Research

Penn State Harrisburg receives $448K grant to boost electrical connector studies

Penn State Harrisburg’s School of Science, Engineering and Technology recently secured a $448,000 Major Research Instrumentation grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The funding will be used to purchase a bit error ratio tester that will support the ongoing research activities of the college’s Center for Signal Integrity.

Signal integrity is the engineering field that analyzes high-speed electrical interconnects with the overall goal of improving the design, reliability and performance of digital systems. The Center for Signal Integrity is the only academic unit in the region dedicated to partnering with the area’s connector companies in product development by fostering collaboration between them and the college’s engineering faculty and students. 

Known as the “connector capital of the world,” the Harrisburg metropolitan area is home to more than 25 electrical connector companies and the region holds an estimated 80 to 90 percent of the U.S. connector market and about half of the market worldwide.

Aldo Morales and Sedig Agili, professors of electrical engineering, who also serve as co-directors of the Center for Signal Integrity, submitted the NSF grant proposal. 

Morales said that according to Bishop and Associates Inc. and Fleck Research, the connector industry’s impact in central Pennsylvania is estimated at more than $15 billion.

“The purpose of the proposal is to cement the research initiatives started at the Center for Signal Integrity at Penn State Harrisburg and advance them to the next level,” said Morales.

The bit error ratio tester will complement the existing testing equipment capacity in the center.

“This funding will also open more opportunities for undergraduate/graduate research and to develop courses to train the local workforce in the usage of the equipment,” Agili said.

The equipment obtained by the grant will provide research opportunities for Penn State Harrisburg students as well as those at Harrisburg Area Community College and Elizabethtown College. Morales and Agili will also be collaborating with the University of South Carolina to provide measuring access to their graduate program in signal integrity.

This project will also broaden the college’s work with local connector companies such as FCI and Samtec for testing product solutions with their research and development teams.

Last Updated October 22, 2014