Daren Hua (Eleanor Roosevelt High School, USA)

6

At ISEC 2018, Professor Marc E. Herniter presented the High School Autonomous Vehicle Competition (HSAVC), which introduces autonomous driving to high school students. The competition promotes STEM education by challenging participants to use MATLAB to create a vision-based track detection algorithm and Simulink to build a motor controller model. Following the COVID-19 global pandemic, many in-person STEM competitions were cancelled, including HSAVC. The goal of the Autonomous Driving Simulation Platform is to provide a virtual alternative to the in-person competition to adapt the opportunity of the HSAVC for an increasingly digital world. Using MATLAB, the Simulation Platform creates a real-time virtual environment for students to test their HSAVC track detection algorithms and motor controller models. The Simulation Platform consists of two MATLAB apps: a Track Generator and a Driving Simulator. The Track Generator application can create fixed tracks based on user inputs or randomized tracks based on user-defined lengths. The Track Generator utilizes a growth and mutation algorithm to create a track with three distinct track sections: straight, left curve, and right curve. The Track Generator's randomized track replicates the HSAVC's physical track, and the Driving Simulator replicates the HSAVC's 1:18 scale autonomous vehicle equipped with a linescan camera, a microcontroller, two drive motors, and a servo motor with three functional components: a vehicle model, a track model, and a camera model. The user interface includes fields to specify the input file paths and options to configure the physical parameters of the vehicle and camera. In addition, a Track View displays the vehicle's real-time position and orientation on the track while a Camera View captures real-time camera signals. Two proof of concept MATLAB apps (Track Generator and a Driving Simulator) have been successfully designed and packaged in MATLAB App Designer. Users can create a track and test their algorithms and models through an intuitive interface, making it an effective tool for STEM education in any classroom. The Autonomous Driving Simulation Platform holds potential as a solution to the HSAVC competition during the pandemic and can increase student engagement in the HSAVC from high schools around the world. The successful virtual adaptation of HSAVC demonstrates how simulations can be used as a critical tool for in-person STEM competitions to continue in digital form.

Desalination and Purification of Water using a Solar Powered Hydrogel Multistage

Kevin A Murphy (PRISMS, USA)

5

The United Nations has a goal to supply clean water and sanitation for all. This goal sprouts from the fact that one in three people do not have access to clean drinking water. Clean water is an essential resource for our survival, yet we waste and pollute it. 2.5% of the Earth's water is fresh yet only .5% is drinkable. As well as this, our already meager water resources are being threatened by climate change as weather patterns change and sea levels rise. An example of this is San Diego's water supply which comes directly from the Colorado River but, due to a change in weather patterns, the Colorado river level is falling forcing San Diego to look elsewhere for clean water (2). Another example is Melbourne's, and many other Australian cities', water supply that took a heavy hit during the Millennium Drought.
To fix problems like this desalination plants are being built. However, the processing of water in these plants is expensive ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 US dollars per acre-foot (of water), 10's to 100's of millions per year in maintenance (3) and billions to build the plants in the first place. The construction of these plants also require infrastructure that developing countries, countries that need clean water the most, simply do not have. The current and mainly used methods of desalination are reverse osmosis and thermal evaporation (2). Thermal desalination isn't commercially viable due to its intensive energy requirement so reverse osmosis plants have become the favored design. However, these plants have many consequences such as toxic waste pollution and killing of local wildlife (2). This industry is crucial to humanity's survival, yet it has so much room for improvement.
Despite humanity's access to a large supply of salt water and polluted fresh water, we are without an efficient and versatile means of making it safe to drink. This study aims to change that. This study aims to design, build and test an easy to use, highly efficient, solar powered and portable water purification method that can be used across the globe. This design will produce water via highly efficient evaporation which will cleanse it of contaminants, including microplastics. In this study a water vaporization enthalpy decreasing chitosan and PVA hydrogel was synthesized and freeze dried repeatedly at -80C to stimulate the expansion of pores within the hydrogel. Additionally, a multistage of these hydrogels was designed and is undergoing construction and testing in tandem with a solar tracking nested paraboloidal solar concentrator. It is hypothesized that this design will have a purification rate of ~10L per hour. The testing of the purification rate will depend on the quality of the prototype and the prototype's heat capacity. This design will also undergo field trials that will test its ease of use and its resistance to damage. The results of this study will determine the feasibility of this design in the real world and whether it can realistically be of benefit to those without clean water.

Comparing Grover's Quantum Search Algorithm with Classical Algorithm on Solving Satisfiability Problem

Runqian Wang (Princeton International School of Math and Science, USA)

4

The emergence of quantum computing provides us the possibility of solving tasks that might take years classically in just a few minutes. For certain problems, quantum computing exhibits quantum supremacy, meaning that the quantum solution runs exponentially faster than classical algorithms and is able to completely take over classical computers. This high efficiency of quantum computing comes not only from the hardware but also the software, quantum algorithms. The algorithms utilize the qubits to make calculations in order to fulfill specific tasks with the lowest time complexity possible. One such algorithm is named the Grover's algorithm, which is able to perform database search in O(sqrt(N)), and it runs much faster than the traditional algorithm that takes O(N) time to solve the same task. For example, when the task is to find the even integers from N integers, traditional computation will need to run through all of the N integers one by one, making at least N steps of calculation, while by using Grover's algorithm only around sqrt(N) calculations are needed. This exponential speed-up makes Grover's algorithm one of the most important quantum algorithms. Grover's algorithm has a wide application in many fields and is able to improve the time complexity exponentially. One task that can be solved using Grover's algorithm is the satisfiability problem. This type of problem asks the computer to find a set of values (commonly true or false) for several variables such that they satisfy certain constraints. We use k-SAT problems to refer to satisfiability problems with k boolean variables to be determined. Grover's algorithm can effectively solve the k-SAT problem by performing the database search on 2^N possible states of the variables. The algorithm's square root optimization on searching helps to improve the efficiency of this solution significantly. Furthermore, this optimization of Grover's algorithm may play a more important role when k grows larger, and consequently the efficiency of the quantum solution could improve faster relative to the traditional solution. Yet this hypothesis is never tested due to the lack of a general k-SAT quantum algorithm. No quantum algorithms solving k-SAT problems where k is greater than 3 have been proposed, thus no test has been performed to compare the quantum solution and the classical solution on more general k-SAT problems. In this research, we formulate a general quantum solution for k-SAT problem and compare such solution with the best classical algorithm to determine whether and when the quantum algorithm performs better on satisfiability problems. The comparison will be done through both theoretical deduction as well as real-world implementation. At the end of this research, we will determine whether the proposed quantum algorithm outperforms the classical algorithm on solving k-satisfiability problems.

"Making a mechanical hand with plastic drinking straws."

Sowmya Natarajan (Whittle School and Studios, USA)

4

Hi my name is Sowmya Natarajan and I will be presenting a mechanical hand made from plastic drinking straws. The purpose of this project is to be able to pick up objects using the fingers. I will have 5 strings controlling 5 different fingers. The fingers will be able to pick up objects such as water bottles and paper crushed into a ball. I got this idea from my mentor who suggested it, and she was also telling me how it corresponds to prosthetic arms. I was inspired by the fact that I could replicate something so high tech from everyday materials like plastic straws and string. However, while working on this project I came across many challenges. This led me to think about these questions. If you cut the holes the same size will the hand still work? If you cut the holes larger will the hand still move all the joints? If you cut the holes closer/farther together will it function better? After multiple tries I realized there was a formula to making the hand, and the formula answered all my questions. The first hole needs to be the largest hole the middle hole needs to be medium sized and the lowest hole needs to be the smallest hole. After knowing this I successfully made the hand.

Predictive Analytics in Agriculture using Geospatial Mapping

Sreya Jonnalagadda (Princeton International School of Matematics and Science, USA)

5

Smart farming has become increasingly popular over the past years and has been making great contributions to the agricultural industry. Techniques such as precision farming, predictive analytics, and geospatial visualization are being used in agriculture to help with efficiency, profitability, and optimization. In my research project, I plan on applying predictive analytics on local (New Jersey) farm data to discover and analyze future trends and patterns. Then, using geospatial mapping (utilizing the ArcGIS platform), the findings drawn from the data will be illustrated to provide clarity. These conclusions can be used to provide future direction and make further advancements. For example, an app(that displays the analytics and findings) can be created and translated to the farmers to help provide suggestions and allow them to understand their farms better. In addition, the findings could lead to a further study involving specific crops or technologies.

Household 3D Cream Printer for Cake Decoration

Junjing Zeng (Branksome Hall, Canada); Fangzhou Xia (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)

9

Making beautifully decorated cakes at home can be a great joy for baking hobbyist especially during the time of social distancing. However, creating beautiful patterns on the cake is a labor-intensive task that requires a significant amount of skills. For novice bakers to create amazing custom cake decoration, 3D printers can be an invaluable tool. Since its invention in the 1980s, 3D printing technology has evolved significantly to enable various new fabrication capabilities. In the last decade, the food industry has also started to adopt this technology for printing chocolates, candies, dough, or meat. 3D printing has amazing flexibility to realize customized designs with complex geometry, which makes it ideal for cake decoration. Moreover, 3D printers have become widely available as affordable consumer electronics. Therefore, to reduce human labor and skill requirements, we intend to repurpose a 3D printer for cake decoration, which has not been realized before.

