Targeted Infusion Grant: Development of a Virtual and Augmented Reality Laboratory for Research and Education at Tennessee State University

田纳西州立大学(TSU)目标输液项目的最先进的虚拟和增强现实(VAR)研究和教育实验室加强了电气工程和机械工程课程，并为本科生增加了指导研究的机会。利用VAR作为研究和教育工具，该实验室将使学生沉浸在实际的工程设计挑战中。对复杂多维数据集的建模、分析和可视化的关键需求产生了为培训学生提供这种VAR计划的需求，并将机电工程中的先进工程工具集成到TSU的相关工业应用和研究中。尽管VAR被美国国家工程院确定为工程学的十四大挑战之一，但最近校友(1999-2009)的未公布机构数据显示，没有TSU毕业生申请VAR研究生项目，也没有受雇于VAR技术专业的行业。这种模式导致非裔美国人在VAR劳动力和竞争激烈的VAR研究生项目中代表性不足。这项建议的目标是：1)开发一个用于学术培训的虚拟和增强现实实验室，以整合电气工程和机械工程专业的研究和教育模块；2)通过向台州大学的工程专业学生传授关键工程概念和VAR技术的知识和理解，培养具有全球竞争力的工程师，这些概念和技术是解决未来劳动力和竞争性工程研究生项目中实际工程设计挑战所必需的；以及3)通过增加与台州大学两个关注STEM学生成绩的成功项目(HBCU-UP实施和LS-TLSAMP)的协同作用，加强基础设施和促进可持续性。

The Tennessee State University (TSU) Targeted Infusion Project's state-of-the-art Virtual and Augmented Reality (VAR) Research and Educational Laboratory enhances the Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering curriculum and increases mentored research opportunities for undergraduate students. Deploying VAR as a research and educational vehicle, this laboratory will immerse students in actual engineering-design challenges. The critical demand for modeling, analyzing, and visualizing complex multidimensional data sets creates a need to offer this VAR initiative for training students, and integrate advanced engineering tools in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering to relevant industrial applications and research at TSU. Though VAR has been identified as one of the fourteen grand challenges of engineering by the National Academy of Engineering, unpublished institutional data from recent alumni (1999-2009) reveal no TSU graduates applied to VAR graduate programs or were employed by industries specializing in VAR technologies. This pattern contributes to the under-representation of African Americans in the VAR workforce and in competitive VAR graduate programs. The objectives of this proposal are to: 1) Develop a Virtual and Augmented Reality Laboratory for academic training to integrate research and educational modules in the Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering programs; 2) Prepare globally competitive engineers by equipping TSU's engineering students with knowledge and understanding of critical engineering concepts and VAR technologies which are required to solve practical engineering design challenges in tomorrow's workforce and competitive graduate engineering programs; and 3) Enhance infrastructure and promote sustainability by increasing the synergy with TSU's two federally funded successful programs (HBCU-UP Implementation and LS-TLSAMP) which are focused on STEM student achievement.