Tama Moni

Toy-building event at Mason's MIX marks marvelous start to Innovation Week

Tama Moni — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 21:43:42 +0000

Toy-building event at Mason's MIX marks marvelous start to Innovation Week Tama Moni Fri, 02/24/2023 - 16:43

In 1951, the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) founded Engineers Week—a week-long event held every February that highlights the influence of STEM education and practice. During Engineers Week, NSPE advocates for diversity and inclusion in the engineering workforce by supporting outreach to children and young adults hoping to inspire the next generation of engineers. The College of Engineering and Computing (CEC) at ��AV joined this event by hosting Innovation Week. This year’s theme, ‘Creating the Future: Innovating in Solidarity,’ aims to match these NSPE goals by presenting activities that show how engineers and computing professionals can improve the world.

Kicking off the week, the CEC’s Office of Diversity, Outreach, and Inclusive Learning (DOIL) partnered with the Mason Innovation Exchange (MIX) by inviting the community to build toys that will be donated to the Homeless Children’s Playtime Project. Mercadi Crawford, a diversity associate at DOIL, said her team formed a committee with CEC faculty and staff to create this event.

“We wanted to make sure that we were helping the community in some way. So, we reached out to the playtime nonprofit organization, which is an organization that provides recess and play spaces for unhoused youth,” Mercadi Crawford, diversity associate, College of Engineering and Computing

CEC Maker Space Day at the MIX - students and faculty design, build, and create custom toys in the MIX for the Homeless Children’s Playtime Project. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

This event was free, interactive, and publicly accessible, and offered participants a chance to make a difference in the community. Yuta Sugiyama, a senior computational data science major in the College of Science, works at the MIX and came up with the idea for the toy project.

“Part of my job at the MIX is to assist or get on board with projects from other departments and students by offering my skills and talents. Knowing that the cause was homeless children, I wanted to assist by designing a toy that would inspire homeless children to become engineers and hopefully get them out of their situation," Sugiyama said.

Tim Nielsen, the manager for the MIX, said Sugiyama suggested the idea of building interactive toys that the children would play with. He said he wanted to transform the toy into Mr. Potato Head to add an “element of play” to the toy. “We wanted something that was designed from scratch. We wanted it to be something that’s good,” Nielsen said.

Nielsen explained how the MIX provides a creative outlet for students, organizations, and the public.

“I want the folks who are here to not just be doing an activity, but doing an activity that is engaging with the space so they kinda see what’s available here,” he said.

Students built the toys using multiple pre-made laser-cut wood pieces, pipettes, and googly eyes. They bonded the pieces together with glue. This interactive activity resembled building a puzzle, with participants using mathematical perspective and creativity to make art.

Brittany Johnson-Matthews, assistant professor in the computer science department, served on the event’s organizing committee. “These types of activities I find to be important to kind of bring balance to STEM education and STEM training. As well as to make people realize that it can be fun to do technical and stimulating things," she said.

To generate interest in the event, flyers, and social media posts were distributed on the CEC digital and print platforms. Perhaps the best way was word of mouth, as Theo Zamani, a junior mechanical engineering major, learned about it. Zamani, the president of the Mason American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) chapter, promoted the event with ASME members.

“I took this project on and promoted it to help the cause. It was the first time this was done, and this was a great way for people to give back to the community.”

She said having fellow students participate in activities like this can be beneficial in many ways. “It’s a great way to give back. It’s also nice as a hands-on activity. I hope we have events like this in the future.”

About the MIX
The MIX which is located on the ground floor of Horizon Hall on the Mason Fairfax Campus. This collaborative space hosts workshops, competitions, and accelerator programs for the public and provides opportunities for them to build creative projects.

Topics

The MIX

Diversity and Inclusive Learning

Community Engagement

College of Engineering and Computing

Students

Maritime robotics summer camps move young minds toward a future in STEM

Tama Moni — Fri, 12 Aug 2022 19:40:51 +0000

Maritime robotics summer camps move young minds toward a future in STEM Tama Moni Fri, 08/12/2022 - 15:40

In This Story

Leigh McCue-Weil

Middle and high school students rolled up their sleeves and got their hands wet at ��AV’s first SeaPerch and SeaGlide summer camps. Leigh McCue-Weil, associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, hosted the camp, with support from graduate assistant Vanessa Barth, and lab technician and shop manager Johnnie Hall. For the first two weeks in August, students built and tested these maritime robotic vehicles at the Innovative Drive shop and lab facilities located near Mason’s SciTech campus.

