
National Science Foundation for “University   the Best Paper Award at the 2017 IEEE
of Missouri-Kansas City Planning Grant: I/    Homeland Security Symposium for their
UCRC for Big Learning”; and $10,000 from      paper “Gender Prediction Using Mobile
Snap, Inc. for his work related to video      Ocular Biometrics: A Feasibility Study.”
compression.
                                              JERRY RICHARDSON, PH.D., was awarded
DEEP MEDHI, PH.D., was awarded $16,000        $20,937 by Water Resources Solutions, LLC
by the National Science Foundation to         for “Woodson County State Fishing Lake
support two undergraduate students on         Spillway Repair.”
his project “SRN: On Establishing Secure
and Resilient Networking Services.” Medhi     SEJUN SONG, PH.D., was awarded $16,000
was also named an Institute of Electrical     by the National Science Foundation for
and Electronics Engineers Fellow for his      “REU Supplement: CC*DNI Networking
contributions to optimization and the         Infrastructure: Data Driven Research-Wise
design of computer-communication              Network Infrastructure Upgrade” and
networks.                                     $63,709 by Futurewei Technologies, Inc. for
                                              “Super High Throughput and Low Latency
                                              Video Streaming.” Song also received
                                              a $7,000 unrestricted donation to his

                                                                                                                VANGUARD / SCE.UMKC.EDU / 16
/GET INVOLVED

EVENTS                                                CONTINUING ED                                  INSPIRED GIVING

SAME INDUSTRY DAY                                     ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER                        Donors like you make it possible to provide
March 26-27, 2018                                     POWER P.E. REVIEW COURSE                       student scholarships, update our facilities,
UMKC Student Union                                    Classes held June 4–Aug. 13                    attract nationally recognized faculty and
Details available online at same.org/GKC              Deadline to register: May 28, 2018             recruit high-caliber students.

SCE AWARDS FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS                     LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT SERIES                  SCHOLARSHIPS
April 26, 2018 | 4:30PM                               Six, three-hour sessions offered               More than 100 students receive donor-
Awardees include:                                     June–July 2018                                 supported scholarships every year.
 • Google Fiber,                                      Deadline to register: June 8, 2018
   2018 STEM Outreach Partner                         Details for all courses are available online   STUDENT LIFE
 • Olsson Associates,                                 at sce.umkc.edu/continuing-ed                  Donors support student life so our students
   2018 Company of the Year                                                                          can grow and explore through SCE teams
 • Debby Dilks,                                       CIVIL P.E. REVIEW COURSE                       and organizations.
   2018 Supporter of the Year                         Classes held Aug. 21–Oct. 6,
 • DeJ’on Slaughter,                                  Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6-9pm, with        CAPITAL SUPPORT
   2018 Young Alumni                                  morning practice exam on Oct. 6                From renovating our current home to
                                                      Deadline to register: Aug. 13, 2018            constructing a new 44,000 square-foot
2018 SPRING COMMENCEMENT                                                                             facility, there are opportunities to support
May 13, 2018                                          PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL                exciting SCE capital projects.
UMKC Volker Campus                                    (PMP) CERTIFICATION PREP COURSE
Pierson Auditorium                                    Custom classes available for groups of 10 or   TO DONATE
                                                      larger. Email scecontinuinged@umkc.edu         You can make difference in a student’s life.
Find more SCE events online at                        for details.                                   Please give online at sce.umkc.edu/giving
sce.umkc.edu/events                                                                                  or contact Elizabeth Wheeler:
                                                                                                     (816) 235-1277 or
                                                                                                     wheelerei@umkcfoundation.org.

 17 / UMKC SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND ENGINEERING / VANGUARD
Take your career to the next level with a

MASTER’S DEGREE FROM UMKC

        THE SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND ENGINEERING offers                     THE HENRY W. BLOCH SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT offers a newly
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         “
I believe this will be
a transformational
technique for aerial
delivery operations
in the years to come.”
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