Immunity, Pathology, and Engineering Lab

 

Directed by Jason Shoemaker, PhD

 

Understanding the control processes involved in immunity, i.e. systems immunology, is key to future immunomodulatory therapies. The immune system is charged with protecting our bodies from damaging changes. It is highly versatile; able to detect external threats (e.g. pathogens) and dangerous internal changes in our body (e.g. DNA damage or cancers). Once a threat is detected, the immune system carefully orchestrates a response so as to clear the threat while minimizing collateral damage. It is in maintaining this balance that engineering approaches can advance understanding in human health.

 

Immunity is an incredibly dynamic process that occurs at the molecular, cellular, tissue and whole body level. Importantly, differing immune responses between healthy responding and poorly responding patients has demonstrated that the dynamics of the immune response is a key factor in patient outcomes. Using mathematical models and simulations, we can integrate knowledge of the various elements of the immune system to increase our understanding of immunity and health. These models ultimately enable new therapies which apply engineering knowledge of optmization and feedback control to promote improved patient outcomes, patient-specific treatment and immune optimization.

 

Industrial Engineering's Design Studios, provides students with computer facilities that are available 24 hours a day with computers and printers and with full Internet and e-mail access. The lab provides high-speed PC hardware and provides general University and School software and includes specialized Industrial Engineering software. The laboratory and its equipment are available to senior students participating in research projects and graduate students participating in research projects in the areas of computational intelligence and operations research.

Instrumentation and Controls Laboratory

Daniel G. Cole

Phone: 412-624-3069

Email: dgcole@pitt.edu

This mechanical engineering laboratory is dedicated to the study of cyber-physical systems. The lab’s research lies at the intersection of real-time estimation and control, high-performance computing, and Bayesian and probabilistic estimation methods. Our focus is on the application of these techniques to industrial control systems, SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition), and cybersecurity. We investigate state of the art control systems from the physical systems to analog-to-digical conversion and industrial controllers all the way to the cloud. The 800 sq. ft. facility includes modern simulation platforms and networked controllers on which to implement and test new schemes. Past and current applications include nuclear instrumentation and control, control of small modular reactors, fault-tolerant systems, and cybersecurity.

IRISE is a research consortium housed in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department in Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh.

The nation’s, state’s and region’s highway infrastructure has largely been built. Due to its age, the challenges of today are driven by the need for costly rehabilitation and renewal. The high potential for rehabilitation and renewal projects to cause major disruptions makes it vital that these activities be performed in a more sustainable manner. IRISE research will produce solutions that will lead to more durable, longer lasting transportation infrastructure that will minimize these future disruptions such that:

• The right of all citizens to safe, efficient and affordable transportation is preserved.
• Accessibility to services, such as healthcare, is maintained at all times.
• Quality of life needs are met when planning projects. Improving roadway infrastructure durability should have a minimal cost to environmental health and quality of life.