- University News Archive - Vlogý Little Rock /news-archive/tag/kamran-iqbal/ Vlogý Little Rock Tue, 30 Oct 2018 14:46:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Doctoral student earns scholarship to present research on muscle synergy adaptation /news-archive/2018/10/30/singh-muscle-synergy-adaptation/ Tue, 30 Oct 2018 14:46:46 +0000 /news/?p=72480 ... Doctoral student earns scholarship to present research on muscle synergy adaptation]]> Rajat Emanuel Singh, a doctoral systems engineering student at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, earned a scholarship to present his research on muscle synergy adaptation at the IEEE Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference.  Singh traveled to Cleveland, Ohio, Oct. 17-19, to present his paper, “Muscle Synergy Adaptation During A Complex Postural Stabilization Task.” Rajat was one of a select group of students internationally who won a $750 competitive scholarship from the conference organizers to present his research. Muscle synergy is defined as the building blocks of movement that are encoded in the spinal circuitry. Various experimental studies have shown that their combination leads to different motor behavior. It is also believed that the muscle synergies are genetically encoded and are also learned or adapted depending on the task requirements, Singh said. In order to study muscle synergies associated with balance and control, Singh and his co-authors compared the muscle synergies of proficient and novice slackliners, those who walk or balance on a suspended length of flat webbing that is tensioned between two anchors. Two participants had at least three years of experience slacklining, while the other two were beginners. Their muscle synergies were extracted from EMG data. The paper is co-authored by Dr. Kamran Iqbal, professor of systems engineering and Singh’s doctoral advisor, and Dr. Gannon White, associate professor in the school of Counseling, Human Performance, and Rehabilitation. In the upper right photo, Rajat Singh makes notes about his experiment on muscle synergy adaptation. Photo by Ben Krain. ]]> 7 Vlogý Little Rock students receive research fellowships /news-archive/2018/01/22/surf-fellowships/ Mon, 22 Jan 2018 20:40:11 +0000 /news/?p=69047 ... 7 Vlogý Little Rock students receive research fellowships]]> Seven Vlogý Little Rock students have received a prestigious Student Undergraduate Research Fellowships from the Arkansas Department of Higher Education to conduct research. The Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program provides up to $2,750 to undergraduate students and their mentors to conduct in-depth research projects in their specific fields of study with the assistance of faculty mentors. To be eligible, all fellowship recipients have a minimum grade-point average of 3.25, at least 30 hours of credit toward a degree, and support of a faculty mentor. Funds also are provided for students to travel to conferences to present their accomplishments. Students from all academic disciplines were encouraged to apply. “Research is the foundation of every great discovery, and the only way to prepare students for advanced research at the graduate level is to prepare them as undergraduates,” Vlogý Little Rock Chancellor Andrew Rogerson said. “It’s so important for our students to learn best practices under the guidance of faculty mentors so they are prepared for more rigorous research as graduate students and as professionals.” The Vlogý Little Rock fellows include the following:
  • Saiyeeda F. Hossain of Pine Bluff, a double major in sociology and psychology, received  $2,750 to research “Personality and Depressive Disorder of College Students: A Focus on Undergraduate Students at Vlogý Little Rock.” Saiyeeda’s faculty mentor is Dr. Neveen Shafeek Amin in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology.
  • Dylan Wright of Little Rock, a Spanish and political science double major, received $2,000 to study LGBTQ rights and research “Critical Film Perspectives in the Argentine Queer Community.” His faculty sponsor is Dr. Erin Finzer in the Department of World Languages.
  • Jesse Horton of Marshall, a criminal justice major, received $2,125 to research the “Impact of County-level Economic Disadvantage on Juvenile Case Dispositions in Arkansas.” His faculty sponsor is Dr. Molly Smith in Criminal Justice.
  • Nicole Ursin of Batesville, a Donaghey Scholar who is majoring in history and anthropology, received $2,125 for her research project, “Understanding Museum Demographics: Historic Arkansas Museum.” Her sponsor is Dr. Juliana Flinn in the Anthropology Department.
  • Trye Price of Benton, a criminal justice major, received $2,125 to research “Influence of Location and Client Characteristics on Perceived Violence Among Victims of Human Trafficking.” His faculty sponsor is Dr. Molly Smith in Criminal Justice.
  • Olivia Pate of Jonesboro, a geology and math major, received $2,750 to research her project “Refining the Sol-Gel Synthesis of Intermediate Composition, Nano-Scale Olivine.” Her faculty sponsor is Dr. Michael T. DeAngelis in the Department of Earth Sciences.
  • Patrick Elliott of Little Rock, an electrical and systems engineering major, received $2,750 to research “Effective Real-Time Energy Management in a Southern US Power Grid.” His faculty sponsor is  Dr. Kamran Iqbal in the Department of Systems Engineering.
The students will complete their research in the spring 2018 semester, and six of the students who also received Signature Experience Awards will exhibit their work at the Student Research and Creative Works Showcase on April 12 in the Jack Stephens Center.        ]]>
Vlogý Little Rock professor publishes new textbook for engineering students /news-archive/2017/12/28/kamran-iqbal-engineering-textbook/ Thu, 28 Dec 2017 14:52:56 +0000 /news/?p=68878 ... Vlogý Little Rock professor publishes new textbook for engineering students]]> A University of Arkansas at Little Rock professor has published a new textbook on control system design in engineering.  Dr. Kamran Iqbal, professor of systems engineering, wrote, “.” River Publishers published the book this month as part of its Series in Automation, Control, and Robotics. Iqbal, who has been teaching control system design for years, wanted to write a new textbook for his students covering advances in the field. “I was not satisfied with the textbooks on the market on the subject,” he said. “Those texts were generally written 20 to 30 years ago and are in need of reorganization to cater for changing emphases in the subject.” Control systems are quite common, according to Iqbal, especially with an increased reliance on automation. Control system design is used in environmental controls and appliances in homes, airplanes, and vehicles. “Control system design involves designing a controller to obtain the desired behavior from the physical system, such as the airplane, the automobile, or environmental controls,” Iqbal said. “Controller design is based on a mathematical model of the physical system. The design is commonly implemented as a software routine using a microprocessor.” A control system design course is normally taken by students in all engineering disciplines, particularly as part of the curricula in electrical, mechanical, chemical, biomedical, and aeronautical engineering. This book provides a unified perspective with tools and methodologies that are applicable across all engineering disciplines. Iqbal holds a bachelor’s degree in avionics engineering from NED University of Engineering and Technology in Karachi, Pakistan. He also studied at Ohio State University, where he earned a Master of Business Administration as well as a master’s degree and doctorate in electrical engineering. ]]>