In this poster, we present the design of a Cream 3D Printer for cake decoration at home. The system is designed to create the desired geometry with cream, produce multiple materials/colors and be affordable (hundreds of dollars). For the initial investigation, the prototype design is modified from a Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D printer. The four primary subsystems include a 3-axis motion system, a material extruder, control algorithms, and an environment control chamber. For the 3-axis motion system, a Creality Ender 3 Pro 3D printer is selected as the basic structure since it is affordable, open-source, and well-supported by its community. The plastic material extruder is replaced by a custom-designed cream extruder. Whipped cream is placed in multiple syringes pushed by the slider on lead screws actuated by stepper motors. Plastic tubes are used to guide the cream from the syringes to the nozzle for ejection. Multiple nozzles or a single nozzle with multi-way valves can be used to select materials from the syringes. For the control system, G-code generated by the slicer from a Solidworks 3D design can be directly used for single material printing. To select between multiple materials, a custom Python program processes the G-code and uses serial communication to interface with the 3D printer Marlin firmware and an Arduino microcontroller. The environmental control chamber helps to cool the printed cream and improve its rigidity so that complex 3D shapes can be printed. The temperature control can be realized with simple commercial refrigeration systems.

At the current stage, the single nozzle cream extrusion capability is completed for the cream 3D printer. Coordinated control of the Ender 3 Pro 3-axis motion system and the custom nozzle has been realized for cream printing. We are currently investigating the effects of temperature and other printing parameters for various potential cream mixtures to identify the configurations suitable for printing. The multi-material printing capability will be developed after identifying suitable materials. With the 3D cream printer, we hope to empower novice baking hobbyist to create amazing cake decoration without years of practice.

Low-cost Portable Ventilator Design for Underdeveloped Regions

Rui Wang (High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China); Fangzhou Xia (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)

7

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly challenged the world in many ways especially for the medical sector. One of the most important challenge is the shortage of ventilators for COVID-19 treatment. In 2020, nearly one hundred million people have been infected globally, where at least ten percent of the patients may develop severe respiratory distress that require ventilators for treatment. Since conventional ventilators are high-end medical equipment not commonly used, the stock numbers are insufficient as cases surge. For example, around 2000 people share one ventilator in the U.S at the beginning of the pandemic. Such a shortage is even severer in underdeveloped countries such as the Central African Republic where millions of people need to share a single ventilator. On the other hand, ventilators are vital to increase the survival rate of patients in critical conditions. As the coronavirus damages lung function and impedes oxygen absorption, ventilators assist breathing by pressurizing air into lungs to maintain the blood oxygen concentration. Existing ventilators are not designed for handling the pandemic especially in third-world countries. High-end ventilators typically cost more than $10k per installment and cannot be easily produced. On the lower-end, Bag Valve Mask (BVM) requires manual pumping that yields high risk of infection. Researchers at MIT has developed automated BVM-based ventilator. However, the important functionalities for patient biometric sensing and doctor alarming are still missing from previous designs.

In this poster, we present our solution to this challenge by developing a low-cost portable ventilator with three main highlights. First, with $300 target budget, the system can be produced in large quantities for use at temporary mobile cabin hospitals. Second, a patient monitoring system for blood oxygen and electrocardiogram are included with wireless alarms to notify doctors in case of emergency. Third, the exhaled air will be disinfected by specialized filter to reduce the risk of cross infection. The oxygen supply mechanical subsystem design is centered around a BVM compressed using a mechanism driven by a stepper motor. Supplemental oxygen can also be added from portable canisters. The electrical subsystems are primarily based on the Arduino microcontroller platform for both oxygen supply control and sensor signal processing. A custom instrumentation-amplifier-based electrocardiogram circuit and an infrared oximeter sensor are designed to measure patient biometrics. A wireless communication scheme is realized with Bluetooth modules for remote monitoring and can operate as an alarm to the doctor. The assembled prototype is currently capable of supplying oxygen to normal adults with a lung capacity of 6000 ml. It can also conduct simple measurement of heart rate and blood oxygen concentration with remote monitoring. The on-going tasks involve selecting exhaled gas disinfecting filter and processing signals to identify abnormal biometrics. Additional work on improving the portability of the design with battery operation is also planned. We hope this affordable open-source design can help underdeveloped countries overcome the current challenges and be better prepared for future pandemic crisis.

Water purification for human consumption

Sumanth R Moole (Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, USA)

8

Project Objectives:
This project is to research, propose, and test the alternatives to the current water purification methods. Two most important objectives are to reduce the cost and make the solution available to the people with minimal infrastructure.

Problem Description:
Water is critical for life. Even though two thirds of the earth surface is covered with water, not all of it is suitable for human consumption. United Nations statistics show that 1.2 billion people, or almost one in every five, have water scarcity now and another 1.6 billion people do not have sufficient infrastructure to use the water available to them in rivers and aquifers (https://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/scarcity.shtml).
Water extracted from rivers, lakes, and aquifers is not suitable for human consumption in most cases without purification. Water purification is expensive and difficult process which requires chemicals like Aluminum Sulfate. These chemicals interact with suspended solid particles in the water in a process called flocculation, which creates heavy particles that sink to the bottom. After flocculation, the clear water is further purified with Chlorine or other anti-microbial chemicals. These chemicals are produced in expensive factories and require transportation over long distances to reach the intended population. The infrastructure required to collect, purify, and distribute the water is very expensive and requires large capital investment for long term. These high costs and requirement of capital investments are further complicated in politically unstable regions of the world. In view of this background, there is a need to find innovative solutions to the water purification to reduce costs, capital investment, and bring the solutions to the needy people.

Research, proposed solution, and results:
This research was focused on how different civilizations in the past dealt with the water purification problem, especially when there were no chemicals, factories, and water supply infrastructure. Through this research of literature, one water purification method used by the Indian farmers since ancient times to purify the water available in the ponds they dug to collect the rain water in each field was selected for testing. The rain water collected in those ponds was contaminated by wild life excrements, mud, algae, etc. and was not suitable for human consumption. The farmers made thin pads from dry straw available in the fields and used them as covers for the pot openings. When the pots are dipped into the pond water, these pads filtered out the large contaminants like algae, fecal matter, and heavy mud. Then these pots of water are taken out, mixed with the powder of Moringa Oleifera (drumstick) seeds, let them settle for about 30 minutes or so depending on the size of the pot. The Moringa Oleifera causes flocculation. In addition, the Moringa Oleifera seems to have anti-microbial properties that kill organic contaminants as well. This project tested the effectiveness of Moringa Oleifera as a flocculant. The results proved that the Moringa Oleifera is as effective as the Aluminum Sulfate. This solution is small scale, easily implementable in remote locations, and cheaper.

Comparison of effectiveness of Machine Learning algorithms for Vehicle Path Prediction

Sumanth R Moole (Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, USA)

8

In modern warfare, intercepting moving enemy targets such as tanks, aircraft, missiles, and drones plays a crucial role. These targets are either controlled by enemy personnel or by sophisticated electronic systems. Therefore, their movements are best characterized by random motion subject to certain physical laws. Predicting these motions is extremely complex and often requires continuous tracking through sophisticated radar equipment.
Machine Learning algorithms, such as Artificial Neural Networks, have proven to be effective in learning many real world motions of vehicles on the roads and have been extensively used in the autonomous vehicles. Artificial Neural Networks use activation functions to determine the output of a model from the given observations. After training the model with appropriate activation function, the model can be used for predictions. In this process, the activation functions play a crucial role. Selecting the correct activation function is critical to the success of the model.
This project simulates the moving enemy target using a BristleBot (a brush-head fitted with vibrating motor which generates vibrations in the bristles thus propelling the BristleBot) which moves on a flat surface. The motion of the BristleBot is digitized by recording the X-Y coordinates on the path it has taken from the beginning of the run to the end of the run. These runs are repeated and data from multiple runs is stored in a database. Using R Programming language, a neural network training algorithm is simulated where the activation function can be changed (slope-intercept linear function - y = m*x + b - with various slopes and intercepts, quadratic function - y = a*x*x + b*x + c - with various a, b, and c values). The resulting models corresponding to each training session are compared with each other to find their similarity to the paths taken by the BristleBot. The effectiveness of these activation functions is then measured by the similarity score. The trained model (or the activation function) with best similarity score is then selected for predicting the future path of the BristleBot. This model then can be stored on a chip and interceptor vehicles can use it to predict the path and intercept the target.
This project is a simulation to demonstrate the usefulness of the Machine Learning algorithms (especially, Neural Networks) to train the models and store them on a chip that can guide the autonomous drones and missiles where sophisticated radar and satellite equipment are not feasible to guide them more accurately. Small inexpensive drones can be equipped with these chips to predict the paths of moving targets. Swarming with such drones is more economical in intercepting the targets. The simulation results with BristleBot are analyzed and similarity scores are obtained for different functions. These results indicate a reasonable effectiveness of quadratic functions for path prediction. The poster describes the simulation, linear and quadratic functions and their similarity scores, and the further research.

