Cangellaris receives ARL Director's Coin

2/19/2013 Tom Moone, ECE

On May 19, ECE Department Head and M. E. Van Valkenburg Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering Andreas C. Cangellaris received the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) Director’s Coin. It was presented by Dr. Dev Palmer, the program manager for electromagnetics, microwaves, and power at the ARL’s Army Research Office (ARO).On May 19, ECE Department Head and M. E. Van Valkenburg Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering Andreas C. Cangellaris received the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) Director’s Coin. It was presented by Dr. Dev Palmer, the program manager for electromagnetics, microwaves, and power at the ARL’s Army Research Office (ARO).

Written by Tom Moone, ECE

On May 19, ECE Department Head and M. E. Van Valkenburg Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering Andreas C. Cangellaris received the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) Director’s Coin. It was presented by Dr. Dev Palmer, the program manager for electromagnetics, microwaves, and power at the ARL’s Army Research Office (ARO).

Andreas Cangellaris (left) receives the ARL Director's Coin on May 19.
Andreas Cangellaris (left) receives the ARL Director's Coin on May 19.
Andreas Cangellaris (left) receives the ARL Director's Coin on May 19.

In 2004, the Department of Defense issued a call for proposals for the Multidisciplinary University Research Initiatives (MURI) program. Together with colleagues from Purdue and North Carolina State University, Cangellaris submitted a proposal titled “Standoff Inverse Analysis and Manipulation of Electronic Systems (SIAMES).” Their proposal was awarded a MURI grant.

Innovations from the SIAMES project resulted in new technology for a number of groups at ARL, such as the Sensors and Electronic Devices Directorate, the Communications and Electronics Research, Development, and the Engineering Center’s Intelligence and Information Warfare Directorate and Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate. In addition, some technology made its way to commercial companies.

“Research breakthroughs discovered under the SIAMES MURI were rapidly transitioned into important electronic warfare applications in support of the warfighter,” said Palmer. “Plainly stated, the system improvements that resulted directly from this MURI have saved American lives on the battlefield.”

In recognition of the efforts and output of the SIAMES group, Cangellaris was singled out by John Miller, Director of the US Army Research Laboratory, to be a recipient of a Challenge Coin. A Challenge Coin is a military coin bearing a unit insignia or emblem. It is used by commanding officers and directors of military programs to honor, encourage, and reward individuals for personal and professional accomplishments.

“While the Challenge Coin is used often to reward active duty military and DOD civilian personnel,” said Palmer, “it is extremely rare for a Commanding Officer or Installation Director to present this symbol of praise to a private citizen.”

Cangellaris, who is a researcher in the Beckman Institute and the Coordinated Science Lab, was specifically recognized for “contributions in the development of efficient methodologies and computer algorithms for the numerical calculation of the transient response of electromagnetic systems, and in the discovery of new mathematical frameworks for creating simplified models of complex electronic systems.”

Cangellaris said of SIAMES, “This was indeed a great program. It was a great collaborative effort. We had an outstanding group of students.”

Cangellaris emphasized that the work he did was to help in the defense of the United States. “I believe in a strong defense,” he said. “As university professors, what we do when we are funded by the Army or the Air Force or the Navy or DARPA, we are preparing the best defensive players: talented engineers inspired to be technology innovators.”

In summing up his work on SIAMES, Cangellaris said, “I guess it was a successful program.” Palmer quickly replied, “Yes, it was.”


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This story was published February 19, 2013.