REU Site: Hardware, Embedded Software, and Analytics for Environment Quality Monitoring

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There has never been a higher urgency for addressing environmental problems, many caused by human activity and emerging climate change. Thus, the main theme of this Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site project is the development of a holistic approach for water and air quality monitoring. Participating faculty from three different departments, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Civil Construction and Environmental Engineering will work with students to contribute to active research on underwater and aerial drones, water and air quality sensors, embedded algorithms for sensor fusion, navigation and control, sensor technologies, wireless communications, 3D printing and mechanical design of drone hulls, and environmental engineering. By recruiting students nationally and from those at Marquette and local community colleges - with a particular focus on women, African-American and Hispanic students- the proposed program will bring together students from diverse cultural and academic backgrounds, thereby increasing participation and having a broader impact. This proposal will transform the way the environment monitoring is done holistically with interdisciplinary approaches, spanning multiple areas, while training the next generation of engineers and researchers with more comprehensive views of the problems that society faces today and in the future. This program uses an interdisciplinary approach to addressing open research questions in the area of embedded and computational solutions using underwater and aerial drones for the purpose of water and air monitoring, data collection, and analytics. Having environment monitoring as the underlying theme, the proposed project is interdisciplinary. This is a unique aspect of this proposal as it crosses department boundaries to bring together into a holistic approach research projects from three different departments. The objectives are to: 1) engage student participants in research activities leading to intellectual flow experiences, which will increase motivation and commitment to careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); 2) increase participation in engineering and science of women, African-American and Hispanic students; 3) educate students for academic excellence and persistent contribution to STEM for the greater good of humanity; and 4) mentor participants for life-long learning careers in engineering. To achieve these objectives, students will be immersed daily in research activities. These activities will be facilitated via a series of bootcamps on writing, entrepreneurship and machine learning, in addition to self-paced online technical training, environment monitoring colloquium and lunch with speakers, tours at local companies, and graduate seminars.This site is supported by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF REU program.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.