Edwin Chihchuan Kan

Edwin Chihchuan Kan

Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Phillips Hall, Room 325
607/255-3998
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Biography

Professor Edwin Kan received B.S. from National Taiwan University in 1984, and M.S. and Ph.D. from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 1988 and 1992, respectively, all in electrical engineering. He has served in the Air Force, Taiwan, R. O. China as a second lieutenant from 1984 – 1986. In January 1992, he joined Dawn Technologies as a Principal CAD Engineer. He was then with Stanford University as a Research Associate from 1994 to 1997, performing research on technology CAD and numerical methods. In 1997, he joined School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY as an assistant professor, where he is now a professor.  He was working on CMOS technology and circuits, in particular for nonvolatile memories.  His research interests shifted to RF biosensors and senior care after 2014.

Research Interests

  1. Near-field radio frequency (RF) sensing applied to monitoring of vital signs, muscle activities, and tissue vibration.  human and animal vital sign extraction. Near-field RF sensing employs RF antennas or leaky transmission lines placed in the near-field region of dielectric boundary motion to achieve high sensitivity and temporal resolution sensing of motion within the region. The sensor does not need body contact, and can retrieve the motion of internal organs and tissues in a non-invasive or covert manner.
  2. RFID technologies applied to precision passive RFID tag tracking, tag-less imaging, and camera-less occupant counting. Signal-processing methods and machine-learning based algorithms are extensively applied to both the biosensors and RFID-based 3D localization and imaging.

Teaching Interests

Professor Kan teaches graduate courses on Semiconductor Memories and RFID, and undergraduate courses on Introduction to Microelectronics, Quantum Mechanics, Silicon Devices, Digital Circuit Design, RF Systems, Robust Programming, and Nanofabrication.

Service Interests

Prof. Kan served as the ECE Director of Graduate Studies from 2010 to 2013.

Selected Publications

  • Ma, Y., Edwin Chihchuan Kan. 2014."Accurate Indoor Ranging by Broadband Harmonic Generation in Passive NLTL Backscatter Tags." IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory and Techniques (MTT)5(1249-1261).
  • Jayant, K., K. Auluck, S. Rodriguez, Y. Cao, Edwin Chihchuan Kan. 2014."Programmable Ion-sensitive Transistor Interfaces III. Design Considerations, Signal Generation and Sensitivity Enhancement." Phys. Rev. E.89(5): 052817.
  • Cao, Y., N. Rakhilin, X. Shen, Edwin Chihchuan Kan. 2014."Nonamperometric CMOS Sensing of Intestinal Action Potential." Paper presented at 18th International Conference Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Science (uTAS), October (4th Quarter/Autumn) 26.
  • Rajwade, S. R., T. A. Naoi, K. Auluck, K. Jayant, R. B. van Dover, Edwin Chihchuan Kan. 2013."Ferroelectric-assisted dual switching speed DRAM-Flash hybrid memory." IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices60(6): 1944-1950.
  • Wang, Y., W.-K Yu, G. E. Suh, Edwin Chihchuan Kan. 2013."Hiding information in Flash memory." Paper presented at IEEE Symp. Security and Privacy, San Francisco, CA, May.

Selected Awards and Honors

  • Cornell Inventor Award(Cornell University)2006
  • Robert '55 and Vanne '57 Cowie Excellence in Teaching Award(Cornell College of Engineering)2003
  • Cornell Inventor Award(Cornell University)2003
  • Best Chapter Chair Award(IEEE)2002
  • PECASE (Presidential Early-Career Award for Scientists and Engineers) Award(US Government)2000

Education

  • BS(Electrical Engineering),National Taiwan University,1984
  • MS(Electrical and Computer Engineering),University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,1988
  • Ph D(Electrical and Computer Engineering),University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,1992

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