NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
OFFICE OF CROSS-DISCIPLINARY ACTIVITIES
CISE DIRECTORATE - II-MI PROGRAM
Grant Number: CDA-9313624
For the Establishment of The
CENTER FOR ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING
in the research areas of:
Computer Vision
Neural Network
Robotics , and
Multimedia
With the Collaboration of the School of Computer
Science
in the research areas of:
Distributed Processing
Visual Programming
Director: Malek Adjouadi
1. Extent that the faculty
participants directly involved in maintaining and broadening the pool of
students
2. Participation of students in
research projects. Include names and
list of papers, projects, etc...
3. Participation of Women,
minorities
4. Impact upon education in
general: courses taught, proposals, publications,...
APPENDIX I: An Overview of Ongoing Minority Programs at FIU
What follows is a list
of programs which will be used in conjunction with this proposed NSF
infrastructure to insure the success of recruitment and retention of minority
students:
FLAME: Florida Action for Minorities in Engineering
The FLAME program was initiated
during the 1987-1988 academic year.
FLAME is a cooperative program
between FIU and the Dade County Public School System in Florida. This program is designed to instill in students from minority high schools in Dade
County the desire for academic excellence and to encourage them to go on to
higher education. The objectives are: * The identification, selection,
capture, enrollment, retention and graduation of African Americans and other
minority students in engineering and science programs.
* Improve the awareness of
engineering for science teachers who work in public schools, where the percentage of minority students
is high.
* Improve the integration of
students in Dade County Public Schools.
* To introduce high school students
to the profession of engineering, and science.
Two
specific programs have emerged out of this effort. A summer program and an Engineering Magnet School at Miami Coral
Park High School. The summer program
now includes a first year Full Immersion Program, a second year Engineering
Summer Institute and a third year Engineering Executive Summer Internship. The success of this program has had a
tremendous impact on the decision-making process of African American students
in Dade County. Students can
participate for 3 years prior to high school graduation working in the field of
engineering and science. In their
senior year, students have the advantage of taking 6 college credits under a
dual enrollment program by attending classes both at Coral Park and FIU.
At
present there are 93 minority students participating in our Florida Action for
Minorities in Engineering program (this is a joint effort between Dade County
Public Schools, Florida Power and Light and Florida International University). Out of these 93 students, 53 attend Florida
International University every school day for 75 minutes of daily instructions
and laboratory work. The other 40
students are taking Introduction to Engineering at their high school. There are also three different summer
programs that the students can take. It
is proposed to expand our experience to all 25 senior high schools in the
County.
Budget:
Steadily funded for last 3 years. 1990-91 -
$76,542 by Dade County Public Schools.
*-* Through FIU's program:
* Introduction to technical English
* Introduction to engineering
* Critical thinking skills
*
Applied engineering principles
* Computer applications
* Fundamentals of vision,
neural networks, artificial intelligence and
robotics
* Group activities with active participation
of the engineering and honor societies,
ALPHA OMEGA CHI, ETA KAPPA NU, the IEEE, and the Society of Women Engineers
(SWE).
MOST: Mobile On-Site Technology
To assist in
accomplishing the expansion to other high schools, the School of Engineering at
FIU is developing a mobile facility (large van) for secondary school teacher
and student enhancement in science and engineering topics and experiments. This will couple with our FLAME program to
expand minority interest and recruitment directly on-site at secondary
schools. Both teachers and students (in
many schools) will be able to schedule a variety of learning experiences right
outside their classroom, using actual science and engineering labs, topics, and
professors. These experiences are
designed to not only acquaint students (and their teachers) to the disciplines,
but perhaps even more importantly, to attract more minority students into a
science/engineering track through the use of experiments/topics that are
interesting as well as informative. At
the same time increasing the secondary school teachers understanding of
education and careers in science and engineering, so that they can "spread
the word" among all their students.
