{"202611":{"#nid":"202611","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Adds Robotics Research Component to Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering Program","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAyanna Howard, Motorola Foundation Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and director of the Human-Automation Systems Laboratory\u0026nbsp;(HumAnS), has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering (SURE) continuing grant for her proposal to add a robotics component to \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.sure.gatech.edu\/index.html\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s SURE program\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERobotics, as a discipline, is inherently interdisciplinary, combining all aspects of engineering and computer science necessary for designing and deploying integrated systems and solutions. \u201cAs students are exposed to robotics, they begin to see connections among these disciplines and begin to understand how their in-class book knowledge translates into real-world systems that can assist society in positive ways,\u201d Howard says.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFunded with co-support from the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.defense.gov\/\u0022\u003EDepartment of Defense\u003C\/a\u003E and\u0026nbsp;NSF\u0027s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/div\/index.jsp?div=EEC\u0022\u003EDivision of Engineering Education and Centers\u003C\/a\u003E, the program will support the involvement of undergraduate students in an immersive robotics research experience, and as a direct consequence, interest them in opportunities available through graduate study.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe robotics REU program will be offered in conjunction with the ongoing Georgia Tech SURE program, which was established in 1992, and offers a ten-week summer research program designed to attract qualified minority students into graduate school in the fields of engineering and science.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to Leyla Conrad, outreach director for ECE and co-PI on the robotics REU program grant, approximately thirty-five students of at least junior-level undergraduate standing are recruited on a nationwide basis each year for Georgia Tech\u2019s SURE program. The students are paired with both a faculty member and a graduate student mentor to undertake research projects in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECollege of Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cos.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECollege of Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E, and the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/mrsec.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC)\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAdding a robotics component to the SURE program is important not only to diversify research options for students but is also timely as the strategic importance of robotics and automation technologies to the U.S. economy continues to increase.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHoward says, \u201cThe push of robotics, as it moves from traditional industrial settings, into public spaces and homes across the world opens up extensive new research opportunities in important economic areas such as healthcare, education, and entertainment.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScheduled to launch in May 2014, the robotics REU program will allow students to share in meeting the challenges of this promising new robotics domain and fully reap the rewards of being trained in this interdisciplinary field.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a result of the new program, the College of Computing (CoC) will join the other three units currently overseeing SURE-related research projects. Eight professors who are faculty members in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/robotics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ERobotics \u0026amp; Intelligent Machines Center (RIM)\u003C\/a\u003E and hail from both the College of Computing and the College of Engineering, will serve as the initial advisors for the robotics REU program: \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=135\u0022\u003EAyanna Howard\u003C\/a\u003E (ECE), \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/people\/charles-isbell-jr\u0022\u003ECharles Isbell\u003C\/a\u003E (CoC), \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/facultystaff\/faculty_record.php?id=104\u0022\u003ECharlie Kemp\u003C\/a\u003E (BME), \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/people\/mike-stilman\u0022\u003EMike Stilman\u003C\/a\u003E (CoC), \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/people\/andrea-thomaz\u0022\u003EAndrea Thomaz\u003C\/a\u003E (CoC), \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/ueda\u0022\u003EJun Ueda\u003C\/a\u003E (ME), \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=139\u0022\u003EPatricio Vela\u003C\/a\u003E (ECE), and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=153\u0022\u003EFumin Zhang\u003C\/a\u003E (ECE).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis program is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) REU Site: Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering (SURE) (1263049) and is co-funded by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF REU program and NSF\u0027s Division of Engineering Education and Centers.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EAyanna Howard has been awarded a NSF\u0026nbsp;REU Site: Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering (SURE)\u0026nbsp;continuing grant\u0026nbsp;for her proposal to add a robotics component to\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.sure.gatech.edu\/index.html\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s SURE program\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27255","created_gmt":"2013-03-27 20:18:26","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:55","author":"Josie Giles","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-03-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-03-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"202621":{"id":"202621","type":"image","title":"Ayanna Howard","body":null,"created":"1449179952","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:59:12","changed":"1475894856","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:36","alt":"Ayanna Howard","file":{"fid":"196620","name":"ayanna-square.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ayanna-square_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ayanna-square_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":50079,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ayanna-square_0.jpg?itok=FKSMq27-"}}},"media_ids":["202621"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.sure.gatech.edu\/","title":"Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering\/Science Program (SURE)"},{"url":"http:\/\/robotics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Center for Robotics \u0026 Intelligent Machines"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=135","title":"Profile"}],"groups":[{"id":"1317","name":"News Briefs"}],"categories":[{"id":"42911","name":"Education"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"825","name":"Ayanna Howard"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"60041","name":"Robotics \u0026 Intelligent Machines Center (RIM)"},{"id":"171263","name":"Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering (SURE) program"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJosie Giles\u003Cbr \/\u003ERIM Communications Officer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:josie@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejosie@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["josie@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}