The Bridge - Issue 3, 2023 - 32

Chapter News
EPICS and HKN: Students Improving
Communities Through Engineering
Ashley Moran, EPICS in IEEE Program Manager
Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS in IEEE)
is a program that enables university students in engineering
to use their talents for good in their communities worldwide.
EPICS in IEEE provides grants for service learning projects
in the areas of access and abilities, environment, education
and outreach, and human services. EPICS in IEEE projects
provide students the opportunity to develop engineering
solutions to impact their local community while also gaining
critical skills to help them in their future careers. EPICS in
IEEE is proud to partner with IEEE-HKN as one way for HKN
students and chapters to fulfill their service requirements.
EPICS in IEEE partners with the IEEE Foundation, and our
projects are supported by donors. " EPICS is proud to partner
with HKN and support the students doing amazing work at
their universities, " says Stephanie Gillespie, chair of EPICS
in IEEE. " By providing EPICS project funding, we hope the
chapters will be able to deploy successful projects to better
their communities while also engaging the students in their
HKN chapters. "
In 2023, EPICS in IEEE awarded grants to the Kappa Psi
Chapter at the University of California, San Diego, and the
Iota Delta Chapter at the Stevens Institute of Technology for
engineering projects.
Engineering Outreach in K-12 Schools: Kappa Psi
Access to education in engineering in K-12 schools is often
reflective of one's socioeconomic status. The Kappa Psi
Chapter at the University of California, San Diego, teamed
up with the San Diego Unified School District and took
note of this issue. With the help of an EPICS IEEE grant
of $2,670.00, the HKN chapter provided support to local
residents in San Diego. Twenty-five university students took
part in this project, with the help of five non-student IEEE
volunteers, to make it come together.
Kappa Psi's project aimed to bridge the STEM education
gap by traveling to schools near the university and teaching
project-based lessons in mechanical, aerospace, electrical
and computer engineering, and computer science. " Our
hope with outreach is that we are able to encourage
students to pursue higher education and allow them to
explore their capabilities within STEM fields, " said Katherine
Vu, Outreach Co-Vice President. " We look forward to
continuing outreach in this upcoming school year and
expanding our program. Specifically, we are gearing our
attention towards incorporating teaching pedagogy in our
lessons in order to increase student engagement and
retention. "
Kappa Psi used their grant for transportation costs and
for the supplies they needed to conduct the lessons. For
example, they used Arduinos, breadboards, household
materials, and more.
For this project, the HKN officers created group study
classes in which HKN students volunteer and create their
own original lesson plans for K-12 students. The officers
then contacted the schools that Kappa Psi worked with and
organized the lessons and transportation.
One example of these lessons was created about Artificial
Intelligence (AI). The lesson begins with gauging the students'
knowledge of the topic. The slides have a lot of information
about AI, yet they ensure that the student experience
is interactive. At one point in the lesson, there is a live
demonstration with ChatGPT, which is a popular topic that has
been in the news often in recent months. The high school
students are learning relevant and current information about
the STEM field, participating in the hands-on experience with
the program, and having fun while doing so.
The sustainability and maintenance of this project are
well organized. Should the HKN officers involved want to
continue their service during their time at the University of
California, San Diego, they can continue the facilitation of
that module. However, if a student graduates or is ready to
have other HKN members lead the activity, the officers work
to train their successors in what is expected of them in the
role. " It has been a pleasure to watch our Kappa Psi students
participate in this program. They are motivated to help the
students; they have the gusto and find it very rewarding and
fulfilling, " said Dr. Rakesh Kumar, Faculty Adviser.
Kappa Psi is measuring their success based on student
enjoyment, a factor that is important for the continued
success of the program. If the students are interested in
the topics and the lessons that they are given, it could
spark a passion for any type of STEM field. According to
Kappa Psi, more than 100 students from socioeconomically
disadvantaged backgrounds have benefited from the
program as of summer 2023.
THE BRIDGE
https://hkn.ieee.org/hkn-chapters/all-chapters/kappa-psi-chapter https://hkn.ieee.org/hkn-chapters/all-chapters/kappa-psi-chapter https://hkn.ieee.org/hkn-chapters/all-chapters/iota-delta-chapter
The Bridge - Issue 3, 2023

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