Object detection studies by an electrical engineering student at Michigan State University has earned him a prestigious Robert W. Young Award for Undergraduate Student Research in Acoustics.
Jorge Mateus, a senior in MSU’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, or ECE, is one of four undergraduate researchers from around the world to receive the honor from the Acoustical Society of America, or ASA.
The $500 award comes with an opportunity to present his work at ASA’s bi-annual Acoustics 2020 conference in Chicago next year.
His research focuses on utilizing acoustic/ultrasonic arrays for object detection, which can eventually be implemented in a wide range of applications — including autonomous vehicles and motion sensors.
Mateus, who is from Luanda, Angola, is an undergraduate research assistant working in the Physical Ultrasonics, Microscopy and Acoustics, or PUMA, lab in the ECE Department. The PUMA lab works on advancing ultrasonics, acoustics and vibration for material characterization, nondestructive evaluation and microscopy.
His adviser is ECE assistant professor Sunil Chakrapani, who heads the PUMA lab. The award selection is based on a research proposal with an adviser in the area of acoustics.