Faraday's Motor and Electromagnetism

Vanisha S Nagali and Saniya Nagali (Allentown High School, USA)

6

Michael Faraday's apparatus was a feat in engineering, applying the new learnings of electromagnetism and connecting it to motion. This discovery revolutionized transportation, providing a basis for the sophisticated motors we have today.

Hans Christian Ã˜rsted had discovered that the addition of electric current flowing through wire, would generate magnetism. AndrÃ©-Marie AmpÃ¨re expanded on this discovery to state that said magnetism would produce a circular magnetic force, developing a cylinder circling the wire. Isolating the magnetic pole would cause the electrically-charged wire to move in a constant, circular motion. Faraday used this knowledge to develop the first electric motor, created in 1821, just a year after electromagnetism was discovered.

The original motor was composed of a wire hanging down into a glass vessel, having a permanent magnet secured to the bottom. Said vessel would also contain an electrified mercury pool; the entire apparatus would be connected to a battery. This mechanism spun the wire in a clockwise movement, revolving about the battery.

One can experiment with the principles of Faraday's motor by building a homopolar motor. A homopolar motor is composed of a AA battery placed atop two neodymium magnets and a copper wire. The copper wire is formed into a coil - having one side touch the positive end of the battery, and the other in contact with one of the magnets. The battery should be within the coil, so the wire can orbit it.

The rotational movement of the copper wire is due to the Lorentz force - the effect of the electromagnetic fields produced through the battery and magnets. Current passes through the positive terminal into the copper wire, which transfers it to the magnet and back to the battery, and thus, the circuit is complete. When the magnetic field is perpendicular to the current - from the copper wire - the Lorentz force is generated, prompting the perpetual circular motion of the coil. During my presentation, I will demonstrate how homopolar motors can be built, using limited materials in a classroom, to demonstrate electromagnetism to students of different age ranges.

Although Faraday's apparatus cannot be directly found in modern technology, the creation transformed many aspects of engineering. Being the first electric motor, it was the foundation for the motors in cars, boats, and other forms of transportation.

Session Chair

To Be Determined

Session Track-01

Track 2 — Full Papers I

Conference

11:30 AM — 12:30 PM EST

Local

Mar 13 Sat, 8:30 AM — 9:30 AM PST

A STEM Program Designed, Developed and Delivered for Upper Primary School Pupils in Singapore

Lee Kar Heng (TBSS Center for Electrical and Electronics Engineering & Cong Ty TNHH Cong Nghe va Giam Sat Radar TBSS, Singapore)

6

In Singapore and many countries, students have avoided doing STEM courses because it is more difficult to read such courses and the job remunerations are not as well as other courses after graduation. The country is currently experiencing lack of good engineers, technologists and scientists [1], [2]. TBSS started an initiative to introduce STEM to students at young age in both fun and effective learning way from 2017. Team TBSS designed and developed a 6-hour STEM targeting upper primary school pupils aged between 10 and 12 years old who are reading from primary 4 to primary 6 in schools. The program has been conducted several times with Henry Park Primary School. The process, findings and experiences will be shared in this paper.

Assessment of Systems Requirements Specification Skills Based on an Industry Body of Knowledge

Andres Fortino (NYU & Autonomous Professional Development, USA); Tanusha Virodula (NYU, USA)

7

Contribution - The acquisition of systems requirements knowledge and skills by systems developers is a desirable outcome of a STEM graduate program in technology management. The result is not necessarily to create certified students (although that is certainly desirable) but to confirm that the program helps students acquire the necessary competencies as outlined in an industry standard. We present a process to align the program curriculum with an industry-standard to ensure those competencies. We describe a path for alignment of programs to develop other desirable competencies and our experience with the process.
Background - We selected the International Institute of Business Analysts (IIBA) as a vendor-neutral book of knowledge and, knowledge structure for BA (Business Analyst) professionals as well as a well-developed credential in the profession. We used a well-documented process to align a university curriculum to the industry needs, following similar work for project management and data analytics.
Research questions - To align the curriculum to the IIBA BABOK, we asked: (1) whether students graduating from the program had acquired adequate business analysis and systems requirements competencies; and (2) If they had not, how the curriculum be modified to help students acquire those competencies.
Methods - The curriculum was reviewed, and we assured initially that topical coverage of the pertinent course of study aligned adequately with the IIBA BABOK (Business Analysis book of Knowledge) knowledge structure. Results - Using the existing curriculum, we found that a majority of the students were able to pass the assessment based on the IIAB BABOK at the end of their program of study. The exam results were sufficiently granular to allow us to make modifications to the curriculum and course contents to improve the passing rate in future trials.

Using Coding Competitions to Develop STEM Skills in Graduate Education

Andres Fortino (NYU & Autonomous Professional Development, USA); Maria Rivera (NYU, USA)

7

Contribution - We present the results of the development and implementation of an extra-curricular process to assist university students to develop skills in data analysis. We offered coding workshops in R and Python. To motivate the students to participate in learning and to practice the learned skills, we set followed a learning workshop with a contest on text data mining.
Background - University credit-bearing education is often streamlined to cover increasing amounts of subject matter knowledge in class. It is not usually possible for faculty to take time from their curriculum to develop basic analytics skills, such as the use of R or Python for business analytics. Extra-curricular skills-building activities are an effective vehicle to develop these skills outside class.
Research questions - Do extra-curricular workshops to learn coding result in successful learning? Would a coding contest after the workshop drive attendance? What are the elements of a successful workshop and coding contest, and what are acceptable metrics and levels of performance for these contests?
Methods - Coding workshops were developed and offered as extra-curricular opportunities for students in a STEM graduate program. After the coding workshops, short-duration coding contests were launched. The goal of the contest was to develop text analytic tools that could be used by the students to advance their academic careers. Attendance in the workshop as a percent of the student body and quality and number of coding contest submissions was a metric of success. Contest participation and successful submissions were a second metric.
Results - Two workshops were run with concurrent contests. An average of 10% of the student body registered, and 5% attended. Contest submissions were received, and in each case, at least one submission yielded a usable tool. The tools were subsequently used by students in their job search and to conduct research.

Educating & Training STEM IT Professionals Based on the CDIO Standards Evolution

Alexander Zamyatin (Tomsk State University, Russia)

4

Today, the development and implementation of integrated STEM education is one of the up-to-date challenges for pedagogical theory and practice. There is a large body of research devoted to this issue, especially in relation to K-12 STEM education (Kelley et al., 2016; Shernoff et al., 2017; Goodwin et al., 2017; Thibaut et al., 2018; Struyf et al., 2019; Hinojo-Lucena et al., 2020; Ortiz-Revilla et al., 2020; Wang, et al. 2020), but also higher education (Flynn et al., 2014; Langie & Pinxten, 2018; Margot et al., 2019; Winberg et al., 2019). However, researchers pay little attention to the coordination of education & training of university graduates in various fields (science, mathematics, engineering, technology) for future joint work in multidisciplinary teams. At the same time, coordinated education & training of professionals in various STEM fields for multidisciplinary teamwork is extremely important, since most innovations are born on an interdisciplinary basis, and maximum productivity and efficiency of teamwork is achieved through the division of labor in the joint activities of STEM professionals. The fact is any university graduate from a certain major, having even the best integrated STEM education & training, is not able to solve a complex real-world problem alone. It can and should be solved by team of professionals in various fields of knowledge & activity, having interdisciplinary education & training for a better understanding of the problem complexity, as well as each other when working together.

Comprehensive analysis of IEEE 802.11ah for Wireless Communication Networks

Aws Zuheer Yonis, Abdulrahman Tareed and Hamza Dweig (Ninevah University, Iraq)

8

IEEE 802.11ah is an approved amendment to IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN) standard to support growing demand for machine-to-machine (M2M) applications. IEEE 802.11ah is intended for extended range and low power applications in the unlicensed sub 1 GHz band, including machine to machine communication and the internet of things. 802.11ah uses narrower contiguous channel bandwidths than IEEE 802.11n and IEEE 802.11ac to facilitate long range, low power communication at a lower data rate. Valid channel bandwidths are 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 MHz IEEE 802.11 ah standard was originally targeting high throughput applications. However, being able to have IP connectivity and the fact that Wi-Fi have already spread in every corner of the world, make this standard one of the most suitable technologies for next generation techniques. The paper evaluates the performance of IEEE 802.11ah and some of its features in various scenarios in this research work.

Session Chair

To Be Determined

Session Track-02

Track 3 — Full Papers II

Conference

11:30 AM — 12:30 PM EST

Local

Mar 13 Sat, 8:30 AM — 9:30 AM PST

The Science and Technology Wing: An Experiment for In-residence STEM Undergraduate Education

Jorge Santiago-Aviles and M'hamed Bokreta (University of Pennsylvania, USA); Geraldine Light (Walden University, USA)

5

In this article, we relate the story and the guidelines for a STEM program now spanning more than three decades. The program, called the Science and Technology Wing, is mostly populated by engineering and physical sciences majors. The undergraduates enthusiastically participate in the technical developments highlighted by the faculty in the central research laboratories, bringing their newly acquired knowledge and familiarity to the college house projects facilities to share with their peers, staff, and guiding faculty. The experience so gained served the students in developing state of the art knowledge and experience in the technology of the day and its related science fundamentals. Over the three decades the topics the participants explored engineering related to gardening, business, social science, math, computer science, robotics, entrepreneurship, and humanities. With proposed experimental and theoretical projects being assessed in house by the participants for relevance to the residence infrastructure and supported by fellowship funds.

