{"343881":{"#nid":"343881","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Innovation at the Coast: Georgia Tech Savannah Emerges at Forefront of Educational and Sensing Technologies","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDavid Frost wants to change the perception that Georgia Tech only means Atlanta. He believes Georgia Tech\u2019s Savannah campus, located on a 46-acre tract of land off Interstate 95, is uniquely positioned to act as a catalyst for changing education, research and service in coastal Georgia and the southeastern United States.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGeorgia Tech Savannah students go through the same degree program as the Atlanta students, but they get a little something extra,\u201d says Frost, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, director of Georgia Tech Savannah and a Georgia Tech vice provost. \u201cWith the distributed environment utilized for part of their academic engineering program, students are not bound by classroom walls or campus fences, but are very comfortable using technology to connect and interact. A large number of employers have commented that they like this in our graduates.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond their teaching responsibilities, each of Georgia Tech Savannah\u2019s 25 faculty members is conducting several research projects, ranging from hurricanes, tsunamis and beach erosion to development of technologies and logistics for port operations and distance learning. Frost notes that a growing number of research projects are being facilitated by Savannah-based industries such as Gulfstream and JCB, another benefit of being a coastal Georgia campus.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe have ties back to the main campus in Atlanta and are able to easily access resources, but our geographic location is a unique asset that allows our students and faculty to complement the programs and activities in Atlanta,\u201d he says. \u201cBy working together, we can move the Institute forward and make a greater impact in this state and beyond.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhat follows is a small sampling of the research being conducted at Georgia Tech Savannah.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDeveloping Educational Technologies that Enhance Student Experiences\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMonson Hayes, professor and associate chair for electrical and computer engineering programs at Georgia Tech Savannah, says it was the inherent challenges of the Georgia Tech Regional Engineering Program (see sidebar) that led him and his colleagues to explore how to enhance students\u2019 distance learning classroom experiences.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOftentimes, faculty here will be teaching students that are distributed on other campuses. Delivering audio and video of lectures over the Internet can sometimes lead to lower quality, and traditional distance learning students can feel a bit detached,\u201d he notes. \u201cThat\u2019s what we want to change at Georgia Tech Savannah.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen Hewlett-Packard (HP) issued a call for proposals to explore how tablet PCs might be used in the classroom, Hayes and Elliot Moore, an assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, proposed using the PCs to get high-quality video of distance learning lectures to the students. They were awarded funding to jump-start their research project and HP also donated 22 tablet PCs. Due to the success of the program and the novelty of their idea, Microsoft provided additional funding the following year.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETablet PCs allow users to incorporate aspects of pen and paper into computing via a stylus pen or wireless keyboard. Information such as handwritten class notes or annotated electronic documents can be stored digitally and accessed wirelessly. The portability of the tablet PCs also allows professors to lead classroom discussions even if they are away from campus.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHayes and Moore began using software called DyKnow, which uses intuitive tools to enhance teaching strategies and engage students. The software allows instructors to turn over control of the classroom to any student, broadcasting material from the students\u2019 tablet PC to everyone else. Students can be engaged \u2013 from a distance \u2013 to solve problems, take quizzes and answer questions or polls.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTablet PCs could probably be used in just about any STEM discipline \u2013 science, technology, engineering, mathematics,\u201d Hayes says. \u201cThey definitely involve a different teaching style and philosophy.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGhassan AlRegib, an assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering, is also researching educational technologies that project distant classrooms into a \u201ccyber classroom\u201d that is accessible by instructors and students. Examining multimedia and immersive communications, he is collaborating with colleagues at several institutes and corporations to develop networking and streaming algorithms for sending multimedia objects over the Internet, in particular video and 3-D environments that require large bandwidth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI come from a multimedia processing and communications background, and there\u2019s something called immersive communication where you can immerse people \u2013 students, teachers, business people, CEOs \u2013 in this virtual world,\u201d AlRegib says. \u201cI want to know how we can use multi-camera arrays to capture the real environment.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe multi-camera array, provided by HP, consists of 24 small cameras aimed at a wall that is 32 feet long and eight feet high. The software developed by HP stitches all of the images together, allowing for high resolution in real time. For example, students in a remote classroom are able to zoom in and out to focus on writing on a whiteboard, and professors can see the facial expressions of students, making the experience as close to the traditional classroom as possible.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe camera is currently operational in an experimental classroom at Georgia Tech Savannah where AlRegib\u2019s research group is conducting research and developing educational tools that utilize the camera.