Labs

Aggie Graphics Group (formerly Geometry and Graphics Group)

The Geometry and Graphics Group performs research dealing with geometric calculations and computer graphics algorithms. Particular areas of emphasis in geometry are in highly robust and precise geometric computations, particularly with application to geometric modeling. This includes work on exact computation with algebraic systems. Within the broader computer graphics category, research emphasizes physically-based modeling and simulation.

Brain Networks Laboratory

Studying the geometry and connectivity of the brain's architecture is a natural way to explore neural computation, but there are no quantitative, 3D reconstructions of mammalian brain architectures for any species. Ongoing projects in the Brain Networks Laboratory will fill this void and reconstruct an entire mouse cortical network, allowing for global analysis and simulation studies of an actual cortical network. The lab's enabling technology is a unique brain tissue scanner (BTS) of our own invention that achieves the data acquisition rates necessary to make possible for the first time scanning and imaging an entire mammalian brain. The data processed is produced by the BTS to reconstruct the three-dimensional structure of the scanned tissue. The central goal is to map and understand the connectivity and geometry of cortical networks - critical to understanding natural computation.

Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue

The Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue (CRASAR) serves as crisis response and research organization that strives to direct new technology development in robotics and unmanned systems for humanitarian purposes worldwide. CRASAR serves existing rescue organizations by providing robot-assisted search and rescue teams on order, training search and rescue personnel on relevant robot systems, evaluating emerging robot technologies, and fostering research into search and rescue specific robot systems.

Center for the Study of Digital Libraries

The center's program of research provides a leadership role in the on-line development and application of worldwide access to digital library services. The development of this technology provides valuable fundamental research and supports the broader goal of research and education through improved means for collaboration and distance learning. The center is not limited to one discipline; rather the development of digital libraries may be viewed as a fundamental contribution to research in all disciplines.

Distributed AI Robotics Lab

In the Distributed AI Robotics Lab, we study coordination, cooperation and adaptation among multiple agents. We focus on group-level modeling of large-scale systems, interference reduction, and task-allocation in physical robots and sensor-actuator networks. To date, our work has focused on implicitly coordinated systems in minimalist and biologically-inspired algorithms, along with generalization and application of traditional operations research and optimization techniques for deliberate coordination. We are considering applications from distributed, adaptive sampling, clustering and sorting, and network communication.

Distributed Computing Group

The Distributed Computing Group members perform research on models, algorithms, lower bounds and impossibility results for problems that arise in distributed computing. Current topic areas include:

• Models of partially synchronous distributed systems.
• Mobile ad hoc networks, particularly vehicular ones.
• Consistency conditions for concurrently-accessible shared data objects.

Electronic Design Automation Lab 

The Electronic Design Automation Lab develops software tools for the design, manufacturing, assembly and test of semiconductor integrated circuits. The current research thrusts focus on test and diagnosis of integrated circuits. Current research projects include defect-based test, quiescent current testing, delay fault testing, realistic fault modeling and defect diagnosis. The nature of this research requires close cooperation with industry in order to fabricate and measure designs, and provide manufacturing data.

Embedded Systems & Codesign Group

As the world of engineering advances, the complexity demands of both hardware and software grow at a phenomenal rate. The trade-offs between hardware and software within a system are at the forefront of this complexity and demand attention unto themselves. Hardware software codesign is the study of how to make these tradeoffs and meet the constraints of a system. The group's research includes co-design framework, power-aware scheduling, real-time embedded systems, systems-on-chip and re-configurable architectures.

High Performance Computing Laboratory

The faculty and students in this lab conduct research in the general area of computer architecture and parallel and distributed systems. The primary focus of our lab is on providing architectural support for efficient networking in high-performance systems.

As rapid advances in technology, the communication between computing components has become a bottleneck in providing high performance. Along with high and predictable performance, optimization of energy consumption, management of temperature and enhancing security are critical issues in designing efficient networks. We investigate innovative ideas by exploiting the new features of modern architecture, operating systems and circuit technology to design high-performance, energy-efficient and secure systems.

Information Innovation Lab

Our lab pursues research on the theory and applications of distributed information systems. We currently focus on wireless ad hoc and sensor networks as well as file storage and retrieval in networks.

Interface Ecology Laboratory

Interface ecology is an emerging metadisciplinary approach in which the creation of rich interactive experiences spans an n-dimensional conceptual space. The interface ecology lab develops interactive ecosystems that support and instantiate human creative processes. The recombinant media research area develops multimodal visualization mechanisms for presenting collections as combinations of existing media elements. The work focuses on the generation of emergent experiences by using machine-learning techniques to model users interests and interactivity as means to allow participants to express themselves and effect the generative models. CollageMachine is an ongoing instance of this research in the field of web browsing and visual hypertext. New initiatives recombine video. The work is moving into the space of multimodal gesture as a means of integrating human-computer interaction with physical activities, using computer vision-based video tracking and physiological sensors.

The body state representations research area integrates psychology, machine leaning, visualization and physical practices to derive new forms of interactivity and communication based on expressive physiological data.

