NSF REU Site in Sensing and Smart Systems

Florida Atlantic University's Institute for Sensing and Embedded Network Systems Engineering (I-SENSE) hosts an intensive summer research program in sensing and smart systems for talented undergraduate students across the country.

Closely related to the Internet of Things, smart systems represent an emerging class of distributed systems that provide real-time awareness of conditions, trends, and patterns to support improved decision-making, and often, automation. The on-campus research will focus on I-SENSE's three main program areas: Infrastructure Systems, Marine and Environment and Health and Behavior.

YOUR FLORIDA EXPERIENCE

This paid, nine-week program focuses on training, mentoring, research and an overall experience for students that prepares them for graduate studies or careers in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) disciplines.
Participants will typically work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, with one hour for lunch.
Undergraduate researchers are paid a stipend of $700/week along with a $200 meal allowance, also per week.
Participants will be housed in apartment-style dormitories on Florida Atlantic's Boca Raton campus, just three miles from the beach.

2026 REU Project Descriptions

These are the research projects planned for this summer. See which project you’re interested in.

2025 PROJECTS

2024 PROJECTS

Infrastructure Systems: Smart, Resilient, and Green Energy Systems Led by Yufei Tang, Ph.D.
Infrastructure Systems: Human-in-the-loop Digital Twins for Smart Cities Led by Jinwoo Jang, Ph.D.
Infrastructure Systems: Machine Learning Techniques for Energy Forecasting and Optimization Led by Zhen Ni, Ph.D.
Marine and Environment: The Internet of Floating Things Led by Georgios Sklivanitis, Ph.D.
Marine and Environment: Development and Testing of a Wave Powered Offshore Sensing System Led by James VanZwieten, Ph.D.
Health and Behavior: Next-Gen Health Monitoring Empowered by Python Programming and Deep Learning Applications Led by Behnaz Ghoraani, Ph.D.
Health and Behavior: Soft Sensors and Actuators for Wearables to Assist People with Disabilities Led by Erik Engeberg, Ph.D.
Modern Cybersecurity in IoT Devices Led by Reza Azarderakhsh, Ph.D.

2023 PROJECTS

Infrastructure Systems: Artificial Intelligence for Smart Cities Led by Jinwoo Jang, Ph.D.
Infrastructure Systems: Smart and Resilient Energy Systems Led by Yufei Tang, Ph.D.
Infrastructure Systems: Modern Cybersecurity in IoT Devices Led by Reza Azarderakhsh, Ph.D.
Health and Behavior: Deep Learning for Biomedical Health Data Led by Behnaz Ghoraani, Ph.D.
Health and Behavior: Deep Learning for Unstructured Data Analytics and Mining Led by Xingquan Zhu, Ph.D.
Marine and Environment: Cognitive Wireless Radios for Maritime Robotics Led by Georgios Sklivanitis, Ph.D.

2022 PROJECTS

Infrastructure Systems: Mobility Sensing and Analytics for Smart Cities Led by Jason O. Hallstrom, Ph.D. and Jiannan Zhai, Ph.D.
Infrastructure Systems: Smart and Resilient Energy Systems Led by Yufei Tang, Ph.D.
Marine and Environment: Cognitive Wireless Radios for Maritime Robotics Led by Georgios Sklivanitis, Ph.D.
Health and Behavior: Soft Sensors and Actuators for Wearables to Assist People with Disabilities Led by Erik Engeberg, Ph.D.
Health and Behavior: Deep Learning for Biomedical Health Data Led by Behnaz Ghoraani, Ph.D.

2021 PROJECTS

Infrastructure Systems: Mobility Sensing and Analytics for Smart Cities Led by Jason O. Hallstrom, Ph.D. and Dr. Zhai
Infrastructure Systems: Smart and Resilient Energy Systems Led by Yufei Tang, Ph.D.
Marine and Environment: Cognitive Wireless Radios for Maritime Robotics Led by Georgios Sklivanitis, Ph.D.
Health and Behavior: Soft Sensors and Actuators for Wearables to Assist People with Disabilities Led by Erik Engeberg, Ph.D.
Health and Behavior: Wearable Sensors and Data Analytics for Therapeutic Management Led by Behnaz Ghoraani, Ph.D.

2020 PROJECTS

Infrastructure Systems: Mobility Sensing and Analytics for Smart Cities Led by Jason O. Hallstrom, Ph.D. and Dr. Zhai
2 Infrastructure Systems: Smart and Resilient Energy Systems Led by Yufei Tang, Ph.D.
Marine and Environment: Cognitive Wireless Radios for Maritime Robotics Led by Georgios Sklivanitis, Ph.D.
Health and Behavior: Soft Sensors and Actuators for Wearables to Assist People with Disabilities Led by Erik Engeberg, Ph.D.
Health and Behavior: Wearable Sensors and Data Analytics for Therapeutic Management Led by Behnaz Ghoraani, Ph.D.

