U.S. Army Awards Morgan Nearly $340K in Grant Funding for Electronics Research

Morgan State University has been awarded a $339,365 research grant from the U.S. Army for the purchase of instrumentation tosupport the measurement, evaluation and development of Gallium nitride (GaN)-based electronics. Michel Reece, Ph.D., an associate professor in Morgan’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of MSU’s Center for Microwave, Satellite, and RF Engineering (COMSARE), will serve as principal investigator for the research.

COMSARE will use the grant funding to secure equipment to help address challenges in the measurement, design and testing of millimeter electronics. Knowledge gained from this research could enable the military to use highly secured systems to perform noninvasive detection of explosives and concealed weapons. It may also lead to ultra-wide band, high data rates at THz frequencies for short-range communication links.

This research is part of an ongoing initiative to increase radio frequency measurement capability at the University. The instrumentation will also be used to support a National Science Foundation “Enhancing Access to the Radio Spectrum (NSF-EARS)” grant, which is focused on the development of GaN-based power amplifiers for broadband mobile wireless communications above 100GHz. In addition, students will be exposed to potential professions in this field by having an opportunity to learn how to operate the technology through course study and participation in research activities.

Acquiring and setting-up the equipment needed for the research may take up to a year. Once the equipment is in place, Morgan will be one of a very small group of HBCUs with the capability it provides.