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe high resolution of the camera and the scenes being stitched together at the pixel level in real time are unique to this camera and make it cutting edge,\u201d AlRegib notes. \u201cMy prediction is that this will be the future of imaging in educational environments.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlRegib is also conducting research in collaborative virtual environments, a technology he and his colleagues developed for use in science teaching and 3-D manuals, among others. The transmission algorithms \u2013 which allow for a networking of multiple virtual environments \u2013 dictate when and in what state information is to be transmitted across the network. When multiple virtual environments are networked, users have the opportunity to cooperate or compete with other users. Interacting with humans more realistically models the actual world on which the virtual environment is based.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAll of this fits into communication \u2013 the camera captures the visual and the collaborative system captures the motion,\u201d he says. \u201cBoth capture the real environment and map it into a virtual environment so people can meet, interact and work together in a natural way. The applications are really endless.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EApplying Sensing Technologies to Real-World Problems\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJames Tsai, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Georgia Tech Savannah, probably knows more about Georgia\u2019s 18,000 miles of highways than just about anybody else. For more than 10 years, he has been working with the Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) to implement a pavement preservation and management system \u2013 Georgia Pavement Management System \u2013 based on information technology and geographic information systems (GIS).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe focus of my research is pavement distress, preservation and management,\u201d he says. \u201cDepartments of transportation typically spend more than half of their total annual budgets on infrastructure, especially pavements. Applying the right pavement treatment method in the right location at the right time means saving money, so the economic impact of my research is potentially large.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETsai works with a 10-member, multidisciplinary Georgia Tech research team on pavement condition assessment, pavement rehabilitation technology, deterioration and forecasting models, long-term system performance simulation, and resource optimization. For local transportation agencies, Tsai and his team have developed and implemented an integrated asset-management system that uses global positioning system technology. They are extending their research to manage other assets, including traffic signs, bridges and railroads.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESome of Tsai\u2019s research, sponsored by the Innovation Deserving Exploratory Analysis Program of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, has involved the development of an intelligent sensing system and vehicle to automatically collect roadway asset and pavement distress information. Tsai and his team developed innovative image-processing technology using cameras and lasers to measure pavement quality, roadway signs, number of lanes, pavement width and shoulder width.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBy using sensing technologies, including lasers and cameras mounted on a van, we can take photographs every 20 feet and obtain laser data to automatically collect information on signs and pavement distress,\u201d Tsai says. \u201cWe have developed algorithms to analyze pavement distress and to build a forecasting and optimization model. This sensing technology provides us the most comprehensive and accurate information.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis year will mark the tenth anniversary of the implementation of Tsai\u2019s Computerized Pavement Condition Evaluation System (COPACES), a program used by Georgia DOT to evaluate its highway system.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhereas Tsai is using sensing technologies to examine surfaces, David Frost, professor of civil and environmental engineering and director of Georgia Tech\u2019s Savannah campus, is using them to go below the surface. He has improved traditional penetrometers \u2013 instrumented cylindrical devices made of hardened steel \u2013 used to record friction resistance and pore pressure in soils. They are also used to evaluate soil types and predict where soil will liquefy, to determine how foundations of buildings will behave and to study the characteristics of natural and man-made geo-materials under earthquake and other dynamic loading conditions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen we first began this research in 1996, we were studying how to quantify the roughness or smoothness of these man-made materials \u2013 called geo-membranes \u2013 that are often used in landfill liner systems,\u201d he recalls. \u201cThis earlier research sparked an idea to build something that would allow us to produce a number that quantitatively relates the device texture to soil behavior. Through the insight we\u2019ve gained, we can now tell you how much texture and what type of texture will work best for a particular application.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe original cone penetrometer \u2013 considered the standard for more than 50 years by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) \u2013 was designed to have a smooth surface. Frost and his colleagues modified the device to include multiple sleeves of different roughness that would yield different measurements. The National Science Foundation funded work on the multi-friction penetrometer, and ASTM recognized Frost and his student with its 2003 International Hogentogler Award, an annual award given to the authors of a paper of outstanding merit on soil and rock for engineering purposes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis new device gave us the potential to measure multiple values of force with a single device in a single sounding,\u201d says Frost.