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January 30, 2008
Utah State University: Robots Robots Everywhere!
Wei Ren, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Utah State University in Logan, UT, has received the National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award for his proposal "Distributed Multi-vehicle Cooperative Control - A Consensus Theoretical Approach". The CAREER Program is a Foundation-wide activity that offers the NSF's most prestigious awards in support of the early career-development activities of those teacher-scholars who most effectively integrate research and education within the context of the mission of their organization. Ren's research focus is on deriving a consensus theoretical framework for distributed multi-vehicle cooperative control with particular emphasis on distributed multi-vehicle formation clustering and rigid body attitude synchronization problems. Can multiple robots work together? Well, in the past, Ren says, "There was a central station that sent commands to every robot on the team, which was not efficient because if the central station failed, then the entire system or operation would fail." Ren's research will attempt to distribute the intelligence to each robot and show that if one robot fails, it won't affect the entire team - that the mission could continue. When asked if his research might lead to an application with the potential to reduce the high number of human casualties in war, his response - there is a high potential. The deployment of several flying robots into situations too dangerous for humans, where they each gather information and then report it back for analysis and assessment is one possible future application of his research. It's possible, and the potential result? Less risk for humans engaged in war or any other type of dangerous activity throughout the globe. Ren referred to the concept of multiple robots as a kind of multivision, where many eyes have the capability to view a wide variety of perspectives, and then combine their findings by sharing information. His focus will be on finding out how many robots can work as a team by communicating with each other. With numerous potential applications in mind, Ren will design novel algorithms that drive the intelligence in these robots. He is clearly committed to the philosophy of NSF which focuses on the basic research, wanting people to gain an understanding of how these robots work, and to understand their behavior. His research is expected to lead to numerous possible future applications of robots. Examples include robots working in environmental monitoring, border patrol, search and rescue, and mining to name a few. Put 10 robots in a room together, Ren illustrates, and each can only sense or communicate with a few of its neighbors. They have autonomous control capabilities with an on-board controller. Ren wants to see how they work as a team. The CAREER grant will enable Ren to build a basis for future contributions to research and education about multiple robots and their potential to benefit our world. Robots that vacuum are already available to consumers. Maybe one day we'll have robots driving us to work and school or even mowing our lawns - as a team. Ren will begin the research phase of his project in April 2008, and complete it in March 2013. The big question Aggies want to know is - will Ren's Robots do homework?
Source: Utah State University
Hundreds of high school students from throughout the state will pour into Southern Illinois University Carbondale next month to participate in the annual Engineering Day. The celebration, aimed at introducing high school students to engineering concepts, includes entertaining challenges such as "The Saluki Egg Drop," in which students figure ways to protect an egg dropped from one story high. Other activities, which SIUC College of Engineering faculty and staff supervise, include 2-liter bottle rocket launches and keeping dry ice from melting. Engineering Day is set for 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 19, at the SIUC Engineering Building. Almost 600 students and teachers from high schools throughout the area and state will learn how engineers solve problems using science and technology. The day's events include various programs and games organized by SIUC engineering students. Those students also will teach and perform project demonstrations. Activities include bridge building, in which students receive 30 plastic straws to do so, the Saluki Egg Drop, hovercraft engineering and paper airplane design, among others. Students can choose to participate in five of the nine events offered and compete to win engineering-themed T-shirts. The overall winner will receive a Saluki jacket. Representatives and displays from several engineering student organizations, including the formula racing, hovercraft and moon buggy groups, will be on hand, along with those from area industries and SIUC researchers. A banquet follows the day's events. Dick Blaudow, a 1970 SIUC graduate and founder of Advanced Technology Services Inc. is this year's banquet speaker. In 2006, Blaudow, along with his wife, Brigitte, donated $250,000 to establish "The Blaudow - ATS Program for Technical Leadership in Manufacturing." The program is aimed at graduating community college students transferring into an engineering program at SIUC. A $14,000 value, the scholarship is designed to cover virtually all tuition and fees during the students' junior and senior years, and provides a paid internship with ATS Inc. Engineering Day is part of Engineering Week, a worldwide tradition that dates back to 1951 and honors engineers and engineering achievements. This year's event marks the 27th Engineering Day event at SIUC.
Source: Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
School of Engineering students have an opportunity to find employment they can fall in love with. The Spring Engineering and Computer Science Career Fair will be from 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 14, on the fifth floor of the Kansas Memorial Union. More than 80 employers looking for students with a technical background have already registered to attend. Coordinators in the Engineering Career Center, 1001 Eaton Hall, expect as many as 100 firms and agencies will have registered before the event gets under way. Visit the ECC Web site for a complete list of attendees, and the majors they are hiring. Employers will look for students to fill internship positions as well as full-time, permanent positions. All students at all academic levels are encouraged to attend. Career fairs are an important way for students to learn about potential employers as they build important conversational skills. Professional attire - suit, shirt and tie for men, suit or pantsuit for women - is strongly recommended. Students also should come prepared with printed copies of their resume.
Source: The University of Kansas
Thanks to technology, residents at the Fairhaven Retirement Community are not the only ones who can hear UW-Whitewater's Fairhaven Lecture Series. The lecture series has been a way for UW-Whitewater to reach out and share knowledge with the community since 1983, and the podcasting of the series now allows that reach to span the globe.
Approximately 12 lectures are presented every fall and spring semester by UW-Whitewater faculty in a wide range of disciplines. The podcasting of the lectures initially began as a resource for students who could not attend the lectures due to class schedules. However, John Stone, dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Continuing Education, says that it is not only UW-Whitewater students and community members who listen to the podcasts.
"About 20 percent of our listeners are not from the Whitewater community. We have had downloads from North Carolina to New York," he said. "This is the purest form of university outreach that I can think of. It's a perfect example of the university sharing one of its greatest resources, the many talents of its faculty and staff, in a way that enhances the community and the region."
Last semester's lecture series was focused on faculty research. The upcoming spring semester theme is "Our Natural World." The first lecture, "Impacts of White-tailed Deer in Wisconsin Forests," by Associate Professor of Biology Stephen Solheim, will be held 3 p.m. Mon., Jan. 28. All lectures are held at the Fairhaven Retirement Community at 435 W. Starin Road. They are free and open to the public.
Source: University of Wisconsin - Whitewater
Wentworth Institute of Technology Bachelor of Science in Management
Wentworth Institute of Technology (Wentworth) offers a Bachelor of Science in Management through the Department of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Management. The BS Management has been developed to prepare students for a range of ... [more]
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