Reviewer s Report. Brno University of Technology

Transcription

1 Reviewer s Report Project ID: Project Title: Project Title Acronym: Applicant: Principal Investigator: LO1209 Emerging Sensor, Information and Communication Systems E-SIX Brno University of Technology Arto Toppinen Inscribe please your name and titles, institution and home address: Name and Titles: Institution: Address: ZIP/Postal Code, City: Phone: Your area of expertise: Reviewer's Statement I do declare that a) I will not inform the applicant or any further participant in project about the course of evaluation of the research project, b) I will not inform any other persons either about the research project or about the results of its evaluation, c) I have not copied any of the data submitted for reviewing of the research project, d) the materials used for reviewing of the research project will either be destroyed by me or I will return them along with the reviewer's evaluation to the provider. I do also declare that a) I am not prejudiced towards either the applicant or the research project, b) I have applied only objective scientific criteria in this review Date Reviewer's Signature 1

2 Evaluation of the project from professional aspects Category A1 - Assessment of existing Centre activities A1-1) Infrastructure of the Centre, equipment and utilisation ((efficiency of the former use of the established infrastructure and equipment with regard to the original purpose for which the Centre was set up, utilisation of the Centre for the expert public, in particular for life-long learning programmes with a practical focus, exchanges and internships of students from the undergraduate study programmes and their organisation and coverage, research stay of employees from the professional field, etc.) - relates to paragraphs C1 and C2 of the project proposal General The equipment list consists of basic equipments for microwave, wireless EMC, broadband and OFDM based technologies. Also there is devices for sensor development like weight analysis, deposition, scanning electron beam microsope and ion sputtering device. It would be much easier to make comments if exact types of devices had been informed. There is not any information about options. Vector network analyzer In modern communication the multipath fading is the most problematic area. To study this area an option of IFFT for vector circuit analyzer is very useful. With that option is it much cheaper to study multipath fading than a sounder or simulator. The vector network analyzer ( 110 GHz )is really the basic device for microwave study. It can be used for antenna matching studies. The frequency band goes far enough because multiple frequencies must be measured. Antenna radiation measurement system Antenna research can be done in the EMC chamber with measuring transmitter and receiver. The system for measuring antenna radiation is not very clear what it is. If it is a measuring transmitter and receiver but there is not EMC chamber the measurement results are not reliable. The antenna measurement system needs a turning system for automated antenna measurement. The real time spectrum analyzer could be a efficient measurement device in wireless research. Also different wireless protocol analyzers are important tools. Performance tester It is not very clear what kind of system this is but it can be a EMC measurement system basically. This kind of testing system needs EMC chamber or sealed room for reliable testing. ADSL2 + VDSL test center This system is very useful for testing of different ADSL devices and technologies together with transmission line simulator. Research laboratory of the EPS and IMS systems It is not clear which devices has been bought to the laboratory. The OFDM is a common technology for all new transmission technologies like4g mobile networks, LTE and Digital Terrestrial TV. Perhaps the platform for this study needs simulation platform with MATLAB. National Instruments has also a vector based signal generator and receiver which make it possible to generate all LTE signals for example. 2

3 MALDI-TOF/FOF Biosensors are very important area in biosensor development for example in detecting heavy weight metals from mining industry. This device is the basic measurement device at this area. Chemical and plasmatic low pressure deposition In sensor development deposition of thin silicon dioxides are needed to develope sensor structures. This device is very important in this usage. Scanning electron beam microscope This device is also a basic device for studying different sensor structures. The ESEM option is very useful to study biosensor structures. To support this research are an Atomic Force Microscope is needed. Also an option to make surface structured forms with electron beam would be a nice option. Ion sputtering This is a basic device to make deposition of materials on silicon. But is there a possibility to etch material? Number of points (max. 5): 3 3

4 A1-2) Quality of the former research programmes of the Centre and evaluation of the results in Research, Experimental Development and Innovations - relates to paragraphs B2 and B8 in relation to paragraphs B1 and D4 of the project proposal The research programs shown are very important when we study the chain of measurements from sensors to background systems and user interfaces. The research activities concentrate on microwave, wireless and sensor signal processing. Converged systems research area is not very clear and should concentrate more on user interfaces, databases and datasecurity and data compressing. Also the circuitry design research is important despite of the fact that it is far and different from other areas of research. The research articles are mostly from telecommunication and electronic and telecom ICcircuitry. Some articles were from sensor field. Only two of the articles were from location awareness technologies in wireless. Research of LTE and 4G technologies was not emphasized enough. Only few of the articles were published in IEEE journals, mostly articles were published in national newspapers like Radioengineering and Analog integrated circuits and signal processing. There was one article which was not written in English! Number of points (max. 5): 4 4

