ECE News Spring 2012:
Graduate Student Profile
Yousef Shakhsheer
Fourth-year doctoral student Yousef Shakhsheer (CPE/EE ’08, EE ’14) spends much of his time developing energy-efficient sensors. He also gives back to the community serving as a volunteer firefighter. “My advisor, Associate Professor Benton Calhoun, has gotten me involved in interesting projects,” said Shakhsheer. “And, U.Va.’s ties to the community enabled me to reach beyond Grounds to contribute.”
Shakhsheer helped develop a wearable electrocardiogram (ECG) body sensor node that detects atrial fibrillation, sending the last eight heartbeats over wireless radio to a physician when the arrhythmia is detected. The chip runs without a battery, instead harvesting energy from the wearer’s body heat.
Shakhsheer also helped design a processor that implemented fine-grained dynamic voltage scaling to extend battery life.
Shakhsheer is now working on a power management scheme for energy-harvesting nodes to improve node lifetime. “This project is a great opportunity to improve the state of the art in both engineering and medicine,” said Shakhsheer. “The project can have a broad impact for physicians and patients.”
Shakhsheer’s efforts are consistent with several goals of the School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Strategic Plan, including increasing the impact of its research and expanding the School’s reach.
“It’s been rewarding to work on so many interesting projects while continuing to volunteer at Seminole Trail Volunteer Fire Department,” said Shakhsheer.