IRES Track I: Towards a Green and Self-Powered Internet of Things (IoT) using Vibration Energy Harvesting

在三年的项目期间，将从路易斯安那州相邻的两所大学，路易斯安那理工大学和格兰布林州立大学招收18名本科生，参加英国谢菲尔德大学的国际活动。格兰布林州立大学是HBCU。在谢菲尔德大学为期6周的学习期间，被招募的学生将参与研究活动，重点是提高学生对环保绿色能源收集系统的潜在应用和环境影响的认识。学生将从事个人项目，经过精心挑选和设计，以适应他们的科学背景和课程。被录取的学生将参加由谢菲尔德大学国际办公室和学生服务咨询台（SSID）以及全球校园项目组织的文化活动。该项目的一个主要成果是培养训练有素的美国劳动力，能够适应绿色能源全球市场和物联网技术。此外，该项目将通过与格兰布林州立大学和路易斯安那理工大学全国黑人工程师协会（NSBE）学生协会的密切合作，通过积极主动和有针对性的招聘渠道，重点扩大代表性不足群体的参与。将以几种方式传播这个IRES项目的成果。在全国范围内，研究成果将在ASME-IMECE本科生研究与设计博览会上展示。在当地，科学和文化活动的成果将通过两个年度校园招聘和传播研讨会进行广播，即一个在路易斯安那理工大学，一个在格兰布林州立大学。这些年度活动将作为一个互动平台，i)回国的IRES学生可以展示他们的研究成果和文化体验，ii)招募新学生参与IRES项目。该IRES项目建立在路易斯安那理工大学和谢菲尔德大学在物联网传感器能量收集系统设计和实施领域的持续合作的基础上。不断增长的物联网（IoT）市场的一个关键部分是收集周围环境信息所需的大量无线传感器节点。目前，这些传感器大多由传统电池供电，需要不断更换，维护费力，危险处理。这是一个特别令人生畏的环境问题，因为需要数百万个电池来为这些有望帮助组成物联网的传感器供电。在这个IRES项目中，学生们将参与动手研究活动，解决从非传统绿色能源中收集能量的挑战，即为小型物联网传感器供电的环境振动。该项目的成果将产生重大的社会影响。该项目的成果将通过回答与利用这些系统作为物联网传感器可靠的环保电源的可行性相关的基本问题，为环境振动的绿色能源生产领域做出贡献。单个项目和研究活动的集合将有助于整个项目的智力价值，该项目专注于开发环境友好，高效，可靠且适合物联网现实世界实施的振动能量收集系统。学生将在谢菲尔德参加每周的文化活动；帮助他们培养全球思维、横向和人际交往能力，成为具有竞争力的未来劳动力，能够适应新的绿色能源市场和物联网技术。该项目由国际科学与工程办公室（OISE）和促进竞争研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）共同资助。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Over the three years of this project period, 18 undergraduate students will be recruited from two adjacent Louisianan institutions, Louisiana Tech University and Grambling State University, which is an HBCU, to participate in international activities at University of Sheffield, UK. During their 6 weeks stay at University of Sheffield, recruited students will be engaged in research activities that are focused on raising students’ awareness of potential applications and environmental impacts of eco-friendly green energy harvesting systems. Students will be engaged in individual projects that are carefully selected and designed to suit their scientific background and course work. Recruited students will participate in cultural activities organized by the International Office and Student Services Information Desk (SSID) and The Global Campus Program at University of Sheffield. A major outcome of this project is producing a well-trained U.S. workforce that is capable of adapting to green energy global markets and IoT technologies. Moreover, this project will focus on broadening the participation of underrepresented groups using a proactive and targeted recruitment pipeline through close collaboration with Grambling State and Louisiana Tech National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) student association. Dissemination of outcomes from this IRES project will be conducted in a few ways. Nationally, outcomes will be presented at the ASME-IMECE Undergraduate Research and Design Exposition. Locally, outcomes from the scientific and cultural activities will be broadcasted via two annual on-campus recruitment and dissemination workshops, i.e. one at Louisiana Tech and one at Grambling State University. These annual events will act as an interactive platform for i) returning IRES students to broadcast their research outcomes and cultural experiences and ii) recruiting new students to participate in the IRES project. This IRES project builds on the ongoing collaboration between the PIs at Louisiana Tech University and University of Sheffield in the field of design and implementation of energy harvesting systems for IoT sensors. A critical part of the growing Internet of Things (IoT) market is the large number of wireless sensor nodes needed for collecting information on the surrounding environment. Presently, these sensors are mostly powered by traditional batteries, requiring continuous replacement, laborious maintenance, and hazardous disposal. This is an especially daunting environmental issue because of the millions of batteries that will be required to power these sensors that are expected to help comprise the IoT. In this IRES project, students will be involved in hands-on research activities addressing the challenge of harvesting energy from non-traditional green energy source, namely, ambient vibrations for powering small-size IoT sensors. The outcomes from this project will have significant societal impacts. Results from this project will contribute to the field of green energy generation, from ambient vibrations, by answering fundamental questions related to the feasibility of utilizing these systems as reliable eco-friendly power sources for IoT sensors. The collection of individual projects and research activities will contribute towards the intellectual merit of the overall project that is focused on developing vibration energy harvesting systems that are environment-friendly, efficient, reliable, and suitable for IoT real-world implementation. Students will participate in weekly cultural activities at Sheffield; helping them develop global mindset and transversal and interpersonal skills necessary to become the future workforce that is competitive and capable of adapting to new green energy markets and IoT technologies. This project is jointly funded by the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.