NRT Program

The National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) Program at UVA is the first of its kind in the U.S. and is leading the way in Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) education.

We are in our final year of the NRT Program (Fall 2023-Spring 2024). However, many of the NRT program elements will continue! Please reach out to find out about the opportunity to participate in a comprehensive and interdisciplinary education program including:

  • Work in the Link Lab, a 17,000-square-foot interdisciplinary facility that is home to over 40 faculty and 200 students from six different engineering degree programs
  • Take hands-on, testbed-driven cyber-physical systems courses, including:

-Embedded Systems
-Machine Learning, Signal Processing, and Control
-Dynamical Systems
-Formal Methods, Safety, and Security

  • Conduct interdisciplinary research focused on smart cities, smart health, robotics and autonomous systems, hardware for IoT
  • Connect with an industry advisory board that includes Northrop Grumman, IBM, Leidos, National Instruments (NI), Perrone Robotics and Azbil
  • Earn a graduate certificate in cyber-physical systems

About the NRT Program

The National Science Foundation awarded UVA a five-year National Research Traineeship (NRT) grant to create a Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) education program. Through the CPS NRT Program, PhD and ME students will receive a degree in their respective degree program with a focus in CPS. Students in this exciting new education program will take core and in-depth CPS courses focused on a deep understanding of the interfaces between the cyber and physical worlds - driving discovery, innovation and education forward in the areas of Smart Health, Smart Cities, Robotics and Autonomous Systems and Hardware for IoT. The curriculum is based on integrated and testbed-driven CPS education as well as CPS research activities and professional development.

Industry Involvement

The CPS NRT Program utilizes an Industry Advisory Board to help identify skills and knowledge needed in industry, provide feedback on curriculum, offer ideas, support and resources for testbeds, and identify possible internships or full time post-graduation employment for students. The CPS NRT Advisory Board includes: Northrop Grumman, IBM, Leidos, EY, National Instruments, Perrone Robotics, and Azbil.

NRT Curriculum

Students in the CPS NRT Program will take a minimum of 3 “Core CPS Courses” and 2 “In-Depth CPS Courses”. Ph.D. and ME students will work with faculty advisors to create an individual plan for course selection (and research options for Ph.D. students). CPS courses listed below are also available for non-CPS NRT Program participants. The course requirements align with the requirements of the Graduate Certificate in CPS, so NRT students who complete the program will also be eligible for the certificate.

Additional information:

CPS Core Courses

  • CPS1: Cyber-Physical Systems Technology and Ethics

    This is a core Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) class. This course is designed to develop cross-competency in the technical, analytical and professional capabilities necessary for the emerging field of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS). It provides convergence learning activities that are based around developing CPS test-beds and exploring the ethical, social and policy dimensions of CPS work. The course also introduces and emphasizes the importance of communication as a necessary skill.

    Course Name: Cyber-Physical Systems Technology and Ethics

    Sample SYLLABUS

    Course Numbers: CS 6780 / CE 6780 / SYS 6780 / MAE 6780 / ENGR 6780

    Instructor: Brad Campbell and Arsalan Heydarian

    Course is offered in Fall

    (Previously listed under CPS1: Communication, Test-Beds & Policy- ENGR 6559 / CE 6500 / CS 6501 / MAE 6592 / SYS 6581)

  • CPS2: Advanced Embedded Systems

    This is a core Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) class. Embedded systems are special-purpose computers that are often tightly coupled with electronic and physical components and must operate within real-time performance, battery, and size constraints.

    Course Name: CPS2: Advanced Embedded Systems

    SYLLABUS

    Course Numbers: ECE 6434 and CS 6434 (previously ECE 6501 and CS 6501)

    Instructor: Homa Alemzadeh

    Course is offered in Spring

  • CPS3: Signal Processing, Machine Learning and Control

    This is a core Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) class. This course provides basic graduate level material in signal processing, machine learning, and feedback control. Knowledge in these areas is central to understanding and building CPS. However, the material is not presented in a traditional manner and does not replace deep domain expertise in these topics. Rather, the principles and skills taught highlight the intersection of the cyber and the physical and how they impact each other.

