Abstract
This paper presents an initiative to involve ECE undergraduate students in the design and deployment of a network infrastructure for an academic laboratory. The project aims at attaining a reliable and secure network for an IC CAD environment. The students focused on employing secure authentication, accounting and storage with single sign-on, based on enterprise-grade, open-source protocols. This initiative proved to be highly motivating and allowed the students to develop knowledge and hands-on experience on the area of network security. The resulting network design and core infrastructure is herein described as well as its deployment in a real microelectronics design environment. © 2011 IEEE.

Abstract
In this paper we consider the performance of different scheduling policies in a smart environment. Models are generated under a hospital scenario, and are used to simulate patient flow under three scheduling policies. SimJava 2.0 is adopted as the main simulator in this work. The findings generally show that the dynamic scheduling policy has better performance than the static scheduling policy. © 2011 IEEE.

Abstract
The very particular characteristics of electricity markets, require deep studies of the interactions between the involved players. MASCEM is a market simulator developed to allow studying electricity market negotiations. This paper presents a new proposal for the definition of MASCEM players' strategies to negotiate in the market. The proposed methodology is implemented as a multiagent system, using reinforcement learning algorithms to provide players with the capabilities to perceive the changes in the environment, while adapting their bids formulation according to their needs, using a set of different techniques that are at their disposal. This paper also presents a methodology to define players' models based on the historic of their past actions, interpreting how their choices are affected by past experience, and competition. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.

Abstract
The use of fiber Bragg grating sensors embedded in hybrid composite laminates for simultaneous measurement of strain and temperature is proposed. The hybrid structure, formed by a pre-impregnated thermoset and thermoplastic composites, contains one single fiber Bragg grating embedded in each material, connected in series with each other. A different response is observed when the smart composite laminate is subjected to strain and to temperature. This is expected due to the distinct properties presented by each material. The rms deviation obtained for a temperature range between 20 and 60 degrees C is +/- 0.97 degrees C and for a strain range from 0 to 1100 mu epsilon is +/- 13.04 mu epsilon.

Abstract
This paper presents a routing protocol for wireless sensor networks (WSN), established on the basis of fundamental concepts in source based routing (SBR) for ad hoc networks and minimum cost forwarding (MCF) methods for heterogeneous WSNs. Neither routing tables nor network topology information is maintained at sensor level, which makes the proposed protocol part of the reactive routing protocols class. Despite the lack of network information at the sensor, the packets from the sink node to sensors, and viceversa, always follow the optimal communication path with minimum cost. Simulation results have shown that the proposed protocol performs better than MCF protocol alone, and nodes always route the packets through the optimal path up to destination. In fact, according to the energy consumption and throughput found by simulation, this protocol improves on the MCF protocol for applications where the sink node, acting as a server or base station (BS), generates significant amounts of network traffic. All results are based on simulations and data treatment performed with OMNet++ 4, Matlab 7 and Microsoft Visual Studio2010(C#) platform tools.

Abstract
A novel configuration able to measure simultaneously relative humidity and temperature is proposed. The sensing head is based on a long-period fiber grating (LPG) coated with silica nanospheres in-line with a fiber Bragg grating. The polymeric overlay that changes its optical properties when exposed to different humidity levels is deposited onto the LPG using the electrostatic self-assembly technique (ESA), resulting into a humidity-induced shift of the resonance wavelength of the LPG. Considering the humidity range from 20% to 50% RH, a system resolution of 1.6% RH and 2.5 degrees C was achieved. At higher humidity, from 50% to 80% RH, the corresponding resolution values were 2.4% RH and 0.4 degrees C.