Engineers Without Borders Domestic Travel
The final day of the Engineers Without Borders Trip, showcasing the completed soffiting, scaffolding, roof, and mostly completed siding.
Reflection
In early summer of 2022, I traveled with the University of Cincinnati Chapter of Engineers Without Borders to South Carolina to volunteer and build affordable housing with Sea Island Habitat for Humanity. On this trip, I worked on two homes, completing insulation, shingling, siding, and soffiting. I was able to learn techniques behind installing these different home essentials, while providing key services to provide affordable housing in the Charleston, South Carolina area. I was also able to learn the reasons behind these different techniques and other practical applications of engineering practices. While on the trip, I also absorbed the culture and history of the area, as well as bonding and sharing experiences with other engineers on trip. Many of the engineers came from a multitude of different backgrounds, from Texas to Ghana. This allowed for me to learn about others’ experiences and cultures, offering perspectives that will be useful far beyond this trip.
Building these homes has allowed me to gain new skills and experiences. By building the homes, I gained useful knowledge on how engineered solutions are implemented, specifically in houses. By building these houses, I was helping to provide more accessible affordable housing in the Charleston area. With the increase in housing prices in the area due to the pandemic and tourism, lower income individuals have an increasingly difficult time finding housing. Combined with Heir’s Property, where property is split between descendants over centuries, proving land ownership to build new housing can quickly become impossible. By building these houses, I was able to help those affected by these problems find safe homes to live in and begin to build a financially stable future.
With my experiences from this trip, I plan to continue to apply the perspectives I have gained to my future career. Engineering is dependent upon building for those who will use the product, thus understanding these perspectives is key to solving problems for those of all backgrounds. Furthermore, I plan to participate further with Engineers Without Borders in further domestic trips with Habitat for Humanity and international trips and planning, where we build water and sanitation systems for communities in Tanzania and beyond.
Construction and learning progress photos
Below is a gallery of photos from throughout the project. These photos demonstrate the progress and learning made, specifically showcasing the insulation and roofing projects. Both projects began as blank slates, with the team having little to no experience. However, by the end of both projects, we had clean and presentable work due to our learning and experience along the way.
Protégé Research
Accuracy graph of the neural network over a period of 150 epochs of training to detect Hardware Trojans in DNA sequences.
Reflection
As part of the Protégé Undergraduate Research Program, I worked under Dr. Rashmi Jha and PhD candidate Bayley King in the University of Cincinnati Microelectronics and Integrated-Systems with Neuro-centric Devices (MIND) Lab. My project was focused on Trust and Security Issues in Microelectronics Hardware, specifically the detection of Hardware Trojans in hardware circuits. The experience involved first researching and learning about hardware security and Hardware Trojans, learning how to write simple Verilog (a language for hardware circuit specification), and researching genetic circuits, how they are produced, their functions, and capabilities. After this, I tested and verified multiple pieces of software involved in the creation of genetic circuits and analyzed the genetic circuits created by the programs. I then created multiple programs to perform the true goals of the research. This involved a program to create tens of thousands of random Verilog files of both Hardware Trojan infected and uninfected circuits, a program to run the genetic circuit software for each of these files, a program to generate the correct DNA sequence for each resulting genetic circuit, a program to process this DNA, and a neural network to analyze the DNA sequences and detect the presence of the Hardware Trojans. As a part of my project, I was also responsible for presenting to the United States Air Force Research Lab and providing weekly status update presentations to my research group. I also completed two progress reports, one of which is shown below, and gave a presentation at the Protégé Undergraduate Research Symposium.
I learned a variety of new skills and gained knowledge in areas I have not learned about before. First, I learned a great deal about Verilog, hardware circuits, and Hardware Trojan types, detection methods, and creation. I also learned a great deal of information about genetic circuits, their internal functions, and how to create them. I also learned about how to create and customize neural networks within TensorFlow, a python neural network library. In addition, I learned about how research is conducted (ethics, data recording and standards, research culture, intellectual property, etc.), how to give a proper research presentation, and how to write a research paper for publication.
