It all began with an interest in electric guitars.
Alexander Craig says he always wondered how the musical sounds produced by an electric guitar correlated with the physical signals it emits.
Now a PhD student with the Dept. of Systems and Computer Engineering (SCE), Craig says: “The techniques I use in my research are surprisingly similar to the processing used in electric guitar effects pedals, although my work involves signals with much higher frequencies and data rates.”
Dr. Dipak Roy
Craig researches in the area of digital signal processing. His research is funded by generous awards from OGS and NSERC but he is funded primarily by D-TA, a local company founded by Carleton alumnus Dr. Dipak Roy. Dr. Roy, who is also chairman of D-TA, and his wife Tara funded the creation of an advanced sensor lab at Carleton in 2011. The lab allows students, like Craig, to explore a wide variety of advanced applications in this field.
Craig says that his research will potentially help to reduce the cost and deployment time of numerous systems, while improving their flexibility. Applications for these sensor systems range from emergency rescue applications (such as finding buried cell phone signals in the aftermath of an earthquake or avalanche) to uses involving the military, air traffic control, deep sea or cave exploration and wireless spectrum enforcement,
Adds Craig: “It is the hope of D-TA that, in the future, these new sensor systems will be flexible enough to be purchased as “off the shelf” systems that can be customized by the end user to meet their needs, rather than expensive, custom-designed hardware systems for each client.”
Craig is supervised by Dr. Ioannis Lambadaris and Adjunct Research Professor Biswajit Nandy, chief technology officer of Solana Networks, in close collaboration with Prof. Chung-Horng Lung. Says Craig: “They’ve all worked hard to direct my studies, keep me aware of any possible funding opportunities, and provide me with opportunities to travel in the support of my research.”
Craig also applauds the support he has received from the SCE department. “It is my experience that the faculty are very willing to accommodate and support students who make a genuine effort to reach out and perform good work. As an example, I volunteered to work in the Network Management and Artificial Intelligence laboratory under Professor Babak Esfandiari, and his support of my work allowed me to produce two publications before the completion of my undergraduate studies. This experience was extremely valuable in preparing me for my graduate studies, and the support I’ve received from faculty has continued to be excellent.”
As for the future, Craig is hoping for an academic position. “But I also do some web development and mobile app development in my free time outside school. If things go exceptionally well, one of those avenues may become a profitable start-up company. I’m fairly confident I will have several viable options when my PhD is complete.”
Friday, June 21, 2013 in Grad Student Research, News
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