5 A1-3) Efficiency of the former operation of the Centre (financial and legislative aspects, budget and utilisation of funding - share of private capital, foreign funding, etc.) - relates to paragraphs B5 B7 of the project proposal Direct research contracts are mainly quite small in financial respect. One contract with Webnode is One prove of good quality is the prolonged contracts. Some good projects are lasting several years with agreed annual sum of money. It is positive that the contracts are from every department study area. The outputs of the international research activities are very convincing taking in account the budgets. Some samples or prototypes for example a platform for wireless sensor network with Zigbee is basically quite common and usual study. The amount of FP7 projects is quite large. The projects are long mainly 2..4 years. There is a long list of the COST Action projects but it is not show any budgets for the projects. These projects are mainly co-operation projects with other foreign universities and they are at the field of multimedia and Microwave/wireless departments. The output from FP7 projects is very interesting and high quality. Sensor research is lacking from the list. Joint projects with private sector show a lot activities and the budgets of these projects are quite big. It is not possible to give comments about the content of the projects because there is not information. Any way there are projects for every department and really these projects were only examples of projects. It was perhaps easier to get these projects because they were financed by ministry. The outputs of the joint projects with private sector seems to be more practical and applied in nature. They are mainly testing equipment or algohritms, embedded systems and wireless platforms and antennas. Joint projects with public sector are from the field of sensors and system level design of intelligent city infrastructure. The intelligent infrastructure of city is a very good example of platform where all departments can take part. The outputs from intelligent infrastructure are not ready. Perhaps there are some plans? Number of points (max. 5): 4 5

6 A1-4) Management of the Centre (management system of the Centre, involvement of the Centre in international cooperation, in particular in projects evaluated at an international level such as the 7th Framework Programme, joint technology initiatives, Human Frontier in Science, other initiatives of the European Union, etc., international agreements, bilateral and multilateral infrastructure projects, projects for Master's and Doctoral studies, etc., special emphasis will be placed on projects in which a joint result of the basic and applied research has been reached) relates to paragraphs B4 and B5 in relation to paragraphs C1 and C2 of the project proposal Management of the Centre is divided into three organizational units: Management section, Economic section, Research, development and innovation section. The first and the last one are explained but the Economic unit is not clear how it is working. Perhaps it is only operative unit to which calculates the costs and incomes and makes necessary reports and takes care of book keeping? The management seems to be effective because of two boards. The firms should also take part into these boards and in this way the opinions of the industry can be heard. The management system has a very good touch to career development of researchers at different level. International activities are listed in the goals of management. Human resource management is effective because of academic motivation side and material motivation side. The management has made contracts with international companies and especially well in FP7 project fields. Very important part of research work is the co-operation with local companies in joint projects. Management should encourage the scientists to make more start up companies. Management should make a lot of lobbying work with ministry to prepare suitable programs for financement. Number of points (max. 5): 4 6

7 A1-5) Human Resources management in the Centres (Mainly career plans and its results, for instance proportion of employees with at least one level of study programme abroad (except Slovakia), proportion of employees with longer experience in an industrial laboratory, proportion of employees with longer experience in an academic laboratory, proportion of employees in the case of tertiary education institutes proportion of graduates from other tertiary education institutes at Master's or Doctoral study levels, out of own graduates, proportion of employees having had a research stay abroad of a minimum of 9 months' duration, or with a repeated research stay abroad of several months' duration (at least 3 months per stay, at least 18 months in total), ensuring conditions for the increase of qualifications of scientific workers, in particular by means of stays abroad or ensuring return conditions, work of Doctoral candidates and Master's programme students whose Supervisors are employees of the Centre on the Research, Experimental Development or Innovations infrastructure, proportion of Master's and Doctoral students with a minimum of a three-month stay abroad, professional success of the Doctoral and Master's students whose Supervisors were employees of the Centre: in the case of Doctoral candidates, in particular employment at top foreign academic institutions, in the Development department of international companies, significant national companies, etc., in the case of Master's students, transition to the Doctoral study programme at a leading institution abroad, double degree programmes in both types of studies) relates to paragraphs D1 D4 of the project proposal The human resource management has been proven to very efficient regarding the list of key members. There is a lot of members from different ages. The number of key members is enough large in all departments. There is also more than one specialists at each sector and team work is efficient. The idea of human resource management is to make the careers of scientist easier from the very beginning of studies. One positive thing is that support staff amount is very low compared to team members. The technical support stuff is of course necessary. Young scientists are engaged to research work on every level from master level post doctoral level. Supervisors from companies are involved in supervising of the young scientists. The dissemination of the outcomes is very efficient and further co-operation is secured. The amount students is all together 150 which represents a huge potential for projects. The selection process encourages students to make their best. How is the amount of incoming and outgoing exchange students and teachers? Number of points (max. 15): 12 7

