Center for Cyber-Physical Systems

The Center for Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) addresses the close interactions and feedback loop between the embedded cyber components for computing and control and the dynamic physical components that involve mechanical components, human activities and surrounding environments. Example CPS systems include automotive and transportation systems, smart homes, buildings and communities, smart battery and energy systems, surveillance systems, cyber-physical biochips, and wearable devices. The recent advances of manufacturing technologies, system integrations and software platforms bring enormous challenges and opportunities for CPS design and implementation.

The purpose of the CPS research center is to bring together researchers spanning different departments at Michigan Tech to stimulate the discussion and collaboration in publications and proposals related to the CPS research.


Center Director

Chee-Wooi Ten

  • Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Affiliated Professor, Applied Computing
  • PSERC Site Director and ICC CPS Center Director

Center Members

  • Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Affiliated Assistant Professor, Computer Science
  • Affiliated Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering

Links of Interest

Courses Taught

  • EE 4271 VLSI Design

Areas of Interest

  • Neuromorphic Engineering/Computing
  • Energy-efficient Neuromorphic Electronic Circuit Design for Artificial Intelligence
  • Emerging Nanoscale Device Design
  • Spiking Neural Networks
  • Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  • Assistant Professor, Applied Computing

Links of Interest

Faculty Webpage

Research Interests

  • Robotics, Multi-robot systems
  • Coordination of Heterogeneous Robot Systems
  • Vehicle Routing Problems
  • Multi-robot System Control and Optimization
  • Autonomous Navigation
  • Unmanned Vehicles
  • Operational Research for Autonomous Vehicles
  • Associate Professor, Computer Science

Areas of Expertise

  • Mobile Device Security
  • Cloud Computing Security
  • Internet of Things Security
  • Cyber-Physical Systems Security
  • Blockchain
  • Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  • Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Areas of Expertise

  • Mechatronics and embedded systems
  • Agent Technology
  • Monitoring and control networks
  • Hybrid electric vehicles
  • Smart grid

Research Interests

  • Modeling and control of hybrid electric vehicles
  • EV-smart grid integration
  • Distributed monitoring and control
  • Battery control for HEV and energy storage systems
  • IC engine management systems
  • Sensor information fusion
  • Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Links of Interest

Areas of Interest

  • Legged Locomotion 
  • Applied Control
  • Rehabilitation Robotics
  • Collaborative Robots
  • Learning-based Control
  • Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Areas of Interest

  • Smart Grid
  • Integration of Renewable Energy Systems
  • Power System Protection, Control, and Monitoring
  • Power Quality
  • Power Systems and Power Electronics
  • AC/DC Microgrids
  • High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Electric Power Transmission Systems
  • Application of Signal Processing in Power Systems
  • Application of Artificial Intelligence, including Machine Learning, in Power Systems
  • Professor, Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering
  • Associate Chair for Research, Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering

Links of Interest

Teaching Interests

  • Matrix structural analysis
  • Finite element analysis
  • Concrete Materials
  • Pavement design
  • Timber design

Research Interests

  • Low-carbon cementitious materials; SCM; LCA and EPD; durability performance
  • Design and performance of concrete pavement and structures
  • Mechanics-based computation; Data-driven performance evaluation
  • NDE techniques (acoustic, ultrasonic and eddy current systems)
  • Structure resilience subjected to extreme weather conditions
  • Active-material actuator design, wind-structure interaction, vibration reduction
  • Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  • Associate Research Director, Center for Innovation in Sustainability & Resilience (CISR)
  • Advisor, Outdoor Venture Crew

Research Interests

  • Impacts of climate change on electric power systems
  • Energy transitions in cold climates
  • Solar photovoltaic design for cold climates
  • Heat pump performance
  • Thermal power plant modeling
  • Associate Teaching Professor, Applied Computing
  • Program Director, BS in Mechatronics
  • Program Director, BS in Electrical Engineering Technology

Research Interests

  • Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS)
  • Single electron devices
  • Charging-effect-based tunneling devices
  • Quantum electronics
  • Circuit design

Teaching Interests

  • Electronics
  • Circuits and instrumentation
  • Physical electronics
  • Digital logic
  • Professor of Practice, Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology
  • Affiliated Professor of Practice, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  • Director, Machining and Additive Manufacturing Facilities

Research Interests

  • Automation of manufacturing processes
  • Additive, subtractive, hybrid manufacturing systems

