Dr. Joel Harley joined the faculty of ECE Florida in January of 2018 as an assistant professor in the Signals and Systems area. Previously, he was an assistant professor at the University of Utah, also in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. Dr. Harley earned his B.S. at Tufts University and completed his M.S. and Ph.D. at Carnegie Mellon University.

SmartDATA Lab

Dr. Harley and his SmartDATA lab create and apply next generation signal processing, machine learning, and data science frameworks to monitor, characterize, and diagnose the state and health of physical materials at the micro-level (e.g., electrical-mechanical devices) and macro-level (e.g., airplanes and solar planes). These systems will allow us to better understand, manufacture, and maintain tomorrow’s infrastructure. The SmartDATA lab is very diverse with students focusing on theory, code development, and hands-on experimentation. The lab is designed so that students have the opportunities to follow their passions and find the projects where they will succeed. The lab has published more than 50 technical journal and conference papers.

Summertime Collaborations

This summer, Dr. Harley and his student Alexander Douglass worked at the Air Force Research Lab in Dayton, OH, as part of a summer faculty fellowship. At the Air Force Research Lab, Dr. Harley collaborated with researchers at the Materials State Awareness and Supportability Branch​ to create machine learning and statistical methods to characterize damage in polymer matrix composite materials with ultrasonic waves. These technologies will help sustain next generation composite aircrafts.

The SmartDATA Lab encourages all members to participate in their research communities. Accordingly, this summer, Dr. Harley and three of his students attended the 2018 Review of Quantitative Nondestructive evaluation in Burlington, VT, where they gave presentations on their current research. Dr. Harley and his colleague Daniel Sparkman from the Air Force Research Laboratory also initiated and chaired a new session on Machine Learning and Statistical Methods in Nondestructive Evaluation.

Awards & Honors

Dr. Harley is a recipient of a 2018 Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship, 2017 Air Force Young Investigator Award, a 2014 Carnegie Mellon A. G. Jordan Award (for academic excellence and exceptional service to the community), the 2009 National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship, the 2009 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship, the 2009 Department of Homeland Security Graduate Fellowship (declined), and the 2008 Lamme/Westinghouse Electrical and Computer Engineering Graduate Fellowship. He has published more than 40 technical journal and conference papers, including four best student papers. He is a student representative advisor for the IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society, a member of the IEEE Signal Processing Society, and a member of the Acoustical Society of America.