Engineering Professor Awarded National Science Foundation’s CAREER Award

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Nilanjan Banerjee, assistant professor of computer science and computer engineering, has received a Faculty Early Career Development grant, also referred to as a CAREER award, from the National Science Foundation. This grant, which is one of the NSF's highest honors for young faculty members, will provide $449,875 over five years for his project "System Support for Renewable Energy-driven Devices."

Recipients of the CAREER award are selected based on high-quality research and the integration of that research with education initiatives in the context of the university's mission. Banerjee is developing techniques for designing renewable energy systems. These include small, light-powered devices such as sensors that can read and store medical data, solar-powered disaster relief sensors, which can relay important information to survivors and large systems such as green homes which can monitor energy intake and balance it with the amount of energy used.

Banerjee's research is also addressing several challenges of using solar power. One of these challenges is predicting the amount of energy that will be available from the sun at a given time, which is very difficult to do accurately. As Banerjee develops these systems, he must figure out exactly how much predictive power his devices must have in order to operate reliably. He is also working on the challenge of testing solar-powered equipment. To address this issue, Banerjee is working on a system that will provide a variable amount of energy to mimic the sun. Not only would this system remove the need to test devices outside, but it could also be used to simulate conditions in different countries and at different times of the year.

"Nilanjan's research is addressing problems of national importance related to sustainability and disaster recovery," said Susan Gauch, head of the computer science and computer engineering department. "He is a great young faculty member who mentors our graduate students and inspires our undergraduate students inside and outside the classroom."

This is Banerjee's second NSF award since he joined the University of Arkansas in September 2009. His first proposal was awarded last year for his research on a self-sustainable solar-powered emergency mesh. Originally from India, Banerjee received his bachelor's degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, and his master's degree and doctorate from the University of Massachusetts.