Institute for Systems Research

The Institute for Systems Research provides a home to interdisciplinary research and education programs in systems engineering and the system sciences. ISR also develops basic solution methodologies and tools for systems problems in a variety of application domains. These missions work together: large-scale science requires systems engineering—and systems engineering cannot occur without good systems science.
Our advances in the system sciences have been driven by a wide range of complex applications, which have changed over time.
COMMUNICATIONS & SECURITY
Algorithms and protocols for internet services over satellite; high-quality, joint source-channel coding of images; modeling, analytic and formal models for cross-layer design of wireless network; mobile ad-hoc network protocols; wireless network security; security from the physical layer (hardware and signal processing).
Communication systems research is one of ISR's foundational areas of inquiry. ISR’s best-known research breakthrough may be the algorithms and protocols by which internet services can be delivered over satellite, using a high-speed, two-way connection through low-earth-orbit satellites. In addition, high quality joint source-channel coding of images and related modem technologies were developed for voice and data. Modeling, analytic and formal models for cross-layer design of wireless network and mobile ad-hoc network protocols have been developed using a component-based, model-based systems engineering approach. A systems perspective inspired by control and communications theory and methods has brought security to wireless networks beyond traditional cryptographic methods. Current work spans integrated security from the physical layer—hardware and signal processing—to protocols, applications and human users.
COMPUTER SCIENCE AND AI
Automated planning; game theory; speech recognition; data visualization; rule-based expert systems; logic programs; artificial intelligence.
ISR artificial intelligence research on hierarchical task network planning has influenced nearly all subsequent work in this area. We have deep understanding of artificial intelligence planning and the use of mean-field game theory to predict decisions. Our pioneering history in data visualization produced Spotfire, a starfield multidimensional data visualization display tool using dynamic queries and Treemaps, a space-filling method of visualizing large hierarchical collections of quantitative data that gives users the ability to see thousands of data bits in a fixed space that facilitates discovery of patterns, clusters and outliers. We have expertise in formal methods for description and analysis of concurrent and distributed systems, model checking and abstract interpretation for embedded control and systems biology. Today we are introducing innovations in computer vision and hyperdimensional computing theory for robots, as well as geometric and scientific algorithms for autonomous vehicles, computer graphics, and virtual reality.
CONTROL
Control theory, control systems, control methodology, optimization theory, biologically inspired control. Robotics and robotic network control, communication in networked control systems.
ISR is a recognized leader in control research, one of our foundational areas of inquiry. Our faculty and students discovered new control approaches for nonlinear systems including bifurcation and control of stall scenarios for axial compressor jet engines. We emphasize numerical methods for optimization, optimization-based system design and robust control including the CONSOL and FSQP software packages implementing its algorithms. ISR developed motion description languages for robotics and have made advances in actuation and control based on signal processing. We also are advancing flocking and swarming theory, control and design for robotic groups and swarms.
ENERGY
Batteries, power electronics, renewable energy systems, energy harvesting, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, more electric aircraft, more data-centers, pyroelectric systems, solar PV converters and other smart grid technologies
ISR research has contributed to advances in batteries, including a tobacco mosaic virus scaffold battery with high surface area and capacity, high-powered nanostructured 3D microbatteries, and carbon nanotube current collectors for aqueous battery systems. Wireless devices that operate with energy harvested from the environment have been created, and advances have been made in power electronics that convert electricity from one form to another for more electric aircraft, electric vehicles and solar power.
MICRO & NANOSYSTEMS
MEMS sensors and actuators; nanofabrication materials, processes and devices; labs-on-a-chip; small-scale energy generation, storage and harvesting; microsystem medical devices and treatments; trust and security for nano-scale devices.
ISR researchers have developed nanoscale technologies for sensing and manipulation. These systems include biologically inspired cell-based sensors and biological and chemical sensing systems for toxin detection, micro-ball bearing and three-dimensional grayscale microfabrication technologies for microengines, and microfluidic medical devices for detecting and treating biofilms. Our research has contributed to advances in batteries, including a tobacco mosaic virus scaffold battery with high surface area and capacity, high-powered nanostructured 3D microbatteries, and carbon nanotube current collectors for aqueous battery systems.
NEUROSCIENCE
Auditory neural signal processing; brain mapping; brain development and plasticity; sensorimotor integration; neuromechanical systems; speech recognition, production and enhancement; neuromorphic-based robotics control and VLSI design; computational neuroscience; biological cell-based sensor systems; signal processing in biological systems.
ISR is a longtime leader in advancing understanding of neural processing in the brain's auditory system, including speech processing and sound localization. Our faculty and students have made neuroscience-based advances in signal processing principles and solutions, and have developed novel neuromorphic architectures for intelligent systems. We are active in NIH BRAIN Initiative research, using neural modeling to establish causal links between neural activity and behavior. We also developed multi-pitch tracking for adverse environments, a communication technology that pulls speech out of noise and can radically improve sound quality over cell phones and in hearing aids. ISR researchers have been key in the establishment of the university’s Brain and Behavior Initiative.
OPERATIONS RESEARCH & MANUFACTURING
General and aviation operations research; product realization; supply chain and revenue management; product design.
ISR is a recognized leader in operations research. Our faculty and students established a model-based systems engineering approach forn integrated product process design, including object-oriented models of system behavior and structure, and optimization-based tradeoff analysis. We also developed formal model checking methodology for validation, verification and safety of hybrid biological and automotive systems. Our systematic approach for computer-aided manufacturability analysis of machined parts has brought the problem of existence of alternative interpretations to the attention of the feature recognition community. We developed efficient algorithms and software, including neural network models, for input-output behavior and model predictive control of chemical processes—making semiconductor wafer fabrication more efficient. Perhaps most significantly, for more than 20 years, as part of the NEXTOR consortium, ISR researchers have conducted operations research for the Federal Aviation Administration in air traffic management and control, aviation economics and policy, and performance evaluation and metrics.
ROBOTICS
Medical robotics; miniature robotics; collaborative, cooperative, networked robotics; robotics for extreme environments; unmanned vehicles.
ISR faculty have advanced flocking and swarming theory, control and design for robotic groups and swarms. ISR developed motion description languages; designed and fabricated a modular dexterous hand; made advances in underwater robots, flapping-wing micro air vehicles and micro robots; and introduced innovations in computer vision and hyperdimensional computing theory for robots. A multi-part, in-mold assembly process that reduces process cost and enables robotic design possibilities created articulated structures without requiring post-molding assembly steps. ISR started the Maryland Robotics Center as one of its initiatives in 2010.
SYSTEMS ENGINEERING
Model-based systems engineering methodologies; systems engineering and integration; cyber-physical systems; analysis and control of stochastic systems; Markov decision processes; discrete event and hybrid systems; network optimization and management.
ISR is a leader in using model-based systems engineering as an important tool in its research efforts. Our Master of Science in Systems Engineering has given generations of students the advantage of "systems thinking." Our education program is not focused on knowledge in a single core domain, but rather teaches principles and methods applicable across domains as students study integration and design problems that involve multiple engineering disciplines. Students are taught design, analysis and optimization methods not found in other programs.