Prospective Students

What is it like to do research at ISSL?

• Our goal is to publish at top conferences and journals. We work hard, aim high, and have fun while at it.
• You’ll be in a collaborative research environment. Our lab students are enthusiastic about research, but also fun loving. Lab is full of fun gadgets and computers.
• I regard every ISSL student as a collaborator. We will work very closely together throughout the week.
• I regard myself as an ISSL member, not a supervisor. You’ll see me spend a lot of time in the lab.
• My mission is to help all lab students. But I also emphasize the importance of training female engineers at higher education—we need more of you. Historically, we have had a very good representation of female students in ISSL and we expect this trend to continue.

Background I look for:

• Students majoring in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Information Sciences.
• Keen interests in signal processing, image processing, machine learning, statistics, mathematics, computer engineering.
• Mandatory background in Matlab, C, C++, or Python programming. Familiarity with GPUs and assembly languages are a plus.

If you are an undergraduate student at UD:

• I look for your performance in ECE340. If you excel at this class, let’s talk.
• You may want to consider enrolling in BPM or consider doing an independent project with me (for credit).
• If you are a US citizen, you may want to consider applying for DAGSI.
• You may want to consider applying for summer research funds through SURE, or GSSF.

If you are an incoming graduate student:

• Get admitted to the University of Dayton masters or PhD program. The recommended majors are Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering for masters students, Electrical Engineering for PhD students.
• I require that you take ECE503 (Random Processes) during the first semester. If you excel at this class, let’s talk.
• You will complete 6 credits of thesis research work as part of your masters degree.
• If you are an incoming PhD student: I look for your masters thesis. Even if not in the same research field as we do at ISSL, I look for your technical competency and depth of your work.
• I look for your publications.

If you want to apply to join the lab...

• Send an email to me at khirakawa1 at udayton dot edu
• Please tell me about yourself.
  • Please send your resume with GPA, universities you’ve attended, professors that you worked with.
  • (If applying to PhD) Please send me copies of your recent publications.
  • Please describe the research topics you are interested in.
  • Recommendation letters from professors are always welcome.
• Coding requirements:
  • If you are an undergraduate CPE student at UD, your transcript is sufficient.
  • I will send you a coding test to assess your proficiency.
• I will conduct a brief interview. If not possible in person, we will talk over video conferencing.
• If you are currently enrolled at UD:
  • Please take ECE340 (undergraduate) or ECE503 (graduate).
  • I’ll set up a lab tour for you.

Things you should know about funding (honest talk):

• Currently, the teaching assistantships in our department are very limited in number.
• Research assistantships are offered on a project-by-project basis. Priority goes to those who is best suited for the funded projects. Yes, it means that well-trained PhD students have advantage over masters students.
• I do not make any guarantees about funded projects, especially for undergraduate and masters students. Nevertheless, we’ve had many funded masters projects in the past.
• Students are also encouraged to apply for his/her own graduate fellowship–it does make things easier. For instance, DAGSI has help funded many US citizen students in our lab. UD also provides competitive summer research fellowships (e.g. SURE, and GSSF). I will provide help to apply for these.
• Funded students that did not meet expectations may lose funding.