Notice: Images and videos posted on this website are for education, outreach, and dissemination purposes only. Any unauthorized use of these images or videos is strictly prohibited. For authorization or more information, please contact Dr. Xiaobo Tan at xbtan@egr.msu.edu.
The Smart Microsystems Laboratory (SML) actively pursues opportunities for reaching out to K-12 students, parents, and teachers. The appealing, hands-on nature of the many projects in SML offers unique advantages in attracting young students' attention and inspiring their curiosity. Some of our educational and outreach effort has been reported in the following papers:
X. Tan et al., "A Hands-on Paradigm for EAP Education: Undergraduates, Pre-College Students, and Beyond", SPIE EAPAD'07
X. Tan et al., "An Autonomous Robotic Fish for Mobile Sensing," IROS'06
Highlights of our involvement of outreach activities:
1. Research Experiences for Teachers (RET)
4. Grandparents University Program
5. CNSF Exhibition on Capitol Hill
Research Experiences for Teachers (RET)
Dr. Tan leads the NSF-funded RET Site on Bio-Inspired Technology and Systems (BITS) at MSU. The Site provides research training and other professional development opportunities for 8 - 10 middle and high school teachers every year. Currently eight faculty members from five engineering departments serve as mentors for these teachers. RET participants conduct research in faculty mentors' labs, and develop innovative curriculum based on their research experiences. The theme of BITS encompasses a variety of intriguing topics, including artificial muscles, robotic fish, biosensors, digital evolution, biomechanics, swarming robotics, and biofuels. For more information about the RET site, check out
Mr. John Thon, technology teacher from Holt Junior High School, has been a member of SML since the summer of 2008, supported by an RET supplement to Dr. Tan's NSF CAREER project. He plays an active role in the lab's research thrust on robotic fish development. He is also transitioning his research experiences to classroom practices through curriculum innovation.
John Thon (in black T-shirt) discussing design of robotic fish with Dr. Mart Anton (front), postdoc of SML.
SML partners closely with the Recruitment and K-12 Outreach Office of the College of Engineering in its various pre-college programs. As a designated Engineering Tour Stop, SML receives about 80 visitors every month including prospective students and their parents.
Every summer Dr. Tan and his students give accessible lectures and hold hands-on, interactive demos on smart materials, artificial muscles, and biomimetic robots for participants of a number of K-12 outreach programs, such as the Detroit-Area Pre-College Engineering Program (DAPCEP), the High School Engineering Institute Program, the Women in Engineering Program, and the Wireless Integrated MicroSystems (WIMS) for Teens Program.
We have developed a robotic fish educational kit, which provides step-by-step instructions on how to build the robot, including assembling the circuit board, packaging, microcontroller programming, and testing for waterproofing and functions. In addition, the kit comes with a curriculum covering the fundamentals of electroactive polymers, robotics, circuits, physics, and control.
The robotic fish educational kit developed in SML.
Shown in pictures above: left - Students in Summer'06 WIMS for Teens Program listening to Dr. Tan's lecture; right - Stephan explaining the artificial muscle-based sociable robot to students of the Summer'06 Women in Engineering Program.
In
the video 
below, a student of the WIMS for Teens Program interacts with the sociable
robot.
A young boy fascinated by the sociable robot in SML on SET Day'07.
Chippewa Career Day is an annual event at the Chippewa Middle School in Okemos, MI, where representatives from different professions speak to the eighth graders about career choices. Dr. Tan represented the College of Engineering in 2006 and 2007. On March 6, 2007, he was joined by his graduate student Stephan Shatara and MSU/ECE alumnus Anthony Recca in this event. About 60 students got to hear about engineering, and the life of engineering students, professors, and engineers.
Shown in picture above: Anthony answering questions from the students regarding engineering as a career choice.
In
the video
below, the students watched with interest the demo of artificial muscle-driven
robotic fish developed by SML.
Grandparents University Program
MSU Grandparents University is a program for grandparents and grandchildren (ages 8-12) to come together for a 3-day educational experience while spending time together on the MSU campus. Since 2007, SML has been involved in this annual event. Dr. Tan and his students offer a session Smart Materials and Artificial Muscles to curious children and their grandparents.
Students of the 2007 Grandparents University Program playing with the robotic fish.
CNSF Exhibition on Capitol Hill
We have also reached out to members of Congress. Dr. Tan and his Ph.D. student, Dawn Hedgepeth, attended the 14th Annual Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF) Exhibition and Reception on Capitol Hill on the evening of June 25, 2008. CNSF is an alliance of over 100 institutions and professional societies that supports the goal of increasing the national investment in the National Science Foundation's research and education programs. The annual Capitol Hill exhibition event features research and education projects supported by NSF, and impresses lawmakers with the impact of NSF-funded programs.
We
represented MSU and presented a poster "Electroactive Polymers as Artificial Muscles and
Sensors: Investigation from a Systems Perspective," that described our NSF CAREER project and its potential societal, educational, and outreach
impacts. We also held live demos of artificial muscle-enabled robotic fish, which made our conversations much easier with congressmen and their
staffers.
Shown in pictures above: left - Dr. Tan describing the NSF project to Congressman Vernon Ehlers (R-MI); right - Dawn interacting with a visitor.