REU Site: Engineers for Exploration

University Of California-San Diego, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Abstract

Engineers for Exploration (E4E) is an experiential program where undergraduates perform computer systems research that addresses technology gaps in conservation, cultural heritage, and exploration. Research problems are framed by real-world, impactful applications, providing participants with a multidisciplinary research experience in topics related to embedded systems, remote sensing, digital signal processing, computer vision, machine learning, robotics, and data analytics. Participants have an impactful research project, a multi-tiered mentor network, and structured collaboration with researchers, scientists, and explorers. Faculty, scientists, and engineers mentor participants using state-of-the-art facilities to develop cutting-edge computer systems research. E4E seeks participants from all segments of society, specifically targeting community colleges, minority-serving institutions, and other universities whose students do not have opportunities to participate in graduate research. E4E REU Site will recruit community college students, helping them benefit most from the REU experience. Graduate and postdoctoral students will get trained to serve as research mentors, providing them with the experience needed for their future careers. The primary goal of this REU site is to expose undergraduate participants to computer systems research motivated by real-world applications. E4E REU Site projects develop innovative computer systems deployed worldwide by scientists and explorers. Collaborators include scientists at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, the UCSD Scripps Institution of Oceanography, The Nature Conservancy, and the National Geographic Society. These projects target domains such as aerially monitoring mangrove coverage, wildlife species identification using acoustic sensors, and underwater 3D computer vision-based fish population monitoring. REU participants will conduct their research by interacting with faculty mentors, domain scientists, postdocs, and graduate students who serve as their mentoring team. E4E projects include developing machine learning algorithms to assess the effects of climate change on ecosystems, creating drone-based radio frequency localization systems to track endangered species, and building 3D capture systems to scan, visualize, and document archaeological sites. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.