Vanessa Barth, a PhD student studying mechanical engineering, helped McCue manage the camp activities. Barth works in McCue’s lab at the Potomac Science Center on fundamental research in maritime robotics, supported by the NSF grant. Barth said the students learned how to build SeaPerch remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) using polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes, cut and drilled to form the vehicle, with a control box that the students soldered and assembled. Then the students placed them in large and small water tanks. For SeaPerch, campers used remote controls that resemble video game controllers that connect to the ROVs through a long cable. Students learned about buoyancy by trying to keep their devices afloat on the surface of the water tanks.

“I do not think they really struggled with understanding. They got better by watching and doing,” Barth said about the students grasping the concepts of the projects they built. “At the end of each day, it was really cool to see that they accomplished something.”

McCue said she started the camps so that robotics and engineering are accessible to students and so they gain self-confidence. She said the students get to use power tools for the first time and become excited about learning robotics. “The SeaPerch kit is really well designed for the middle school age group; and similarly, the SeaGlide, which is an untethered underwater glider, is a great challenge for the high schoolers.”

The camp is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, “BRITE Relaunch: Persistent and Accessible Maritime Monitoring (PAMM)" which supports STEM outreach activities in maritime robotics. For the NSF-funded project holistically, McCue said “We’re trying to build platforms that help people conduct fundamental science.” She said ROVs can be used for data collection, research, and environmental monitoring.

Within the camp, McCue said the students have been learning and working hard and it delights her to see the students’ faces light up when they complete the project. She gave thanks to both NSF support and support from multiple offices within the College of Engineering and Computing, which offered free camps for the students.

McCue said she hopes opportunities like these get students excited about STEM. “Engineering is really broad and there’s something for everyone.”

Topics

STEM learning

robotics

Summer Camps

mechanical engineering

Electrical and Computer Engineering seniors excel in space and satellite student competition

Tama Moni — Wed, 08 Jun 2022 13:28:09 +0000

Electrical and Computer Engineering seniors excel in space and satellite student competition Tama Moni Wed, 06/08/2022 - 09:28

In This Story

Peter Pachowicz

A team of seniors from the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department combined their knowledge and skills to win the Space and Satellites Professionals International (SSPI) student prize competition.

Kelsey Schneider, the team’s leader, says they designed a satellite radar system to extract and transmit data from one antenna to another. Schneider says the satellite radar systems at space stations contain large and expensive antennas for this purpose. She says space stations use the Synthetic Aperture Radar System – SARS – to monitor a planet’s environment.

“The goal was to build a low-cost, low-size, weight and power synthetic aperture system,” Schneider said. “Our antennae was only about four inches in diameter.”

She said the satellite radar system transmits electrical waves and transmits data when the radar detects an object. Then the electrical waves bounce off the object and get sent back to the radar system. The radar then transmits the data through the antennas. They used a computer algorithm to convert the received data into an image.

Schneider said the hardest part of the competition was finding a balance between the technical and non-technical language used to explain the project to an easy-to-understand presentation. “You can’t be so nontechnical that it just doesn’t make sense,” Schneider said. “You don’t want it to sound silly.”

The competition featured a variety of competitors, ranging from graduate students to PhD students both competing as teams and individuals.

“We just felt really grateful. There were a lot of other really good projects and presentations we got to see. So, we were just really honored that they chose us out of the other teams.”

The competition was hosted by SSPI, who had reached out to Electrical and Computer Engineering professor Peter Pachowicz and Jay Deorukhkar, a PhD student and teaching assistant in the ECE department.

Deorukhkar was assigned to the team’s senior design class. While looking for projects to nominate, he reached out to Qiliang Li, a professor in the ECE department, who is the faculty advisor for the senior design projects.

As for how he feels about this team’s win in the SSPI competition: “Since we did not compete last year, it was great to see them participate and win this year."

The team also won the ECE award for their senior design project. The competition took place on May 12, 2022.

Topics

Space

satellite

Radar

Electrical and Computer Engineering

A Series of Firsts for Mason's ASCE Teams

Tama Moni — Wed, 11 May 2022 17:57:33 +0000

A Series of Firsts for Mason's ASCE Teams Tama Moni Wed, 05/11/2022 - 13:57

In This Story

Doaa Bondok

At Mason’s College of Engineering and Computing, you can expect students who are passionate about their field, hardworking, and goal-oriented in achieving their tasks. That kind of work ethic and enthusiasm exists within the students of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) – Mason chapter. This year, two Mason ASCE teams won first place in the Region 2 Mid-Atlantic West Symposium competitions, for their steel bridge and sustainable solutions projects for the first time.

Seif Ali, team leader of the steel bridge team, said his goal, from day one, was for his team to win nationals. “I just wanted to make sure that everyone understands that we’re not just here to compete, but to learn,” Ali says. He joined the Mason chapter of ASCE last fall and immediately signed up for the open leadership spot on the steel bridge team – becoming the leader last October. He said that there were few opportunities to join student organizations during the pandemic and that joining this organization was an opportunity to try something different.

