Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (archive)

Engineering Professors Win Best IT Innovation Award

 

Contacts:
Manimaran Govindarasu, ECpE Associate Professor, (515) 294-9175, gmaniiastate.edu
Sri Sritharan, CCEE Associate Professor, (515) 294-5238, sriiastate.edu
Dana Schmidt, ECpE communications specialist, (515) 294-3071, schmidtdiastate.edu

Ames, Iowa – Manimaran Govindarasu, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Sri Sritharan, associate professor of civil, construction, and environmental engineering, recently won the Best IT Innovation Award at the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation’s (NEES) 6th Annual Meeting. The award names their real-time system visualization tool (RSVtool) as the best new IT technique or product developed during the past year.

Govindarasu, who served as the co-adviser for the design and development of the software tool, says the team was pleasantly surprised when they found out they had received the award.

Govindarasu and Sritharan’s RSVtool helps to effectively engage researchers participating remotely in experiments, particularly in large-scale tests of concrete walls at the University of Minnesota’s Multi-Axial Subassemblage Testing (MAST) Laboratory.

"This tool not only enables us to remotely participate in experimental research, but also helps us to effectively contribute to decision making during the tests," Sritharan says.

Govindarasu says the MAST-RSVtool can be activated simultaneously by researchers located at the remote sites as well as by those stationed at the equipment site.

"Because of this, all research participants can obtain critical test information such as the condition of the test unit and status of the equipment in a uniform manner," Govindarasu says. "With real-time comparison between selected analytical predictions and experimental data, all researchers can contribute effectively to decisions made during tests, such as finalizing load paths for subsequent trials. In this way, the RSVtool enhances collaboration between experimental researchers, theoretical researchers, and practicing engineers."

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and Iowa State’s Information Infrastructure Institute.

Govindarasu and Sritharan collaborated with researchers from the University of Minnesota, the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, and the Nakaki Bashaw Group, a California-based structural engineering consulting firm. Mohammad Fraiwan, a PhD student in electrical and computer engineering; Jian Zhou, a postdoctoral researcher in civil, construction, and environmental engineering; and Tam Chantem (BSCpE ’05), a former computer engineering undergraduate student, also contributed to the RSVtool.

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