Dr. Michael A. Pusateri is the Director of Integrated Design Services and a Senior Research Associate in the College of Engineering at Penn State University. His current research interests are in the fields of signal processing, novel sensors, novel sensor fusion techniques, multispectral vision and image processing algorithms, real-time image and vision processing, and power efficient hardware implementation of algorithms. He is a strong proponent of experiential education and considers student involvement in design projects as the primary academic mission of Integrated Design Services. Michael has taught electrical engineering courses in continuous and discrete linear systems, electromagnetics, and embedded microcontrollers.

Currently, Michael is working on the development of several night vision systems for the Army Night Vision & Electronic Sensors Directorate in partnership with Heatfusion Incorporated. He is assisted in this effort by a team that, over time, has included a total of more than fifteen undergraduate and graduate student employees of Integrated Design Services.

Michael’s team recently finished the second phase of work on the Advanced Digital Multispectral Night Vision Goggles, a prototype featuring stereo intensified visible/near infrared imagers, a short wave infrared imager and a long wave infrared imager. The team researched and tested over 100 candidate algorithms for the goggles. Of these candidates, the four that survived the vetting process were included in the design. They were extensively developed in MATLAB, first using floating point simulations and then using integer simulations on a library of multispectral videos. Once satisfactory performance was achieved, the team implemented the algorithms in Verilog HDL and continued to refine the design to maximize the power efficiency of each algorithm. Field testing of the goggles was successfully completed in early 2009.

His team also recently completed a full brass board development for the Rattler program; this system was designed to provide both broadband multi-spectral vision from UV to LWIR and hyper-spectral imaging in the SWIR band. The IDS team wrote control software for the systems’ four cameras, the AOTF, and the four laser illuminators included in the system. The team also provided a significant portion of the Verilog HDL used to perform image acquisition, processing, fusion, and display; this code was implemented on the Heatfusion MonaLisa embedded video processing system. His team also developed a brass board for the Active Handheld SWIR program using a subset of the components in Rattler. Both systems were successfully completed and field tested in June 2009.

Michael began his higher education at General Motors Institute (currently Kettering University). In this program, he alternated semesters between work at General Motors and school. While enrolled, he gained an appreciation for the value of experiential education. His work experiences included press room production supervisor, metal assembly production supervisor, quality inspection supervisor, second-shift quality control manager, and production and facilities engineer. After graduation, he continued working for General Motors at their Milford, MI Proving Grounds as an electrical and electronics test engineer, validating systems on prototype cars. He left General Motors to pursue graduate studies at Penn State and completed his master’s and doctorate in electrical engineering. He also worked on the FindIT/TIPS project at the University’s Pennsylvania Transportation Institute, developing an inertial navigation sensor array from low cost micromechanical sensors. Michael’s doctoral research was the development of novel quadrupole resonance probes using high-temperature superconducting resonators.

In addition to his duties as the Director of Integrated Design Services, Michael is a member of the committee for the IEEE Computer Society Applied Imagery and Pattern Recognition workshop held annually during October in Washington, D. C. He serves as the faculty advisor to E-house, a special living option for engineering students. Outside the university, Michael serves on the school board for a local charter school. An Eagle Scout, he continues his involvement in Scouting by serving as the Committee Chair for both a Cub Scout Pack and Boy Scout Troop in State College, PA.