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Since its founding in 1995 at Purdue University, the Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) in IEEE program has been offering nonprofit organizations with expertise to enhance and ship providers to their group whereas broadening undergraduate EE college students’ hands-on experiences.
In 2009 the EPICS program was delivered to IEEE by Moshe Kam, an IEEE Fellow and the 2005–2007 vice chairman of IEEE Educational Activities; Senior Member Kapil Dandekar; and Fellow Saurabh Sinha. Collectively they based EPICS in IEEE as an IEEE Instructional Actions program. Funding for this system got here from a seed grant by means of the IEEE New Initiatives Committee.
This yr this system marks its fifteenth anniversary.
“After we created EPICS in IEEE,” Dandekar says, “we have been very desperate to align the angle of service-learning from the EPICS program at Purdue with IEEE’s mission to foster technological innovation for the advantage of humanity.
“I’m significantly pleased with the persevering with stakeholder engagement by engineers with humanitarian organizations in shaping initiatives. I firmly consider that this results in a greater studying expertise for the engineering college students and a extra helpful final result for the humanitarian accomplice group.”
Throughout the previous 15 years, greater than 219 initiatives in 34 nations have been accomplished, involving greater than 11,000 college students in service-learning initiatives. Of these college students, 47 p.c recognized as feminine.
“EPICS in IEEE has performed a key function in increasing the worldwide attain of initiatives wherein engineering college students carry their studying and abilities to bear in addressing challenges confronted by their native communities,” says Leah Jamieson, 2007 IEEE president and a cofounder of EPICS at Purdue, which is in West Lafayette, Ind. “By tackling group wants within the areas of entry and skills, schooling and outreach, human providers, and the atmosphere, college students taking part in EPICS in IEEE are gaining firsthand expertise in marrying engineering and group. Mission by challenge, they’re contributing to IEEE’s purpose of advancing expertise for the advantage of humanity.”
A give attention to studying outcomes
This system differs from different humanitarian efforts inside IEEE due to its give attention to engineering-student studying outcomes in addition to the advantages to the native communities.
“EPICS in IEEE is an ideal technique to merge engineering schooling and engagement,” Sinha says. “It supplies a chance for universities to attach their college students’ academic experiences to help the U.N. sustainable development goals.
“I’ve had the privilege of seeing EPICS in IEEE in lots of nations,” he provides, “and loved the globalizing profit that this system delivered to all events concerned.”
The initiatives embrace a recycling center to scale back plastic waste at Ankole Institute, in southwestern Uganda. The middle was constructed by college students from Kyambogo University of Kampala, Uganda.
A workforce of scholars from the University of Florida, in Gainesville, designed a computer mouse for these whose palms or arms have an abnormality, so they may extra simply play video games.
Arizona State University college students created a solar-powered air filtration system for nomadic individuals in Mongolia.
“By tackling group wants within the areas of entry and skills, schooling and outreach, human providers, and the atmosphere, college students taking part in EPICS in IEEE are gaining firsthand expertise in marrying engineering and group.” —Leah Jamieson, 2007 IEEE president and cofounder of EPICS at Purdue.
In Panama, engineering college students from Universidad Tecnológica de Panama’s electrical engineering and laptop science departments used their tech know-how to make the college’s campus more accessible for individuals with disabilities. They employed a 3D printer to make indicators in braille, they constructed a wheelchair, they usually automated the varsity’s doorways to enhance entry.
In follow-up surveys about their EPICS in IEEE participation, college students have shared that it was not like something they did within the classroom.
“This expertise has been a profound studying alternative,” says Leonardo Vergara, a techniques engineering scholar at Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, in Colombia.
“My collaboration and communication abilities have additionally been enormously enhanced,” Vergara provides. “It has reaffirmed my perception in expertise’s energy to create constructive social influence and ignited a way of social accountability.”
Continued progress
To take this system to the subsequent degree, EPICS in IEEE in 2014 created a fund by means of the IEEE Foundation to assist donors help this system. The Basis is IEEE’s philanthropic accomplice.
EPICS in IEEE continues to accomplice with EPICS Purdue and participates in its University Consortium, a community of establishments that strives to share concepts and help improvement for service-learning packages.
“Over the previous 15 years, the time period service studying has been evolving and is commonly now known as community-engaged studying,” says IEEE Member Stephanie Gillespie, chair of EPICS in IEEE. “This up to date terminology higher displays the numerous function the group has within the studying course of. EPICS in IEEE requires vital community-partner engagement alongside the IEEE and scholar involvement as a result of this partnership with a group group is extra more likely to result in long-term challenge help and upkeep as soon as deployed right into a group.
“As the sphere of service studying and community-engaged studying evolves, so does EPICS in IEEE. We’re excited to rejoice how far EPICS in IEEE has are available in 15 years.”
Up to now two years, the committee has observed elevated curiosity in service studying, reviewing 190 proposals in 2023, in contrast with 77 the yr earlier than. The committee permitted 39 initiatives final yr, up from 23 in 2022.
This system has streamlined its processes and elevated its advertising efforts. It now supplies extra assets to assist make sure the success of the initiatives. As well as, EPICS volunteers have strengthened partnerships with IEEE affinity teams, technical societies, and areas and sections to lift consciousness of this system amongst scholar and IEEE members.
Celebratory occasions
EPICS in IEEE is commemorating its 15th anniversary with a variety of occasions. The celebration kicked off throughout the IEEE Rising Stars convention, held from 5 to 7 January in Las Vegas. On the convention, program volunteers and workers members gave displays about its progress, and scholar groups showcased their prototypes.
Digital occasions are deliberate for this yr, in addition to tales posted on the EPICS in IEEE web site, highlighting previous and present initiatives.
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