    Course Name: CPS3: Signal Processing, Machine Learning and Control

    Sample SYLLABUS

    Course Number: CS 6762

    Instructor: Jack Stankovic or Felix Lin

    Course is offered in Fall

  • CPS4: Dynamical Systems

    This is a core Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) class. The course will focus on topics that are critical to CPS applications, e.g. pipe networks, lift/drag on vehicles, and relative reference frames in the context of autonomous vehicles and satellites, while avoiding topics that are specific only to advanced Mechanical Engineering, e.g. fluid instabilities and complex potential functions.

    Course Name: CPS4: Dynamical Systems

    Sample SYLLABUS

    Instructor: Osman Ozbulut or Dan Quinn

    Course Number: MAE 6592, CE 6500

    Course is offered in Spring

     

  • CPS5: Formal Methods, Safety, and Security

    This is a core Cyber Physical Systems class. Cyber-physical systems (CPS) are smart systems that include co-engineered interacting networks of physical and computational components. Examples of CPS include medical devices, cars, and robots. Increasingly, such systems are everywhere. It becomes more and more important to assure the safety and security of CPS, since many CPS applications are safety-critical and life-critical. This course will give you the required skills to formally analyze the CPS that are all around us, so that when you contribute to the design of CPS, you are able to understand important safety-critical aspects and feel confident designing and analyzing CPS system models.

    Course Name: CPS5: Formal Methods, Safety, and Security

    Sample SYLLABUS

    Instructor: Lu Feng

    Course Number: CS 6763, SYS 6763 (previous course numbers: CS 6501, SYS 6582)

    Course is offered in Spring

CPS Course Offerings

  • Fall 2023

    Two CORE CPS courses will be offered in Fall 2023:

    CPS1: Cyber-Physical Systems Technology and Ethics - CS 6780 / CE 6780 / SYS 6780 / MAE 6780 / ENGR 6780 

    T/Th 11:00am - 12:15pm (Rice Hall 340)

    (Previously listed under CPS1: Communication, Test-Beds & Policy - ENGR 6559 / CE 6500 / CS 6501 / MAE 6592 / SYS 6581)

    CPS3: Signal Processing, Machine Learning, and Control - CS 6762 

    T/Th 12:30pm - 1:45pm (Rice Hall 340)

    (previously listed under CS 6501)

    In-Depth CPS courses:

    CS 6111 Cloud Computing | Haiying Shen

    CS 6434 Dependable Computing Systems | Homa Alemzadeh

    CS 6501 Human-Computer Interaction | Seongkook Heo

    CS 6501 Smart and Healthy Buildings | Brad Campbell, Arsalan Heydarian

    CS 6501 Computational Behavior Modelng | Afsaneh Doryab

    CS 6501 Autonomous Mobile Robots | Nicola Bezzo

     

    ECE 6434 Dependable Computing Systems | Homa Alemzadeh

    ECE 6501 Autonomous Mobile Robots | Nicola Bezzo

    ECE 6501 AI Hardware | Mircea Stan

    ECE 6850 Introduction to Control Systems | Zongli Lin

     

    CE 5400 Traffic Operations | Brian Park

    CE 6500 Smart and Healthy Buildings | Brad Campbell, Arsalan Heydarian

      

    SYS 6005 Stochastic Modeling I | Tariq Iqbal

    SYS 6021 Statistical Modeling I | Laura Barnes, Julianne Quinn

    SYS 6050 Risk Analysis | Jim Lambert

    SYS 6060 Autonomous Mobile Robots | Nicola Bezzo

    SYS 6581 Computational Behavior Modelng | Afsaneh Doryab

    SYS 6581 Human Factors in Safety | Matthew Bolton

    SYS 6582 Smart and Healthy Buildings | Brad Campbell, Arsalan Heydarian

     

    MAE 6592 Wind Energy | Eric Loth

    MAE 6210 Analytical Dynamics | Qing (Cindy) Chang

    MAE 6270 Experimental Robotics | Tomo Furukawa

     

