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

在三年的计划期内，我们会从两所邻近的路易斯安那州院校，即路易斯安那理工大学和格兰布林州立大学（属HBCU），招募18名本科生到英国谢菲尔德大学参与国际活动。 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，重点是提高学生对生态友好型绿色能源收集系统的潜在应用和环境影响的认识。学生将参与精心挑选和设计的个人项目，以适应他们的科学背景和课程工作。被录取的学生将参加由国际办公室和学生服务信息台（SSID）和谢菲尔德大学全球校园计划组织的文化活动。该项目的一个主要成果是培养一支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，利用积极和有针对性的招聘渠道，扩大代表性不足群体的参与。将通过几种方式传播能源统计信息国际项目的成果。在全国范围内，成果将在ASME-IMECE本科生研究和设计博览会上展示。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）返回IRES学生广播他们的研究成果和文化经验，ii）招募新的学生参加IRES项目。 这个IRES项目建立在路易斯安那理工大学和谢菲尔德大学的PI在物联网传感器能量收集系统的设计和实施领域的持续合作基础上。不断增长的物联网（IoT）市场的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，并进行危险处理。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传感器供电，这些传感器预计将有助于组成物联网。在这个IRES项目中，学生将参与实践研究活动，解决从非传统绿色能源中获取能量的挑战，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。该项目的结果将有助于绿色能源发电领域，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。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。学生将参加每周在谢菲尔德的文化活动;帮助他们发展全球思维和横向和人际交往能力，成为未来的劳动力，具有竞争力，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）和激励竞争性研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）共同资助。该奖项反映了NSF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.