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFrost has since developed a multipiezo friction penetrometer, which is able to measure not only force, but also water pressure. Each textured sleeve is associated with a piezo sensor so friction force and water pressure can be measured independently. The device is especially useful when studying earthquakes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFrost, who most recently traveled to China as part of a U.S. delegation to meet with Chinese government officials and study the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan Province, is currently exploring how to miniaturize the technology for investigating the characteristics of soil on the moon.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBecause of plans to perhaps build permanent bases on the moon and on Mars, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has begun investigating soil,\u201d he says. \u201cOur devices, which have been patented by Georgia Tech, represent a dramatically different approach to what technology was available and used when previous lunar explorations occurred in the late \u201860s and early \u201870s.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EImagining Georgia Tech\u2019s Coastal Future\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFrost is passionate about moving the Savannah campus forward by leveraging local assets and opportunities as part of a network of campuses and programs that educates the leaders of a technology-driven world. According to Frost, this will be achieved in part by continuing to develop educational programs, conducting basic and applied interdisciplinary research, stimulating regional economic development, developing an interdisciplinary academic environment, expanding access to an engineering-centered education, and growing a modern campus.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPlanning metrics call for 500 students to be enrolled at the Savannah campus by 2012, with more than half participating in an out-of-classroom experience like the cooperative education program or an international program. In the same time, faculty research expenditures will increase, a graduate-student-to-faculty ratio of four to one will be achieved, and at least two dual degree programs with partner institutions will be offered.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis all comes back to technology,\u201d Frost says. \u201cTechnology is the enabler that allows us to achieve our vision. Innovative education has no boundaries.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Savannah in a Snapshot\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EApproximately 160 students are enrolled at Georgia Tech Savannah \u2013 132 undergraduates and 32 master\u2019s and doctoral students. Degrees are available in civil, computer, electrical, environmental and mechanical engineering. The first undergraduate degrees were awarded in fall 2001, and since then, nearly 275 students have graduated from the Savannah campus.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThere is also a strong transfer program as part of the Georgia Tech Regional Engineering Program (GTREP), a formal academic collaboration between Georgia Tech and three partner institutions: Armstrong Atlantic State University and Savannah State University in Savannah, and Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Ga. Students are taught by Savannah-based faculty complemented by distance instruction from other Georgia Tech campuses.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition, students have access to world-renowned researchers in a wide variety of disciplines and expertise. There are 16 instructional labs in areas such as automation and robotics, digital education, electronic circuits and instrumentation, hydromechanics and systems and controls, and 18 research centers and laboratories.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAcademics are not the only focus of Georgia Tech Savannah; outreach is also an integral part of the campus. The Savannah office of the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) \u2013 Georgia Tech\u2019s nationally recognized science and technology incubator \u2013 assists new ventures arising from Savannah\u2019s diverse technology community that includes educational institutions such as the Savannah College of Art and Design, established companies and a growing community of startups. Currently, there are six ATDC member companies in Savannah.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Savannah campus is also home to a regional office of Georgia Tech\u2019s Enterprise Innovation Institute, an organization that helps companies, entrepreneurs, economic developers and communities improve their competitiveness through the application of science, technology and innovation. It is one of the most comprehensive university-based programs of business and industry assistance, technology commercialization and economic development in the nation.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"David Frost wants to change the perception that Georgia Tech only means Atlanta. He believes Georgia Tech\u2019s Savannah campus, located on a 46-acre tract of land off Interstate 95, is uniquely positioned to act as a catalyst for changing education, res"}],"uid":"28152","created_gmt":"2014-11-10 15:11:25","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:30","author":"Claire Labanz","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-08-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2008-08-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"343791":{"id":"343791","type":"image","title":"Research Horizons - Innovation at Coast - Richard Frost","body":null,"created":"1449245654","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:14:14","changed":"1475895066","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:06","alt":"Research Horizons - Innovation at Coast - Richard Frost","file":{"fid":"200860","name":"innovation_at_coast_1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/innovation_at_coast_1_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/innovation_at_coast_1_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":929844,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/innovation_at_coast_1_0.jpg?itok=kGmymMZ6"}},"343811":{"id":"343811","type":"image","title":"Research Horizons - 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