EPICS in IEEE, an Instructional Actions program, celebrated its fifteenth anniversary final yr. The Engineering Initiatives in Neighborhood Service initiative supplies nonprofit organizations with know-how to enhance and ship providers to their neighborhood 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, participating greater than 900 college students and 1,400 volunteers and IEEE members together with proposal reviewers, mentors, and undertaking help individuals.
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 College of New Haven engineering faculty, in Connecticut. Underneath her management, the EPICS program streamlined processes for amassing knowledge and boosted storytelling efforts for example the influence of its actions. Proposal purposes practically doubled, and authorized tasks elevated by 44 %.
“Throughout my three years as committee chair, I’ve beloved seeing so many college students worldwide have the chance to interact with their neighborhood and really think about the wants of their undertaking stakeholders,” Gillespie says. “There are such a lot of methods wherein these constructive experiences can trickle by their skilled and private lives.
“New management will deliver 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 college on the Universidad del Rosario, in Bogotá. Wightman, who has been an lively committee member, helped lead an EPICS undertaking himself.
“EPICS in IEEE represents a bridge between engineering idea and neighborhood wants,” Wightman says. “It brings these two realities collectively for humanitarian functions and helps polish an engineering pupil’s educational expertise in order that they’re not solely know-how 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 in addition so many younger engineers world wide keen to place their vitality and data towards bettering the well-being of individuals.”
The next tasks, all funded final yr, showcase the passion and dedication of scholars to create and deploy options to assist individuals.
An absence of entry to educated lecturers and high quality academic applications threatens college students’ improvement, particularly in rural areas with poor infrastructure and restricted sources. A workforce from the Mehran College of Engineering and Know-how (MUET) in Jamshoro, Pakistan, addressed such challenges with its Augmented Actuality 3D System for Interactive Studying in Rural Elementary Faculties undertaking. 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 workforce acquired a$4,115 grant to design and deploy their prototype.
“Many rural areas lack entry to certified educators and trendy educating sources,” says Sameer Qazi, an IEEE pupil member and a MUET senior. “Our undertaking seeks to bridge that hole by offering an interactive and immersive studying system that delivers an revolutionary academic expertise with a concentrate on science, artwork, and historical past.”
The workforce 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 undertaking workforce
The undertaking concerned 9 college students and two college supervisors from the college’s digital engineering division. Every member contributed to one of many three undertaking modules: content material improvement, energy administration, and the show system. Qazi was undertaking lead for the show system module.
The workforce partnered with the Quick Rural Improvement Program, a company devoted to remodeling underprivileged areas and driving sustainable improvement in rural components of Pakistan’s Sindh province. The partnership helped make sure the workforce’s resolution was aligned with neighborhood wants and may very well 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 keen to place their vitality and data towards bettering the well-being of individuals.” —Pedro Wightman
“From funding to mentorship, EPICS in IEEE offered us with important help that allowed us to deliver this undertaking from idea to actuality,” Qazi says. “I encourage anybody contemplating an EPICS undertaking 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 workforce of scholars from BridgeValley Neighborhood and Technical Faculty in South Charleston, W.Va., used its $3,200 grant to determine their Photo voltaic PV–Powered Good Sustainable Greenhouse undertaking. It’s designed to optimize plant development by sustaining ideally suited situations and conserving vitality by distant monitoring. The workforce 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 knowledge monitoring. Different elements 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 knowledge logging capabilities.
“We selected to work with Café Appalachia as a result of they’d an curiosity in sustainable greenhouse practices and supplied house for the system,” says workforce lead Joshua “Youngil” Kim, an IEEE member. “Their dedication to giving again to their neighborhood and addressing local weather change aligned with our objectives.” Kim, a former BridgeValley educator, now could be an assistant professor of electrical engineering at Charleston Southern College, in South Carolina.
The workforce expressed gratitude for the funding from the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society, an EPICS in IEEE associate.
“EPICS’ help of this greenhouse undertaking has been instrumental in permitting us to contribute to our neighborhood and provide academic alternatives to our college students,” Kim says. “Due to EPICS in IEEE’s generosity and dedication to fostering academic development, it’s been a invaluable expertise for everybody concerned.”
To be taught extra about EPICS tasks or to submit a undertaking proposal, be part of the mailing listing and obtain month-to-month updates.
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