PAC 2008 Activities Joan Carletta, PAC Chair 16 February 2008 Louisville, KY, USA EAB Public Awareness Committee (PAC)

RWEP Real World Engineering Projects: Discovery-Based Projects for First-Year EE/CE/CS/EET Students l EAB Joint New Initiative with WIE l Two year project: l Total budget: $380,000

Focus: High-Quality Undergraduate Education Goal is to provide faculty worldwide with: l Fully developed curricula l for first-year EE/CE/CS/EET team-based projects l discovery-based l illustrate real-world problems l solutions impact society l Workshops l for EE/CE/CS/EET faculty l online, self-study l on the best pedagogical techniques

Benefits of RWEP l Students discover excitement of real-world problems and understand the importance of IEEE fields to society l Great for all students, but critical for recruiting and retaining women! l Former name: Increasing the Representation of Women in IEEE Fields of Interest

2008 RWEP Timeline l March 2008 l 2007 awarded projects completed by authors (to be checked and then published on RWEP portal) l 2008 Advisory Committee formed l 2008 calls for projects and workshops made l April 2008 l 2008 submitted project and workshop abstracts reviewed using (double-blind) online peer review l Best invited to submit proposals l August 2008 l 2008 submitted proposals reviewed (double-blind) at in-person meeting of Advisory Committee l Best invited to submit projects / workshops for publication l December 2008 l 2008 projects / workshops completed l 2008 awards made to authors

Results of 2007 RWEP Calls l Submitted abstracts: l 34 projects from 12 countries l 4 workshops from 3 countries l Invited for full proposal: 18 projects from 6 countries (three declined to submit) l 1 workshop from 1 country l Invited for full submission: 5 projects from 2 countries (US and Canada) immediately 4 projects after revision (one declined to do revision) l Approx. 3 of 8 awards extended to women

Review Criteria for Projects l Relevance: l Does addressed problems solution benefit society? l Is context a real-world, contemporary application? l Are connections to real world societal impact explicit? l Quality: l Is project straightforward, organized, and complete? l Are descriptions of methods accurate, clear, and concise? l Is project tractable for first year EE/CE/CS/EET students? l Discovery: l Does project result in student discovery of an underlying principle or concept? l Does the proposed project illustrate strategies and trade- offs that are important in the engineering problem solving process?

Eight Anticipated 2007 Project Awards Span 7 technical categories: l Circuits l Communications l Computer hardware / architecture l Controls l Human computer interaction l Power electronics l Signal processing

Project Titles l Error Correction Codes for Wireless Communication Systems l Audio Forensics: Solving a Crime using Digital (Audio) Signal Processing l Manipulating Everyday Objects With Prosthetic Hands l Solid State Lighting for the Developing World l HCI Alternatives using the Nintendo Wii l Power Electronics/System: A Look at Renewable Energy l Smarter Vehicles l Feedback Controlled Brushless DC Motor

RWEP 2008 Goals l Develop RWEP portal l Develop assessment plan to understand impact on student outcomes l Publish and promote inaugural projects l Run second year of calls for projects and workshops l Work out plans for continuation funding