Transcript IEEE New Initiative EPICS High School Kapil R. Dandekar, Ph.D. Saurabh Sinha, Ph.D. 15/Nov/2008 New Brunswick, IEEE Meeting Series.

IEEE New Initiative EPICS High School
Kapil R. Dandekar, Ph.D.
Saurabh Sinha, Ph.D.
15/Nov/2008 New Brunswick,
IEEE Meeting Series
Engineering Projects in
Community Service (EPICS)
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EPICS (http://epics.ecn.purdue.edu/)
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Organizes University and high-school
students to work on engineering-related
projects for local area non-profit
organizations
Purpose of IEEE New Initiative is to
bring EPICS-High School to IEEE
EPICS-High: Motivation and Vision
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Recruitment and retention of students, particularly women and
under-represented minority students, to engineering programs
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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
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More information at: http://epics-high.ecn.purdue.edu/
Example project (Bedford North Lawrence High School in
Indiana)
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“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
Dandekar attended an EPICS High School Planning meeting as
a representative of IEEE-EAB
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Goal was to determine how IEEE could support EPICS-High
New Initiative grant funding proposed and accepted to use IEEE
student branches in Philadelphia Section and South Africa Section
to mentor EPICS-high teams
Philadelphia Section EPICS High
IEEE Pilot Program
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EPICS Projects
 Philadelphia Clean Air Council
 Development of an air quality sensor network
for monitoring residential areas in South
Philadelphia
 Philadelphia Urban Farms
 Development of a soil quality sensor network
for monitoring urban farms in Philadelphia
Vertical Integration of undergraduate seniors,
undergraduate freshman, and high school students
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Senior undergraduates and community partners identified
Freshman undergraduate and high school students currently
being recruited
South Africa Section EPICS High
Pilot Program
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Project approval: June 2008
Money transferred to SA Section: Oct. 2008
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Who’s involved?
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IEEE Student Branch: University of Pretoria
IEEE Student Branch: University of Cape Town
University of Pretoria
 Community-Based Project
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This project-orientated module is a form of applied learning
which is directed at specific community needs and is
integrated into all undergraduate academic programmes
offered by the Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and
Information Technology.
University of Cape Town
Implementation at Univ. of Pretoria (1)
Vehicle: Community-Based Project
Main objectives:
(1) The execution of a community related project aimed at achieving a
beneficial impact on a chosen section of society, preferably but not
exclusively, by engagement with a section of society which is different
from the student’s own social background.
(2) The development of an awareness of personal, social and cultural values,
an attitude to be of service, and an understanding of social issues, for the
purpose of being a responsible professional.
(3) The development of important multidisciplinary and life skills, such as
communication, interpersonal and leadership skills.
Assessment in the module includes all or most of the following components:
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evaluation and approval of the project proposal,
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assessment of oral and/or written progress reports,
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peer assessment in the event of team projects,
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written report-back by those at which the project was aimed at,
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final assessment on grounds of the submission of a portfolio, and
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a written report.
Implementation at Univ. of Pretoria (2)
Project Example (1): Grinder
Implementation at Univ. of Pretoria (3)
Project Example (2): Jungle Gym
Road-Ahead for IEEE EPICS-High in
South Africa
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Formalize relationship between IEEE South Africa
Section, IEEE Student Branch (Univ. of Pretoria)
and Community Based Project Module, Univ. of
Pretoria
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Mapping of process at Univ. of Cape Town
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Mapping of process at schools?
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Challenges
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Different academic structures between Universities
Distance between Pretoria and Cape Town
Academic year differences to PA Section