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) l EPICS ( l Organizes University and high-school students to work on engineering-related projects for local area non-profit organizations l Purpose of IEEE New Initiative is to bring EPICS-High School to IEEE

EPICS-High: Motivation and Vision l Recruitment and retention of students, particularly women and under-represented minority students, to engineering programs l Provides context to students who dont know what engineering is l Earlier access to real engineering problems l Mentoring by undergraduates or local area professionals l Currently approximately 20 high schools in Indiana, Massachusetts, California, New York, and Michigan l 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 l More information at: l Example project (Bedford North Lawrence High School in Indiana) l Swallowing Monitoring Device - Necklace sensitive to swallowing muscle motion to address the problem of monitoring excess saliva production for people who cant remember to swallow. l Team was successful in several competitions and have filed a patent on their project l Dandekar attended an EPICS High School Planning meeting as a representative of IEEE-EAB l Goal was to determine how IEEE could support EPICS-High l 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 l EPICS Projects l Philadelphia Clean Air Council l Development of an air quality sensor network for monitoring residential areas in South Philadelphia l Philadelphia Urban Farms l Development of a soil quality sensor network for monitoring urban farms in Philadelphia l Vertical Integration of undergraduate seniors, undergraduate freshman, and high school students l Senior undergraduates and community partners identified l Freshman undergraduate and high school students currently being recruited

South Africa Section EPICS High Pilot Program l Project approval: June 2008 l Money transferred to SA Section: Oct l Whos involved? l IEEE Student Branch: University of Pretoria l IEEE Student Branch: University of Cape Town l University of Pretoria l Community-Based Project l 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. l 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 students 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: l evaluation and approval of the project proposal, l assessment of oral and/or written progress reports, l peer assessment in the event of team projects, l written report-back by those at which the project was aimed at, l final assessment on grounds of the submission of a portfolio, and l 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 l Formalize relationship between IEEE South Africa Section, IEEE Student Branch (Univ. of Pretoria) and Community Based Project Module, Univ. of Pretoria l Mapping of process at Univ. of Cape Town l Mapping of process at schools? l Challenges l Different academic structures between Universities l Distance between Pretoria and Cape Town l Academic year differences to PA Section