RET Site: Research Experiences for Teachers in Biologically-inspired Computing Systems

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This funding establishes a new Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Site at the University of South Alabama. In-service middle school and high school teachers from Mobile and Baldwin County Public Schools will spend six weeks each summer engaged with research activities focused on biologically-inspired computing. The RET teachers will be guided by an interdisciplinary group of faculty from the University of South Alabama as well as industry partners on discovery-based research projects in the area of neuromorphic systems, biologically-inspired systems to support machine learning applications. The RET teachers will design standards-compliant curriculum modules which they will implement in their classrooms during the academic year and conduct workshops for other teachers. The teachers will also participate in many professional development activities during the summer research activity and the academic year. This project should develop a lasting relationship between the university, the K-12 schools, and the surrounding community that can help to build a strong educational foundation in the schools supported by the university and the other partners.The RET site is anchored by a compelling computing and engineering research area, neuromorphic systems. The research projects span applications, architecture, circuits, and devices that enable future computing systems. The projects build on the expertise and on-going research of the faculty mentors. The technical areas to be investigated include novel imagery collection techniques and image processing algorithms for cancer detection, spiking neural network algorithms for imagery data, new power-efficient memory architecture and circuits to support the algorithms that are developed, and new memristor device-based neuromorphic system design for better prediction and accuracy. The research will provide teachers around for developing creative course modules in mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, engineering, and technology that align well with state and national curriculum standards.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.