Annual Report 2007-08 - FEA - American University of Beirut

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I first fixed the first board (checked for components that
weren’t working and then changed them) and tried it, but
it didn’t work (a couple of components exploded) and we
assumed that the ratings of the different parts were not
sufficient (we did not have the datasheet and could not find
it over the internet). We then used the second board, that did
not work because it had an on board protection system that
was blocking its action, Dr. Samy thus asked me to remove
the protection system and prepare a circuit that would directly
feed the board with the PWM and thus everything before
the opto-couplers should be removed. I prepared the system
shown in figures. This time we actually got an output that was
ok. We tried the motor but it moved very slowly and its motion
was not continuous (it stopped and moved) this was because
the output of the inverter board was not really a sine wave and
the error was significant. This last experiment was already in
the final days that the German exchange student and I were
going to be in Canada so we gave up and Dr. Samy ordered a
new inverter board as well as a DSP so that he would be able
to finish the project later.
The internship helped me both on a personal and a
professional level. It made me learn to be more responsible,
punctual, and organized. It also allowed me to put my
knowledge of power electronics that I had acquired at AUB
to use. Finally, it gave me the confidence and initiative to
pursue graduate studies in the same field of electric power
engineering.
PhD research at ECE
Mohammed Husseini, who will be working under the
supervision of Professor Karim Kabalan, is enrolled in AUB’s
PhD program in electrical and computer engineering.
“The purpose of my research,” explains Husseini, “is to design
low-cost easy-to-fabricate antennas for use in wireless and
other applications and to make sure these antennas operate as
dictated by the application.”
In addition to its relevance for wireless communication
systems, Husseini’s research also has potential medical
applications as well – in breast cancer detection for example.
“In this case,” says Husseini, “an antenna sends a well-shaped
pulse over a short distance.” How the body reacts to this
“well-shaped pulse” is key to detecting breast cancer. The
healthy body cells reflect the pulse in a certain way whereas
cancerous cells will reflect the pulse in a different way.
Husseini is intrigued by the challenge of relating his research
to the needs of industry. “Every application comes with its
own set of requirements. You need to understand these
requirements and the needs of the market in order to conduct
research that will result in products with real-life uses.” As a
result of the significant investments that have been made in
the AUB engineering laboratories in recent years, Husseini –
and others conducting research in this field – are now able to
fabricate and test some types of antennas they are researching
at AUB. However, more equipment is needed to deal with
the more sophisticated designs which are currently sent for
fabrication in Europe and the United States.
4.
research
Husseini is one of four PhD students in electrical and
computer engineering this year. Karim Kabalan, chair of
the department and Husseini’s advisor, says that the goal
of the department is to provide high quality education in
electrical and computer engineering that prepares students
for employment and leadership roles in academic, industrial,
or research positions. “When students leave here with
a PhD,” he explains, “we expect them to have a depth of
knowledge in their specific area of research, experience in
doing independent research and communicating the results
effectively, and have made a published contribution to the
existing knowledge in electrical and computer engineering.”
Since completing his BE and ME at AUB, Mohammed Husseini
has been working as a research assistant for Professors Karim
Kabalan and Ali El Hajj both in the Department of Electrical
and Computer Engineering. Although he has only been a PhD
student since fall 2007, he has already a published having
authored more than ten journal articles and many conference
papers.
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