EPICS in IEEE, an Educational Activities program, celebrated its 15th anniversary final yr. The Engineering Projects in Community Service initiative offers nonprofit organizations with know-how to enhance and ship companies to their group whereas broadening undergraduate EE college students’ hands-on expertise with engineering-related subjects.
This system reached new heights final yr by distributing greater than US $226,000 to 39 tasks, partaking greater than 900 college students and 1,400 volunteers and IEEE members together with proposal reviewers, mentors, and mission assist members.
The standout yr caps Stephanie Gillespie’s three-year time period as chair of the EPICS in IEEE committee. An IEEE member, she is an affiliate dean on the University of New Haven engineering college, in Connecticut. Beneath her management, the EPICS program streamlined processes for amassing knowledge and boosted storytelling efforts for instance the impression of its actions. Proposal functions almost doubled, and accredited tasks elevated by 44 p.c.
“Throughout my three years as committee chair, I’ve cherished seeing so many college students worldwide have the chance to interact with their group and really think about the wants of their mission stakeholders,” Gillespie says. “There are such a lot of methods during which these constructive experiences can trickle by way of their skilled and private lives.
“New management will carry new concepts, and I’m excited for the way forward for EPICS in IEEE and the continued progress of this excellent program.”
Pedro Wightman is that this yr’s committee chair. He’s an IEEE senior member and an affiliate professor within the engineering school on the Universidad del Rosario, in Bogotá. Wightman, who has been an energetic committee member, helped lead an EPICS mission himself.
“EPICS in IEEE represents a bridge between engineering idea and group wants,” Wightman says. “It brings these two realities collectively for humanitarian functions and helps polish an engineering scholar’s educational expertise in order that they’re not solely know-how specialists however people first.
“I hope this system continues to develop and strengthen, as a result of there’s a lot want on the market but in addition so many younger engineers world wide prepared to place their vitality and information towards bettering the well-being of individuals.”
The next tasks, all funded final yr, showcase the keenness and dedication of scholars to create and deploy options to assist folks.
An absence of entry to educated lecturers and high quality instructional packages threatens college students’ improvement, particularly in rural areas with poor infrastructure and restricted sources. A crew from the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) in Jamshoro, Pakistan, addressed such challenges with its Augmented Reality 3D System for Interactive Learning in Rural Elementary Schools mission. It reached a whole lot of pupils in underserved areas with a digital, sustainable, and hands-on studying platform that engages college students and lecturers alike. The crew obtained a$4,115 grant to design and deploy their prototype.
“Many rural areas lack entry to certified educators and fashionable educating sources,” says Sameer Qazi, an IEEE scholar member and a MUET senior. “Our mission seeks to bridge that hole by offering an interactive and immersive studying system that delivers an progressive instructional expertise with a deal with science, artwork, and historical past.”
The crew from Mehran College of Engineering and Know-how, in Jamshoro, Pakistan, assembles its augmented-reality prototype of its distance studying system. Mehran College of Engineering and Know-how EPICS in IEEE mission crew
The mission concerned 9 college students and two college supervisors from the college’s digital engineering division. Every member contributed to one of many three mission modules: content material improvement, power administration, and the show system. Qazi was mission lead for the show system module.
The crew partnered with the Fast Rural Development Program, a company devoted to remodeling underprivileged areas and driving sustainable development in rural components of Pakistan’s Sindh province. The partnership helped make sure the crew’s resolution was aligned with group wants and could possibly be extra seamlessly built-in into the goal faculties’ curriculum.
“I hope this system continues to develop and strengthen, as a result of there’s a lot want on the market but in addition so many younger engineers world wide prepared to place their vitality and information towards bettering the well-being of individuals.” —Pedro Wightman
“From funding to mentorship, EPICS in IEEE offered us with important assist that allowed us to carry this mission from idea to actuality,” Qazi says. “I encourage anybody contemplating an EPICS mission to grab the chance. It’s an opportunity to make a tangible impression on society whereas rising as an engineer and chief.”
Photo voltaic-powered greenhouse
A inventive crew of scholars from BridgeValley Community and Technical College in South Charleston, W.Va., used its $3,200 grant to ascertain their Solar PV–Powered Smart Sustainable Greenhouse mission. It’s designed to optimize plant progress by sustaining very best situations and conserving vitality by way of remote monitoring. The crew used Arduino and different applied sciences, and it partnered with Café Appalachia, an eco-friendly nonprofit with its personal farms.
The group developed a greenhouse system that includes solar-powered lithium-ion batteries, good irrigation, fan management, and IoT integration for real-time knowledge monitoring. Different elements included monitoring cost controllers, soil-moisture sensors, solenoid valves, movement meters, temperature and humidity sensors, a 356-millimeter fan, and a Wi-Fi module with knowledge logging capabilities.
“We selected to work with Café Appalachia as a result of that they had an curiosity in sustainable greenhouse practices and provided house for the system,” says crew lead Joshua “Youngil” Kim, an IEEE member. “Their dedication to giving again to their group and addressing climate change aligned with our targets.” Kim, a former BridgeValley educator, now’s an assistant professor of electrical engineering at Charleston Southern University, in South Carolina.
The crew expressed gratitude for the funding from the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society, an EPICS in IEEE associate.
“EPICS’ assist of this greenhouse mission has been instrumental in permitting us to contribute to our group and supply instructional alternatives to our college students,” Kim says. “Because of EPICS in IEEE’s generosity and dedication to fostering instructional progress, it’s been a worthwhile expertise for everybody concerned.”
To be taught extra about EPICS tasks or to submit a mission proposal, be part of the mailing list and obtain month-to-month updates.
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