To motivate the
students to participate in this program, an introductory video tape (30
minutes) highlighting the different engineering professions will be sent and
presented to each high school prior to the arrival of the mobile learning
center. The viewing of the tape will be
conducted under the guidance of the respective science teacher. Each teacher will receive an accompanying
instructional tape to assist him/her in the directing of the class discussion
to emphasize, discover underlying scientific concepts and their application to
engineering.
Minority Undergraduate Training in Energy Careers
MUTEC is another
funded program whose goals are: (a) to attract more students and specifically,
minority students, into Engineering programs at Florida International
University;
(b) to set up a research experience for undergraduate students in order
to influence their decision to continue on to graduate school. Incorporated within these goals will be the
enhancement of energy related areas.
NACME: National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering
This program finds
corporate sponsors who are willing to provide minority engineering students
with scholarships and internships. We
have received permission to grant 20 minority student scholarships up to $500
(depending upon their GPA). NACME will
provide at least an additional 20 new scholarships per year from now on. It is conceivable to have, four years from
now, 80 students participating in this program, with a scholarship funding of
$400,000 per year. Additionally, NACME
may increase the number of yearly scholarships from 20 to 30 or more. Selected students may be required to
participate in 2 summer internships at the Corporate Sponsor's facilities. All students selected for this program must
be informed of this internship and must be willing to participate.
HONORS PROGRAM: Scholarship program
FIU offers a four-year
interdisciplinary program to a limited number of high ability students. Most of these students will be eligible for
scholarship assistance from either The Harvey Young Family Foundation, Faculty
Scholars, Florida Undergraduate Scholars, or Out-of-State Tuition Waivers. 100 Freshmen are selected each year.
PIP:
Partners in Progress
PIP is a summer
program for minority 10th and 11th graders in a cooperative effort between FIU
and the Dade County Public School System (DCPS). Its objective is to increase the representation of African
Americans and other minorities in Florida's public colleges and
universities. The students earn high
school elective credit in math and English; prepare for college entrance exams
(SAT or ACT); receive information concerning college and scholarships; earn six
hours of college credit.
Yearly
Budget: FIU - $22,000 DCPS
- $40,000
SABLE: Students Achievers in the Black Life Experience
A FIU pre-collegiate
program for 9th and 10th graders in a cooperative effort between FIU, the Dade
County Public School System (DCPS) and a variety of community agencies,
businesses and organizations.
Yearly
Budget: FIU - $81,000 Outreach Grant - $81,000
GOLDEN
DRUM: Community Action Program
A program adopted by
the Achievers of Greater Miami to reward outstanding high school seniors of
African descent in Dade and Broward Counties.
The program includes full-tuition scholarships.
VIP: Vested Interest Program
This pre-collegiate
scholarship summer program provides academically talented post junior and
senior high school students the opportunity to explore fully the University
experience.
Budget: - 75 full tuition scholarships and books
stipends are awarded each summer.
FACULTY
SCHOLARS: Scholarship Program
In this program,
scholarships are awarded solely on academic merit of 3.5 GPA and a score of
1200 on SAT and are renewed each semester contingent upon the student's
maintaining a minimum of 3.3 GPA. The
students receive $1700 each year.
PSS: Project Second Step
Project second step is
a pilot program sponsored jointly by Dade County Public Schools and Florida
International University. Its primary
objective is to provide a specific group of adult students with sufficient
motivation and background to assist them in passing the SAT (Scholastic
Aptitude Test) thereby permitting them to enroll in the University as students
of engineering.
Florida
Endowment Fund for Higher Education in Florida
The McKnight Doctoral
Fellowship provides up to $5000 in tuition and fees plus an annual stipend of
$11,000 to 25 African-American citizens to pursue Ph.D. degrees at
participating Florida universities.
Applicants must hold or be receiving a bachelor's degree from a
regionally accredited college or university.