  • Spring 2023

    Core CPS Courses:

    CPS 2: Advanced Embedded Systems Instructor: Homa Alemzadeh M/W Time:2:00pm - 3:15pm

    CPS 4:Dynamical Systems (CE 6500 / 16540 or MAE 6592 / 16537) Instructor: Osman Ozbulut Days: T/Th;Time: 11:00am - 12:15pm

    CPS 5: Cyber-Physical Systems: Formal Methods, Safety and Security (CS 6763 / 16528) Instructor: Lu Feng Days: T/Th Time: 2:00pm - 3:15pm 

    In-Depth CPS courses

    • CE 5240 | Ground-Water Hydrology and Contaminant Transport | Venkataraman Lakshmi
    • CE 6230 | Hydrology | Jonathan Goodall
    • CS 6465 | Human-Robot Interaction | Tariq Iqbal
    • CS 6501 | Engineering Interactive Technologies | Seongkook Heo
    • CS 6501 | Network Security and Privacy | Yixin Sun
    • ECE 6332 | VLSI Design | Benton Calhoun
    • ECE 6465 | Human-Robot Interaction | Tariq Iqbal
    • ECE 6502 | Advanced Digital Design Laboratory | Mircea Stan
    • ECE 6502 | Network Security and Privacy | Yixin Sun
    • ECE 6660 | Analog Integrated Circuits | Steven Bowers
    • MAE 6260 | Robotic Autonomy | Tomonari Furukawa
    • MAE 6310 | Fluid Mechanics | Daniel Quinn
    • SYS 6007 | Human Factors I Matthew Bolton
    • SYS 6024 | User Experience Design | Gregory Gerling
    • SYS 6034 | Discrete-Event Stochastic Simulation | B. Brian Park
    • SYS 6050 | Risk Analysis | James Lambert
    • SYS 6465 | Human-Robot Interaction | Tariq Iqbal
    • SYS 6582 | Human Error in Complex Systems | Sara Riggs
    • SYS 6582 | Introduction to Uncertainty Quantification | Negin Alemazkoor

    ***Students: If there is a course you think is CPS, but not on this list, please contact Kelley

  • Fall 2022

    CORE CPS Courses

    SYS 6581, CS 6501, CE 6500, ENGR 6559, MAE 6592 | CPS1: Communication, Test-Beds & Policy | Brad Campbell and Arsalan Heydarian

    CS 6762 CPS3: Signal Processing, Machine Learning and Control | Felix Lin

    (Note: CPS2, CPS4, and CPS5 will be offered in the spring)

    In-Depth CPS Courses

    CS 6111 Cloud Computing | Haiying Shen

    CS 6501 Human-Computer Interaction | Seongkook Heo

    CS 6501 Smart and Healthy Buildings | Brad Campbell, Arsalan Heydarian

    CS 6501 AI for Social Good | Afsaneh Doryab

    CS 6501 Learning in Robotics | Madhur Behl

    CS 6501 Autonomous Mobile Robots | Nicola Bezzo

    ECE 6501 Autonomous Mobile Robots | Nicola Bezzo

    ECE 6501 Low Power Wireless Transceivers for IoT | Steve Bowers

    CE 5400 Traffic Operations | Brian Park

    CE 5500 Forest Hydrology | Larry Band

    CE 6290 Hydroinformatics | Jon Goodall

    CE 6500 Smart and Healthy Buildings | Brad Campbell, Arsalan Heydarian

    SYS 6005 Stochastic Modeling I | Tariq Iqbal

    SYS 6021 Statistical Modeling I | Laura Barnes, Julianne Quinn

    SYS 6050 Risk Analysis | Jim Lambert

    SYS 6581 Autonomous Mobile Robots | Nicola Bezzo

    SYS 6581 Mobile Sensing and Health | Mehdi Boukhechba

    SYS 6581 AI for Social Good | Afsaneh Doryab

    SYS 6581 Human Factors in Safety | Matthew Bolton

    SYS 6582 Smart and Healthy Buildings | Brad Campbell, Arsalan Heydarian

    SYS 6581 Learning in Robotics | Madhur Behl

    MAE 6592 Experimental Robotics | Tomo Furukawa

    MAE 6592 Modeling & Control of Manufacturing Processes | Qing (Cindy) Chang

    MAE 6592 Robotic Manipulators | Sarah Sun

  • Spring 2022

    Below are the list of in-depth CPS courses for Spring 2022:

