2019 Swanson School Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Newsletter

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ELECTRICAL & COMPUTER ENGINEERING FALL 2019

ECE NEWS

Developing New Brain-Computer Therapy for People with Autism

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utism was first described by U.S. researchers more than 70 years ago, and today the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1 in 59 children are identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), affecting more than 3.5 million Americans. Although clinical techniques are used to help patients with ASD respond to stress and other factors, none are known to couple with technology that could monitor brain response in real time and provide the patient with feedback. However, thanks to a $550,000 award from the National Science Foundation to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and clinicians at the UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital, a new intervention using electroencephalography (EEG)-guided, noninvasive brain-computer interface (BCI) technology

could complement clinical treatments and improve emotion regulation in people with ASD. The multidisciplinary team includes Murat Akcakaya, PhD, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Carla A. Mazefsky, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and psychology in Pitt’s Department of Psychiatry. The proposal is funded through an NSF CAREER award, which supports early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. “People on the autism spectrum today have access to effective clinical strategies or technologies, but none are coupled effectively to provide realtime feedback in real-life activities. This limits reinforcement techniques that the patient can utilize

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Using Nature to Protect Cities from Extreme Weather

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r. Akcakaya is also co-PI on a $2 million NSF award at Pitt to study nature-based strategies that can help prevent urban flooding and give underresourced communities the ability to prepare for, recover from, and adapt to extreme weather events. The project, entitled “Catalyzing Resilient Urban Infrastructure Systems: Integrating the Natural & Built Environments,” is part of the NSF’s Leading Engineering for America’s Prosperity, Health and

Infrastructure (LEAP HI) program, which has awarded five projects a total of $9 million this year. The goal is to develop the engineering tools that will allow communities to integrate nature-based green infrastructure, such as green roofs, rain gardens and porous pavements, with existing built infrastructure to manage storm water in ways that help prevent flooding while improving water quality and ecological health. The collaboration will fundamentally reinvent the urban water cycle using a continued on page 7


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