Implementing Blended Learning in K-12 Programming Course: Lesson Design and Student Feedback

Shuhan Zhang (The University of Hong Kong, China); Chunyu Cui (Tencent Education Center for Innovation and Cooperation, China)

6

Computational thinking (CT) has been widely integrated into K-12 classrooms through programming education. Although numerous initiatives have been developed to lower down the threshold for learning programming, instructors may still feel ill-prepared. Blended learning approach, a combination of student-centered learning and teacher-centered instruction, has proved to be an effective delivery mode for K-12 programming course. With the purpose of providing practical insights for the design of blended programming class, this study introduced an instructional unit of a K-12 programming course in a secondary school in China. It elaborated the course regarding lesson design, learning assessment, and course evaluation. The course contains 9 plugged sessions and 24 unplugged sessions, and each session consists of 1) a preview to introduce the concept, 2) hands-on activities to apply the concept, and 3) a summary or sharing of ideas. Student learning was evaluated with performance-based assessments, and questionnaire was employed to collect students' feedback and attitudes towards the course. The results show that students with low performance were the most beneficiaries of the course, and students tended to like visual programming tool and stage-mode learning format. Also, students with different learning backgrounds showed different preferences for the course materials. Suggestions are provided for further research and course design practices.

Math & Crafts, Educational Activities: 400 Indigenous Kids Learning Math from Engineers and Scientists

Ernesto Vega Janica (IEEE Standards Association, USA)

11

This paper discusses the planning and implementation stages involved in teaching a math class, in full compliance with local educational programs, plus additional content based on native/indigenous numerical systems. The educational program includes a combination of theory and practice to help kids appreciate technical concepts by their own means and methods, as well as providing a wide-range of learning possibilities for other applications. These "Math & Crafts" activities will be implemented in five schools within the Arhuaco School System; an indigenous community of approximately 30,000 people. 400 children in 5th grade of elementary school will be our initial audience. Future projects are expected to include reaching out to urban classmates. Furthermore, the intent of this research is not simply to evaluate the use and adaptation of native numerical systems, but also to help preserve ancient knowledge, culture and language from multiple native civilizations. The research intends to monitor students' progress and skills with minimum interference of their native culture. The intent is to monitor three school year cycles from January of 2021 to December of 2023.
Note: due to COVID-19 global pandemic, prerecorded and remote classes will be provided.

Asymptotics for Iterating the Lusztig-Vogan Bijection for GL_n on Dominant Weights

Yuxiao Wang (Princeton International School of Mathematics and Science, USA)

3

The Lusztig-Vogan Bijection, conjectured independently by Lusztig and Vogan and proved by Bezrukavnikov, is a correspondence between the set of dominant weights for any reductive group G over an algebraically closed field and the set of irreducible G-equivalent bundles on nilpotent orbits. This bijection plays a crucial role in proving the Humphreys conjecture on the support varieties of tilting modules for quantum groups at unity. Bezrukavnikov's method of establishing the Lusztig-Vogan Bijection, however, is highly inexplicit and non-elementary. Recent efforts have been focusing on understanding the bijection in an explicit way and in combinatorial contexts. Achar suggested an algorithm for computing Type A Lusztig-Vogan Bijection (i.e., for 𝐺𝐿_n), and his algorithm is greatly simplified by Rush.
In this paper, we will pursue a new direction: we will iterate the algorithm proposed by Achar and Rush. We first present some basic properties of Type A Lusztig-Vogan Bijection and its iteration. Then. we explore the iteration on inputs of small length (2, 3, and 4), and the complexity of the result motivates us to modify the way of measuring the iteration for large inputs. With our new definition, we prove the asymptotic behavior between the number of iterations for input and the length of the input and obtain a recursive formula to compute the slope of the asymptote. Finally, we propose two possible directions to continue the work in our paper. The paper serves as another contribution to understanding the Lusztig-Vogan Bijection from a combinatorial perspective and a first step in understanding the iterative behavior of the Type A Lusztig-Vogan Bijection.

Broadening Participation in Computer Science through Sheltered Instruction Pedagogy

Patricia A Morreale (Kean University, USA); Mayra S Bachrach (1000 Morris Ave, USA); Gail Verdi (Kean University, USA)

5

Sheltered Instruction (SI), based on second language acquisition research, has been used to explore pedagogical interventions aimed at improving the outcomes of English Language Learners in Advanced Placement Computer Science (AP CS). English Language Learners are students who come from non-English speaking homes and backgrounds. With the increasing numbers of Hispanic students in many K-12 classrooms, Spanish is the language most often spoken by English Language Learners. During this year-long project, AP CS teachers attended a series of professional learning workshop on SI for Computer Science, and then utilized strategies from SI in their AP CS classrooms. Research outcomes of the pedagogical interventions identified new approaches to engage all students, through SI methods and materials used with the computer science curriculum. The SI pedagogy integrated with CS teaching skills shows how teachers can successfully engage more students in their classrooms, particularly students that may still be developing their academic English language skills, increasing CS education for all students. The SI methods used are explained here, for adoption by other computer science educators and researchers.

On the Generational Behavior of Gaussian Binomial Coefficients at Roots of Unity

Yuxiao Wang and Quanlin Chen (Princeton International School of Mathematics and Science, USA)

3

The generational behavior of Gaussian binomial coefficients at roots of unity shadows the relationship between the reductive algebraic group in prime characteristic and the quantum group at roots of unity. In this paper, we study three ways of obtaining integer values from Gaussian binomial coefficients at the roots of unity. We rigorously define the generations in this context and prove such behavior at primes power and two times primes power roots of unity. Moreover, we investigate and make conjectures on the vanishing, valuation, and sign behavior under the big picture of generation.
We will first present some useful tools in relating the integral q-binomial coefficients with usual binomial coefficients as well as interesting combinatorial objects in their own rite. We will then present our main result, formulating and proving a generational relationship between these integral q-binomial coefficients and usual binomial coefficients mod p. Finally, we will discuss the related combinatorial properties of integral q-binomial coefficients and their cousins with our definition in the first part.

Session Chair

To Be Determined

Session Track-03

Track 4 — Full Papers III

Conference

11:30 AM — 12:30 PM EST

Local

Mar 13 Sat, 8:30 AM — 9:30 AM PST

An Examination of Industry Standards of Success within Penetration Testing Groups

Mollie Ducoste, Rachel Bleiman, Trinh Nguyen and Aunshul Rege (Temple University, USA)

2

Penetration testing groups can be used as an ethical proxy to study cybercrime groups, as both parties share the common goal of identifying and exploiting weaknesses in their targets' systems. In particular, this study examines college students' experiences while participating in the 2018 and 2019 National Collegiate Penetration Testing Competition (CPTC), which simulates a professional, real-world penetration test. Metrics from industry standards of pentesting practices are compared to the metrics identified from the experiences of the CPTC participants, revealed through semi-structured group interviews. Industry metrics include standards such as methods, information gathering, attack generation, quantity of findings, quality of findings, and reporting of findings. Additional metrics identified from the CPTC participants include skills of the team, the environment, expectations, and the relationships among group members. This study aims to examine the metrics of the successes and failures of penetration testers, which serves as a way to better understand the operations and processes behind the execution of cyberattacks.

Curriculum to Broaden Participation in Cybersecurity for Middle School Teachers and Students

Laurin Buchanan (Secure Decisions, USA); Lori Scarlatos and Nataliia Telendii (Stony Brook University, USA)

10

To both broaden and increase participation in any STEM field such as cybersecurity, we need to attract more students. Research shows that to do this, students need to be engaged with cybersecurity during middle school. There is a lack of age-appropriate and classroom-ready cybersecurity curriculum, however, and many teachers feel unprepared to teach the subject. To address this gap, the CyberMiSTS project team created a summer professional development workshop for middle school teachers that integrated a recent research-based understanding of cybersecurity into a curriculum that is accessible to both middle school students and their teachers. The project sought to encourage participation of a broad and diverse set of students in the field of cybersecurity by showing them how human relations play an important role in cybersecurity. We discuss our prior related work using branching web comics to introduce middle school students to cybersecurity concepts and careers, and the state of evidence-based research into effective approaches and methods for cybersecurity education. We identify challenges to broadening the pipeline for a truly diverse cybersecurity workforce that can meet industry's need for cybersecurity professionals with a wide range of experience and skills. The paper introduces our approach for the teacher professional development workshop, maps how we designed the project to meet our research goals, and documents initial findings regarding what is needed to increase teacher self-efficacy about cybersecurity concepts and careers in a middle school classroom.

BEAT: Branding and Entrepreneurship of Assistive Technology for Social Good

Zhigang Zhu (The City University of New York, USA); Gerardo Blumenkrantz (The City College of New York, USA); Katherine Olives (Zahn Innovation Center, USA)

4

This paper describes the opportunities and challenges found in incorporating both branding and entrepreneurship components into an engineering senior design course (Capstone course). This newly upgraded course is called BEAT: Branding and Entrepreneurship of Assistive Technology. The original joint senior design course on assistive technology has been run for over ten years, serving undergraduate seniors in computer science, computer engineering and electrical engineering at CCNY, working on assistive technology projects to help people in need. The class had informally included entrepreneurial components in the past, but from 2019 on, we formally integrated both branding and entrepreneurship components into the curriculum. This paper describes the motivation of the work, the four key components in the course syllabus, a number of student evaluation mechanisms, course outcomes so far and results of a student survey, and some final discussions of the opportunities we provide to our students and challenges we face in implementing this cross-disciplinary curriculum.

