Quality of Life Technology Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)

技术概述参加QOLT REU计划的学生将在横向思维、协调设计和跨学科问题解决方面拥有具体经验，这将磨练他们在整个研究生涯中以有原则的方式寻求系统级解决方案的能力。学生们将被分配一个基于QOLT ERC正在进行的和/或试点研究的项目。与目前机器人领域的大多数工作不同，其目标是取代人类劳动，QOLT研究的中心主题是开发与人合作的智能系统，这些系统是安全的、可感知人的和可感知环境的。所有QOLT研究项目都受益于全系统的背景，利益相关者代表多个学术学科、组织(例如，护理团体)和最终用户。REU项目将强调并教授参与性行动设计(PAD)，这是一个在不同利益攸关方参与的情况下，确定、转换并将背景制约因素纳入QOLT系统的概念和开发的过程。REU的学生将在项目开发期间学习PAD，因为他们将自己作为工程师的身份融入到整个设计和分析周期的背景中。QOLT REU项目将包括大量的研究内容，并可能导致新的发现，可在同行评议的会议记录和杂志上发表。非技术摘要QOLT ERC的愿景是通过智能设备和系统改变因衰老或残疾而功能减退的人的生活。该中心是CMU和PIT之间独特的合作伙伴关系，整合了CMU在智能系统设计、实施和技术转让方面的优势，以及PIT在健康科学和老龄研究方面的优势。QOLT REU计划的主要目标是将学生从依赖的人转变为独立的思考者，给他们一种成就感和接触潜在最终用户的机会，并提供真正适合正在进行的ERC项目的项目经验。该计划建立在之前资助的QOLT REU网站的成功基础上，重点是招收STEM中的弱势学生(少数族裔、残疾学生和研究机会有限的学校的学生)，并为他们提供全面的培训体验。学生毕业时应对技术和工程充满激情，具有批判性思维，并对开展QOLT研究的过程有深刻的理解。学生将成为项目的积极参与者和创新者，这些项目旨在通过系统工程的努力解决现实世界的问题。学生们将以横向的方式思考并设计真正的系统，以一种智力和情感上强大的方式产生不同，这是QOLT环境的独特优势。QOLT REU网站的更广泛影响近在咫尺，因为QOLT有一个明确地融入广泛影响概念本身的社会目标：如何利用技术在老年人和残疾人的生活中产生积极的社会变化？皇家理工学院的学生将开展对人们的生活有直接影响的领先研究。年轻的准工程师在培训初期从这样的经历中获得的价值观的价值怎么强调都不为过。来自不同背景的学生将把他们的研究经验与致力于研究、设计和整合方法论的计划课程结合起来。

Technical SummaryStudents participating in the QoLT REU program will have a concrete experience in lateral thinking, aligned design and interdisciplinary problem-solving that will hone their ability to pursue systmes-level solutions in a principled manner throughout their research career. The students will be assigned a project based on ongoing and/ or pilot research in the QoLT ERC. Unlike most current work in robotics, with its goal to replace human labor, the central theme of QoLT research is to develop intelligent systems that work with people and are safe, person-aware, and environment-aware. All QoLT research projects have the benefit of systems-wide context, with stakeholders representing multiple academic disciplines, organizations (e.g., caregiving groups), and end users. The REU projects will emphasize and teach Participatory Action Design (PAD), a process of identifying, translating, and integrating contextual constraints into the conception and development of QoLT systems with the involvement of diverse stakeholders. The REU students will learn PAD during project development, as they integrate their identities as engineers into the context of the complete design and analysis cycle. QoLT REU projects will include substantial research components and will likely lead to new findings, which can be published in peer-reviewed proceedings and journals.Non-Technical SummaryThe vision of the QoLT ERC is to transform the lives of people with reduced functional capabilities due to aging or disability through intelligent devices and systems. The QoLT ERC is a unique partnership between CMU and Pitt, integrating CMU's strength in the design, implementation, and technology transfer of intelligent systems, and Pitt's strength in health sciences and aging research. The primary objectives of the QoLT REU program are to transform students from dependent to independent thinkers, give them a sense of accomplishment and exposure to potential end-users, and provide experience on a project that has a genuine fit to an ongoing ERC project. The program builds on the successes of the previously funded QoLT REU Site in that it places an emphasis on recruiting disadvantaged students in STEM (racial minorities, students with disabilities, and students from schools with limited research opportunities) and provide them with a comprehensive training experience. Students are expected to leave the program with a sense of excitement about technology and engineering, a critical mindset, and a deep understanding of the process of conducting QoLT research. Students will be active participants and innovators in projects designed to address real-world problems with systems-level engineering efforts. The students will think laterally and design real systems that make a difference in an intellectually and emotionally powerful way, and this is the unique strength of the QoLT context.The broader impacts of the QoLT REU Site are close at hand because QoLT has a societal goal that is explicitly woven into the concept of broad impact itself: how can technology be used to effect positive social change in the lives of the elderly and in the lives of persons with disabilities? QoLT REU students will conduct leading research that has direct effects on peoples' lives. The value of the sense of worth that a young engineer-to-be obtains from such an experience early in her training cannot be overstated. Coming from diverse backgrounds, students will integrate their research experiences with planned curriculum devoted to research, design, and integration methodology.