Ready for the new year: ECE Department builds on 2023 successes

The spring 2024 semester at Binghamton University is in full swing, and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science is building on a productive 2023.
Research news
Associate Professor Pritam Das received a five-year, $537,959 National Science Foundation CAREER Award to rethink how solid-state transformers are realized and function. His goal is to better integrate bidirectional AC-DC and DC-DC converters with high-frequency galvanic isolation. A CAREER grant supports early career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education.
Professor Seokheun “Sean” Choi received a $400,000 NSF grant to develop what he calls integrated papertronics. His goal is an electronic device made entirely of paper that is a non-toxic, cost-effective and biodegradable alternative to silicon- and plastic-based components.
In other research, Choi and PhD student Maryam Rezaie used spore-forming bacteria to create a device that potentially would still work after 100 years. The research builds on previous work from Choi’s Bioelectronics and Microsystems Laboratory on an ingestible biobattery activated by the Ph factor of the human intestine.
Faculty news
In honor of his contributions to the security, privacy and authentication of optical imagery, Professor Yu Chen was named a fellow of SPIE, the international professional society for optical engineering. His recent research has centered on finding new ways to detect “deepfake” videos. Chen and 46 others were elected as fellows of the organization, which represents 258,000 people from 184 countries.
Student news
A story in 2023’s Watson Review magazine highlighted the best senior capstone projects. The ECE project looked for ways to reduce the amount of toxic chemicals that remain after discarding solar panels. The students used an autonomous system for synthesizing perovskite solar cells, which could be the key to reducing these chemicals.