Augmented Running

Shane Murphy and Mihir Patel (US Military Academy, USA); John R Rogers (USMA, USA)

3

This paper details the on-going research to analyze and simulate the metabolic effects of running with mechanical assistance. A subject was augmented with bungee cords and ran on a treadmill; the subject's O2 and CO2 were monitored. The subject was fitted with markers and motion was captured with an IR camera system. Ground reaction forces measured by the instrumented treadmill were recorded. From pilot VO2 / CO2 data, the group found that O2 consumption is significantly reduced with augmentation, as predicted. The effect is like running downhill. The team is currently learning to simulate the body and the effect of external forces using the OpenSim program. Immediate future work is to incorporate the bungee forces in an OpenSim simulation to predict metabolic rate. Involvement in research has had multiple educational benefits for the students. They have understood haw classroom theory applies in the laboratory. They have developed a sense of the complexity of research work.

Taking STEM Enrichment Camps Virtual: Strategies & Reflections from Quick Pivot due to COVID-19

Rebecca Lowe, Adrienne Smith and Christie Prout (Cynosure Consulting, USA); Guenter Maresch, Christopher Bacot and Lura Sapp (North Florida College, USA)

6

Since COVID-19 began spreading in the US and quickly established as a global pandemic in March of 2020, the NSF-funded STEM SEALS team at North Florida College faced the touch decision to either cancel their inaugural hands-on STEM enrichment camp planned for Summer 2020 or rushing at full speed to take it virtual. The biggest concern in making the decision to go virtual was a passionate belief in the importance of not losing the hands-on focus that had been planned. After all, the STEM SEALs effort at NFC was designed to expand access to high quality STEM experiences for historically underserved students in a high poverty, rural area. Changing from the in-person delivery to distance learning with minimal preparation presented a daunting challenge and also a unique opportunity; the opportunity to study the process and provide guidance to other STEM providers who are considering a move to a virtual platform. This exploratory study aimed to (1) identify the barriers to moving STEM enrichment programming in a rural environment from in-person to virtual activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, (2) describe key decisions that were made in transitioning to the virtual format along with the rationale behind those decisions, and (3) disseminate best practices that emerged from the inaugural effort.

Session Chair

To Be Determined

Session WIP-01

Track 1 — Works-In-Progress I

Conference

11:30 AM — 12:30 PM EST

Local

Mar 13 Sat, 8:30 AM — 9:30 AM PST

Understanding Object-Oriented Programming with a Game Engine Platform Transforming from 3D to Text-based coding

Sean Yang, Hyesung Park and Hongsik Choi (Georgia Gwinnett College, USA)

3

It is critical to balance fundamental programming concepts and coding skills to develop a skilled IT workforce who can solve a complicated real-life problem using technology. Students in an intermediate programming course faced challenges because programming is more than knowing programming language syntax and applying their thoughts into logical processes with appropriate data structures. Students who struggled often expressed that it is hard to visualize how a computer follows the program statements and loses interest.
We research active learning methods to determine what teaching methods worked best for our students and keep them in the classes through this project. We conveyed multiple learning methods, including learning by collaboration, flipped class, creating a video game, and combining those teaching methods. We also traced long term effects on students' learning.

Open Research Laboratory for Non-Research Focused Institutions

Michael Brown (University of Maryland Global Campus, USA)

5

Over the last few decades financial pressures on educational institutions have forced faculty to teach more classes taking time away from other activities including research. But research is important to institutions, faculty and students. This paper proposes for the creation of a non-profit entity that through donations could pool institution, faculty and student resources across multiply intuitions to conduct joint research. This would allow institutions, faculty and students to be active in research within the time constraints that they currently have. Research shows that this increase in research would have numerous benefits to students, faculty and institutions and promote interuniversity and international cooperation.

Teaching and Learning about Pendulums in RoboPhysics

Ofer Danino (Technion, Israel); Gideon Kaplan (Ministry of Education & Israel, Israel); Itamar Feldman (Ministry of Education, Israel)

4

RoboPhysics is an interdisciplinary educational program for teaching and learning Physics, combined with Engineering and Mathematics. It is based on Constructivist principles (using Project Based Learning), coupling of our senses & sensors to Physics theorems, and team work. Its main goals are the development of students inner motivation and systemic high level thinking. It is targeted both for middle High School students, as well as High School students studying for matriculation in Physics in the Israeli education framework. This short article depicts the teaching and learning process that we adhere to, by focusing on one important learning subject: the Pendulum.

Revolutionizing Engineering for P-12 Schools (REPS)

Tanner J Huffman (The College of New Jersey & Advancing Excellence in P-12 Engineering Education, USA); Greg Strimel (Purdue University, USA); Elizabeth Parry (STEM Education Insights, USA); Malinda Zarske (University of Colorado, Boulder, USA); Rebecca Turner (The College of New Jersey, USA)

4

Leveraging the investment in previous work, The College of New Jersey, Purdue University, and the American Society for Engineering Education has launched the three-year collaborative research Revolutionizing Engineering for P-12 Schools project. The REPS project investigates how to best implement engineering learning as defined by the Framework for P-12 Engineering Learning. As put forth in the framework, "associated grade-band specific implementation guides will leverage the content of this report to describe and propose appropriate engineering learning across the grades for all children to engage in rigorous and authentic learning experiences to think, act, and learn like an engineer". The Framework set the conceptual organization for P-12 engineering learning and provided preliminary Engineering Literacy Expectations and Engineering Performance Matrices for high school learners. Leveraging this roadmap provided in the Framework, REPS completes the vision by adding the Preschool (P)-Grade 8 components. The REPS project engages the broader P-12 engineering education community in articulating expectations for engineering learning for early learning, elementary, and middle school students to serve as the connecting elements necessary for authentic engineering learning efforts across the grades. The REPS project brings to bear the combined expertise of educators, professional engineers, and researchers in the field of engineering education to refine and complete a consensus on the nature of engineering literacy development for all students from preschool through high school.

A Case Study: Individual Design Enhancement for a Saucepan. Providing Practical Experience Within a Community College Engineering Program

Pamela Bogdan (College Dr & Ocean County College, USA); Derek Alton (Ocean County College, USA)

5

In this paper, the authors present the evolution of the Ocean County College (OCC) Engineering & Technology Program as it expands to include more career focused experiential learning opportunities. The goal is to provide students at our institution with opportunities to gain career-style experience that they can leverage to gain future employment. Observations and key findings about the use of experiential learning are provided based on a case study that is given from the perspective of the educator/mentor and the student. All of this is done in the context of an engineering project to create a prototype of the student's design for a single multi-configuration cooking pan.

Session Chair

To Be Determined

Session Workshops

Track 5 — Workshops

Conference

12:30 PM — 1:30 PM EST

Local

Mar 13 Sat, 9:30 AM — 10:30 AM PST

Creating Community Support for Mathematics Literacy

Lauren Siegel (MathHappens Foundation, USA)

4

MathHappens Foundation plans to launch a post covid one year mathematics education campaign that includes partnering with libraries and other centers of community education including museums, cultural centers, and nature centers. We will also continue to place mathematics in the newspaper, continue to support the work of other public projects.

Pursuit of a One year multi- pronged Strategy in Libraries
Now:
Create theme or concept take home kits that contain a hands on activity and book or mathematics games.
After Covid:
1) Fund in-person learning with a Mathematics help desk open to any member of the community, two days per week serving k-12 students their parents and caregivers and others.
2) Place critical models and exhibits like platonic solids, a unit circle display, and pythagorean puzzles and more in libraries
3) Create, staff and deliver regular family programming on mathematics topics by theme.
4) Advocate for and support with $ schools that reach out to and collaborate with their community to improve public math literacy.
Strategy for Museums
Collaborate with museums to add mathematics connections to labeling and exhibit presentations as well as usual public programs. Sponsor mathematics field trips.
We need more opportunities to learn mathematics, caregivers and parents need to learn and we have to ask ourselves how we can encourage curiosity, enthusiasm to learn and the positive attitudes we will need to make up for lost learning and approach the future with confidence.

