The Institute - March 2022 - 56

IEEE NEWS
Before starting his career in
Medal of
Honor Goes to
Microsensor
and Systems
Pioneer
BY JOANNA GOODRICH
IEEE LIFE FELLOW Asad M. Madni
is the recipient of this year's IEEE
Medal of Honor, which is sponsored
by the IEEE Foundation. He is
being recognized " for pioneering
contributions to the development
and commercialization of innovative
sensing and systems technologies, and
for distinguished research leadership. "
Madni has been a distinguished
adjunct professor of electrical
and computer engineering and a
distinguished scientist since 2011 at the
Samueli School of Engineering at the
University of California, Los Angeles.
He is also a faculty Fellow at the UCLA
Institute of Transportation Studies and
the university's Connected Autonomous
Electric Vehicle Consortium.
academia, Madni served as chairman,
president, and chief executive of
Systron Donner and president, chief
operating officer, and chief technology
officer of BEI.
Madni led the development and
commercialization of intelligent
microsensors and systems for the
aerospace, defense, industrial, and
transportation industries. The
GyroChip technology he helped develop
at BEI revolutionized navigation and
stability in aerospace and automotive
systems, making them safer.
While at BEI, he also led the
development of an extremely slow
motion servo control system for
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope's star
selector. The system, which is still used
today, provided the telescope with
unprecedented pointing accuracy and
stability, allowing astronomers to make
new discoveries and learn more about
the universe's history.
Smart sensors
Under Madni's leadership, BEI's quartz
rate sensor technology, later known
as the GyroChip, was developed in
the early 1990s. The technology is the
first microelectromechanical system
(MEMS)-based gyroscope and inertial
measurement unit for aerospace
and automotive safety applications,
according to an entry about Madni
on the Engineering and Technology
History Wiki. It is smaller and more
cost-efficient and reliable than prior
technologies.
The GyroChip is used worldwide in
more than 90 types of aircraft, including
the stability control systems of the
Boeing 777; the yaw damper for the
Boeing 737; and in most business jets
as a sensing element in altitude control
and reference programs. It also is used
for guidance, navigation, and control
in major U.S. missiles, underwater
autonomous vehicles, and helicopters,
as well as NASA's Mars rover Sojourner
and AERCam Sprint autonomous
robotic camera.
The GyroChip is also employed in
the U.S. Civil Air Patrol's Airborne Realtime
Cueing Hyperspectral Enhanced
Reconnaissance system, which is
deployed in search-and-rescue missions.
Madni led the defense conversion
of the GyroChip technology from the
aerospace and defense sectors to the
automotive and commercial aviation
markets.
The GyroChip became the
foundation of vehicle dynamic control,
which monitors a driver's actions
including braking and steering to
combat the loss of steering control
that can occur in unsafe driving
conditions. The GyroChip is used in
more than 80 models of passenger
cars worldwide for electronic stability
control and rollover protection.
The GyroChip and numerous
other sensing, actuation, and signalprocessing
techniques developed
by Madni laid the foundation for
autonomous vehicles. The technologies
and techniques are used for features
such as lane-change assist, autonomous
cruise control, steering and wheelspeed
detection, navigation, and
drowsy- and drunken-driver detection.
While at Systron Donner, Madni led
the development of RF and microwave
systems and instrumentation-which
significantly enhanced the combat
readiness of the U.S. Navy and its
allies. The technologies provided the
U.S. Department of Defense with the
ability to simulate more threats for
warfare training that are representative
of ECM environments.
56
THE INSTITUTE
MARCH 2022
UCLA SAMUELI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

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