Teaching Interests

  • Fundamentals of Machine Tool Technology
  • Computer Aided Manufacturing
  • Applied Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing
  • Design for Additive Manufacturing
  • Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  • Affiliated Assistant Professor, Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology
  • Director, Michigan Tech Center for AI; Coordinator, MTU NIST PREP Program

Research Interests

  • Advanced manufacturing
  • Industry 4.0
  • Human-robot-machine interaction
  • Physics-based/data-driven modeling
  • Manufacturing process monitoring
  • Industrial automation
  • Assistant Professor, Applied Computing
  • Affiliated Faculty, Computational Science & Engineering

Research Interests

  • Image Enahancment 
  • UAV-based Remote Sensing 

  • Artificial Intelligence Applications in Remote Sensing

  • Computer Vision and AI

  • Data acquisition and real-time control
  • Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Affiliated Professor, Physics

Areas of Interest

  • Resonance phenomena in complex media: metasurfaces, metamaterials, and photonic crystals
  • Computational electromagnetic analysis
  • Electromagnetic cloaking
  • High-contrast materials integration for electronic and photonic systems
  • Materials and device characterization at microwaves
  • Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Links of Interest

Courses Taught

  • Electrical Energy Systems
  • Power System Optimization
  • Distributed Energy Resources

Areas of Interest

  • Power Systems
  • Distributed Energy Resources
  • Optimization
  • Interconnected Critical Infrastructure Systems
  • Assistant Professor, Computer Science

Research Interests

  • Human-Robot Interaction
  • Extended Reality
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • User-Centered Design
  • Human-Centered Computing
  • Robot Teleoperation and Supervision
  • User Telepresence
  • Artificial Intelligence
Zhaohui Wang

Zhaohui Wang

  • Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Links of Interest

Google Scholar

Areas of Interest

  • Communications
  • Signal Processing
  • Communication networks
  • Network security
  • Emphasis on underwater acoustic applications
  • Assistant Professor, Construction Management
  • Faculty, Civil and Environmental Engineering
  • Faculty, College of Business

Teaching Experience

  • Advanced technologies in construction (e.g., BIM)
  • Project management
  • Construction methods
  • Structural analysis

Research Interests

  • Construction informatics
  • Computer vision-based site monitoring
  • Construction robotics
  • Natural language processing in construction
  • Blockchain-enabled contract management
  • Cybersecurity in construction management
  • Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Courses Taught

  • EE 4173, Comp Sys Engineering & Perform
  • EE 4272, Computer Networks

Research Interests

  • Network Security
  • Hardware Security
  • Cyber-Physical System Security
  • Deep Learning
  • Associate Professor, Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering
  • Affiliated Associate Professor, Computer Science

Links of Interest

Teaching Interests

  • Transportation Network Analysis
  • Traffic Flow Theory
  • Travel Demand Analysis
  • Transportation Systems Operations and Control
  • Transportation Planning
  • Traffic Engineering
  • Optimization Methods
  • Deep Reinforcement Learning and Model Predictive Control for Connected and Automated Vehicles

Research Interests

  • Data-driven distributionally robust optimization (DRO) based control models for connected and automated vehicles (CAVs)
  • Big traffic data analytics using machine learning
  • Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) and Graph Neural Networks (GNN) for transportation applications
  • Mobile and crowd sensing of dynamic traffic systems (e.g., Drone traffic monitoring, social media data for travel pattern analysis using Twitter and Foursquare smartphone apps)
  • Dynamic network equilibrium and optimization
  • Modeling and simulation of large-scale complex systems (e.g. Traffic Simulation)
  • Freight logistics and supply chain systems (e.g., Intermodal Freight Modeling)
  • Impact of plug-in electric vehicles to smart grid and transportation network systems
  • Interdependency and resiliency of large-scale networked infrastructure systems
  • Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs)
  • Smart Cities
  • Cyber-Physical Systems
  • Assistant Professor, Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering

Research Focus

  • Structural Engineering

Research Interests

  • Adaptive and Reconfigurable Structures
  • Computational Mechanics
  • Origami Engineering
  • Machine Learning with Application in Structural Design
  • Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Areas of Expertise

  • Dynamics and Control
  • Wave-Structure Interaction
  • Multi-Agent Systems
  • State Estimation

Research Interests

  • Dynamics modeling and control of ocean renewable systems
  • Swarm behavior of networked marine energy systems
  • Fluid-structure interaction of soft ocean energy converters
  • Control and automation of unmanned underwater vehicles