Research Laboratories

Research Centers and Laboratories

Computer Science

• CDL – Cyber Defense Lab

  Director: Dr. Alan T. Sherman
  Office No. : ITE 224, Lab No. : ITE 228

  The UMBC Cyber Defense Lab (CDL) is a place where students, faculty, and affiliates carry out cybersecurity research. Current projects include high-integrity voting, protocol analysis, and cybersecurity education.

• CORAL – Cognition Robotics and Learning Lab

  Director: Dr. Tim Oates
  Office No. : ITE 336, Lab No. : ITE 361

  Research in topics related to machine and human intelligence, including machine vision, natural language processing, and reinforcement learning. The long-term goal is to understand how machines can match the human developmental trajectory from sensors to symbols to semantics. Current projects include sample efficient reinforcement learning for the real world, safe artificial intelligence, graph neural networks for anomaly detection in learned models, and multi-modal learning from images and text.

• CVG – Cognitive Vision Group

  Director: Dr. Tejas Gokhale
  Office No.: ITE 214, Lab No.: ITE 368

  The Cognitive Vision Group works on the conceptual characterization of visual scenes, broadly in the areas of computational perception, learning, and reasoning. Areas of innovation include visual understanding in the absence of complete information; adapting and generalizing to new concepts, contexts, domains, environments, and tasks; extrapolation across space and time; interpreting and predicting behavior; acquisition and communication of visual knowledge from/with/to other agents and humans.

• DAMS – Data Management and Semantics

  Director: Dr. Roberto Yus
  Office No. : ITE 342, Lab No. : ITE 230

  he UMBC DAMS Research Group focuses on four main areas of research: Data Management, AI, Privacy, and the Internet of Things. We deal with research challenges in bridging the gap that exists between raw data (e.g., data captured by sensors) and semantically meaningful data that is easily understood by people (e.g., inferences extracted from sensor observations). We incorporate semantics and privacy-awareness to data management to design smarter and more responsible systems. Also, we develop prototypes of the approaches/systems designed as part of the research tasks and deploy them in the real world.

• DREAM – Discovery, Research, and Experimental Analysis of Malware Lab

  Director: Dr. Charles Nicholas
  Office No. : ITE 356, Lab No. : ITE 366

  The DREAM lab looks at ways of applying machine learning to cybersecurity, and malware analysis in particular. Recent projects involve using tensor decomposition and innovative measures of string similarity to solve practical problems. The lab is also home to UMBC’s very active cyberdefense competition team, the ‘CyberDawgs’

• Ebiquity Research Laboratory

  Director: Dr. Anupam Joshi
  Office No. : ITE 328, Lab No. : ITE 332

  Director: Dr. Tim Finin
  Office No. : ITE 329, Lab No. : ITE 332, ITE 338

  Building intelligent systems in open, heterogeneous, dynamic, distributed environments. Research topics include the semantic web, information extraction, mobile computing, privacy, and security.

• ESNET – Embedded Systems and Networks Laboratory

  Director: Dr. Mohamed Younis
  Office No. : ITE 325 G, Lab No. : ITE 391

  Design and management of wireless sensor networks, network architecture and protocols, underwater communication, MAC and routing protocols for ad-hoc and sensor networks, energy-aware system design, secure communication, fault tolerance, topology management, and applications of sensor and actuator networks.

• FSI – Future Sensing and Interaction Lab

  Director: Dr. Dong Li
  Office No. : ITE 355, Lab No. : ITE 230

  The Future Sensing and Interaction Lab is dedicated to advancing the fields of mobile, wearable, and ubiquitous computing. The lab’s core mission is to design and develop innovative sensing systems that address critical societal challenges, particularly in healthcare, human-computer interaction, and environmental sustainability. Our research integrates expertise in mobile computing, wireless and wearable sensing, multi-modal sensing, smart health technologies, and AI for IoT. We are committed to creating cutting-edge solutions that bridge the gap between advanced technological developments and real-world applications. At the FSI Lab, we envision a future where technology plays a transformative role in promoting a more equitable and sustainable world.

• IRAL – Interactive Robotics and Language Laboratory

  Director: Dr. Cynthia Matuszek
  Office No. : ITE 331, Lab No. : ITE 343

  Research in robotics, human-robot interaction, and grounded language understanding, bringing together robotics, natural language processing, and statistical learning approaches to build advanced intelligent agents that can interact robustly with non-specialists.