Ali said his team built a bridge with plates and members and used the fabrication method to weld and join the metal parts together to create the bridge. A local engineering firm, Nasir and Associates, helped the team by not only providing supplies, but also giving them valuable experience-based recommendations.

The cancellation of his former team landed Nicholo Gadiana, in the leadership role of the sustainable solutions team. “I built the team three months before the competition,” Nicholo says. Faced with the challenge of time constraints and deadlines, Gadiana made sure his team followed the rules in building their project. He said the hardest part of leading his team was maintaining communication between members and finding locations to meet.

The theme for the sustainable solutions competition this year was “The Tiny Home challenge.” Gadiana said his team had to create a model of 10 sustainable tiny homes, that could contain a loft bed, bathroom, kitchen, and living and dining area. The competition rules required that the house must be around 400 square feet and sit on 1.07 acres of land. This team used 3D modeling software to sketch the layout of the houses and design it. For their sustainable part of the project, Gadiana said they came up with using a rainwater soil system, which absorbs the water and lessens the need for concrete in depositing overflowing water.

“In summary, I think it’s the practical side. We provide students with the resources and support to develop them professionally, help them progress well towards their career, gain skills to be able to find a job, to speak about themselves, build on their soft skills,” says Doaa Bondok, faculty advisor for ASCE and Assistant Professor in the Civil, Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering Department.

Another win from the ASCE Region 2 Mid – Atlantic West Symposium, was Mason’s surveying competition team who won second place in their competition. Team members include: Nikolas Hawley, (Survey Party Chief), Christian Harar, (Assistant Survey Party Chief), Kai Barner, Survey Technician (Instrument Man), Margaret Freeman, Survey Technician (Chain Man), Siddarth Achar, Survey Technician (Rod Man).

Topics

American Society of Civil Engineers

competitions

student leadership

Sustainability

Students' sustainable fridge supplies solution to food waste

Tama Moni — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 18:26:17 +0000

Students' sustainable fridge supplies solution to food waste Tama Moni Tue, 04/12/2022 - 14:26

In This Story

Nathalia Peixoto

This fridge contains four coolers regulated by temperature
and humidity, using a computer program created
by Cameron Flores.

Mason engineering students are known for being resourceful in finding materials for their design projects all on an affordable budget. Electrical and Computer Engineering students, Cameron Flores and Nestor Arellano did just that with their senior design project building a sustainable refrigerator. This four-person team funded their project with their own money before receiving a $1,000 grant from the Patriot Green Fund.

Flores says his team looked at places like Facebook Marketplace and private sellers to find an average-cost fridge that would work for their project. “We went with what would be one [fridge] that we know that worked, two that did not smell, and three, was not infested with any ants or insects or cockroaches,” Flores says. They settled on a model, just under six feet tall, from a warehouse in Woodbridge and transported it from Arellano's work truck to their lab on the fourth floor of Peterson Hall. “Our budget was considerably smaller, and we had to go pick it up ourselves and move it around campus,” Arellano says.

Flores says the fridge works by regulating the temperature and humidity in the four coolers through manual input and automatic control. “They [consumers] put in one of the four pre-selected temperatures that they want.” The automatic setting evaluates the temperature and humidity of each cooler and balances it. “It will check the temperature levels and the humidity levels in each of them and look at the greatest difference.” The team’s goal is for produce to last longer in the fridge and reduce food waste, The students used fruits and vegetables such as kale, tomatoes, apples, and celery to test their hypothesis and a computer program for enabling the settings in the coolers.

These students received help from electrical and computer engineering Associate Professor Nathalia Peixoto and food science Associate Professor Margaret Slavin. Peixoto says the students were independent in building their project but that she helped them verify the technical components of it. “They wrote the proposal for the Patriot Green Fund, so they are the ones who got the money, which I’m really proud of,” Peixoto says.

Slavin says she produced the idea for a sustainable fridge after observing that most standard fridges in the U.S. do not lengthen the shelf life of produce. She contacted Peixoto, who presented the idea to the students. “I pointed them in the direction of the statistics,” Slavin says, in helping them design protocols and test the coolers’ preservation process. “We don’t foresee any decrease of energy consumption in our project,” Arellano says. “The original designers of the fridge probably achieved optimal energy consumption.”

The seniors and the faculty advisors both hope this project impacts Mason and beyond by raising awareness of food sustainability and healthy living. “I think its impact will be in a reduction of food waste and create a kind of domino effect. Also, influencing people to eat healthier if they are given that option,” Arellano says. Peixoto says she hopes more people will pay attention to food waste and take steps to lessen it. “I hope more people will be aware of the options when buying a fridge or that they can add, you know, a compartment to their fridge to make it more sustainable.”

Topics

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Sustainable Food Systems