Contingent upon successful academic progress, the maximum length of
awards is five years. The Florida
Endowment Fund provides the first three years and the student's university
continues funding at the same level of support for a fourth year and sometimes
fifth. Fellowships are especially
encouraged in, but not limited to, the following fields: biology; computer science; engineering;
mathematics; marine biology; physics;
psychology. The FIU coordinator
of this program is our associate dean, Dr. G. Roig.
HBCU/MI: HBCU/MI Consortium
Formed in January,
1990, The Historically Black Colleges and Universities/Minority Institutions
Environmental Technology and Waste Management Consortium (HBCU/MI Consortium)
is the historic union of seventeen minority-serving graduate institutions
committed to the development of research, technology, and minority scientific,
engineering, and management talent to serve the public and private sectors of
the environmental industry. Combined,
its membership represents nearly:
* 140,000 Graduate and
Undergraduate Students
* 250 Degree programs in
the Physical, Biological, Agricultural Sciences, and Engineering;
* 1,250 Science, Math and
Engineering Faculty
As a result of a national
competition, the HBCU/MI Consortium was chosen to enter into a 5 year, $25
million academic partnership with the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop
environmental programs for Hispanic, African American, and American Indian
students, communities, and professionals.
Initial partnership activities have resulted in the enhancement of
existing curricula at member institutions; student scholarship and internship
opportunities; faculty development activities; as well as outreach materials
and processes aimed at increasing environmental literacy within minority communities,
nationally.
GATEWAY: Gateway Coalition
FIU is in a
cooperative partnership with a ten university team: Case Western, Columbia,
Cooper Union, Drexel, Florida International University, New Jersey Institute of
Technology, Ohio State, University of Pennsylvania, Polytechnic University, and
the University of South Carolina. This
coalition has many objectives; two major ones are:
(a) to
increase the minority pipeline from secondary schools to engineering schools,
and
(b) design,
prototype, then implement new educational approaches to the entire 4 year
engineering undergraduate curriculum.
This is a major effort
involving all the above listed universities, and at present has a five year
time frame.
WHY EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH AND
EDUCATIONAL WITH CATE and the State-of-the-art
INFRASTRUCTURE
A. ENHANCEMENT
OF QUALITY OF EDUCATION
B. IMPROVEMENT
OF FACULTY RESEARCH AND PRODUCTIVITY
WHY THE PROPOSED INFRASTRUCTURE WILL
PROVIDE BETTER RESULTS THAN WOULD SEPARATE SUPPORT FOR INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS
IMPORTANCE OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
AND EDUCATION
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR MINORITY
PARTICIPATION AND RETENTION FROM HIGH SCHOOL TO GRADUATE STUDIES
A. PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT RATIONAL
B. PIPELINE FOR UNDERREPRESENTED
MINORITIES PARTICIPATION AND
RETENTION
FROM PRECOLLEGE TO GRADUATE STUDIES
NETWORK
DEVELOPMENT WITH MAJOR GRADUATE SCHOOLS AND REGIONAL MINORITY SCHOOLS
MANAGEMENT PLAN AND EVALUATION PLAN
EVALUATION PLAN
The oversight committee consists of our two Deans: Dr. Gordon Hopkins, Dean of the College of Engineering and Design; and Dr. Arthur Herriott, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. This committee has primary responsibility for evaluating progress towards our goals. They will meet this responsibility by employing: (1) a supervisory committee consisting of Professor James Story, Chairman of the Electrical and Computer Engineering department; and Professor Michael Evangelist, Director of the School of Computer Science; and (2) a committee of outside evaluators consisting of: Professor Bryant York, Research Director at the College of Computer Science at Northeastern University; Professor Keith Doty, Director of the Machine Intelligence Laboratory at the University of Florida; and Professor Gautam Ray, Dean of School of Science, Engineering and Technology at Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg. The supervisory committee and the outside evaluators will help the oversight committee identify areas for improvement in making progress towards our goals. The supervisory committee will assist the CATE director in solving any such problems.