This project has impacted me by providing me an insight into the research world. This insight has guided my search for what I want to do with my degree in my future, as well as what Master’s degree paths will work best for me. It has also helped me build my research independence, as I was responsible for creating my own research plans and methods with suggestions from my mentors. Additionally, with the new knowledge I now have in a developing area of science and research, I have meaningful insights that would be useful in any career in the area.
Utilizing Paradigms of Genetic Circuits Against Hardware Trojans in Electronic Circuits
This is my final report for Protégé Undergraduate Research Program and is the basis for the presentation I gave at the Protégé Undergraduate Research Program Research Symposium. It covers the background, goals, methods, results, and conclusions for my work. This paper will also serve as the basis for a future scientific publication on the subject.
Models II CEAS Research
A demonstration of the logo analysis system analyzing the General Motors logo for gradients, which is a gradual change in color.
Reflection
During my experience in the CEAS Models II Research Program, I worked with a team to design a system to analyze logo traits, such as colorfulness, amount of whitespace, number and use of colors, brightness, and number of gradients. We developed the research question “Has there been a significant change in logo design (Brightness, colorfulness, use of color, whitespace, etc.) over time?” This question was used to guide our research as we developed the logo analysis algorithms for each feature in Python utilizing various computer vision techniques within OpenCV, a Python computer vision library. Logos were collected from Logopedia, an online logo database, based on the population of Fortune 500 companies, obtained from Fortune.com. Once run through the analysis system, the logo data was analyzed within excel using various data visualization methods. Finally, we presented our results at the University of Cincinnati Undergraduate Scholarly Showcase.
During the process of this research, I learned several new skills. These skills ranged from team skills to technical skills. I learned how to work well within a project team and how to delegate tasks efficiently and effectively within a coding project. Additionally, I built my proficiency of Python and computer vision methods, as they were used heavily throughout the analysis. Furthermore, I built my data visualization and analysis techniques using heat maps, hypothesis testing, and more. I also learned the formal research documentation and presentation process.
The new knowledge I have gained from participating in this research will be vital in starting my experiences in research. This experience has also helped me to define criteria and design a large project with only guidance from a mentor. Also, the experience of learning new skills while working on a project has allowed me to see that I can learn well while I work. This also has allowed me to see applications of classwork in the world, further defining what I am looking for in a career.
Final Presentation
This is the final presentation of our research, as presented at the University of Cincinnati Undergraduate Scholarly Showcase. This presentation is the culmination of the work completed throughout this project, demonstrating our methods, key results, and conclusions.
Chocolate and Power
An image of children working in cacao production in West Africa
Reflection
Chocolate and Power was an Honors Seminar focused on the history and future of chocolate, as well as the issues in chocolate production. Chocolate was used as a lens to investigate the larger issues of power, race, gender, slavery, and class inequality. As a member of the seminar, I actively participated in discussing the class topics, providing some of my knowledge and experiences, and proposing possible solutions to these issues. I completed written research and reflection assignments throughout the semester, as well as a large final research project focused on the production and innovation of chocolate both in the past and today.
Throughout the Chocolate and Power Honors Seminar, I learned a great deal about the well-hidden issues in chocolate production. Cacao for chocolate is produced in poor countries throughout the world, where child labor and slavery are used to produce a large amount of cacao. I also learned about the chocolate manufacturing process, both at large- and small-scale levels.
Chocolate and Power has impacted me by allowing me to discover new knowledge about the good and bad behind a product I do not often think about. I am now more conscious of the issues that exist in not only the production of chocolate, but other products as well. I also developed an in-depth knowledge of the production of chocolate, thus allowing me to analyze applications of designing systems for quality and efficiency.
From Cacahuatl to Chocolate: How it is made
This is the final paper for the Chocolate and Power class. This paper is the culmination of the knowledge I learned over the semester, both through class and my own research. This paper discusses the historical method of chocolate production, the innovations in the industry, and the current chocolate making process.