Developing an Undergraduate Research Program in High Altitude Ballooning Mike Davis – Truman College Bernhard Beck-Winchatz – DePaul University Thomas Higgins – Harold Washington College June 24, 2015

Talk Outline Previous Work – CIRRUS Goal 1 - Initiate a Year Long Research Program Goal 2 – Provide Financial Assistance Goal 3 – Integrate Research Data into Current Classes Goal 4 – Disseminate Classroom Materials and HAB Skills

CIRRUS Model NSF Funded program between two community colleges and DePaul University. 10 Students from CC, 15 Students from DePaul Summer Stipend for an intensive Research 101 Course Students worked on large group projects Making Photosensitive Solar Cells Building a Radio Telescope High Altitude Ballooning

Goal 1 Goal Initiate a year-round undergraduate research program to recruit promising community college students into the STEM disciplines Methods Identify potential students using Zogotech analytics. GPA, Credits, Courses Completed Looking for students who appear to be on a path to graduate & transfer. Looking for students who would benefit from a creative experience.

Criteria for Selection Academic Requirements Successful completion of at least 15 credit hours (at least one semester). Completion of College Algebra or higher. Completion of one STEM class In an AS or AES degree plan. Non-Academic Requirements Recommendation from a STEM instructor. Personal essay with long term academic goals. Commitment to 27 hours of work per week during the summer.

Challenges with the Selection Criteria Restricted to recruiting US Citizens Only. Students apply from throughout the City, and have demanding schedules. Students may be very close to their graduation date, and may not spend a lot of time with us. College graduation initiative will encourage commitment to transferable course, and awarding degrees.

Representative of CCC Summer 2015 Cohort 18 Students 10 Female, 8 Male 9 Hispanic 14 Languages spoken Average age = 23 Average number of completed credit hours = 55 (Min. of 64 for an Associate’s degree) Average GPA = 3.37 All of CCC – 2013 Statistics 114,255 students in all programs 37% Hispanic (all programs) 58% Female (all programs) 3778 Associate Degrees Awarded

Goal 2 Goal Provide tuition support and fellowships to support student degree completion and transfer Methods Credit student accounts with the tuition for courses taken during the semester. Students enroll in a 1 credit hour Interdisciplinary Course. Support students with a summer stipend. Support students with advising on degree completion and transfer.

Support Break Down $89 per credit hour. We are not able to credit fees. Summer stipend of $12/hr for 29 hours per week ($2784 total) Started in Spring of 2015 with a cohort of six students. Continuing in Summer of 2015 with a total of 19 students.

Goal 3 Goal Transition students research into the undergraduate classroom using problem-based learning Methods Collect data that can be applied to classroom content. Pressure, Temperature, Gas Composition, etc. Interaction with college professors who guide research. Build instruments that can be re- used in the classroom.

Sample Data Collection Pressure / Altitude Sensor – Ready for LaunchData Collected from the Sears Tower

Goal 4 Goal Host faculty development programs throughout Illinois to help other faculty members initiate their own high-altitude ballooning programs and share the classroom materials Methods Presentations at local/national conferences. Blogging Planning a local conference for interested teachers. Leverage NASA funds for additional support to focus on Teacher Professional Development

Stories we can share Filling a BalloonWeather Can Be an Issue

Stories we can share Balloon RetrievalChasing the Balloon (Twister)

Pictures are very compelling A view on the way upThe view at the top

Sample Information Collected Experiment Description Measure the change in the balloon as a function of altitude, pressure and temperature. Does Helium behave as an ideal gas? Pictures taken with a Raspberry Pi. Camera pointed towards the balloon

Load image to memory

Erode image

Binarize image

Invert image

Output results to file

Conclusions

Additional Ongoing Research Making accurate temperature, pressure, and altitude readings. Measuring wind speed as a function of altitude. Measuring the intensity of radio frequencies as a function of altitude. Measuring light pollution through Lux readings. Measuring changes in the speed of sound. Making radiation measurements. Comparing the growth rate of irradiated seeds. Making and rendering 360 degree images/movies for an oculus rift.

Acknowledgements The students of the HAB Project Professors Thomas Higgins & Bernhard Beck-Winchatz The staff of the City Colleges of Chicago The Illinois Space Grant Consortium (NNX14AR13A)

Questions / Follow Up Mike Davis Faradaysclub.com