ECEDHA

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EPICS Engineering Projects in Community
Service High Schools Improving Lives with
Engineering Service-Learning Projects
IEEE EAB Meeting 16 February 2008 Kapil R.
Dandekar dandekar_at_ece.drexel.edu 215-895-2004 Lou
isville, KY
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Outline

• What is EPICS (University implementation)
• Introduction to service learning
• Current implementations
• EPICS-High School Implementation
• Motivation and Vision
• Current Effort
• Challenges
• IEEE Pilot
• Performance Metrics

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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

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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

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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

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The EPICS Design Cycle
Disposal
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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   

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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 dont 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

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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 cant 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/

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EPICS-High School Implementation Challenges

• Identification of appropriate projects
• Community partner identification
• Access to effective, instructive, advising
• Dont want mentors who will be too much or too
  little involved
• 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?

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Potential IEEE ImplementationPilot

• 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?
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• 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

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Philadelphia Legal Assistance

• Mission Support low-income clients in matters of
• 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

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Potential IEEE ImplementationPerformance 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

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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
• Target date for starting September 2008

Can we do this simultaneously in a Section
outside the US?
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• Questions ?
• Comments / Discussion