Applied Electromagnetics & Acoustics
Electromagnetic and acoustic waves are at the heart of countless innovative technologies and scientific tools for applications in wireless communications, remote sensing, Internet of Things, wireless networks, medical imaging, healthcare, security, and defense. UW-Madison ECE faculty and students in this area are known internationally for their research advances in antennas, phased-array systems, metamaterials, microwaves/millimeter-wave/THz systems,…
Communications, Networks, Privacy & Security
With the rise of smart and connected systems, every-day devices like in-home thermostats or doorbell cameras, personal devices like cellphones or smartwatches, environmental or industrial sensors, powerful computer systems in the cloud, and vehicles, are becoming smarter and more connected. These networked systems collect and communicate a wealth of sensory and usage data to enable…
Computer Systems & Architecture
Computer systems are critical to today’s information infrastructure, providing efficient and convenient means for storing, accessing, and processing the world’s data, and leading to dramatic advances in commerce, technology, and entertainment. Furthermore, computers are deeply embedded in nearly all scientific endeavors, helping to enable breakthroughs in fields as diverse as astronomy, genomics, sustainability, and pharmaceutical…
Energy Systems
Electrical energy systems are a critical foundation for the modern human enterprise. With rising global concerns of climate change, our research promotes solutions that contribute to energy sustainability, energy security and resiliency against human-made and natural disasters. UW-Madison’s ECE department is at the forefront of these energy innovations. Our research ranges from fusion energy systems to electric power converters and…
Machine Learning, Signal Processing & Information Theory
How can we teach our machines to reason? Researchers in machine learning, signal processing, and information theory develop algorithms and computer-based procedures to mimic human perceptions, thoughts, and actions. By looking at large amounts of data, learning methods are able to extract relevant information from video, photographs, audio, text, ultrasound, medical images, as well as…
Optics & Photonics
Optics and photonics encompass the science and technology of light, enabling technologies such as lasers, cameras, displays, optical fibers, and solar cells. The field plays an important role in many emerging technologies including 5G, quantum computing, autonomous machines, and renewable energy. Research in this area is highly interdisciplinary: electrical engineers collaborate with material scientists, physicists,…
Optimization & Control
Optimization is about finding the best possible solution, given a set of resource constraints. For example, optimization is needed to find the least crowded path for a message as it travels between distant locations, to find the least-energy solution to move a spacecraft into orbit, or to find the most efficient computation graph for a…
Plasma Science & Fusion Energy
Plasmas are a “fourth” state of matter, consisting of highly-ionized gases, often at high temperatures, and make up most of the universe. ECE research in this area focuses on studying the science and applications of plasmas in areas ranging from materials processing and semiconductor technology to biotechnology and fusion energy. The confinement and heating of…
Solid-State Electronics & Quantum Technology
Solid-state electronics powers today’s information technology. Researchers in this area design and fabricate next-generation electronic devices and develop techniques for processing information using such devices. Current research topics include wide-bandgap semiconductor devices for power and high-speed radio-frequency devices, a wide range of semiconductors and their heterostructures for optoelectronics, flexible and printed electronics, bioelectronics, two-dimensional semiconductor…