    • CE 6000 Forefronts of Civil Engineering (Venkat Lakshmi)
    • CE 6230 Hydrology (Jon Goodall)
    • CS 6434 / ECE 6434 Dependable Computing Systems (Homa Alemzadeh)
    • CS 6456 Operating Systems (Felix Lin)
    • CS 6501 Network Security and Privacy (Yixin Sun)
    • CS 6501 Engineering Interactive Technologies (Seongkook Heo)
    • CS 8501 IoT Security and Privacy (Yuan Tian)
    • ECE 5502 Hardware-Software Security (Barry Johnson)
    • ECE 6332 VLSI Design (Mircea Stan)
    • ECE 6502 Advanced Digital Design Laboratory (Mircea Stan)
    • MAE 6592 Turbulence & Multiphase Flow (Eric Loth)
    • MAE 6592 Robotic Autonomy (Tomonari Furukawa)
    • MAE 6720 Computational Fluid Dynamics I (Haibo Dong)
    • MAE 6210 Analytical Dynamics (Qing (Cindy) Chang)
    • SYS 6050 Risk Analysis (James Lambert)
    • SYS 6024 User Experience Design (Greg Gerling)
    • SYS 6034 Discrete-Event Stochastic Simulation (Brian Park)
    • SYS 6582 Human Error in Complex Systems (Sara Riggs)
    • SYS 6583 Introduction to Uncertainty Quantification (Negin Alemazkoor)

     

    And, our CORE CPS courses are:

    • CPS4 Dynamical Systems (Dan Quinn) - MAE 6592 / CE 6500 - 002
    • CPS5 Formal Methods, Safety and Security (Lu Feng) - CS 6763 / SYS 6763
  • Fall 2021

    Fall 2021 In-Depth CPS Courses

    CE 5400 Traffic Operations Brian Park

    CE 6500 Smart and Healthy Buildings Arsalan Heydarian, Brad Campbell (section 005 / 20737 only)

    CS 6111 Cloud Computing Haiying Shen

    CS 6333 Mobile and IoT Security Yuan Tian

    CS 6456 Operating Systems Felix Lin

    CS 6501 AI for Social Good Afsaneh Doryab

    CS 6501 Human-Computer Interaction Seongkook Heo

    CS 6501 Autonomous Mobile Robots Nicola Bezzo

    ECE 6501 Autonomous Mobile Robots Nicola Bezzo

    ECE 6660 Analog Integrated Circuits Steven Bowers

    MAE 6210 Analytical Dynamics Qing (Cindy) Chang

    MAE 6592 Experimental Robotics Tomonari Furukawa

    SYS 6005 Stochastic Modeling I Tariq Iqbal

    SYS 6021 Statistical Modeling I Laura Barnes, Julianne Quinn, Sonia Baee

    SYS 6581 Autonomous Mobile Robots Nicola Bezzo

    SYS 6581 Principles of Modeling for Cyber Physical Systems Madhur Behl

    SYS 6581 Mobile Sensing and Health Mehdi Boukhechba

    SYS 6581 AI for Social Good Afsaneh Doryab

    SYS 6582 Smart and Healthy Buildings Arsalan Heydarian, Brad Campbell

  • Spring 2021

    Spring 2021 In-Depth CPS Courses

    CS 8501 (16648) -Cyber Physical Systems and the Internet of Things - John (Jack) Stankovic - M/W 2:00pm - 3:15pm

