The newsletter will highlight our ongoing activities and accomplishments, not only on the research front but also on education and outreach. We hope to keep you up-to-date on the broad research activities within the Institute, as well as provide opportunities for collaboration. We look forward to connecting with you.
Swarup Bhunia, Director & Semmoto Endowed Professor, ECE
My T. Thai, Associate Director & UF Research Foundation Professor, CISE
Nelms Institute Leads Second Year of NSF-Funded Veterans Hardware Security Training ProgramAn ongoing project led by the Warren B. Nelms Institute is equipping veterans with in-demand skills in hardware security. This rapidly growing field is becoming more and more critical in today’s increasingly connected world. Funded by NSF, “Pivots: VETS-HASTE: Veterans SkillBridge through Industry based Hardware Security Training and Education,” is led by Dr. Wanli Xing (College of Education) and Dr. Sandip Ray (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering). |
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Dr. Yan Wang Receives NSF CAREER Award: Harnessing GenAI to Create Resilient CommunitiesWarren B. Nelms Institute faculty member and assistant professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning Yan Wang, Ph.D., has received an NSF CAREER Award. Dr. Wang’s CAREER project, titled “Generative Deep Learning for Post-Disaster Spatial Regeneration Planning,” will integrate cutting-edge generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) techniques into urban and regional planning methodologies and processes. This groundbreaking research addresses the critical need for innovative spatial planning approaches during long-term disaster recovery and community redevelopment. |
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Sound of Interference: Remote Eavesdropping Attack on Digital MicrophonesResearchers from the Warren B. Nelms Institute, led by Dr. Sara Rampazzi, and from the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo have discovered a new attack that exposes devices’ MEMs microphones to potential remote eavesdropping. This work demonstrates how audio captured by microphones on everyday wireless devices like laptops and bluetooth headsets can be intercepted. |
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Researchers Uncover Apple Vision Pro Security Flaw, Drawing Major Media AttentionA recent breakthrough in the security of mixed reality devices by Dr. Shuo Wang‘s research group has received widespread attention, including a feature in the Top Picks section of Wired magazine. The research revealed a significant vulnerability in Apple’s Vision Pro headset that could allow attackers to decipher what users type, including sensitive information like passwords and PINs, by analyzing eye movement data. The attack, dubbed GAZEploit, focuses on how the Vision Pro’s unique eye-tracking capabilities, used to control a virtual keyboard with a Persona, or a virtual avatar, could inadvertently leak information. |
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Rohan Reddy Kalavakonda receives the Attributes of a Gator Engineer AwardPhD student Rohan Reddy Kalavakonda is the recipient of the 2025 Attributes of a Gator Engineer award. The award is considered the greatest distinction of any student award given by the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering. |
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Sudipta Paria Receives ECE Graduate Student Research Excellence AwardSudipta Paria is the recipient of the 2025 ECE Graduate Student Research Excellence award. The award is given yearly to an ECE graduate student who has excelled in their research during the academic year. |
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Tianjun Wang Receives ECE Undergraduate Student Research Excellence AwardElectrical Engineering undergraduate student Tianjun Wang is the recipient of the 2025 ECE Undergraduate Student Research Excellence award. The award is given yearly to an ECE undergraduate student who has excelled in their research during the academic year. |
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Student Poster Session Highlights Using AIoT to Solve Real-World ProblemsIn April, students in the Applied Deep Learning and Applied Machine Learning courses presented their final projects during a poster session in Malachowsky Hall. Dr. Andrea Ramirez-Salgado, instructional assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Education, instructed both courses this spring. Their work covered a variety of topics and featured advanced multimodal AI architectures applied to real world problems, and several students designed edge AI solutions. |
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Save the Date for the 2025 Warren B. Nelms Annual IoT Conference!The Third Annual Warren B. Nelms IoT Conference be held on December 4-5, 2025 at the University of Florida campus. The conference will have a variety of keynote speakers, industry panels, and student poster and demo sessions. |
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Research portfolioWarren B. Nelms Institute research addresses major world challenges relating to public health, energy, education, transportation, and more. Together with our esteemed group of multi-disciplinary faculty and students, we are developing broad Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and their applications to create more secure, sustainable, and connected communities. With billions of IoT-connected devices al-ready in the world today—and billions more in the coming years—the institute remains at the forefront of this burgeoning field while creating a critical mass of expertise at the convergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and IoT. We invite you to browse our current and ongoing Warren B. Nelms Institute research projects. |