EVALUATION CRITERIA
(1) Progress towards recruitment and retention of underrepresented minorities, comparing present statistics with the projected statistics;
(2) Publications authored by investigators in journals and in major conferences;
(3) Publications authored by students;
(4) Proposals submitted and proposals funded;
(5) Student involvement in laboratory experiments and research;
(6) Student involvement in courses supported by the proposed infrastructure;
(7) Quality of mentorship by investigators (evaluations performed by students);
(8) Graduates at Bachelor's, Master's, and Ph.D. levels;
(9) Summer program for secondary school teachers (evaluation of the investigators by the teachers);
(10) Summer program for precollege students (evaluation of the investigators by the students);
(11) Curriculum enhancement in the areas supported by the proposed infrastructure
(a) Enhancement of contents of existing courses; and
(b) Development of new courses.
keypoints
1. WE HAVE EXISTING POSITIVE EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT
2. EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS WILL BE
ACCOMPLISHED WITH THE PROPOSED
INFRASTRUCTURE
A. ENHANCEMENT OF QUALITY OF EDUCATION
(a) This
includes summer programs and regular semester programs through FLAME (Florida
Action for Minorities in Engineering) to provide students with a view of the
critical technology areas and applications.
(b) A
workshop and summer short courses for high school and community college
teachers in the critical technology areas outlined in the proposal ( (1)
concurrent processing, (2) computer vision, (3) neural network and artificial
intelligence, and (4) multimedia, computer aided education and distance
learning).
B. IMPROVEMENT
OF FACULTY RESEARCH AND PRODUCTIVITY
3. THE PROPOSED INFRASTRUCTURE WILL PROVIDE
BETTER RESULTS THAN WOULD SEPARATE SUPPORT FOR INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS BY
INTEGRATING VARIOUS CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY AREAS.
4. INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
5. THE PROPOSED INFRASTRUCTURE INCLUDES A
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR MINORITY PARTICIPATION AND RETENTION FROM HIGH SCHOOL TO
GRADUATE STUDIES
A. PIPELINE
PROGRAM TO ENHANCE UNDER-REPRESENTED
MINORITIES PARTICIPATION AND RETENTION
FROM PRECOLLEGE TO GRADUATE STUDIES.
B. NETWORK
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM WITH MAJOR GRADUATE SCHOOLS AND REGIONAL MINORITY SCHOOLS
OVERVIEW OF THE PROJECT
OUR GOAL
RECRUIT AND RETAIN UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITY STUDENTS BY ESTABLISHING A SOUND EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE
SOLUTION
TO BUILD A COMPREHENSIVE EDUCATIONAL PIPELINE FROM PRECOLLEGE UP TO THE Ph.D. LEVEL.
BASIC
PRINCIPLE
This educational program builds on established minority programs that have shown promise:
FLAME-Florida Action for Minorities in Engineering, and
FGAMP-Florida-Georgia Alliance for Minority Participation.
Our objective is to enhance these programs and draw the precollege students (most of whom are underrepresented minorities) into our undergraduate programs. We can retain these students throughout the pipeline (up to Ph.D. level) if we create attractive and innovative research and educational activities through funded research and a supportive infrastructure.
THE INFRASTRUCTURE
CENTER FOR ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION
-CATE-
RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL
AREAS:
(1) Concurrent Processing
(2) Visual Programming
(3) ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)
(4) Neural Networks
(5) Computer Vision
(6) Multimedia and Education
IMPORTANT
ISSUES TO CATE
(1) SUPPORT AND ENHANCE ONGOING MINORITY PROGRAMS.
(2) ENHANCE THE STUDENTS EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH ACTIVITIES.
(3) STUDENTS AND FACULTY WORKING ON LEADING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY AREAS.
(4) REVITALIZE THE GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS.
(5) IMPROVE ABILITY OF OUR FACULTY TO COMPETE FOR EXTERNAL FUNDING.
(6) ENHANCE THE COOPERATION BETWEEN FIU AND OTHER EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS.
Copyright © 1999 Center for Advanced Technology and Education