Category: Education
- Project Title Professor
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Activity Based Total Accountability Deborah Carstens
Activity Based Total Accountability
The Activity Based Total Accountability (ABTA) Institute’s purpose is to provide more transparency in state spending. A state government accountability and transparency report card was just published resulting in a letter grade for each of the fifty states based on the degree of transparency and usability of the Web sites evaluated. The ABTA Web site also provides training videos on the ABTA method which supports a common platform for taxpayers and lawmakers to measure costs within and between states.
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Astrophysical Plasmas and Detector Development Hakeem Oluseyi
Astrophysical Plasmas and Detector Development
Despite more that 50 years of study, the processes that heat and accelerate solar plasmas to form the corona and solar wind are still not well understood. We study the manifestations of plasma structures rooted in the solar atmosphere and model the transport of energy therein based on models of the discrete structures that may mediate this process. To further facilitate study of these phenomena, we have also contributed to the development of novel CCD technologies that allow observation of solar EUV emissions with excellent sensitivity and spatial fidelity.
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Distillation Brine Purification for Resource Recovery Jonathan Whitlow
Distillation Brine Purification for Resource Recovery
Dr. Jonathan Whitlow and the Florida Institute of Technology through a subcontract from QNA will support work at Kennedy Space Center. Bench scale studies will be carried out for the evaluation of ion exchange resins. Through the generation of breakthrough curves the mass transfer zone can be calculated to size and cost absorption columns in order to evaluate the process for application in space exploration.
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Evaluating Students' Learning and Attitudes in a Virtual Chemistry Laboratory Kurt Winkelmann
Evaluating Students' Learning and Attitudes in a Virtual Chemistry Laboratory
This three-year research project based at Florida Tech will investigate the educational benefits of students performing simulated chemistry laboratory experiments in the 3D, immersive, virtual world of Second Life (SL). Students enrolled in General Chemistry I Laboratory at Texas A&M University will participate in this study. Some students will complete several weeks of lab activities in Second Life while other students complete similar experiments in a real laboratory. These virtual experiments will be realistic, fully interactive simulations of their real-world analogues.
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How to Create a Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Minor Program James Brenner, Joel Olson, Kurt Winkelmann
How to Create a Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Minor Program
Florida Tech's nanotechnology minor program is the only one worldwide to have more than 6 credits of lab course experience and will soon be summarized in nanotechnology's first ever lab manual. The Journal of Nano Education is based at Florida Tech.
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Introducing High School Teachers and Students to High Energy Particle Physics Laszlo Baksay, Joseph Laub
Introducing High School Teachers and Students to High Energy Particle Physics
“Quarknet” is a nationally recognized high energy particle physics program supported at Florida Institute of Technology and funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Teachers and students use muon detectors to study subatomic particles entering Earth’s atmosphere.
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Introducing Research-inspired Modules in the General Chemistry Lab Curriculum (CCLI) Kurt Winkelmann, Monica Baloga
Introducing Research-inspired Modules in the General Chemistry Lab Curriculum (CCLI)
General Chemistry students perform interdisciplinary, multi-week lab modules which are based on current research conducted at Florida Tech. Project results show that students increase their confidence and abilities to perform research and also increase their appreciation for chemistry. We observe these benefits for men and women, science and engineering majors and U.S. and international students.
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Self-Assembly in Biology and the Origin of Life (SABOL) Daniel Kirk, Hector Gutierrez, Samuel Durrance
Self-Assembly in Biology and the Origin of Life (SABOL)
The SABOL International Space Station experiment has several important scientific elements dedicated specifically to (i) developing an improved understanding of the origin of life on our planet, (ii) increasing our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease, and (iii) providing an opportunity to apply this new understanding for the betterment of h
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Tactile Awareness Prompting Systems (TAPS) Mark Harvey
Tactile Awareness Prompting Systems (TAPS)
Engineering Acoustics and Florida Institute of Technology developed a novel approach to teach social skills to students with autism. TAPs uses small transducers to optimize behavioral responses to vibration. Teachers are able to communicate appropriate social responses in real time by changing the magnitude, frequency and gain of tactors embedded within a vest or belt. Distinct patterns are used to teach differential responses (e.g., orient towards peer, initiate social interaction). Development and testing may lead to commercially viable products.
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Technical Skills Training Grant for the Skilled American Worker Cynthia Schmitt
Technical Skills Training Grant for the Skilled American Worker
Florida Tech has signed a subcontract for $520,000 on a U.S. Department of Labor grant awarded to the Florida MEP. We will recruit for the TechPoint® software training program and place 50 engineer trainees into manufacturing positions. The effort will continue over three years through the continuing education department. We will partner with Time Wise Management Systems on this comprehensive program, which will be available in all 23 counties in Florida’s high tech corridor. This program is funded in part by a U.S. Department of Labor grant of $4,941,552.
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To Develop an Interdisciplinary Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Academic Program Kurt Winkelmann, Mark Archambault, Tom Marcinkowski, Mary McCay, Pei-Feng Hsu
To Develop an Interdisciplinary Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Academic Program
This project applies an interdisciplinary approach to curriculum development to create courses, lecture modules and laboratory experiments related to hydrogen and fuel cells. Project assessment will determine the effectiveness of the laboratory curriculum. Classes improved by this project will provide public and private sectors with skilled employees and researchers in hydrogen technology. The hydrogen-based curriculum will further the student understanding of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies and offer undergraduate and graduate students a career path into renewable energy.