Transcript EPICS: Engineering Projects in Community Service High Schools Improving Lives with Engineering Service-Learning Projects IEEE EAB Meeting 16 February 2008 Kapil R.

EPICS: Engineering Projects in
Community Service
High Schools Improving Lives with
Engineering Service-Learning Projects
IEEE EAB Meeting
16 February 2008
Kapil R. Dandekar
[email protected]
215-895-2004
Louisville, KY
Outline
 What is EPICS (University implementation)
 Introduction to service learning
 Current implementations
 EPICS-High School Implementation
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Motivation and Vision
Current Effort
Challenges
IEEE Pilot
Performance Metrics
What is EPICS?
 A program initiated and coordinated by
Purdue University
18 Universities and an increasing number of high
schools
 Partnerships between Universities and local
non-profit organizations to implement
interdisciplinary design projects
 Provides communities with access to
technology-based solutions
 Provides universities with integration of
engineering design and service learning
Characteristics of EPICS at Purdue
 Long term projects (beyond one academic
year)
Continuing partnerships with well-administered set of
community organizations
“Vertical integration” - freshman through senior year
 Senior design team students act as managers/mentors to
lower year students
Large-team design experiences - teams range in
size from 8 to 18 students
Students have the opportunity to participate in
multiple projects
Characteristics of EPICS at Purdue
 Broadly interdisciplinary
20 different disciplines
 “Open-ended” Design
Define-Design-Build-Test-Deploy-Support
 Project Categories
Access and Abilities
Education and Outreach
Human Services
Environment
The EPICS Design Cycle
Problem Identification
Specification
Development
Redesign
Retirement
Conceptual
Design
Disposal
Detailed
Design
Service
Maintenance
Production
Example of Projects
 Access and Abilities
Interactive play
environments for children
with disabilities
Assistive technology/
devices for people with
disabilities
 Education and Outreach
K-12 classroom projects
Projects with local
museums
 Human Services
Chemical sensors for
local law enforcement
Energy efficiency
techniques for Habitat
for Humanity homes
 Environment
Wetland construction
Monitoring and
improvement of water
quality
EPICS-High: Motivation and Vision
 Recruiting and retention of students, particularly women
and under-represented minority students, to engineering
programs
 Provides context to students who don’t know what engineering is
 Earlier access to real engineering problems
 Mentoring by undergraduates or local area professionals
 Currently approximately 20 high schools in Indiana,
Massachusetts, California, New York, and Michigan
 Seek to expand to other school districts, but prefer to
view EPICS High as a “movement” with adaptive, flexible
implementation rather than rigidly as “just another STEM
program”
EPICS-High: Current effort
 Example project (Bedford North Lawrence High School in
Indiana)
 “Swallowing Monitoring Device” - Necklace sensitive to
swallowing muscle motion to address the problem of monitoring
excess saliva production for people who can’t remember to
swallow.
 Team was successful in several competitions and have filed a
patent on their project
 K. Dandekar recently attended an EPICS High School
Planning meeting as a representative of IEEE-EAB
 Goal was to determine how IEEE could support EPICS-High
 More information at: http://epics-high.ecn.purdue.edu/
EPICS-High School Implementation:
Challenges
 Identification of appropriate projects
 Community partner identification
 Access to effective, instructive, advising
 Don’t want mentors
who will be too much or too little involved
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 Local university students? Local industry?
 Infrastructure and materials for project
 Likely involving coordination with local universities, professional
societies, and companies
 “Rewards” for participating high school students
 Community service hours
 Professional society membership
 IEEE High School member grade?
Potential IEEE Implementation:
Pilot
 Pilot program envisioned for the next academic year
with several EPICS High School teams in the
Philadelphia area
 Drexel University administrative and logistical coordination
 Mentoring by local IEEE
 Student branches
 Local technical chapters
 Financial support for project to be provided by Drexel University,
EAB, and the IEEE Philadelphia Section
 Current Philadelphia-area community partners
 Philadelphia Clean Air Council
 Philadelphia Legal Assistance
 Philadelphia City Sail
Can we do this simultaneously
in a Section outside the US?
 Mission: Develop and disseminate policies for improving air and
water quality
 Current focus is on port activity on the Delaware River
 Uses 10,000 gallons of diesel fuel per day (not including fuel from
ships)
 Diesel emissions from port equipment corrupt air quality
 Pollutants on ground corrupt water quality (storm water runoff)
 Current University projects with potential High school spinoff
projects
 Modeling and simulation of port operations
 What are best practices to mitigate environmental impact?
 Where would money best be spent?
 Sensor field for monitoring air/water quality
 Storm water runoff management
 Correlate sensor readings with port activity and procedures
Philadelphia Legal Assistance
 Mission: Support low-income clients in matters of
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Family law
Consumer and housing (e.g., predatory mortgages/loans)
Farm worker representation (e.g., tax form preparation)
Public benefits (e.g., supplemental security income, welfare)
 Federally funded legal aid organization serving ~6000 clients/year
 Current University projects with potential High school spinoff
projects
 Information kiosk
 Referral to (and information sharing with) other agencies (23 complementary
agencies in the area)
 Data entry and appointment scheduling
 Web database and staff / client remote access
 Directions to courthouse
Potential IEEE Implementation:
Performance Metrics
 Through this pilot program, we seek to
measure and improve
Satisfaction of community partners for whom
students will develop their design projects
Increased engagement of the IEEE Section with
non-profit organizations
Improved recruiting of high school students to
university engineering programs
Next Steps
 White Paper will be distributed to
Drexel University College of Engineering
IEEE Philadelphia Section
IEEE EAB
 We will consider the New Initiative Route
 Propose a 12 month pilot with objectives,
timeline, milestones, recruiting plan, and
performance metrics
Can we do this simultaneously
in a Section outside the US?
 Target date for starting: September 2008
Questions ?
Comments / Discussion