2019 PROJECTS

Infrastructure Systems: Battery-Free Leak Monitoring Led by Jason O. Hallstrom, Ph.D.
Health and Behavior: Detecting Emotion in Multi-Party Conversations Led by Jason O. Hallstrom, Ph.D.
Infrastructure Systems: Adaptive Traffic Control Led by Aleksandar Stevanovic, Ph.D.
Infrastructure Systems: Smart and Connected Cities Led by Jinwoo Jang, Ph.D.
Network the Oceans: Cognitive Reconfigurable Radio Architectures for Connected Autonomous Maritime Vehicles Led by George Sklivanitis, Ph.D.
Cross Cutting: Evolving Adaptive Neural Systems Led by Yufei Tang, Ph.D.
Health and Behavior: Identifying Stages of Lung Cancer through Image Classification using Deep Learning Techniques Led by Borivoje (Borko) Furht, Ph.D.
Marine and Environment: Robust Co-Prime Sensing with Underwater Inflatable Passive Sonar Arrays Led by Bing Ouyang, Ph.D.
Marine and Environment: Developing Inexpensive Sediment Oxygen Utilization Measurement Chambers Led by Jordon Beckler, Ph.D.
Health and Behavior: Prosthetic Hand Design and Control Led by Erik Engeberg, Ph.D.
Health and Behavior: Monitoring Interactions in Therapeutic Relationships Led by Paul Peluso, Ph.D.
Health and Behavior: Characterizing Human Motor-Cognitive Performance Through Data Analysis and Machine Learning Led by Behnaz Ghoraani, Ph.D.

2018 PROJECTS

There were nine research projects completed in 2018.

Cross-Cutting: IoT Security REU Mentor: Reza Azarderakhsh, Ph.D.
REU Scholar: Nikolas Bussey
Health and Behavior: Detecting Emotion in Multi-Party Conversations REU Mentors: Jason Hallstrom, Ph.D. and Paul Peluso, Ph.D.
REU Scholars: Jacob Belga, Hannah Gibilisco and Serena Walker Jean
Health and Behavior: Robotic Prosthetics REU Mentor: Erik Engeberg, Ph.D.
REU Scholar: Wen-Yu (Marty) Cheng
Infrastructure Systems: Adaptive Traffic Control REU Mentor: Aleks Stevanovic, Ph.D.
REU Scholar: Forest Elliott
Infrastructure Systems: Data Analytics for Vehicle-based Mobile Sensing Data REU Mentor: Jinwoo Jang, Ph.D.
REU Scholar: Jordan Miller
Infrastructure Systems: Data Embedding in Digital Media REU Mentor: Dimitris Pados, Ph.D.
REU Scholar: Connor Weeks
Infrastructure Systems: Smart Energy Systems REU Mentor: Yufei Tang, Ph.D.
REU Scholar: Sean Passmore
Marine and Environment: Robust Co-Prime Sensing with Underwater Inflatable Passive Sonar Arrays REU Mentor: Bing Ouyang, Ph.D.
REU Scholar: Jordan Thomas
Marine and Environment: Geochemical Sensing REU Mentor: Jordon Beckler, Ph.D.
REU Scholar: Zachary Wilhelm

2017 PROJECTS

There were 11 research projects completed in 2017.

Cross-Cutting: IoT Security Mentor: Reza Azarderakhsh, Ph.D.
Student: Braxton McLean
Health and Behavior: Monitoring Interactions in Therapeutic Relationships Mentor: Paul Peluso, Ph.D.
Student: Kirielle Singarajah
Health and Behavior: Analysis of Cardiac Signals Related to Atrial Arrhythmia Mentor: Behnaz Ghoraani, Ph.D.
Student: Kelly Nguyen
Health and Behavior: Identifying Human Emotion through Computer Analysis Mentor: Jason O. Hallstrom, Ph.D.
Students: Jacob Belga and Emmanuel Damour
Health and Behavior: Robotic Prosthetics Mentor: Erik Engeberg, Ph.D.
Student: Michael Bornstein
Infrastructure Systems: Adaptive Traffic Control Mentor: Aleksandar Stevanovic, Ph.D.
Student: Oghenekaro Durojaiye
Infrastructure Systems: Smart Grid Control and Optimization Mentor: Yufei Tang, Ph.D.
Student: Michael Aiudi
Infrastructure Systems: Violence Detection in Surveillance Scenes Mentor: Borivoje (Borko) Furht, Ph.D.
Student: Whitney Angelica Andrews
Marine and Environment: Comprehensive Sensing Mentor: Bing Ouyang, Ph.D.
Student: Benjamin Maltbie
Marine and Environment: Effective Communication and Inductive Charging for Ocean Swarm Robotic Mentor: Jason Hallstrom, Ph.D.
Student: Paul Scarpinato
Marine and Environment: Ocean Current Analysis Mentor: Laurent Cherubin, Ph.D.
Student: Richard Peterson

HOW TO APPLY

Application link coming soon!

IMPORTANT DATES

Application Deadline: March 30, 2026
First Round Notification: April 6, 2026
Second Round Notification: April 14, 2026
Program Start Date: June 1, 2026
Program End Date: July 31, 2026 (ceremony on Thursday, July 30)

ELIGIBILITY

Undergraduate students majoring in science or engineering.
U.S. Citizen or permanent resident.
Selections will be based on a combination of research interests, academic qualifications, and faculty recommendations.

FUNDING

Florida Atlantic’s REU in Sensing and Smart Systems is supported through National Science Foundation award #CNS-2447437.

CONTACT

For additional information please contact us at i-sense@fau.edu.

Let's have an adventure. Collect experiences and meet people you'll never forget. It's time to write your story, and we've got the perfect setting.

Additional Information

The Institute for Sensing and Embedded Network Systems Engineering (I-SENSE) was established in early 2015 to coordinate university-wide activities in the Sensing and Smart Systems pillar of FAU’s Strategic Plan for the Race to Excellence.

Address

Florida Atlantic University

777 Glades Road

Boca Raton, FL 33431

i-sense@fau.edu