Designing and Disseminating
Better Health and Nutrition
Practices
Customized Research Instruments
Enhancing
Well-Being
Electronics Design Laboratory
Building and
Protecting Global
Food Systems
Enabling Impactful
Technologies
DECODING NATURE
Kansas State University Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activities and Discovery Strengths
Overview
Researchers at the forefronts of their fields often need instruments or measurement systems that are not commercially available. The
Electronics Design Laboratory enables impactful technologies by supporting researchers and Kansas technology startups through
the development of custom electronics, embedded systems, and data acquisition platforms. EDL’s
capabilities include state-of-the art electronics design and development, testing, and packaging as well as
rapid prototype development and technical support. Expert staff and student interns also help integrate
electronics technology into research and teaching programs or can guide the transition to product
manufacturing.
One recent project was a multi-angle light scattering device designed and built with faculty from the
Department of Physics. Another project developed electronics for a solid-state neutron detector with
faculty from the Semiconductor Materials and Radiological Technologies Laboratory, or SMART Lab.
Impact
Aerosols in the Earth’s atmosphere are composed of irregularly shaped particles, and decoding nature by understanding how they
scatter light will help scientists working to improve global climate models. Previously available instruments could not gather the right
data, and EDL’s engineering support proved critical in attracting funding from the National Science
Foundation for the Department of Physics to develop better systems and improve available data.
EDL helped the SMART Lab characterize and commercialize technology that provides up to a
10-fold increase in neutron detection efficiency over conventional solid-state neutron detectors. EDL
also developed the electronics for the Domino, a highly specialized electronics package providing a
complete standalone low-power microstructured semiconductor neutron detector system in a compact
package. The Domino can be tiled together to form strings of detectors up to a meter in length, which
means it can form two-dimensional neutron detection panels or be adapted to compact handheld
detection systems. These devices enhance well-being in applications with first responders and in
protecting homeland security.
About Kansas State University
Kansas State University was established in 1863 as the nation’s first operational land-grant university. We’ve held firmly to the landgrant philosophy of serving our world through discovery and innovation. Today, the university is on its way to becoming a Top 50
public research university by 2025 through supporting, encouraging, and growing our research efforts.
1887 Agricultural Experiment Station
Important
points in time
for K-State
Research
1967 Alf Landon Lecture
built to analyze horticultural and
entomological subjects
1863 Kansas State University
1944 First U.S. patent application
founded
filed for a plastic container for
frozen foods
2015 National Bio and
Series on Public Issues
established
Agro-Defense Facility
groundbreaking
1997 Hale Library expansion
completed
$184.9 million in FY2014 research expenditures 4 USAID
RECENT SUCCESSES:
14 patents granted in 2014
$473.9 million
in FY2014 endowment
Office of the
Vice President for Research
Feed the Future Innovation Labs
1,000 research grants in FY2014
more than
4,300 graduate students
k-state.edu/research
@KState_RSCAD