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As part of the I-Corps training, the team spent most of 2015 interviewing potential users and refining the design to meet those users' needs.
Now that the I-Corps program is complete, Oscar Ledezma, an electrical engineering graduate student who has led development of the game interface, is in the process of obtaining Institutional Review Board approval for human subject trials.
The Recovery Glove team also includes Brian Lee and Nicholas Alvarado, electrical engineering seniors; Maria Vargas, a recent electrical engineering graduate; and Kristine Belknap, who recently earned a master’s degree in computer science.
Collaborating on Engineering Challenges
Cal State LA was one of 12 student teams selected nationwide for the first annual NASA Swarmathon Physical Competition held at Kennedy Space Center April 20 and 21.
The University of New Mexico and NASA developed the competition, challenging students from minority-serving institutions to develop search algorithms for cooperative robots to revolutionize space exploration.
Last summer, program director Melanie Moses visited the campus and spoke to Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Vice President Brian Martinez and President Mabel Luu about the project. Interested, they sought out faculty adviser Nancy Warter-Perez, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and helped assemble the
Cal State LA proposal and team.
“It’s a great opportunity to get our students involved in robotics – a growing field – and bring an engaging design competition project to our campus,” says Warter-Perez. “Robotic swarms use small, inexpensive robots to work collaboratively to perform a task. These small robots can search an area quickly and, if one robot breaks down, there are many others that continue.”
The Cal State LA team, which includes 18 undergraduates and two graduate students spanning three disciplines, attended classes to learn about robotics, the robot operating system, swarm robot hardware, algorithms, C++ and more.
The team conducted research, developed software and tested hardware for months in preparation for the competition. They also visited several local middle and high schools
to talk about swarm robotics and computer science and engineering careers.
The team worked on several algorithms, including ones
for better image detection and motor control, as well as a search algorithm based on natural phenomena, such as how swarms of ants collaboratively work to collect food. Fourteen students and Warter-Perez traveled to the Florida competition where the team tied for seventh place and won the award for best technical paper in the physical competition.
Martinez says preparing for the competition turned out to be fruitful in surprising ways.
“As engineering students, we can be protective of our ideas and, with such a large team, our patience and receptiveness to feedback was tested. I think we all learned a lot about how to work as a team and the true value of soft skills,” Martinez says.
RODRIGO GARCIA: OPPORTUNITY-MAKER
FOR THOUSANDS OF HISPANIC ENGINEERS
Rodrigo Garcia (’72 B.S.) turns obstacles into opportunities for himself and thousands of other Hispanic engineers.
Armed with an associate degree from East Los Angeles College and an Engineer in Training certificate, Garcia started working as an engineering assistant for the county of Los Angeles in 1964, and later for the city of Los Angeles.
As a Latino, Garcia says he never was aware of discrimination until he started working. “At professional functions in the ’60s and ’70s, I saw a lot of unhappy Latino professionals who felt they were being left behind,” he recalls.
Meanwhile, Garcia passed a state exam and became a licensed professional engineer. He also enrolled at UCLA to finish his degree but dropped out after one month.
“I was lost. I needed support to succeed,” he says.
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