Brazil Scientific Mobility Students Enjoy Summer Research at Illinois Tech
You may have recently seen these students and their Professor, Dr. Don Tijunelis, in their yellow t-shirts on IIT’s Mies campus. They've been out working on their Brazil Scientific Mobility Program (BSMP) summer research project, INTM 498-10: Energy Saving Innovations. The students’ idea for the project is to build a bridge across State Street with lights powered by a combination of solar panels and foot traffic that would somehow generate energy. Part of their work included taking a survey to ask passersby on campus, “if there were a bridge on State Street, would you make a detour of one block to cross it, knowing that the energy from your footsteps would light the bridge in the evening?”
You might have seen another group of BSMP students in the Nike and Adidas stores on Michigan Avenue in Chicago recently, with their Professor Will Maurer. They went to interview the store managers about the latest gym shoe trends, and future applications using 3-D printing as part of their BSMP summer research project, INTM 498-06: Development of Custom Footwear Using 3-D/Additive Printing.
Other projects are taking place in the School of Applied Technology’s (SAT) Embedded Systems and Cyber-Security Labs. Professor Jeremy Hajek has a BSMP group using drones in two projects; Autonomous-Drone-Application-Service and Autonomous-Service-Frameworks. He describes this work as “the prototype demonstration of the Autonomous Service Framework in which students are using 3DRobotics Iris and Iris+ models to move and deliver items to a user on-demand or autonomously.”
SAT is running a total of 26 BSMP research projects this summer, all focusing on innovation, problem-solving, and practical application of new technologies. BSMP allows students from Brazil to study abroad for a full year, with the option to complete a short-term research project at one of several different U.S. universities.
SAT’s Summer 2016 BSMP students began their research in early June and will complete their projects by July 25. They will present the results of their work at a closing event on Thursday, July 28: SAT Summer Research Experience: Student Discoveries, Video Explorations, and Awards. Check the SAT Facebook page for more photos coming soon.
