Computer science and engineering professor Edward Rothwell currently is developing new antennae technology for military air vehicles, and while that might not sound exciting to some, Rothwell said export-controlled and sensitive research like his is vital to the national defense and to MSU.
Export-controlled research done by the university is overseen by agencies within the U.S. government that impose access, dissemination and participation restrictions on goods, software and information that come from the research. While United States citizens have access to the information, non-citizens are barred from participating in the projects.
The university currently does not undertake classified research endeavors, but Senior Associate Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies Paul Hunt said sensitive and export-controlled research projects are just another “flavor” of research, between basic and classified.
Hosting these sensitive research projects benefits MSU in the form of grant funding the university would not otherwise be able to accept, Hunt said.
Director for Export Control and Trade Sanctions Lori Hudson said the research can help recruit and retain skilled faculty and help MSU meet funding needs.
Generally, export-controlled research focuses on solving a specific problem or developing a new technology, Rothwell said.
“Export-controlled research is usually a lot more applied,” he said. “As engineers, we like to do cool problems and have something come out of them. With export-controlled research, you tend to see something practical happening.”
For individual colleges, it allows faculty and students the chance to research topics specific to their field and allows the college to contribute in a meaningful way.
College of Engineering dean Leo Kempel said some of the projects being worked on in the college have involved fingerprint, voice and facial recognition.
“The research is closer to the kinds of things students will be doing in future jobs,” Kempel said. “Most jobs are not basic research jobs, but instead are designed to solve a problem.”
Students also have opportunities to work on sensitive and export-controlled research as well, Rothwell said.
“The research is mostly done by graduate students and undergraduates,” Rothwell said. “Learning those sorts of areas will be good for them for careers and they will have the potential of finding better jobs in the future.”