Aligning Secondary Programs to the Framework for P-12 Engineering Learning

Tanner J Huffman (The College of New Jersey & Advancing Excellence in P-12 Engineering Education, USA); Greg Strimel (Purdue University, USA); Amy Sabarre (Harrisonburg City Public Schools, USA); Michael Grubbs (Baltimore County Public Schools, USA); Jamie Gurganus (University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USA)

4

The recently released Framework for P-12 Engineering Learning (www.p12framework.asee.org) was developed through a synergistic collaboration of teachers, school administrators, and researchers alongside the leaders of the Advancing Excellence in P-12 Engineering Education (AE3) research collaborative and the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE). The framework provides practical guidance by identifying common P-12 engineering learning goals that all students should reach to become engineering literate. The Framework aims to add structure and coherence to the P-12 engineering community by serving as a foundation for the development of any and all engineering programs in schools, informing state and national standards-setting efforts, and providing the research community with a common "starting point" to better investigate and understand P-12 engineering learning. During the development of the Framework, two large and diverse school systems, Baltimore County Public Schools (MD) and Harrisonburg City Public Schools (VA), worked alongside the research team to implement, align, trial, and provide feedback on the preliminary Engineering Literacy Expectations and Engineering Performance Matrices for high school learners (www.p12engineering.org/epm). This workshop will introduce participants to (1) content presented in the Framework (e.g. engineering habits of mind, practices, and knowledge), the framework development process, and framework resources; as well as (2) the implementation models each district used, how they garnered teacher and school-level administration buy in, and what areas to focus on to institute transformative change. This workshop is best suited for P-12 teachers of STEM education, school and district level administrators, and researchers interested in investigating engineering learning in P-12 schools.

Application of the System Development Life Cycle Model (SDLC) to Everyday Tasks

Gennaro Avvento (Gennaro J. Avvento Technical Services LLC & Lockheed Martin (Retired), USA)

4

Overview of Workshop Concept

This workshop is inspired by our work in improve team performance using lesson learned techniques from industry and adaptation of the SE SDLC concepts to the BEST robotic competitions.

The workshop will consist of three session, each building on each other. Three key sessions initiatives are part of look at demonstrating the value of system engineering and in particular SDLC concepts to educators, and its use in everyday problem. Specifically, these initiatives are:

Session 1. (30 minutes) SE Foundation Workshop
In this workshop we teach the participant about the concept of thinking like systems engineer and to the concepts of systems engineering - in terms that they can understand and relate towards. This solid baseline will be the basis for the introduction of the value of system engineering thinking in everyday classroom activities, not just for use on specific engineering problems. This workshop is based on the concept of teaching the teachers first, and for them to introduce the concepts of systems engineering to their students; The content of the workshop will provide an overarching introduction to systems and systems engineering thinking

Session 2. (30minutes) Application of the SDLC to Practical Problems
In this workshop we will introduce participants to the value of using the SDLC model to address many everyday problems. i.e., Creating a book report, making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, taking a trip. These examples will emphasize the SDLC thinking pattern.

Session 3. (30 minutes) Application of the SDLC towards Selected Problems
This section will discuss how to tailor the SDLC to a unique set of tasks. Each participant will select a set of tasks or small project and tailor the SDLC to fit their needs. The instructor will coach the participants when help is needed. Each participant will walkthrough their adapted SDLC to the session participants.

Presenters; Gennaro J Avvento, is a Lockheed Martin Technical Fellow Emeritus (Retired). He holds an Expert Systems Engineering Professional Certification from the International Council of System Engineers (INCOSE). Mr. Avvento is a graduate of the Air Force Academy. He holds advanced degrees from University of Houston Clear Lake, West Chester University Pennsylvania and Stevens Institute Technology NJ. He is President and CEO of G.J. Avvento Technical Services. LLC

Eric V. Sudano, is a Lockheed Martin Computer System Architect (Retired) He holds a Lockheed Martin Information System Architect Certification. He is a graduate of Rutgers University (1972) and a M.S. Applied Mathematics Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1974). He is President and CEO of E.V. Sudano Systems Solutions LLC.

Practical Physical Computing in these unprecedented times of COVID

Shubhendu Das (SteamWorks)

2

Two simple Arduino applications: 1) A simple zero touch Sanitizer dispenser; 2) A wearable badge for anyone to detect/warn when proximity within 1.5m.

STEM, STEAM and STREAM Education

Naresh Chand

5

Session Chair

To Be Determined

Session Poster-2

Poster Session 2

Session Chair

To Be Determined

Session Track-04

Track 6 — Full Papers IV

Conference

1:30 PM — 3:00 PM EST

Local

Mar 13 Sat, 10:30 AM — 12:00 PM PST

Immersive Technology in Integrating STEM Education

Mehdi Roopaei (University of Wisconsin - Platteville, USA); Emilee Klaas (1 University Plaza, Platteville, WI, USA)

2

Educators are often faced with the challenge of exposing students to new environments and information in an educational and timely manner. The use of immersive technology in a classroom allows teachers to expose students to simulations or conditions that could be difficult or not possible to explore without this technology without ever needing to leave their desks. These technologies not only provide students with lessons in the science fields, but also help them develop social and emotional skills that are critical to success in higher education and the work field. The immersive technology integrated in STEM motivates kids to employ their problem-solving abilities to find answers to impossible challenges and help to shape their future better. This paper is an attempt to analyze the impact of immersive technology in STEM education by providing advantages, challenges, and drawbacks of integrating this technology to an educational system. Additionally, the state of art papers in the filed of STEM learning using immersive technology are reviewed.

Session Chair

To Be Determined

Session Track-06

Track 8 — Full Papers VI

Conference

1:30 PM — 3:00 PM EST

Local

Mar 13 Sat, 10:30 AM — 12:00 PM PST

A Voice Assistant for IoT Cybersecurity

Jeffrey Chavis (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, USA); Malcolm K Doster, Jr. (Charles Herbert Flowers High School, USA); Michelle S Feng (The Bryn Mawr School & Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, USA); Syeda J Zeeshan (Atholton High School, USA); Samantha Fu (Johns Hopkins University, USA); Elizabeth Aguirre (Johns Hopkins University); Antonio Davila (American University, USA); Kofi Nyarko (Morgan State University, USA); Aaron Kunz, Tracy Herriotts and Daniel P Syed (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, USA); Lanier Watkins (Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute, USA); Anna Buczak (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, USA); Aviel Rubin (Johns Hopkins University, USA)

8

The Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming more
pervasive in the home, office, hospital, and many other userfacing
environments (UFEs) as more devices are networked to
improve functionality. However, this explosion of networked
devices in UFEs necessitates that security systems become easier
to help users remain aware of the security of the devices on their
network. Users may not have the skills or the time needed to
continuously monitor networks of increasing complexity using
common open-source tools. Specifically, they are not likely to fully
comprehend the data that those tools present, nor are they likely
to have a working knowledge of the tools needed to monitor and
protect their IoT-enabled network environments. This paper
explores development of a system that uses ambient computing to
facilitate network security monitoring and administration. Our
system is designed to combine machine-learning-enriched device
awareness and dynamic visualization of IoT networks with a
natural language query interface enabled by voice assistants to
greatly simplify the process of providing awareness of the security
state of the network. The voice assistant integrates knowledge of
devices on the network to communicate status and concerns in a
manner that is easily comprehensible. These capabilities will help
to improve the security of UFEs while lowering the associated
cognitive load on the users. This paper outlines continued work in
progress toward building this capability as well as initial results
on the efficacy of the system.

The Go-Light Game as a Tool for Enhancing the Mental Skills Required in STEM Learning

William R English, PE (LLLEI & DCPS, District of Columbia Public Schools, USA)

4

This paper presents the "Go-Light Game", as a tool to aid in the development and exercise of the mental and social skills required for students to succeed in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) careers. Go is played primarily in Asia and said to be the oldest, most popular, and by far the most complex board game in the world. "Go is the ultimate mind sport. It has no equal in the strategic gaming world." (American Go Association, www.usgo.org). In addition, the Go Game context supports social skill development better than does playing video games.
To facilitate the use of the Go Game for the intended purpose, the game was scaled down from the full-sized 19 x 19 board with 361 stones to smaller, "Go-Light Game" boards of either 8 x 8 or 7 x 7 and a corresponding 64 or 49 stones. The Go-Light game play time, 15 to 30 minutes, is intended to be compatible with high school student schedules and interest spans. Unlike Chess, the Go Game can be scaled down in complexity under the same rules of play. Another adaptation to the high school context was to make the Go Light Game board and stones relatively inexpensive and portable.
Initial experiences with student Go Game play in diverse groups of Washington DC high school students are presented. Initial experiences demonstrate that the game has the power to attract, engage, and stimulate mental and social learning activity in a wide range of high school students in ways beneficial to STEM learning and career advancement.
Confirmation of the general assertion, "the Go Game can be an especially useful tool in developing the mental capabilities to contain and apply STEM knowledge", requires further systematic play research and corresponding student cognitive performance testing.

How Do Students Learn Best? A Case Study of EGR244: Digital Logic Design

Golnoosh Kamali (Johns Hopkins University, USA)

3

As an educator, we are always asking ourselves how do students learn best? How can we keep our students engaged and help them comprehend the material? What can we do to increase student success? This preliminary study attempted to answer some of those questions. This learning outcomes assessment study tried to determine the most effective teaching method particularly for students in STEM by using data gathered from the EGR244: Digital Logic Design Class, taught in the Fall 2016 and Spring 2017 semesters at the Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, MD. The methodology incorporated to determine the most effective teaching method was to map exam questions covering different chapters and the methods by which that information was taught with student grade outcomes. The two teaching methods explored were of a PowerPoint presentation lectures, whiteboard lectures, or a combinational approach. Results indicated that a combination teaching method of PowerPoint and whiteboard lectures were most effective in students learning the material and resulted in higher grade outcomes overall.