• KAI² – Knowledge-infused AI and Inference

  Director: Dr. Manas Gaur
  Office No. : ITE 337, Lab No. : ITE 367

  KAI² believes in the integration and uplifting of AI with human knowledge representable in different forms: Structural Knowledge Graphs, Flattened Lexicons, Process Knowledge in Questionnaires, and Commonsense in General-purpose unstructured content, to design human-centered systems and applications for sensitive domains. Furthermore, we want to make the next-generation neuro-symbolic AI approach inspired by human’s ability to combine data and knowledge to induce Explainable, Interpretable, and Safety aspects in statistical AI.

• LARA Lab

  Director: Dr. Lara J. Martin
  Office No. : ITE 216, Lab No. : ITE 368

  In the LARA Lab, we look at using and improving language tools to make better, human-centered artificial intelligence (AI) by looking at how people communicate and creating computer-supported human communication tools. We pull together techniques from natural language processing (NLP), cognitive science, and AI to create agents that tell stories and play Dungeons & Dragons, speak expressively, and aid accessibility in human-human communication.

• Social Intelligence Lab

  Director: Dr. Sanorita Dey
  Office No. : ITE 357, Lab No. : ITE 339

  In the Social Intelligence Lab, we explore a variety of social computing topics. Our primary goal is to understand how people engage with complex systems and to design user-centric systems and platforms that address the perceptions of our target audience. Currently, we are focusing on areas such as accessible health monitoring, equitable and sustainable STEM education, and the application of large language models to foster ethical and responsible social opinions. Students in our lab publish their research in prestigious international conferences, including CHI, CSCW, GROUP, IUI, and iTICSE.

• TAIC – Trustworthy and Intelligent Computing

  Director: Keke Chen
  Office No. : ITE 360, Lab No. : ITE 345

  The TAIC lab studies security and privacy issues with AI and collaborative systems, confidential computing, and applications of AI in science.

• VANGOGH – Visualization, Animation, Non-Photorealistic Graphics, Object Modeling, and Graphics Hardware

  Director: Dr. Adam Bargteil
  Office No. : ITE 341, Lab No. : ITE 365

  Director: Dr. Marc Olano
  Office No. : ITE 354, Lab No. : ITE 352, 365

  The VANGOGH lab covers a range of research in computer graphics and animation. Computer graphics research focuses on real-time approaches using graphics hardware, particularly in areas of visual appearance, data visualization, and techniques applicable to computer games. Animation research focuses on natural phenomena, including physics-based techniques, numerical methods, and machine learning.

• Vinjamuri Lab

  Director: Dr. Ramana Vinjamuri
  Office No. : ITE 301, Lab No. : ITE 376

  Our lab studies Brain-Machine Interfaces (BMIs) that control upper-limb prostheses. In particular, we are interested in how the brain controls complex hand movements. The human hand has about 30 dimensions in contrast to a human arm with only 7 dimensions. BMIs that control human arms have already been demonstrated with decent accuracy. What type of interface is needed to Extend Brain-Machine Interface control from 7 to 37 dimensions forms the central topic of our research. Our lab contains a mix of current Graduate, Undergraduate, and Highschool Students along with a range of collaborators from multiple industries. Our range of publications dating back to 2014 includes multiple Patents, Articles, Conference Appearances, and more. Our work has been recognized through many Showcases, Grants, and Awards alongside our students who continue to impress.

Computer Engineering

• ECLIPSE Cluster

  Director: Dr. Nilanjan Banerjee
  Office No. : ITE 362, Lab No. : ITE 351

  Director: Dr. Ryan Robucci
  Office No. : ITE 319, Lab No. : ITE 317

  The ECLIPSE cluster comprises groups with shared laboratories, projects, and students: the Mobile, Pervasive, & Sensor Systems Laboratory led by Dr. Nilanjan Banerjee, and the Covail Analog & Digital Systems Research Laboratory, led by Dr. Ryan Robucci

• ESNET – Embedded Systems and Networks Laboratory

  Director: Dr. Mohamed Younis
  Office No. : ITE 325 G, Lab No. : ITE 391

  Design and management of wireless sensor networks, network architecture and protocols, underwater communication, MAC and routing protocols for ad-hoc and sensor networks, energy-aware system design, secure communication, fault tolerance, topology management, and applications of sensor and actuator networks.