    CS 6111 (19081) - Cloud Computing - Haiying Shen -T/Th 9:30 am - 10:45 am

    CE 6500 (19285) - Smart Cities and Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) - Jonathan Goodall - T/Th 11:00am - 12:15pm

    CE 6500 (19286) - Remote Sensing for Environmental Engineers - Venkataraman Lakshmi- Day/Time TBD

    CE 6460 (19284) - Introduction to Integrated Transportation Systems Models - B. Brian Park - T/Th 12:30pm - 1:45pm

    ECE 5502 (16683) - Hardware-Software Security - Barry Johnson - Day/Time TBD

    ECE 6332 (16211) VLSI Design - Mircea Stan - T/Th 11:00am - 12:15pm

    ECE 6434 (19091) - Dependable Computing Systems - Homa Alemzadeh -T/Th 11:00am - 12:15pm

    ECE 6465 (16453) / SYS 6465 (16455) - Robots and Humans - Tariq Iqbal - T/Th 9:30am - 10:45am

    ECE 6502 (16215) - Advanced Digital Design Laboratory -Mircea Stan - T/Th 12:30pm - 1:45pm

    MAE 6592 (16432) – Wind Energy -Eric Loth -T/Th 11:00am - 12:15pm

    MAE 6592 (16831) - Robotic Autonomy - Tomonari Furukawa - We 10:00am - 12:30pm

    MAE 6720 (19041) - Computational Fluid Dynamics I - Haibo Dong - M/W 11:00am - 12:15pm

    SYS 6050 (15519) - Risk Analysis - James Lambert - Day/Time TBD

    SYS 6582 (20582) - Reinforcement Learning - Peter Beling - T/Th 3:30-4:45

  • Fall 2020

    CORE CPS COURSES

    CPS1: Communication, Test-Beds & Policy 12538 (ENGR 6559, CE 6500, CS 6501, MAE 6592, SYS 6581)

    Brad Campbell/Tolu Odumosu M/W 11:00am - 12:15pm

    CPS2: Advanced Embedded Computing Systems 19386 (CS 6501, ECE 6501)

    Homa Alemzadeh T/Th 11:00am - 12:15pm

    CPS3: Signal Processing, Machine Learning, and Control 12042 (CS 6501)

    John Stankovic T/Th 12:30pm - 1:45pm

    IN-DEPTH CPS COURSES

    CE 5000 Management Large-Scale Construction Projects 12360 Arsalan Heydarian T/Th 2:00pm - 3:15pm

    CE 5400 Traffic Operations 11098 Brian Park T/Th 11:00am - 12:15pm

    CS 6501 Principles of Modeling for Cyber Physical Systems 11819 Madhur Behl T/Th 2:00pm - 3:15pm

    CS 6501 Cloud Computing 18798 Haiying Shen T/Th 9:30am - 10:45am

    CS 6501 Mobile and IoT Security 12239 Yuan Tian T/Th 9:30am - 10:45am

    CS 6501 Human-Computer Interaction 12350 Seongkook Heo M/W 5pm-6:15pm

    CS 6501 Autonomous Mobile Robots 19396 Nicola Bezzo Tu 5:00pm - 6:15pm and W 12:30pm - 1:45pm

    ECE 6501 Low Power Wireless Transceivers for IoT 19198 Steven Bowers T/Th 2:00pm - 3:15pm

    ECE 6501 Autonomous Mobile Robots 11919 Nicola Bezzo Tu 5:00pm - 6:15pm and W 12:30pm - 1:45pm

    MAE 6310 Fluid Mechanics I 19003 Daniel Quinn T/Th 2:00pm - 3:15pm

    MAE 6592 Modeling & Control of Manufacturing Processes 12357 Qing Chang T/Th 9:30am - 10:45am

    MAE 6592 Experimental Robotics 12597 Tomonari Furukawa W 10:00am - 12:30pm

    SYS 6005 Stochastic Modeling I 11190 Tariq Iqbal T/Th 9:30am - 10:45am

    SYS 6021 Statistical Modeling I 11632 Julianne Quinn/Laura Barnes M/W 2:00pm - 3:15pm

