Cristinel Ababei

Cristinel Ababei serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Marquette University's Opus College of Engineering. He directs the Marquette Embedded Systems (MESS) Laboratory and holds a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Minnesota (2004), with prior degrees from Technical University of Iasi in Romania.

• Ph.D., 2004, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Minnesota
• M.S., 1998, Signal Processing, Technical University of Iasi
• B.S., 1996, Microelectronics, Technical University of Iasi

Dr. Ababei's research spans network-on-chip architectures, embedded systems design, FPGA implementations, and energy optimization systems. His work particularly focuses on uncertainty modeling in embedded systems, multicore processor optimization, and applications in underwater drones, LiDAR systems, and battery management. The MESS Lab under his direction conducts research in embedded systems (including tinyML and IoT applications), FPGAs as accelerators for computer vision, and network-on-chip architectures with emphasis on carbon emissions and uncertainty modeling.

His recent publications demonstrate a clear trajectory toward integrating machine learning techniques with traditional hardware design, particularly in energy management systems, battery optimization, and environmental monitoring applications. This includes work on HVAC optimization using reinforcement learning, carbon-aware datacenter scheduling, and TinyML applications for battery health monitoring.

• William and Nancy Stemper Award for underwater drone prototype
• IEEE Senior Member (2015)
• Multiple NSF research grants as PI and Co-PI
• Teaching innovation grants for entrepreneurship-focused courses

Dr. Ababei actively mentors students through the NSF REU Site program 'Hardware, Embedded Software, and Analytics for Environment Quality Monitoring' and has graduated multiple Ph.D. and M.S. students. He has secured significant research funding including NSF grants for uncertainty modeling in heterogeneous embedded systems, cross-layer optimization of energy and cost in multiple buildings, and REU site funding for environmental monitoring. He also founded the 'Men as Advocates and Allies Group' at Marquette as part of the Advance Program.

His laboratory work includes the development of underwater drones for water quality monitoring, SmartBuilds energy simulation framework, and various embedded systems for environmental sensing applications. He has been instrumental in organizing WE-GIRLS Summer Camps to encourage girls in engineering from grades 6-8.