8 A1-6) Former collaboration of the Centre in the application sphere (assessment) relates to paragraphs B6 and B7 of the project proposal Joint projects are mainly practical and applied projects with companies. The projects of all department are just like from the original plan of the Centre. There are listed projects for all departments. These projects nature is suitable for young scientists work, training and final works. Project subjects are coming from companies and that is why they are very actual and the need for the outcomes is real. The number of these projects should be more to be in balance with FP7 projects. Number of points (max. 5): 3 8

9 Category A2 Goals of the project in the NPU I program A2-1) Strategic concept of the project (factual assignment of the Research activities described in the draft to the National Sustainability Programme I, interrelatedness of the subgoals set in the draft project, suggested method of the Human Resources management for the project period, composition of the implementation team, of the planned results, their types and numbers, with established infrastructure of the Centre and efficiency of use of the capacities and equipment, interrelatedness with the priorities of Research, Experimental Development and Innovations) - relates to paragraphs A1, A2, A3, A4 and A6 in relation to paragraphs D1 and F1 of the project proposal The strategic concept of the project is tied around communication, information and sensor technologies of different areas of life ( traffic, quality of life security, diagnosis and healthcare ). The university fundamental research will lead to innovative new products and services. The companies are involved in projects and research. The research work should be spread to several areas and international co-operation is said to be important. Companies can develope end to end solutions starting from sensors to wireless networks and further to routing networks and web based applications. This plan allows further development of products on the basis of earlier studies and also to enlarge application areas to new fields for example to infrastructure and environmental measurements. The strategic approach is right because everything starts from university basic research and continues to application development in international context. All the above plans and quidelines are supporting the National Sustainability Programme main goal and subgoals. The planned activities make it sure that - high quality results are achieved - run the Centers efficiently - Increase number of workers. Not only in research but also in companies. - to increase the number of equipment bought by the projects Strategic plan of human resources relies on continying recruirement of young scientists. Implementation teams have different members with different experience. Perhaps more emphasize should be given to rise the number of companies and workers in them. Expected results of the project is classified in papers in conference proceedings ( ), papers in recognized journals (2 5) and functional samples ( 2 5 prototypes ) annually per each department. These goals seems to be reasonable and possible. There should also goals for number of new companies and emplyees annually. Research scientist amount should be growing annually. The equipments of the Centre consists of basic devices. There should be also some new type of devices like vector signal generators and receivers, realtime spectrum analyzers and different protocol analyzers and a sounder. The infrastructure of the Centre must be good because it has a new building. 9

10 Number of points (max. 15): 11 10

11 A2-2) Operational strategy and management policy of the external relationship of the infrastructure (regional and international aspects strategy for the achievement of the project goals, their timely implementation and, with regard to the contents and the selected thematic units, their interrelationships and interdependencies on the utilisation of project funds, feasibility of adhering to the schedule for the achievement of the project sub-goals, strategy and plan for obtaining funds with regard to the schedule for the achievement of the project sub-goals, building up the Centre's position in the field of Research, Experimental Development and Innovations regionally and internationally, concept of developing international cooperation in the field of Research, Experimental Development and Innovations, and collaboration with businesses for the purpose of achieving the project goals and with respect to the goals of the National Sustainability Programme I, setting of the target indicator values by the applicant at the project level and their selection with regard to the project goals and with regard to the goals of the National Sustainability Programme I, assessment of the risks to a successful project completion) - relates to paragraphs A4, A6, A7, A8 and F1-2 in relation to paragraphs E1 and E2 of the project proposal The external international relationship relies mainly on co-operation of engaged research teams in COST and CONTACT projects. The planned research follows naturally European trends. The scientific board has good principle of member nomination: one third is occupied by foreign professors, one third by partner companies and one third by co-operating research centers. Because partners are involved in the board their opinions can be heard. This principle is very good: International research methods is a guaranty of succesfull solution of E-SIX project. The A8 chapter where international relationship should have been explained was quite short. As has been shown the private joint projects rely mainly on local companies as partners. The financement basis is not on good basis because it comes from ministry. Instead the financement in this context should come from companies. The private joint projects are the main link to regional business. It is not clear how much there has been exchange students and teachers. Number of points (max. 15): 12 11

