College Seniors Inspire the Future of Science and Technology
Issue date: 2/15/09 Section: FYI
(ARA) - For DeVry University students majoring in Information Technology , Electronics Engineering Technology, or Biomedical Engineering Technology, required senior projects are about more than just completing requirements needed to graduate.
"For me, my senior project was not only an opportunity to showcase everything I had learned, but about how I could take those skills and contribute something significant in my field and find a way to help others," says Angelita Dudley, a student at DeVry Atlanta.
Campus-wide, DeVry University senior project presentations or "fairs" are held several times a year. Employers and business leaders in the community are invited to attend the events, view the projects up close, talk to the student inventors and get a first-hand look at the imagination, creativity and industry prowess a student might bring to a job.
Many Senior Project Fairs include more than one robot. Professor Forough Ghahramani of DeVry believes there's a simple explanation for the students' interest in robots. "There is a limitless horizon to what robots can do in our world, and how they can help from the most complicated to the most simple of tasks and our students take full advantage of the opportunity to explore those functions and capacities," she says.
At DeVry University Fremont, Calif. campus, a robot named AMI for Artificial Machine Intelligence (and pronounced "Amy") responds to the verbal commands of her inventors, students Eduardo Arreola and his teammates Perseo Gonzalez and Feras Khatib. Using voice recognition software, artificial intelligence and Bluetooth technology, AMI not only responds to voice commands, but when thanked, answers, "You're welcome." According to Michael Zohourian, Dean of Engineering programs at the Fremont campus, "Senior projects are not only about the 'wow factor' -- students have to demonstrate elegance of design, technical merit and marketability."
For DeVry Calgary student Fady Khaled, his senior project was the culmination of a childhood dream. The electrical engineering student created Nova 5, a compact robot mounted with a camera that combines visual images with sound waves and infrared sensors and may be fitted with an electronic nose to sniff out harmful gases, making it useful in such emergency situations as mine collapses or fires.
"For me, my senior project was not only an opportunity to showcase everything I had learned, but about how I could take those skills and contribute something significant in my field and find a way to help others," says Angelita Dudley, a student at DeVry Atlanta.
Campus-wide, DeVry University senior project presentations or "fairs" are held several times a year. Employers and business leaders in the community are invited to attend the events, view the projects up close, talk to the student inventors and get a first-hand look at the imagination, creativity and industry prowess a student might bring to a job.
Many Senior Project Fairs include more than one robot. Professor Forough Ghahramani of DeVry believes there's a simple explanation for the students' interest in robots. "There is a limitless horizon to what robots can do in our world, and how they can help from the most complicated to the most simple of tasks and our students take full advantage of the opportunity to explore those functions and capacities," she says.
At DeVry University Fremont, Calif. campus, a robot named AMI for Artificial Machine Intelligence (and pronounced "Amy") responds to the verbal commands of her inventors, students Eduardo Arreola and his teammates Perseo Gonzalez and Feras Khatib. Using voice recognition software, artificial intelligence and Bluetooth technology, AMI not only responds to voice commands, but when thanked, answers, "You're welcome." According to Michael Zohourian, Dean of Engineering programs at the Fremont campus, "Senior projects are not only about the 'wow factor' -- students have to demonstrate elegance of design, technical merit and marketability."
For DeVry Calgary student Fady Khaled, his senior project was the culmination of a childhood dream. The electrical engineering student created Nova 5, a compact robot mounted with a camera that combines visual images with sound waves and infrared sensors and may be fitted with an electronic nose to sniff out harmful gases, making it useful in such emergency situations as mine collapses or fires.
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