If a faculty member or an existing undergraduate research project you're working on is not listed below, you may still fill out the Google form on the course homepage, indicating the faculty member's name and a very brief description of the project. We will reach out to the faculty member to see if they are willing to host the project under the EL/R (Reesarch) program.
001 - PgAQP: a pluggable toolkit for approximate query processing in PostgreSQL
Mentor: Prof. Zhuoyue Zhao
Current Size/Total Capacity: 3/3
Keyword: database systems; PostgreSQL; C language; approximate algorithms; data structure
Description:
Approximate Query Processing (AQP) can speed up SQL queries with a trade-off in accuracy in relational database systems such as PostgreSQL. This is often useful for interactive data exploration and/or real-time data analysis workloads in real-world data intensive applications. This project aims to design a toolkit for providing AQP functionalities in PostgreSQL as a pluggable extension, pgAQP. In this project, you will work closely with other graduate students and gain hands-on experience with designing, prototyping and implementing new features or performance tuning for large codebases.
For more details, please refer to our VLDB 23 demo and the video below.
002 - Research Data Visualization
Mentor: Prof. Wenyao Xu
Current Size/Total Capacity: 4/4
Keyword: Visualization; Spatial
Description:
Upcoming...
Upcoming...
003 - The 5G Quest: More Devices, No Slowdowns!
Mentor: Prof. Yaxiong Xie
Current Size/Total Capacity: 3/3
Keyword: Mobile network; C programming, benchmarking
Description:
5G powers all the cool stuff we love today – streaming video, smart devices, AR/VR, and more – by delivering blazing speed and very low lag. Whenever your phone, headset, or any gadget connects to 5G, the core network is the part that quietly makes it all work. Now, here’s the big question that’s got us curious: How can we make the 5G core support more users without slowing down? As awesome as 5G is, imagine what happens as we connect even more stuff to it – not just our phones, but millions of devices all around us. 5G is built to handle a huge number of connections, but as more and more people and gadgets jump on the network, we want to be sure that it stays lightning-fast. Nobody wants their 5G to start feeling like old-school dial-up internet just because the network is crowded! That’s where our undergraduate research project comes in. Think of it as a grand experiment to push 5G to its limits in a fun, hands-on way. We’re going to tinker with the 5G core network (using a safe test setup – no actual city networks will be harmed!) and see how it performs as we pretend to add tons of users and devices. We’ll be measuring things like how quickly data zooms around or if anything starts lagging when we really crank up the number of devices. And here’s the exciting part: after gathering those measurements, we’ll brainstorm and test out ideas to make the core better. Maybe we find a clever way to re-route traffic, or tweak how the core’s software handles requests – it’s all about creative problem solving. In plain terms, we’re asking “Can we make the engine of 5G (the core) run even faster and serve more people at once?” and then we’re trying out solutions to see what works.
Imagine this: it’s a sunny afternoon on campus, and you’re live-streaming a music concert on your phone in HD. Meanwhile, your roommate is battling aliens on an AR headset in the dorm room, and a dozen smart gadgets – from your watch to the library’s IoT sensors – are all buzzing online too. This all happens at once without a hiccup – that’s the magic of 5G. 5G is the fifth-generation wireless network that makes these things possible. It’s incredibly fast (up to 100 times quicker than 4G!) and super responsive, which means no annoying buffering wheel when you’re streaming, and crazy new experiences like augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) can actually work smoothly. In short, 5G powers all the cool stuff we love today – streaming video, smart devices, AR/VR, and more – by delivering blazing speed and very low lag.
But what’s happening behind the scenes of this high-speed adventure? Meet the 5G core network – basically the brain (or heart) of the whole 5G system that you don’t see. Whenever your phone, headset, or any gadget connects to 5G, the core network is the part that quietly makes it all work. It’s like the command center that connects and manages every device on the network. The 5G core authenticates your device, routes your data, and keeps your connection stable no matter if you’re video-calling, gaming, or even controlling a smart fridge. In other words, the core network ensures all those streaming movies, game battles, and IoT sensors can share the 5G airwaves happily together.
Now, here’s the big question that’s got us curious: “How can we make the 5G core support more users without slowing down?” As awesome as 5G is, imagine what happens as we connect even more stuff to it – not just our phones, but millions of devices all around us. 5G is built to handle a huge number of connections, but as more and more people and gadgets jump on the network, we want to be sure that it stays lightning-fast. Nobody wants their 5G to start feeling like old-school dial-up internet just because the network is crowded!
That’s where our undergraduate research project comes in. Think of it as a grand experiment to push 5G to its limits in a fun, hands-on way. We’re going to tinker with the 5G core network (using a safe test setup – no actual city networks will be harmed!) and see how it performs as we pretend to add tons of users and devices. We’ll be measuring things like how quickly data zooms around or if anything starts lagging when we really crank up the number of devices. And here’s the exciting part: after gathering those measurements, we’ll brainstorm and test out ideas to make the core better. Maybe we find a clever way to re-route traffic, or tweak how the core’s software handles requests – it’s all about creative problem solving. In plain terms, we’re asking “Can we make the engine of 5G (the core) run even faster and serve more people at once?” and then we’re trying out solutions to see what works.
If all this sounds super technical – don’t worry! You don’t need to be a 5G guru or have any prior experience with mobile networks to join this adventure. This project is designed for curious undergraduates. If you have a bit of experience with Linux or can write some C code, that’s a bonus and will make you feel more comfortable, but it’s not a requirement. The most important tool you need is an open mind and enthusiasm to learn. You’ll learn by doing – experimenting with real network setups, writing simple code to test the system, and figuring out what all the data means. It’s a team effort where asking questions and trying new ideas is totally welcome.
At the end of the day, this is an undergraduate research project, which means it’s a chance for you to dive into real-world tech exploration early in your career. You’ll work with mentors and fellow students in a supportive, exploratory environment. It’s okay if things sound a bit new or tricky – that’s exactly why we research! So if you’re excited by the idea of powering the next generation of internet technology, or you just want to peek under the hood of how your phone’s network works, come join us.