12 A2-3) Necessity and feasibility of the project (degree of achieving the goals of the National Sustainability Programme I, including the preservation of the structure of the entities operating the Centre's activities, presence of the motivation effect (pursuant to Article 8 of the Regulation) for instance, regional and interdisciplinary cooperation, provision of further funding of the Centre after the support termination within the National Sustainability Programme I), degree of appropriateness of the project costs with regard to the target indicator values and with regard to the project significance for the achievement of the goals of the National Sustainability Programme NPU I, efficiency of the Centre's infrastructure operation, assumption of the achievement of the expected quality of the results and their number, necessity and appropriateness of the suggested renewal of the Centre's equipment with regard to the activities planned in the project, possibilities and feasibility of the increase of value of the Centre's infrastructure with regard to the described method of development of international cooperation and collaboration with businesses and other activities described in the project.) - relates to paragraphs A1, A5, C2, E1, E2, F1 and F2 of the project proposal During the year 2012 the international co-operation and contracts in joint projects was quite succesfull both qualitatively and quantitatively. The goal was set to 6 FP7 projects and the result was 5. This is a good result. In the future there is a new Horizon 2020 program which can give new challenges. The result of regional joint projects during year 2012 was 88 k and the goal was 200 k. At this field there is a lot of to do. Regional co-operation is very important if new working places heve been set as a goal. The continuous function of the Centre in the future depends on the local and regional co-operation with companies and new founded firms. In the project goal there is not any goals for this and any outcomes are not given either. Provision of future funding of direct contracts seems to be quite promising as can be seen at page 52 where a lot projects have continuation expectations. Increase of the Centre infrastructure and equipment cannot be seen from project material. The basic equipments which are evaluated in the first chapter are not adequate in near future. For example to study multipath fading a sounder is necessary. The project achievements and quality regarding to costs are very good. Number of points (max. 30): 25 12

13 Comprehensive reviewer s statement: Total amount of points Please fill into the little frame bellow sum of points for the overall evaluation of the project proposal: 78 Overall reviewer s statement of the project proposal The following paragraphs provide predefined characteristics describing the overall quality of the project. Please fill into the little frame bellow just one of the letters A to E, corresponding to the characteristic which is the closest to your opinion on the project proposal evaluated. If you wish, give a more detailed standpoint in a commentary. B A Outstanding The concept and the scope of research fully correspond to and/or co-determine recent trends in the development of the scientific discipline. The institute maintains very good and active contacts with a number of leading research institutions worldwide and actively participates in international joint research projects. The research staff comprising a sufficient number of leading scientific personages, as well as the results achieved so far, guarantee a highly significant contribution of the institute to solution of scientific problems of the field in the upcoming years. The issues of scientific strategy and future development of the institute are well addressed. Preconditions for high-quality realisation of the project proposal are undoubted. B Very good The concept and the scope of research respect the long-term trends in the field. The institute maintains sufficiently frequent contacts with foreign research institutions. The research staff, involving several leading scientific personages, and the results achieved so far guarantee a significant contribution of the institute to solving scientific problems of the field in the upcoming years. The formulation of the plan provides sufficient and complete information on the future development of the Institute. Good realisation of the project is very probable. C Good The concept and specification of the scope of research address the fundamental problems solved in the field. The institute maintains certain contacts with foreign research institutions and/or has a capacity to establish new ones. The research staff and the results currently achieved give good promise that the institute could contribute to solving scientific problems of the field. The formulation of the project proposal provides rather limited information on the future development of the institute. Realisation of the project proposal in its full scope does not seem to be fully guaranteed. 13

14 D Satisfactory (with stipulation) The concept and specification of the scope of research follow known trends in the field. The Institute maintains only scarce contacts with foreign research institutions. The research team is short in leading scientific personages. The results achieved so far indicate a chance to improve the research potential in the years to come but the issues of future development of the Institute are not adequately addressed in the project proposal. Successful realisation of the project proposal in full extent of the submitted project is unlikely. E Unacceptable The project proposal suffers from one or more following drawbacks: the institute s personnel lacks creative scientific personages, the results of the research staff so far achieved have received a very low or no response (neither in scientific community nor in the area of practical applications), the formulation of the research plan is unclear, not scientifically reasoned and does not provide sufficient information substantial for evaluating the feasibility of the plan. Commentary (Here you can give your opinion on the further aspect of the project proposal, which are not included in previous comments of the reviewer s report, or specify more precisely your opinion in the overall evaluation) The project results so far are quite good. More attention should be given to international cooperation like exchange students and teachers. Also the regional co-operation with companies should be deeper in practical and scientific meaning and the amount of common projects should be increased. The scale of equipments in the laboratories should be more wide to enable further research and practical work in future telecommunication. Departments should find new interesting application areas like Neuro Gaming where sensors, healtcare and gaming are connected together. This is latest trend for example in Finland and USA. Generally departments should concentrate also at application development fields and not only in hardware and technologies. 14