Sevuktekin receives Best Paper Award for circuit signal technique

1/30/2018 Becca Thorne, CSL

The PhD student's research aims to reduce the complexity of systems at the circuit level, the circuit surface area, and power needs without jeopardizing the integrity or accuracy of the signal.

Written by Becca Thorne, CSL

Noyan Cem Sevuktekin, an ECE ILLINOIS PhD student who conducts research at the Coordinated Science Lab, has been awarded Best Student Paper at this year’s Asilomar Conference on Signals, Systems and Computers, an event known for providing a forum for recent and unique work in the field of theoretical and applied signal processing.

Noyan Sevüktekin
Noyan Sevüktekin

His paper, entitled “Lossless Natural Sampling for PWM Generation,” focuses on pulse width modulation in electrical circuits. The technique aims to reduce the complexity of systems at the circuit level, reducing the circuit surface area and its power needs, without jeopardizing the integrity or accuracy of the signal. The paper was selected from dozens of other nominations as a finalist for the conference. 

“I was shocked by the nomination,” said Sevüktekin, advised by ECE Professor Andrew Carl Singer. “But then I quickly got to work with my professor and team to create a presentation that would convey the main ideas of the paper to an audience comprised mostly of electrical engineers without compromising the mathematical base of the work.”

The inspiration for this paper came from the year Sevüktekin spent working on his master’s thesis, which examined lossless representation and low-pass reconstruction of finite-energy, band-limited signals via pulse width modulation (PWM). In other words, Sevüktekin examined how PWM is used to recover these signals. Although the thesis was completed, and his master’s acquired, Singer encouraged him to expand his theories. This work to build better circuitry stemmed from research within SONIC, a multi-university research center focusing on the design of robust, energy efficient, and intelligent computing platforms.

“This paper and its proof was the missing piece to complete the circle of my work,” said Sevüktekin.

Having always been passionate about math since he was a kid, Noyan discovered as he grew up that he could take that passion even further and follow a career in mathematical concepts instead. This led him to a bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering at Bilkent University in his home country of Turkey.

Upon receiving his bachelor’s degree in 2013, Sevüktekin was prompted by his advisors to continue his studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Here he started his research assistant position in signal processing with ECE professor and now advisor, Andrew Singer. Singer is affiliated with the Beckman Institute and CSL at Illinois.

“My advisors at Bilkent had studied at the University of Illinois, so I had always wanted to come here to continue my education and research,” said Sevüktekin. “Illinois is a top university in this field of study and it is a privilege to me to get to study and work here.”

Looking to the future, Sevüktekin has a lot on the horizon. He has sacrificed returning home to Turkey for winter break to stay on campus and keep the momentum going on his newest research, which focuses on the blind exploration and exploitation problem.

View the original article on the CSL site.


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This story was published January 30, 2018.