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faculty

Ruolin Zhou, PhD

Associate Professor

Electrical & Computer Engineering

Contact

508-910-6922

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Science & Engineering 209A

Education

2012Wright State UniversityPhD in Engineering
2007Wright State UniversityMS in Electrical Engineering
2003Dalian Jiaotong UniversityBS in Electrical Engineering

Teaching

  • ECE 256: Foundations of Cybersecurity: Hardware, Software, and Information Systems
  • ECE 260: Digital Logic and Computer Design
  • ECE 368: Digital Design
  • ECE 403/591: Software Defined Radio
  • ECE 595: Independent Study

Teaching

Courses

Examination of the design and implementation of secure computer systems. Addresses threat models, attacks that compromise security, and techniques for achieving security, based on recent research. Topics include hardware security, operating system (OS) security, capabilities, information flow control, language security, network protocols, and security in web applications. Assignments include miniature projects that involve implementing and compromising secure hardware components, software components, and information store components.

Examination of the design and implementation of secure computer systems. Addresses threat models, attacks that compromise security, and techniques for achieving security, based on recent research. Topics include hardware security, operating system (OS) security, capabilities, information flow control, language security, network protocols, and security in web applications. Assignments include miniature projects that involve implementing and compromising secure hardware components, software components, and information store components.

Examination of the design and implementation of secure computer systems. Addresses threat models, attacks that compromise security, and techniques for achieving security, based on recent research. Topics include hardware security, operating system (OS) security, capabilities, information flow control, language security, network protocols, and security in web applications. Assignments include miniature projects that involve implementing and compromising secure hardware components, software components, and information store components.

The goal of this course is to prepare the student to undertake and successfully complete the capstone design experience embodied in the subsequent course ECE 458 Design Project II. The objectives of this course include providing a firm basis in the methodology of planning and executing an engineering design project, exposing the student to real case studies involving engineering design, forming a design project group and developing group skills in executing design projects, preparing a design project plan, and having the student groups select a design project of appropriate complexity and their faculty advisor in preparation for the subsequent course ECE 458. Included in this course are major written report(s) and major oral presentation(s) as well as minor reports and presentations.

Investigations of a fundamental and/or applied nature, intended to develop design techniques,research techniques, initiative, and independent inquiry. A written thesis must be completed in accordance with the rules of the Graduate School and the College of Engineering. Completion of the course requires a successful oral defense open to the public and a written thesis approved by the student's thesis committee unanimously and the ECE Graduate Program Director. Admission to the course is based on a formal thesis proposal endorsed by the student's graduate committee and submitted to the ECE Graduate Program Director.

Investigations of a fundamental and/or applied nature, intended to develop design techniques,research techniques, initiative, and independent inquiry. A written thesis must be completed in accordance with the rules of the Graduate School and the College of Engineering. Completion of the course requires a successful oral defense open to the public and a written thesis approved by the student's thesis committee unanimously and the ECE Graduate Program Director. Admission to the course is based on a formal thesis proposal endorsed by the student's graduate committee and submitted to the ECE Graduate Program Director.

Investigations of a fundamental and/or applied nature, intended to develop design techniques,research techniques, initiative, and independent inquiry. A written thesis must be completed in accordance with the rules of the Graduate School and the College of Engineering. Completion of the course requires a successful oral defense open to the public and a written thesis approved by the student's thesis committee unanimously and the ECE Graduate Program Director. Admission to the course is based on a formal thesis proposal endorsed by the student's graduate committee and submitted to the ECE Graduate Program Director.

Research for and preparation of doctoral dissertation proposal. The dissertation proposal must provide a thorough survey of the research activities in the research topic area and it must present original and innovative research ideas and preliminary results as well as a defined research scope and directions. PhD students must have passed this course before registering for doctoral dissertation research credits. This course may also be applied toward MS thesis or project credit if PhD student leaves prior to completing their dissertation. In all cases, required deliverables are an oral defense and a written document approved by the student's committee.Graded P/F.

Research for and preparation of doctoral dissertation proposal. The dissertation proposal must provide a thorough survey of the research activities in the research topic area and it must present original and innovative research ideas and preliminary results as well as a defined research scope and directions. PhD students must have passed this course before registering for doctoral dissertation research credits. This course may also be applied toward MS thesis or project credit if PhD student leaves prior to completing their dissertation. In all cases, required deliverables are an oral defense and a written document approved by the student's committee.Graded P/F.

For PhD students who plan to take the PhD Comprehensive exam within the next 3 months. Up to 6 credits may be applied to either doctoral dissertation or MS thesis (should student not pass Comprehensive exam). Graded P/F.

Research

Research awards

  • $ 99,866 awarded by Naval Surface Warfare Center for An Adaptive Deep Learning Architecture with FPGA Acceleration for Continuously Monitoring and Characterizing Operations and Promptly Reconfiguring SDR in Spectrum Contested Environments
  • $ 199,902 awarded by The National Science Foundation for ERI: An Adaptive Incremental Deep Learning Architecture for Real-Time Inference
  • $ 476,926 awarded by Office of Naval Research for UMassD MUST I: Deep Learning-Enabled Detection and Classification of Acoustic Signals in Underwater Channels

Research

Research interests

  • Software Defined Radio
  • AI/ML for Wireless Communications
  • Cyber & Electromagnetic Spectrum Security
  • Hardware Security

Ruolin Zhou joined the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in September 2018. From August 2012 to August 2018, she was with Western New England University in Springfield, MA, where she was promoted to an Associate Professor with tenure granted in early of 2018. Her research focuses on software defined radio (SDR), AI/ML for wireless communications with a particular emphasis on spectrum sensing, sharing and management, cyber & electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) security, and hardware security. Her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Army Research Laboratory (ARL), and industry partners such as Lockheed Martin. She has received several notable awards including the 2024 IEEE Region 1 Outstanding Teaching in an IEEE Area Award, senior-level faculty research fellow of the ONR Summer Faculty Research Program in 2022 and 2023, the Best Team Award of the 2020-2021 AFRL SDR Beyond 5G University Challenge, and the Best Demo Award of the IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM) in 2010. Dr. Zhou serves as the 2025 Vice President for Technical Activities within the IEEE Reliability Society (RS), the RS liaison on IEEE Women in Engineering, a steering committee member of the IEEE Future Networks Technical Community (FNTC) and the IEEE Internet of Things Technical Community (IoT TC), and a co-chair of the IEEE Future Networks Entrepreneurs Mentorship program (FNEM).

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