Performance of Modified LMS Control Algorithm for Smart Antennas

Salah Dauga (UD, USA)

1

Several adaptive filter structures are proposed for noise cancellation. This paper presents a modified least square algorithm(MLMS), the objective of this algorithm in this system is to use the filter weights w[i] for two algorithms, which are LMS, and Sign error algorithms. these use a modified LMS(MLMS) algorithm to adjust filter weights according to mean filter weights. Furthermore, simulation studies show that the MLMS algorithm gives better performance compared to LMS, and Sign error algorithms. Finally, the validity of this proposed algorithm is illustrated by three numerical examples.
Index Terms-Adaptive algorithm, Adaptive filters, least mean squares algorithm, Sign error algorithm, modified least square algorithm.
In this paper, LMS algorithms are used by means of the ability of an adaptive antenna array with a number of elements for interference rejection. The effect on interference rejection of a wide range of factors in an antenna array is observed. As predicted from antenna theory, the predominant lobe and other lobe widths are reduced. The results of Simulation indicate LMS algorithms are efficient.

Use of Rubric and Assessment to Encourage Self-regulated Learning

Abrar Habib, Mona Ismail and Nuha Alzayani (University of Bahrain, Bahrain)

0

Self-regulated learning is the ability of a learner to consciously monitor and develop one's own learning independently. Some learners naturally exhibit this skill more than others. In an attempt to encourage self-regulation in learners, the assignments in a 400 level course for Civil Engineering undergraduate students are designed to replicate the main steps in a self-regulated learning cycle. The first step in the self-regulated learning cycle is setting the goals and perceiving the main features of the task. This step was implemented by asking students to evaluate a professional's work using a well-established rubric. The second step is for students to implement the task by themselves. The last step in the self-regulated learning cycle is self-reflection and self-evaluation. Each step involved students submitting an assignment (a formative assessment). In their reflections, students expressed positive attitudes towards this method and from their responses it was clear that helping them develop their meta-cognition improved their learning. Furthermore, it was evident from instructor observation while grading the assignments that the students made conscious efforts to reach the goals that they set at the beginning of the self-regulation learning cycle.

Session Chair

To Be Determined

Session WIP-02

Track 9 — Works-In-Progress II

Conference

1:30 PM — 3:00 PM EST

Local

Mar 13 Sat, 10:30 AM — 12:00 PM PST

StartlearnING- an example for cross-domain learning arrangements combining engineering and biology

Markus Reiser, Martin Binder and Holger Weitzel (Weingarten University of Education, Germany)

1

The shortage of skilled workers in the so-called STEM professions demonstrates the urgency of introducing children and young people to technical and scientific topics at an early age. Following this approach, the project startlearnING offers learning arrangements that combine technical and scientific contents and promote the problem-solving competence of the students. StartlearnING uses design tasks as an interdisciplinary "bracket" and embeds the acquisition of scientific knowledge in a design process. To make the promotion of STEM teaching as effective as possible, the project acts on three levels: the students, the student teachers and the teachers.
The starting and finishing points are problems for which engineering solutions are developed. Biological phenomena are used as a source of ideas or concretize the requirements for the technical solution. In the learning arrangements, the learners specify the problem, develop solution ideas and evaluation criteria, select promising approaches based on criteria, implement, test and optimize them. To do this, they must combine biological and technical expertise.
In order to familiarize teachers with the approach of designing according to the startlearnING principle, the project offers in-service training for teachers. In addition, the teachers are supported in their teaching by trained tutors.
The startlearnING project is also active in preparing prospective teachers in science teacher education and offers cooperative seminars in which student teachers and engineering students come together to contribute their skills and perspectives to problem-solving processes. They are trained and qualified in a problem-oriented design approach based on the startlearnING principle.
StartlearnING is scientifically accompanied by the Weingarten University of Education. Among other things, the impact of the learning arrangements on the motivation and biological expertise of the students is being investigated.

Which Definition Shall I Use? A Systematic Review of Computational Thinking Definitions

Fan Xu (The Ohio State University, USA); Shuhan Zhang (The University of Hong Kong, China)

6

Computational Thinking (CT) is considered a necessary 21st-century competence that should be introduced to school education as a vital ingredient. However, the lack of a consensus on the definition of this concept is still a big challenge for researchers and practitioners. In this study, we conducted a systematic review on the definitions of CT from the source of academic articles and classified the definitions based on 1) the approach for contextualizing the concept, 2) the purpose for defining the concept, and 3) the educational context where the concept was developed. Forty-five unique and original definitions were extracted from the search. Results indicate that 1) the existing definitions of CT were mostly formulated with a prototype approach, focusing on the essence of the notion; 2) The purpose for defining the term mostly stands on developing CT in the classroom and other educational settings; 3) K-12 education is the most common context for defining the term and computer science is the main background to enrich the CT concept. These results imply that there is a low necessity of putting forward new definitions, yet there is a need to build connections among current definitions and illustrate how to use them in appropriate situations. Also, the emergence of the definitions "Political Computational Thinking" indicates a broader application of CT, which implies a trend in future research of the use of CT in public, social and political fields.

Interdisciplinary STEM Undergraduate Programs and the Effectiveness of Computing Competencies within the Curriculum

Katherine Herbert (1 Normal Ave & Montclair State University, USA); Thomas J Marlowe (Seton Hall University, USA); Kees Leune and Robert M Siegfried (Adelphi University, USA); Jeanette Wilmanski (Saint Peter's University, USA)

4

Undergraduate interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary computing-related STEM programs are proliferating extensively. Each of these programs requires a robust computing component to be integrated into the curriculum. However, including an introductory, programming-oriented sequence designed for CS majors is not always the best fit for these multifaceted programs. In this work in progress paper, we set out to investigate possibilities and issues for the computing component, focusing on three fields: bioinformatics, data science, and cybersecurity. We explore commonalities and differences, and discuss initial plans to test our hypotheses. In doing so, we consider data organization, data acquisition, and a preliminary survey design.

Instill Autonomous Driving Technology into Undergraduates via Project-Based Learning

Weitian Wang and Laura Paulino (Montclair State University, USA)

3

Autonomous driving is seeing fast-growing development in recent years. In order to broaden the current generation's career pathways to this cutting-edge field, it is necessary to instill autonomous driving technology to our STEM students, who are not majoring in automotive engineering. This work-in-progress paper presents an underway new exploration to nurture undergraduate students with autonomous driving knowledge through a comprehensive hands-on program using the project-based learning pedagogy. Students in different groups will collaborate and exploit their problem-solving skills by developing a 1/10-scale autonomous vehicle on a scaled-down driving platform. The vehicle is configured with three main functions: pre-collision detection, lane tracking, and road sign recognition. Hardware and software systems of this autonomous vehicle are described in this paper. In the preliminary results, we present a developed vehicle that will be used to testify the functions of the hardware system and verify the feasibility of the proposed on-road applications. Future work of this project is also discussed.

Wide band gap using periodic combined electromagnetic band gap cells

Mohammad El Ghabzouri (Mohammed First University, Faculty of Sciences, Oujda, Morocco)

2

This work investigates the electromagnetic (EM) response toward two combinations of electromagnetic band gap (EBG) cells outlining our EBG structures under test. It has been talked about before that EBG structure identified as high impedance surface (HIS), act as background reflector as well as dropping EM wave surface, while the potential income of artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) is low profile devices. In this ongoing research paper, we used periodic combined cells, arranged in three manners (chessboard-like, intervallic-like, and mirror-like), in order to study the EM features of these original EBG structures. The motivation behind this work is to improve the band gap width (BGW) of our previous EBG circular slots meandered lines (EBG-CSML). The result shows a very interesting behavior of the mirror EBG-CSML structure, which manifests in ultra-wide BGW equal to 1.63 GHz, the realized fractional BGW is 66.5%. The presented EBG structures are designed for our project in progress that would integrate these EBG structures with antennas, in order to make a new competitive compact and low profile multiband antenna, with the lowest specific absorption rate possible, especially around mobile's lower bands working frequencies (700, 800, 900, and 1800 MHz).

Adaptive Tests using machine Learning for Math Tutorials: A Work in Progress

Julio Morales and Erick Petersen (Universidad Galileo, Guatemala); Oscar Rodas (Universidad Galileo & Tesla Lab, Guatemala)

2

The covid-19 contingency changed daily life as we knew it. These changes in education made to students and teachers engage in online classes that never do before. But that does not mean that every student could learn the contents or all the educators was able to teach properly. That is why some students could need personal tutors and these tutorials must have a validation of effectiveness and progress in student learning. In this work it is propose an adaptive model with machine learning, which will be in charge of proposing tests to adapt student's knowledge and reinforce the areas in which they need the most, using a question bank that is divided into 4 areas and levels of difficulty. Those test will help to demonstrate that the student is improving with the personal math tutorials, this could help them to be better prepared in STEM area and could make them choose a career in this subject at the university.

