APU Receives Major Science Grant

Azusa Pacific again entered the national spotlight when the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $208,428 federal grant funding a research project, “Adaptive Data Preservation in Intermittently Connected Sensor Networks: A Unified Storage-Energy Optimization Approach,” conducted by Bin Tang, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science.

Tang’s research focuses on preserving large amounts of data under storage and energy constraints in sensors that monitor the environment. These sensors detect natural disasters and climate change, providing experts with extremely accurate readings on occurrences in the environment and supplying critical information to a spectrum of fields, from first-response medical teams following an earthquake to climatologists studying climate change over a long period of time. “The sensors work as eyes for us to better understand what is taking place in the physical world,” said Tang. “They are constantly processing very precise data, but also have relatively small storage space and short battery life.” Assisted by undergraduate students, Tang hopes to solve these issues through theoretical research of algorithms and simulation experimentation. This also provides the students with valuable, hands-on research experience in computer science. “Receiving our first NSF grant in computer science is a remarkable opportunity for APU,” said Diane Guido, Ph.D., vice provost for graduate programs and research integrity officer. “It brings APU scholarship to the national level, opening doors for future federal grants.” NSF awarded only 40 of these competitive grants out of a pool of 250 applicants. “This is a dream come true for me,” said Tang. “The grant provides another example showing the general public that we at APU are doing something important in society. We apply the knowledge we learn here to solve real-world problems, in this case potentially life-critical scenarios.”

Posted: January 21, 2013