• SECRETS – SECure, REliable, and Trusted Systems

  Director: Dr. Naghmeh Karimi
  Office No. : ITE 314, Lab No. : ITE 210

  Our focus is primarily on the design, security, trustworthiness, reliability, and testability of electronic chips, particularly digital circuits. We concentrate on Hardware Security and Design-for-Trust, Fault Tolerance and Design-for-Reliability, Hardware Testing and Design-for-Testability, Machine Learning for security applications, the security of machine learning accelerators, and the design of VLSI circuits.

  Additionally, to ensure long-lasting security for cryptographic devices against physical attacks (such as side-channel analysis and fault injection), our lab develops countermeasures that remain effective as the device ages.

  We also focus on ensuring data integrity within IoT frameworks and protecting them against impersonation, replay, and other conventional attacks by developing lightweight authentication schemes. Furthermore, we design security protocols for the safe and secure transmission of data between patients’ wearable or implanted devices and healthcare providers.

• VLSI-SOC Group

  Director: Dr. Riadul Islam
  Office No. : ITE 316, Lab No. : ITE 313

  The primary research areas include Electronic Design and Automation, Brain-inspired computing, Neural network architecture exploration, Autonomous driving and CAN security, digital, analog, and mixed-signal CMOS ICs/SOCs for a variety of applications, Verification and testing techniques, CAD tools for design and analysis of microprocessors and FPGAs, as well as interdisciplinary research projects.

Electrical Engineering

• CASPR – Center for Advanced Studies in Photonics Research

  Director: Dr. Anthony Johnson
  Office No. : TRC 029, Lab No. : TRC 027

  Advanced photonics research and technology development in optical communications, optical sensing and devices, nanophotonics, biophotonics, and quantum optics.

• Choa’s Lab

  Director: Dr. Fow-Sen Choa
  Office No. : ITE 303, TRC 274, Lab No. : TRC 018, 151, 153, 155, 156, 159, 291, 292, 293

  The lab is developing novel transcranial magnetic stimulation coils for multisite brain stimulations, extracting brain signals with designed experiments using EEG tools, studying brain dynamics and neural disorders from analyzing fMRI scanned data sets, and building human level intelligent systems through neural network architecture design and modelling. We also continue our research on design, growth and fabrication of photonic and nano-materials and devices including single photon detectors, photonic integration of tunable lasers and detector, mid-IR devices and arrays, meta-materials, phase changing materials, neuromorphic and neural computing devices for AI chips.

• Computational Photonics Laboratory

  Director: Dr. Curtis Menyuk
  Office No. : ITE 304, Lab No. : TRC 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205

  Assistant Director: Dr. Ergun Simsek
  Office No. : ITE 325 K, Lab No. : TRC 201 B

  Computational and theoretical studies of nonlinear optics, RF photonics, and frequency combs. We investigate nonlinear effects in optical fibers including soliton generation and transmission, supercontinuum generation, and four wave mixing. We study frequency comb generation in fiber lasers and microresonators and the noise processes that limit the performance of these devices and the overall system performance. We also study photodetectors, sensors, motheye surfaces, and other components that play an important role in photonic transmission and RF photonics. We use modern machine learning algorithms to optimize the performance of the RF-photonic devices and systems as well as the frequency comb systems that we investigate.

• MLSP-Lab – Machine Learning for Signal Processing Laboratory

  Director: Dr. Tulay Adali
  Office No. : ITE 324, Lab No. : ITE 363

  Our focus is the development of theory and tools for processing of signals that arise in today’s growing array of different applications and pose challenges for traditional signal processing techniques. We bring in techniques from statistical and adaptive signal processing as well as machine learning to develop effective methods to address challenges in a wide array of applications with a focus on medical image analysis and fusion.

• Remote Sensing Signal and Image Processing Laboratory

  Director: Dr. Chein-i Chang
  Office No. : ITE 310, Lab No. : ITE 370

  Research on remote sensing, signal and image processing, specifically, hyperspectral imaging, medical imaging, and automatic target recognition.