Session Chair

To Be Determined

Session Poster-3

Poster Session 3

Session Chair

To Be Determined

Session Poster-4

Poster Session 4

Session Chair

To Be Determined

Session Poster-5

Poster Session 5

Session Chair

To Be Determined

Session Poster-6

Poster Session 6

Conference

To Be Determined

Session WIP-03

Track 10 — Works-In-Progress III

Conference

3:00 PM — 4:45 PM EST

Local

Mar 13 Sat, 12:00 PM — 1:45 PM PST

Entrepreneurship Education in Engineering Using Key Performance Indicators

Frank Washko (Saint Martin's University, USA); William Edwards (Kettering University, USA); Leslie Washko (Saint Martin's University, USA)

3

Engineering entrepreneurship education tends to focus on management and subjective skills rather than unique business models. A business idea itself does not dictate how a company will be managed or if a business will survive beyond the startup stage. And, ideas and management can never be separated from one another when it comes to entrepreneurship. However, the objective qualities of a proposed business model can be a predictor of the success of a startup. A critical concept to teach engineers is Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) that are present in successful business models that entrepreneurs can leverage at the early stages to give their startups an edge. This research identifies at least seven such KPI's.

Virtual Computer Engineering Summer Camp Experience in the Era of COVID-19 Pandemic

Girma Tewolde (Kettering University, USA)

4

This paper presents the experience of the author from a virtual computer engineering summer camp in the era of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The target audience for this pre-college summer camp was high school students. Even though the university had a long history of offering on-campus day and residential summer camp programs in several areas, the camp that was offered in the summer of 2020 was the first of its kind for being offered completely in virtual mode. To keep the participants engaged in the program, the camp material was designed to include a great deal of hands on activities involving electronics, microcontrollers, sensors, and robotic kits, as well as programming. This paper presents the structure of the program, description of the content delivered, and reports on results of the survey completed by the participants to assess the effectiveness of the program. Based on the survey results we conclude that the program turned out to be successful with 92.3% of the survey respondents reporting that the virtual camp has satisfied their initial expectations and 100% of them reporting that they would recommend the camp to others.

Supporting Inclusive Engineering Education using Global Virtual Teams

Anuli Ndubuisi and James Slotta (University of Toronto, Canada)

5

Future engineers require global competencies to help them transition to the labor market in an increasingly complex, digitized, and evolving world economy. In response, an International Virtual Engineering Student Teams' (InVEST) program was developed, in which multidisciplinary students were engaged in collaborative technical projects within a global virtual team learning environment. This study examines engineering students' intercultural competencies and supports their development of those competencies within the context of a global engineering project where they work in culturally diverse teams. We report on two successive iterations of the engineering global virtual team (GVT) learning program. Each included a pre-survey to understand student's initial knowledge and cultural orientation and a post-survey to assess students' perceptions of their intercultural learning and experiences. We found that blending global virtual team learning with collaborative international projects was an effective strategy for helping engineering students gain international exposure in an inclusive manner while developing intercultural competencies, virtual team collaboration skills, and technical engineering knowledge.

Fine-grained Analysis of Gender Bias in Student Evaluations

Eric Dillon, Haroon Malik and David Dampier (Marshall University, USA); Fatma Outay (Zayed University, United Arab Emirates)

5

The most widely applied tool to evaluate the teacher/instructor performance in a course is by collecting numerical responses against a set of questionnaires, about the instructor and the course, along with comments in free-form text. Published research results depict biases in student evaluations of instructors in ratings, as well as in comments. However, the research so far has not been directed at the fine-grained analysis of gender bias -- opinion (sentiments) of students towards qualitative metrics of their interaction with the instructors. The work-in-progress (WIP) proposes (a) a methodology to mine teaching evaluation and (b) an open-source tool to facilitate educational establishments execute empirical studies and students perform exploratory analytics on the teaching evaluations.

Expanding Access to Microscopy

Aaban A Syed (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory ASPIRE Intern & North County High School, USA); Imaad Syed and Lafe Spietz (JHU APL, USA); Aric Sanders (NIST, USA)

4

State-of-the-art microscopes cost thousands of dollars, posing challenges to third world hospitals and secondary schools. Additionally, there is a growing problem of "e-Waste", where consumers throw away old pieces of technology to buy newer models. The rare, valuable, and hazardous materials used in those technological devices pollute the environment when thrown in landfills, and could cause harmful effects on human, plant, and animal health. The overall goal of this project was to up-cycle old computer parts to make a cheap, open source microscope to address these issues. Optical drives are designed to be very precise, in order to "read" data from very small spaces on CDs/DVDs. There is an objective lens to change the angle of the laser, and a very precise stepper motor to slowly change the position of the laser assembly to read different parts of the CD/DVD. These principles were applied to modern microscopy in order to construct a microscope for a couple hundred dollars, as opposed to thousands. Such a prototype is being constructed, and samples will be placed to view magnified images to test the viability of the microscope. After completion, all instructions and software will be uploaded to GitHub for cloning and open use. This will allow for greater access to microscopy for students and for those in developing countries.

Session Chair

To Be Determined

Session Closing

Closing Remarks

Conference

4:45 PM — 5:00 PM EST

Local

Mar 13 Sat, 1:45 PM — 2:00 PM PST

Session Chair

To Be Determined

Program at a Glance

11th IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference — Live Keynotes 9 AM - 12:30 PM US EST

Introduction

Greetings from the General Chairs

Session Chair

Keynote Speaker 1 — Jayshree Seth

The state of science: On the global perception of science and the need for STEM Advocacy

Session Chair

Keynote Speaker 2 — Dean Aslam

Creative Functionalized Bricks with Embedded Intelligence (FBEI) for Research-Oriented Provocative STEM and Workforce

Session Chair

Keynote Speaker 3 — Allison Jackson

Future Work: EE STEM / CTE Resources

Session Chair

Poster Session 1

Novel application to improve communication for children affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder

An Autonomous Driving Simulation Platform as a Virtual HSAVC Competition Environment

Desalination and Purification of Water using a Solar Powered Hydrogel Multistage

Comparing Grover's Quantum Search Algorithm with Classical Algorithm on Solving Satisfiability Problem

"Making a mechanical hand with plastic drinking straws."

Predictive Analytics in Agriculture using Geospatial Mapping

Household 3D Cream Printer for Cake Decoration

Low-cost Portable Ventilator Design for Underdeveloped Regions

Water purification for human consumption

Comparison of effectiveness of Machine Learning algorithms for Vehicle Path Prediction

Faraday's Motor and Electromagnetism

Session Chair

Track 2 — Full Papers I

A STEM Program Designed, Developed and Delivered for Upper Primary School Pupils in Singapore

Assessment of Systems Requirements Specification Skills Based on an Industry Body of Knowledge

Using Coding Competitions to Develop STEM Skills in Graduate Education

Educating & Training STEM IT Professionals Based on the CDIO Standards Evolution

Comprehensive analysis of IEEE 802.11ah for Wireless Communication Networks

Session Chair

Track 3 — Full Papers II

The Science and Technology Wing: An Experiment for In-residence STEM Undergraduate Education

Implementing Blended Learning in K-12 Programming Course: Lesson Design and Student Feedback

Math & Crafts, Educational Activities: 400 Indigenous Kids Learning Math from Engineers and Scientists

Asymptotics for Iterating the Lusztig-Vogan Bijection for GL_n on Dominant Weights

Broadening Participation in Computer Science through Sheltered Instruction Pedagogy

On the Generational Behavior of Gaussian Binomial Coefficients at Roots of Unity

Session Chair

Track 4 — Full Papers III

An Examination of Industry Standards of Success within Penetration Testing Groups

Curriculum to Broaden Participation in Cybersecurity for Middle School Teachers and Students

BEAT: Branding and Entrepreneurship of Assistive Technology for Social Good

Augmented Running

Taking STEM Enrichment Camps Virtual: Strategies & Reflections from Quick Pivot due to COVID-19

Session Chair

Track 1 — Works-In-Progress I

Understanding Object-Oriented Programming with a Game Engine Platform Transforming from 3D to Text-based coding

Open Research Laboratory for Non-Research Focused Institutions

Teaching and Learning about Pendulums in RoboPhysics

Revolutionizing Engineering for P-12 Schools (REPS)

A Case Study: Individual Design Enhancement for a Saucepan. Providing Practical Experience Within a Community College Engineering Program

Session Chair

Track 5 — Workshops

Creating Community Support for Mathematics Literacy

Aligning Secondary Programs to the Framework for P-12 Engineering Learning

Application of the System Development Life Cycle Model (SDLC) to Everyday Tasks

Practical Physical Computing in these unprecedented times of COVID

STEM, STEAM and STREAM Education

Session Chair

Poster Session 2

Roy. G. Biv: The Color Matching Application for Artists With Limited Pigments

Covid-19 Case Prediction using Nesting Fitting

Identifying the Impacts of Digital Technologies on Labor Market: A Case Study in the Food Service Industry

Wheeled Jumping all-terrain drones with Combustion-driven Semi-active Suspension

Analyzing Sex-Biased Gene Expression in Autoimmune Diseases

Analysis and Construction of a Small International High School's Social Network

The Floating Compass: A Demonstration of Electromagnetism and Lenz's Law

Effects of Protein Concentration in Fish Feed on Physical and Chemical Water Pollution

An Exploration Into Electromagnetic Generation

Exposure to Navajo through Game Development: Guess the Number

Navajo Language Preservation AI

Session Chair

Track 6 — Full Papers IV

A new method for disinfection and sterilization of air and objects using an electrified mist

Understanding electronics and CT in school - a simplified method for drawing and building electronic circuits for the micro-bit and breadboards

Training Workers to Thrive in Future Technology-Driven Environments: A Blueprint