Roberto Yus receives prestigious NSF CAREER award to make sensor data accessible

Roberto Yus, an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering (CSEE) at UMBC, has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award to fund his work aiming to make sensor data more accessible. The award is one of the most prestigious for early-career faculty and supports both research and education activities.

Simplifying complex sensor data

Yus’ CAREER award proposal tackles a problem currently limiting the impact of the billions of sensors and smart devices that have been deployed around the world in the so-called “Internet of Things”: Even when sensors are widely distributed, most organizations struggle to use the data because turning raw sensor readings into useful answers often requires deep technical expertise.

Yus’ project aims to solve this challenge by developing a system that allows regular users—such as educators, factory operators, public health officials, or building managers—to ask simple questions. For example, a building manager may want to know how many rooms were underutilized in the last month and how much energy they consumed. The computer system will automatically figure out which sensors and AI models to use to find the answer, while balancing concerns of privacy, efficiency, and accuracy. 

"The prevalence and pervasiveness of sensing and communication devices have the potential to transform our world. Yet, it is necessary to provide a systematic and simple means to filter the massive data that these devices collect,” says Mohamed Younis, chair of the CSEE department. "Roberto's proposed research aims to address this need. Employing AI in the process increases the system’s agility and opens the door to adopting it for a wide range of applications.”

Yus plans to test his approaches with smart home devices in his laboratory, with a smart manufacturing testbed at the Center for Research in Emergent Manufacturing at UMBC, and with sensors deployed on the UMBC campus. 

“The opportunity to work with students to develop sensor applications that will be useful to them, for example remotely checking the wait time at Starbucks, I think that will be amazing,” Yus says.

Supporting research success

Several internal UMBC grants helped Yus build the foundation for his successful CAREER proposal. He received seed funding to explore a multidisciplinary approach to deploying sensors in assisted living communities and also received funding for an undergraduate student researcher to explore the intersection of AI and the Internet of Things. 

UMBC’s College of Engineering and Information Technology (COEIT) also provides active proposal mentorship to faculty, including workshops, one-on-one coaching, and feedback. "This invested format of more directed one-to-one support has emerged in the last few years, and I do believe it helps faculty shape their proposals," says Vandana Janeja, associate dean for research in COEIT. 

Since 1995, when NSF established the CAREER award program, 36 COEIT faculty have received awards. Yus’ award also marks the 51st CAREER award for the university as a whole. 

Integrating education with research is a key characteristic of CAREER award projects. As part of his project Yus will develop new hands-on university courses, high school internships, and a summer camp for Baltimore-area students that will help educate the new generation of researchers. Campus leaders praised Yus' passion for research and community dedication.

"He is a wonderful researcher and at the same time he supports others. He is keenly aware of what matters in research, as evident from his own foundational work and also interdisciplinary work," Janeja says. 

For his part, Yus expressed deep gratitude to his colleagues for their support and to NSF for the funding. “I’m very excited to get started,” he says.