Kaushallaya Adhikari is an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of Rhode Island. She recently received a three-year, $439,561 Young Investigator Award from the U.S. Office of Naval Research to look into ways that can help the U.S. Navy improve its sonar capabilities. Adhikari spoke with Providence Business News about her upcoming research and what she hopes to find.
PBN: What drew your interest to wanting to better understand sonar systems?
ADHIKARI: I find the field of underwater communications fascinating. A lot of progress and developments have been made in this field, yet there’s a lot more to be done. The technology is getting faster and more reliable every day, but the challenges are also getting harder simultaneously. For instance, the targets that we are interested in detecting using sonar systems are getting quieter and, hence, harder to detect. We need to improve our technologies to meet the current needs.
PBN: What do you hope to learn in your research on the sensor capabilities?
ADHIKARI: I hope to find optimal placements of sensors in a sonar system and devise better algorithms to process the data received by the sensors. This should help us to detect targets of interest more precisely and reliably.
PBN: Can you specify what the research project will entail?
ADHIKARI: Two things. One is finding optimal sensor placements within a sonar system and novel algorithms to process the sensor measurements. The other is that two graduate students at URI are supported by this grant. By having the students work on research that is important to the current and future needs of the Navy, we’re preparing them for potential careers in the Navy. One of the students is applying for a summer internship at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport for 2021.
PBN: What do you feel the U.S. Navy is lacking regarding its sonar systems?
ADHIKARI: The current system is good, but we need to continuously improve the system to keep up with the rest of the world. Specifically, the Office of Naval Research is interested in enabling “the technical superiority of our naval forces by producing knowledge and transitions and growing a healthy science and engineering workforce.” My goals align with the Office of Naval Research’s interests. This award will help me conduct research and contribute to the advancement of our sonar systems while training graduate students and preparing the future workforce.
PBN: How will the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Lincoln Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory assist you in this research?
ADHIKARI: The ultimate goal is to share and analyze sonar datasets and collaborate on the methodologies we develop.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
