EPICS in IEEE, an Educational Activities program, celebrated its 15th anniversary final yr. The Engineering Projects in Community Service initiative offers nonprofit organizations with expertise to enhance and ship providers 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 initiatives, partaking greater than 900 college students and 1,400 volunteers and IEEE members together with proposal reviewers, mentors, and challenge 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. Underneath her management, the EPICS program streamlined processes for accumulating information and boosted storytelling efforts as an instance the influence of its actions. Proposal functions practically doubled, and accredited initiatives elevated by 44 %.
“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 actually take into account the wants of their challenge 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 development 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 lively committee member, helped lead an EPICS challenge himself.
“EPICS in IEEE represents a bridge between engineering concept and group wants,” Wightman says. “It brings these two realities collectively for humanitarian functions and helps polish an engineering pupil’s tutorial expertise in order that they’re not solely expertise consultants 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 additionally so many younger engineers around the globe keen to place their vitality and information towards bettering the well-being of individuals.”
The next initiatives, all funded final yr, showcase the passion and dedication of scholars to create and deploy options to assist folks.
An absence of entry to skilled lecturers and high quality instructional packages threatens college students’ growth, particularly in rural areas with poor infrastructure and restricted sources. A staff 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 challenge. It reached a whole bunch of pupils in underserved areas with a digital, sustainable, and hands-on studying platform that engages college students and lecturers alike. The staff acquired a$4,115 grant to design and deploy their prototype.
“Many rural areas lack entry to certified educators and fashionable instructing sources,” says Sameer Qazi, an IEEE pupil member and a MUET senior. “Our challenge seeks to bridge that hole by offering an interactive and immersive studying system that delivers an modern instructional expertise with a concentrate on science, artwork, and historical past.”
The staff 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 challenge staff
The challenge concerned 9 college students and two college supervisors from the college’s digital engineering division. Every member contributed to one of many three challenge modules: content material growth, power administration, and the show system. Qazi was challenge lead for the show system module.
The staff 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 staff’s resolution was aligned with group wants and might be extra seamlessly built-in into the goal colleges’ curriculum.
“I hope this system continues to develop and strengthen, as a result of there’s a lot want on the market but additionally so many younger engineers around the globe keen 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 challenge from idea to actuality,” Qazi says. “I encourage anybody contemplating an EPICS challenge to grab the chance. It’s an opportunity to make a tangible influence on society whereas rising as an engineer and chief.”
Photo voltaic-powered greenhouse
A inventive staff of scholars from BridgeValley Community and Technical College in South Charleston, W.Va., used its $3,200 grant to determine their Solar PV–Powered Smart Sustainable Greenhouse challenge. It’s designed to optimize plant development by sustaining preferrred circumstances and conserving vitality by way of remote monitoring. The staff 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, sensible irrigation, fan management, and IoT integration for real-time information monitoring. Different parts included monitoring cost controllers, soil-moisture sensors, solenoid valves, circulate meters, temperature and humidity sensors, a 356-millimeter fan, and a Wi-Fi module with information logging capabilities.
“We selected to work with Café Appalachia as a result of that they had an curiosity in sustainable greenhouse practices and provided area for the system,” says staff lead Joshua “Youngil” Kim, an IEEE member. “Their dedication to giving again to their group and addressing climate change aligned with our objectives.” Kim, a former BridgeValley educator, now’s an assistant professor of electrical engineering at Charleston Southern University, in South Carolina.
The staff expressed gratitude for the funding from the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society, an EPICS in IEEE accomplice.
“EPICS’ assist of this greenhouse challenge 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 development, it’s been a useful expertise for everybody concerned.”
To be taught extra about EPICS initiatives or to submit a challenge proposal, be part of the mailing list and obtain month-to-month updates.
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