    SYS 6581 Autonomous Mobile Robots Nicola Bezzo Tu 5:00pm - 6:15pm and  W 12:30pm - 1:45pm

    SYS 6581 Modeling and Control of Manufacturing Processes 12386 Qing Chang T/Th 9:30am - 10:45am

    SYS 6581 Principles of Modeling for Cyber Physical Systems 12088 Madhur Behl T/Th 2:00pm - 3:15pm 

    SYS 6581 Mobile Sensing and Health 12385 Mahdi Boukhechba Th 3:30pm - 6:00pm

    SYS 6581 Introduction to Reinforcement Learning 18934 Peter Beling M/W 11:00am - 12:15pm

    SYS 6581 AI for Good 18935 Afsaneh Doryab T/Th 2:00pm - 3:15pm

  • Spring 2020

    In-Depth CPS Courses (Spring 2020)
    CS 8501 Cyber Physical Systems and the Internet of Things M/W 2:00-3:15 18896 (Jack Stankovic)

    CS 6456 Operating Systems M/W 9:30am - 10:45am 19969 (Brad Campbell)

    CS 6465 (ECE 6465, CS 6465, SYS 6465) - Robots and Humans T/Th 9:30 – 10:45 16205 (Joanne Dugan and Tariq Iqbal)

    CS 6501 Engineering Interactive Technologies M/W/F 1pm - 1:50pm 20298 (Seongkook Heo)

    SYS 6581 (CE 5500) Human Considerations In Smart Infrastructure W 2-4:30 18667 (Arsalan Heydarian)

    ECE 6332 VLSI Design T/Th 11-12:15 15905 (Mircea Stan)

    ECE 6502 Advanced Digital Design Laboratory T/Th 12:30-01:45  15911 (Mircea Stan)

    CE 6500 Forefronts of Civil Engineering Th 2:00 - 4:45 18679 (Venkataraman Lakshmi)

    SYS 6024 User Experience Design M/W 10:30-11:45 16041 (Greg Gerling)

    SYS 6050 Risk Analysis M/W 5-6:15 15160 (Jim Lambert)

    SYS 6582 Human Error in Complex Systems T/Th 3:30-4:45 16322 (Sara Riggs)

    MAE 6210 Analytical Dynamics M/W 2:00 - 3:15 15888 (Cindy Chang)

    MAE 6592 Robotic Autonomy Day/Time/Course Number (Tomo Furukawa)

    ECE 5502 - Hardware-Software Security T/Th 12:30pm - 1:45pm 19772 (Barry Johnson)
    *please note, this is a 5000 level course – make sure it satisfies your degree requirements

    Core CPS Courses (Spring 2020)
    CPS 4 - MAE 6592: Special Topics – Dynamical Systems
    T/Th 11am – 12:15pm 19448 (Quinn)

    CPS5 - CS 6501 (SYS 6582): Special Topics – Formal Methods, Safety, and Security
    M/W 5pm – 6:15pm (Feng) 18658

  • Fall 2019

    Below is a sample of some of the In-Depth CPS courses that were offered in Fall 2019.

    ECE 6501 Self powered system for the IoT - Ben Calhoun

    SYS 6581 / ECE 6501 / CS 6501 Autonomous Mobile Robots - Nicola Bezzo

    CE 6500 Remote Sensing for Environmental Engineers - Venkataraman Lakshmi

    CS 6501 / SYS 6582: Principles of Modeling for Cyber-Physical Systems - Madhur Behl

    CS 6501: CPS and Cloud Computing - Haiying Shen

    CS 6456: Operating Systems – Brad Campbell

    CS 8501: Mobile and IoT Security – Yuan Tian

    SYS 6021: Statistical Modeling I - Laura Barnes

    SYS 6581: Modeling and Control of Manufacturing Processes and Systems – Cindy Chang

    MAE 6592: Experimental Robotics - Tomonari Furukawa

    MAE 6720: Computational Fluid Dynamics – Haibo Dong