Internet Research Lab

The Internet Research Lab at Texas A&M University conducts research in several areas of networking with a focus on internet-related technologies and protocols. The research areas include congestion control, peer-to-peer networks, internet measurements, web crawling, performance analysis and stochastic modeling.

Laboratory for Embedded Networked Sensor Systems

The Laboratory for Embedded Networked Sensor Systems at Texas A&M performs research in several areas of sensor network protocols, architectures and applications. We currently focus on distributed coordination algorithms such as localization, time synchronization, clustering, and topology control; QoS in sensor networks; failure resilience and fault isolation; energy management; data storage and management; sensor network programming abstractions.

Laboratory for Software Research

The Laboratory for Software Research (LSR) has as its mission the development of methodologies, techniques and automated tools to assist in the development of complex software systems. The specific thrusts in the LSR are object oriented development techniques, user interface development and evaluation systems and a life cycle artifact manager. This research supports the development of students for Texas industries and knowledge to be incorporated into our teaching program in software engineering.

NetBot Laboratory

Our lab focuses research on three thrusts, including networked telerobotics, vision-based robot navigation, and sensor/robot networks. We develop and apply techniques drawn from modern probability models, optimization theory, computational geometry, and control theory to problems in the domain of robotics and automation. Our research has found many applications, including natural environment observation, distance learning, surveillance of public space, building construction monitoring/archiving, vehicle navigation, space exploration and manufacturing. We approach research problems from both theoretical and experimental perspectives. We build mathematical models, develop algorithms, and validate them through both simulations and physical experiments.

Perception, Sensing and Instrumentation Lab (formerly PRISM lab)

Research in the Pattern Recognition and Intelligent Sensor Machines Lab lies at the interface between signal processing, machine learning, neural computation, robotics and sensor systems. Our interest is in understanding how sensory systems (man-made or biological) perceive, interact with, learn from and adapt to their environments under a number of modalities, including chemical, acoustic, visual and physiological.

In the process, we draw motivation from multiple disciplines, from neurobiology to perceptual psychology. Our current research projects include:

• Speech processing methods for foreign accent conversion.
• Wearable physiological sensors for stress monitoring.
• Active sensing with tunable chemical sensors.
• Face perception and face super resolution.

Real-Time Distributed System

This group is interested in solving the underlying principles of complex systems in order to convert them into real solutions to real-world problems. With the rapid evolution and acceptance of computing and communication technologies in our society, this group strives for long-term impact with short-term relevance and success in its research and in its educational process. Its aim is to provide lab members with a balanced view of information technology by focusing on the entire process of design, analysis and implementation.

Real-Time Systems Group

This group focuses on research and development of real-time computing and communication technology for mission-critical information systems, including multimedia, command and control, transportation, process control, etc. The group's NetEx and NetCamo projects have made significant progress that has been recognized by various awards, including the outstanding paper award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems in 1992; the best paper award from the IEEE National Aerospace and Electronics Conference in 1997; an award on technology transfer from the Defense Advanced Research Program Agency in 2002; and the second prize in the International ACM Student Research Contest in 2002.

Secure Communication and Computer Systems Laboratory (SUCCESS)

Our lab focuses on cutting-edge research in computer and network security. We are developing new generations of algorithms, techniques and systems to solve real-world security problems and aim to make profound real-world impacts. We balance theory and practice, and often bridge system and networking techniques with other areas such as machine learning, statistics, information theory and applied cryptography. Our current research projects include (but are not limited to) malware detection/defense/analysis, intrusion detection/prevention, web and social networking security.

Security and Privacy in Emerging Computing and Networking Systems (SPIES) Lab

The SPIES research lab, led by Dr. Nitesh Saxena, conducts research on multitude of topics related to the security and privacy of “emerging” systems or paradigms. Currently, these emerging systems range from mobile and wireless networks (such as those involving smartphones, wearables, Internet of Things (IoT), sensors and radio-frequency identification devices (RFID) to the internet class of systems (such as web browsing, online social networks and peer-to-peer). The goal of the SPIES lab is to improve the security of emerging systems, to say in short. With this goal in mind, the lab is currently running many projects centered around the following topics:

• Human-in-the-Loop Security: secure association of wireless devices, end-to-end encryption security, user authentication, including voice authentication, two-factor low-effort authentication, and behavioral biometrics, neuro-inspired or neurosecurity and extrinsically motivated or playful security.
• Mobile Systems and IoT Security: security for smartphones, wearables, smart home, medical implants and RFID tags.
• Fault-Tolerant Distributed Security and Cryptographic Services: secure storage in the cloud, password management and multi-factor authentication.
• Privacy and Anonymity: side channel attacks/defenses, web search privacy, online social network privacy and location privacy.

SPIES is supported by multiple grants from the National Science Foundation, Department of Justice, Google, Cisco, Comcast, Microsoft, Intel, Nokia, Research in Motion and more.

Sketch Recognition Lab

We are interested in the integration of sketch and gesture recognition into traditional user interfaces.

Software & Systems Group

Parasol software and systems projects include the study and development of novel algorithmic, architecture and compiler techniques for the optimization of parallel and distributed systems, the design and implementation of compiler-driven software productivity improvement tools, software verification, and performance modeling and prediction.