Shengli Zhou, director of the Wireless Communication Research Laboratory at the University of Connecticut | Goal is to improve undersea data collection, transmission

Congratulations on receiving the 2007 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. As part of the award, you will receive a $1 million federal grant over the next five years. How do you plan to spend the money?

This grant is in the form of a five-year project with the Office of Naval Research, managed in the same way as a regular grant.  This project will help me support one post-doctoral researcher and 1.5 graduate students on average over five years. It will allow me to pursue several important emerging topics that are beyond the scope of my current research projects.

You direct the Wireless Communications Research Laboratory at the University of Connecticut.  What is some of the work the laboratory is doing?

My lab has conducted extensive research on broadband wireless communications over radio channels in the past, but we have focused on underwater acoustic communications over the

last four years. Our objective is to develop innovative transmitter design and receiver algorithms to address the unique challenges encountered in underwater acoustic communications. We are currently prototyping an underwater acoustic modem that will advance the state-of-the-art of

underwater telemetry. I also co-direct the Underwater Sensor Network Laboratory at UConn, with Dr. Jun-Hong Cui. The lab involves more than a dozen faculty members at UConn in the interdisciplinary development of underwater technologies and applications. 

Explain what is underwater acoustic communications and networking and its importance?

Radio communications that work so effectively on land do not work well under water, so they must be replaced by acoustic communications. Underwater acoustic communications and networking are the counterparts of wireless radio communications and networking (e.g., cellular and WiFi systems), but in an underwater environment and with acoustic waves as information carriers. The oceans cover two thirds of the earth’s surface and have abundant resources. They represent one important frontier for exploration and science. Our work will contribute to the development of advanced ocean-observation systems.

You were among 15 scholars nominated by officials at the U.S. Department of Defense who were selected to receive the PECASE award. What are the defense applications of your research?

Some examples of defense applications include improved naval submarine communications with surface- and land-based operations, networking of autonomous underwater vehicles for cooperative missions, and coastline defense monitoring.

What are the potential business applications for the work you are doing?

There are various scientific applications involving long-term aquatic monitoring or short-term aquatic exploration, where our work can improve the efficiency on gathering and transmission of scientific data. It may also find applications in the fishing and oil industries.

At this point in your academic career, what does an award of this magnitude mean for you? Also, what does it mean for your research? Does it make it more visible?  Does your work need to be more visible for ongoing funding?

This is a tremendous honor for me. I feel that my passion to pursue an academic career and conduct high-quality research has been heavily rewarded. It is also special to the University of Connecticut as this is the first time it has been part of such an award. My collaborators and I are still at an early stage in developing a strong research program on underwater communications, networking and applications. I believe that the visibility of this award will help us achieve our goal faster, as it helps on both fronts of ongoing funding requests and attracting talented students.

Did you have the opportunity to discuss your research with President Bush?

No. After a two-hour White House tour, the awardees posed for a group photo with the president. The president spent about 10 minutes with us on greetings, photo-taking and hand-shaking.